Part 10 (2/2)
”When the as over, our troops ithdrawn, leaving the Boer and British settlers face to face, distrustful of one another, and holding themselves apart
”Hosts of our countrymen, attracted by the wealth of the Transvaal, had settled there and invested their money, and these were specially bitter at the manner in which they had been left to the tender mercies of the Boers
”There is no doubt about it that had we marshalled our forces and crushed the eneerous thorn fronanimous, and we shall have to pay for it
”And now to tell you, in as feords as possible, what has happened since
”In 1885 gold was discovered in this country, and as with the goldfields of America, thousands flocked to participate in the wealth to be obtained Towns sprang up in every direction, and Johannesburg beca industry Here, at the present day there are some 100,000 of us more or less, and in the whole of the Transvaal there are quite 180,000 Uitlanders, or outsiders, as we are called We found the mines, we have opened them, and it is our money which has worked them and erected the splendid stamps hich to crush the ore
”I st us are all nationalities; and in addition we are a strictly business class of men
We have come here to make money, and we invest it in the mines or in the country, for the Transvaal teeold-bearing quartz, and close at hand there are excellent coal-side it to work it with Lead, copper, and other metals are to be found in plenty, and if that were not all, the land has not a rival for grazing purposes It is the best corn-producing country known, and in addition it is blessed with a wonderful climate, which at this altitude makes it a splendid health resort
”But do you think our friends the Boers recognise all these things?
Certainly not They alere and alill be, in the norant and illiterate farst them have, till quite recently, been unable to write an ordinary letter, and all the public appointments, save the president's chair and the seats in the all-powerful Volksraad, are filled by salaried clerks recruited from the Afrikanders of Dutch stock, or from the Dutchmen of Holland itself
”These overnment, and I will, if I can, explain exactly what has happened to cause all the bad blood between us and our Boer masters
”Ever since that fatal peace of 1881 the Boer has shown an open conteance has passed the bounds of belief, especially in the case of the younger generation, in whoot on well together There has been no sy indolent lives and spending money recklessly, we know that that same money coh the nose for the privilege of staying here andthe mines, while they look on and live in ease and luxury
”The Republic has an income of some five-and-a-half millions per annum
Think of it! Five-and-a-half o there was but 12 shi+llings 6 pence in their coffers And of this vast sum five millions are paid by us, the Uitlander population, while the 70,000 Boers contribute only half a h everything we eat or drink, or require for the working of our ru to hurry on a disruption between us, is the fact that we have no voice in its expenditure We slave and pay, and they loaf and spend the e su up a staff of foreigners hich to train their gunners
”There is no Governarchy, with such autocratic powers and under such a stubborn and autocratic president that even the judgments of the courts can be tahts and representatives in our Volksraad?' Kruger says when approached on the subject of our grievances 'You, who came here unbidden to disturb our peace, and co home'
”For years noe have striven for an amicable settlement It is a vital question with all of us, for we do not forsake the country aftermoney; we invest our wealth here, and we have solid interests for which we have good cause to fight
”We even organised a Reforled in arms But all our hopes were dashed by the Jameson raid That was a fatal -powers, but not by force Our weapons were only for defensive purposes A feever, were for upsetting the present Governallant but reckless doctor to co toright away froreed to meet him, and he and his force suffered defeat at the hands of the Boers It was a gallant but an extrerievances have increased Numbers of necessaries are monopolies, for which we have to pay a tremendous price, and on top of all ts have been passed One, the Press Law, rievances in the papers; and the other, the Alien Expulsion Law, decrees that any foreigner who by word or deed disturbs the peace of the country shall be expelled without appeal to the courts
”It is monstrous! In no other place in the whole of the civilised world are Englishmen treated so shamefully We have done all that is possible, and noe have appealed to our Governotiations with Pretoria
”Andmore and more openly hostile They evince it in every possible action, and they do not hesitate to show that they are armed to the teeth, while we are coitation will end in peace? Do you think that autocratic, pig-headed Kruger will give in in the slightest? No,for us Our needs, our grievances, are little to hiland He is as sly as a fox, and has le individual in this world Foryears he has waited for a day when the British Lion shall be engaged in some European war, and then, and only then, has he been prepared to drive us out, and throw off the suzerain power of England, that hated pohich destroys his sense of independence But he does not stop there A united Africa, a vast republic with Paul Kruger as its first president or king, is what he ai the uns and ammunition, the money lies in abundance beneath our feet, and theon that independence for which all are sworn to lay down their lives Once the fire is kindled, a gigantic and terrible blaze will sweep over the land, Englishmen who have married Boer wives and settled here will find thehout Africa there will be treachery, the bad blood of the Dutch population will be roused, and o over to the Boers
”They do not realise this in England They think that a few thousand troops will be sufficient should the eency arise But they will not be Of that I aest and erous conspiracy that we have ever been called upon to le for supreland will have to put out all her strength Should she fail--and I trust and firmly believe that she will not--it will be the first step down on the ladder, which in the end will lorious empire that the world has ever seen
”But we shall see If we suffer reverses at first we shall learn by theland's manhood and unanimity Her sons will flock from the remotest corners of the world, her colonies will vie with one another to help her, and frolishreat whiteyou this in sober earnest
We are a slow and uneed, even er confronts the nation, woe to those who have attacked her We shall want a lot of beating, and we've yet to find the ones who can do it”