Transcribed from South Africa Magazine, 8 January 1896

THE CRISIS IN THE TRANSVAAL

JAMESON’S ENGAGEMENTS WITH THE BOERS

BRIEF ACCOUNTS OF THE BATTLES

DR. “JIM’S” FOLLOWERS EXHAUSTED BY THEIR HARD RIDE AND WANT OF FOOD BEFORE THEY FIGHT

NOTWITHSTANDING THIS THEY GIVE A FINE ACCOUNT OF THEMSELVES

ALL IS AGAINST THEM, AND THEY SURRENDER

THE SURVIVORS ARE MARCHED TO PRETORIA AND LEADERS LODGED IN GAOL

CRITICAL STATE OF AFFAIRS AT JOHANNESBURG

As South Africa is filed in large numbers and bound up in quarterly indexed volumes, we shall continue to adopt the style in which we presented the news and comments under this heading in our last issue, thus, besides satisfying the reader of the day, enabling him to place on his shelves a chronological record of what will remain a memorable epoch in South African history.

WHAT WE LEARNT ON SATURDAY

When we came to business on Saturday morning it transpired that though our representatives had remained on duty all night, not a word of fresh news was to be added to that we placed before our readers in such copious supply in the morning. There was a big rush for South Africa, and our staff were put to it to supply the constantly arriving increased orders from newsagents in all parts of the country.

WHAT THE “NORMAN’S” PASSENGERS THOUGHT

We were able before going to press early on Saturday morning to print a few brief notes of the opinions on the latest news given by some of the passengers by the Norman, which arrived from the Cape at Plymouth the previous day. These may now be somewhat extended. The news of Dr. Jameson’s defeat caused the utmost consternation among the passengers. “This is worse than Majuba Hill,” was one expression of opinion, while another exclamation was that “the whole thing had been muddled.” The passengers were practically worshippers of Dr. Jameson, whose fall, they said, every man in Rhodesia would avenge by force, if any harm befell him. A few dissentient voices were raised as to the conduct of Dr. Jameson, but all agreed that the situation was serious, and that the end could not be foreseen. On being informed that almost the united Press of Europe was against Dr. James, the men from Matabeleland, Mashonaland, and Johannesburg said that people in this country and on the Continent knew nothing of the terrible straits in which the uitlanders were placed in the Transvaal. Men and women were shot by night, and the police were unable to find the murderers. Efforts by the uitlanders to restore or keep order were stopped, and Britishers who knew what freedom meant were “cowed down” in a manner that no civilized nation in the world would tolerate. English and other foreign subjects had offered to take the oath of allegiance, and had been refused citizenship. One gentleman said: “It is all very well for home people to say the Germans are against us; but as a matter of fact the majority are with us, because they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by siding with us.” All were disappointed at Dr. Jameson’s reverse, and in loud tones remarked that the people of Johannesburg had betrayed him, after promising support by force of arms. In the opinion of the majority, however, it would only be a temporary reverse. One Rand speculator said: “We have 140,000 inhabitants, of whom 100,000 are British and there are only 120 voters.” Mr. Maydon, a member of the Natal Legislature—not the Cape Legislature, as reported by Reuter last week—said he disapproved entirely of Dr. Jameson’s action. He declined to speculate upon the possible consequences, and added emphatically, “It was an act of crass stupidity.” Mr. H. R. Abercrombie, a representative of the Uitlanders’ Association, Pretoria, said if Dr. Jameson was defeated, and then shot, there would be a rising throughout South Africa which would settle the whole business within a few months. At the same time it was incumbent on the British Government to step in at once, otherwise British prestige would forever be ruined in South Africa. There was not the shadow of a doubt that, if necessary, the natives would rise to a man in support of the British. Mr. Drew, Commissioner at Victoria, Mashonaland, said a hint of the invasion was given six months ago. When he left he knew there was a force at Mafeking under Dr. Jameson, but he thought it was only for the purpose of taking over the protectorate of Bechuanaland. Mr. Hearle, who has come direct from Johannesburg, also stated that the proposed expedition was heard of months ago, and that a gentleman on board actually arranged for the supply of mealies to the troops. This gentleman, who has a Dutch or a German name, was seen, but refused to say anything. Mr. Jefferson Clarke, a magistrate for Bulawayo, said he could not believe that Dr. Jameson had with him the volunteers, who were 1000 strong, and had served through the Matabele war. He thought Dr. Jameson had with him only 600 or 700 men, who were to look after the Bechuanaland protectorate. The regular troops, when he left, exactly a month ago, were under Sir John Willoughby, and he did not believe they had time to get to the front. Jameson was one of the shrewdest and ablest men in South Africa. No other man could have held Rhodesia as he had done, and every white and black man in Matabeleland and Mashonaland would avenge his death if it had occurred. Mr. Clarke, who has been invalided home, added, “Weak as I am, if anything happens to Jameson I would willingly take my place in the ranks. Jameson is loved by every Britisher in South Africa. It is a serious day for England. She will have to assert her superiority at once or her prestige must for ever disappear from South Africa.” Several passengers, in almost angry tones, denounced the action of the people of Johannesburg in not assisting Jameson. One gentleman remarked, “All they can do is to sing ‘God Save the Queen,’ and then run away. They are the best runners I have ever met.” Mr. J. A. Graaf, brother of a member of the Cape Legislative Assembly, said every sensible man in South Africa would condemn Dr. Jameson’s action. He himself was of Dutch extraction, but as a naturalized Englishman his sympathies went with the latter. There were, however, two sides to every question. In the past the Dutch had been treated badly, as possibly the English were being now treated in the Transvaal; but surely the matter could be settled by diplomatic measures. The question was one to be decided by the Imperial Government, and by them alone. There was not a shadow of doubt that the sympathies of the whole of the Dutch in South Africa were with the Boers, and they were at present strong enough to beat the English. He included in that category the Orange Free State, which would side with the Boers. A general uprising of the Dutch would mean that the aid of British troops would be needed. The latter would then beat the Dutch, but the victory would put the hands of the clock back half a century, at least. A united South Africa could never be brought about by such action as that of Dr. Jameson. As a matter of fact, Mr. Rhodes was kept in power by the Dutch vote at the Cape. Other passengers said that Dr. Jameson was assured that he would not meet with any opposition, and he accordingly started with a small body of men who were absolutely unable to cope with thousands. All the passengers, however, asserted that if Jameson had been shot there would be a general rising of the whites in South Africa as well as of the blacks, who detested Boer rule.

ANXIETY FOR NEWS

As Saturday advanced, growing anxiety for some news from South Africa, however little, manifested itself in all quarters. The absence of any communication whatsoever was felt to be the more gravely significant that there existed the keenest desire on the part of the representatives of great financial and other interests in Johannesburg to communicate with their principals in London. It was felt, too, that newspaper correspondents, accustomed to resort to energetic expedients for the dispatch of news must be no less desirous of giving information to the world of what was taking place on the spot to which the eyes of all the world were for the moment turned. Even if wires were broken, where were the results of special messages to the borders of the country? South African horses made little of such a distance over the veld, and yet not one messenger, native or European had apparently been able to make his way to either point. If the messages of private persons had been unable to pass over the submarine cable, there was still no explanation of the silence of Sir Jacobus de Wet, the British Agent in Pretoria. Assuming the Boers to hold the position as they reported themselves to do in force from Pretoria to Krugersdorp, which is practically a suburb of Johannesburg, it was difficult to conceive why the British Agent did not immediately upon the receipt of the news of Dr. Jameson’s surrender pay a visit of personal inspection to the scene where the fighting was said to have taken place, and report full details of the whole occurrence to the High Commissioner. Had he done so, and had any such message been received in Cape Town, it would have taken precedence as a Government message on the cable, and should have been received at the Colonial Office in the course of Friday. The British Government being in friendly relation with the Government of President Kruger, there was no probability that the Boer forces, if victorious, could have offered any impediment to the passage of the British Agent through their lines. A drive to Krugersdorp was a matter of no great difficulty under ordinary conditions from Pretoria, and it was almost incredible that, having the power to obtain accurate personal information, Sir Jacobus de Wet should be content to send, without addition, his bare statement, given on the authority of General Joubert, that Dr. Jameson had surrendered. The inference which was almost necessarily to be drawn was that the road between Pretoria and Krugersdorp was not open, even to the Agent of Her Majesty’s Government, for such a purpose; and if the road were not open there was difficulty in believing that the country was in the condition of peaceful subjection to the forces of the Transvaal which General Joubert’s report of the result of the encounter with Dr. Jameson would give the world to understand. Johannesburg quiet as reported, and Dr. Jameson’s force in the hands of the Boer commanders gave absolutely no explanation of the cessation of news, and until something was definitely known of the course of events of the previous 48 hours the anxiety of the public could not be allayed.

THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT AND THE CABLE

In view of the very serious consequences which might result from any delay in the transmission of news during so grave a crisis as the present, it was felt to be well to remember that under the agreement of 1879 with the Eastern Telegraph Company and Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company the Government had power to take the offices temporarily into their control in case of war, rebellion, or emergency. It was agreed that it was essential that the Government should command full and free communication with the Cape at the present time, and if this necessity could be better provided for by taking the cable for a time into their own hands it might become their duty to put the empowering clause to their agreement into effect.

A DELAYED SCRAP

Cape Town, December 30

Scarcely any messages have been received from the Rand owing to the breakage of every wire except one.

THE GERMAN EMPEROR’S COLOSSAL BLUNDER

HOW THE LONDON PRESS REPLIED TO HIS UNFRIENDLY EBULLITION

On page 49 of last issue we printed a stupendously foolish message of the German Emperor to President Kruger, and as it may have far-reaching consequences, we shall give space to some of the comments thereon by the leading London papers.

(The Times)

The German Emperor has taken a very grave step which must be regarded as distinctly unfriendly to this country. He has telegraphed to the President of the South African Republic congratulating him on the fact that, “without appealing to the help of friendly Powers, he and his people have succeeded in repelling with their own forces the armed bands which had broken into their country, and in maintaining the independence of their country against foreign aggression.” It is the Emperor’s habit to indulge from time to time in public expressions of his personal sentiments; and to extemporaneous utterances of that kind serious political importance does not necessarily attach. Unhappily it is impossible to look upon his telegram to President Kruger as an effusion of this sort. It was drawn up after a conference at the Imperial Chancellor’s Palace, which was attended by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Secretary for the Navy, and others, who had been specially summoned by Prince Hohenlohe. This circumstance imparts to it the character of an act of State, and our Berlin correspondent assures us that this is the light in which it must be read. So read, its import is grave indeed. The Emperor’s declaration that he feels gratified at the success achieved by President Kruger “without the help of friendly Powers” plainly implied that, in his view, the Chief Magistrate of the Transvaal has a right to invoke such aid when he thinks proper, and contains a tolerably direct intimation that, had he chosen to exercise that right in the present instance, his appeal would have been entertained. Hardly less significant, perhaps, in a communication which has been submitted to statesmen well acquainted with subsisting treaties and with the construction constantly and avowedly placed upon them by this country, is the unqualified reference to the “independence” of the Transvaal and to the maintenance of that independence against “foreign” aggression. If any doubt were possible as to the meaning which these words were intended to convey, it must be dispelled, we fear, by the statements of our Berlin correspondent and by the tone adopted by the semi-official German Press. Tentative and unofficial efforts have been made for a long time past in various more or less responsible quarters in Germany to explain away the limitations upon the complete Independence of the South African Republic maintained by the Convention of London of 1884. The Emperor’s message seemingly affects to settle the question out of hand. It is understood in Germany to constitute an unqualified recognition of the Transvaal as an independent State, and our correspondent intimates that it is intended to amount to such a recognition. We wish that any grounds for doubting the correctness of these conclusions could be detected, but unfortunately all the evidence available tends to confirm them. The North-German Gazette, the mouthpiece of the Foreign Office in the capital, is not content with enlarging upon the enormity of Dr. Jameson’s conduct in venturing to cross the frontier of “a country whose population is closely connected with Germany,” but asserts in so many words that the South African Republic is “an absolutely independent State,” while other papers, some of which are known to be under official influence, indulge in the most unmeasured vituperation of the colonial policy of Great Britain, and urge the Boers to wreak vengeance upon their captives. The absence of all apparent efforts on the part of the Government to enlighten the public as to the true sequence of events is also significant. The German Ministers are necessarily aware that the interposition of the British Colonial Office preceded the representations which Germany is believed to have made. Attention, however, is not drawn to this fact, and the German nation are left to suppose that it was Germany who forced England to intervene.

No pretence can be made in any part of the world that the attitude of Great Britain in regard to her relations with the South African Republic is obscure. The fourth article of the Treaty of London lays down that the Republic “will conclude no treaty or engagement with any State or nation other than the Orange Free State, nor with any native tribe to the eastward or westward of the Republic, until the same has been approved by Her Majesty the Queen.” The clause is not a model of draftsmanship, but its meaning is perfectly clear. It has always been construed in this country as placing the Republic “distinctly within the sphere of British influence in regard to its foreign relations.” No further back than February 5 last the constant official view upon the subject was laid down in these words by Mr. Buxton, then Under-Secretary for the Colonies, from his place in Parliament. He added that the Imperial Government considered that “it was not competent for “the Transvaal” to make any treaties, engagements, or arrangements with other foreign Powers without their being first submitted to the Imperial Government for approval.” Nothing can be plainer than the statement thus made as to the relations which Great Britain conceives to subsist between her and the South African Republic. It may be contended, and indeed, it is apparently contended in Germany, that the official view of those relations is not justified by the terms of the Convention. In our judgment it is justified, not alone by the wording of that document, but by the whole history of our connection with that State. Not many years ago the Transvaal unquestionably was an integral part of the British Empire. It would have remained a part of that Empire to this day, as all the world knows, had it not been for the magnanimity with which Great Britain consented to treat a movement which she could readily have crushed. That magnanimity at the time was thought by many sagacious and experienced politicians to be misplaced. There were not wanting prophets to declare that it would be misinterpreted and would bear bitter fruit in the future. But the policy of concession and conciliation was adopted and adhered to in the hope that it might conduce to the general peace and prosperity of South Africa, and to the establishment of a better understanding between the two races whose common heritage those regions are. Since that date the amalgamation of the two peoples has proceeded rapidly everywhere outside of the Transvaal, and has resulted in a remarkable expansion of British interests. On nearly all her borders the South African Republic is now surrounded by British colonies, except where her limits adjoin those of the Free State, which itself has British neighbours on all its other frontiers. There is little use in appealing against popular passion in the first moments when it breaks out, but the Germans have the character of a just and sober people, able and willing to understand the attitude of others. When they have had time to return to a calmer frame of mind, they may be asked to place themselves in our position and to consider what would be their own conduct if, in a moment of anxiety, they were suddenly menaced with intervention by a Power which had called itself their friend. If a State such as the Transvaal were enclosed within the borders of German East Africa with its relations to Foreign States so limited as are those of the Transvaal by the Treaty of London, would Germany brook foreign intermeddling in its affairs? Would she not resent indignantly the least suggestion that such a course was legitimate? Would she not appeal to her declared policy, and inform all who sought to run counter to it that to do so was to commit an unfriendly act against the German nation and the German Empire? Can she expect Great Britain to do less? Is she indifferent as to our friendship or enmity? Is our Berlin correspondent indeed right when he confesses that he is reluctantly driven to conclude that she has gladly seized this opportunity to humiliate England, or to win cheap applause for an easy bit of diplomatic chauvinism? She may rest assured that no demonstrations of the kind will induce Great Britain to depart from the position she has deliberately assumed, and which, convinced of her good right, she is resolved to maintain.

(Daily Telegraph)

It has been reserved—we regret to say—for the German Emperor, among all unlikely European personages, to outdo in startling abruptness and impulsiveness of procedure even the unfortunate Dr. Jameson himself. At a moment when nobody—Emperor, statesman, or journalist—is in possession of anything resembling a clear and complete account of what has been happening in the Transvaal, at a moment when prudence and reticence are indicated as absolutely incumbent on all wise and just minds, His Imperial Majesty has thought fit to address to President Kruger the subjoined extraordinary telegraphic message: “I express my sincere congratulations that, supported by your people, and without appealing for the help of friendly Powers, you have succeeded by your own energetic action against armed bands which invaded your country as disturbers of the peace, and have thus been enabled to restore peace, and safeguard the independence of the country against attacks from outside—William.” We need not point out to intelligent Englishmen the reasons why the transmission of this imperial missive is to be profoundly deplored, nor the points in which it passes so far beyond the bounds of Royal diplomacy as nearly to reach those of international affront….Neither the Transvaal nor the Sovereign Authority in South Africa has any need of “friendly Powers” to arrive at a just and pacific solution, which may be attained between Her Majesty’s Government and that of President Kruger over the heads of the Chartered Company and any other mediate interests. The British Government is as innocent of any complicity in this misjudged adventure of Dr. Jameson as Kaiser William himself; and, if events allow, it will go with clean hands, clear conscience, and equitable aims into the task of devising a fair, reasonable, and satisfactory mutual arrangement between the President and his Suzerain. But there must be magnanimity on both sides. There must be a cessation of foreign interference and provocation. Those abroad are hugely mistaken who imagine that, because England is embarrassed with a Venezuela question, and an Armenian question, and an Ashantee question, and what not besides, her statesmanship has no resources, and her strength no margin, with which to guarantee the rights of Englishmen, while respecting those of Dutchmen and any other nationalities present on their soil.

(Daily News)

The German Emperor has sent by telegraph to the President of the South African Republic his congratulations upon the defeat of Dr. Jameson’s force. This is a fact which may perhaps give some food for thought to the silly and reckless advocates of war with the Boers at any price. It is a fine thing to confront a world in arms. But let us be quite sure that our quarrel is just before we enter upon it…It does not seem beyond the limits of practical statesmanship, to extend the right of voting and diminish the period of qualification, while protecting the independence of the country against being upset by an outlandish vote. We sincerely hope that Sir Hercules Robinson will not leave Pretoria until he has settled this question one way or the other. Dr. Jameson’s action, while it has not smoothed the path of agreement, has brought things to a head, and the Boers, who can give such a good account of themselves in the field, need not shrink from the idea of compromise. Mr. Chamberlain is bound, and we have no doubt willing, thoroughly to investigate the origin and causes of Dr. Jameson’s escapade. If the Doctor alone was responsible for it, there is no more to be said. But if, on the other hand, any grasping speculators have used him as their tool, they must be brought to justice and to shame. It is not to be endured that the reputation of England should be lowered, and the peace of the world endangered, by bloodthirsty moneygrubbers, whatever their nationality or their excuse.

(Morning Post)

The proper reply to the German Emperor’s telegram is the recall of the Mediterranean Squadron and its junction, either within or without that sea with the reinforced Channel Squadron.

(Standard)

It may be a matter of controversy among writers on International Law, whether the German Emperor has acted technically within its ordained limits in sending to President Kruger the message which appears in our columns this morning. But there can be no question whatever that it must be regarded as a strikingly unfriendly act—if not to the Government, at all events to the people, of this country. The Republic of the Transvaal is not an independent State in the sense in which, for example, Germany is an independent State. The Queen is its Suzerain, and its foreign relations are under the control of the English Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and for the Sovereign of any other country to address himself publicly to President Kruger is surely a bad example to set to the world, if the writer of the message desires a punctilious observance of the rights of nations and their Rulers…The German people and the Emperor William must be fully aware that, in thus defining our rights, we should be well able to defend them, and we are not in the least afraid of the future of South Africa being determined by anyone save ourselves and our South African fellow-subjects. Between us we shall arrange matters there as we think right and just; International Law, in our view, being synonymous with justice and with right…The English Empire exists, no doubt; and we quite believe that its existence is in the way of those who are anxious to found or extend other Empires of a similar character. But we cannot consent to efface ourselves, in order that Germany may think us the most amiable and obliging people in the world. In plain language, the English people have no intention of committing suicide to save themselves from slaughter. We are a peace-loving people; but history has shown that if others will not permit us to remain at peace, we are capable of accepting an unwelcome ordeal with composure, and sometimes with success. We are in no threatening mood. Indeed, messages like that of the German Emperor cause us the deepest pain and sorrow. It is time, however, to say, quietly but firmly, that others will in vain try to threaten us. Whatever is clearly our own, we shall defend with all the means at our disposal, let the assailants by who they will or as many as they will. We say this in the interests of peace, lest by an excessive reticence on that subject we should bring about the very result we earnestly desire to prevent.

(Pall Mall Gazette)

The Emperor of Germany has made two important discoveries in his life—the political use of the champagne glass and of the telegram. The former, owing to the defective state of science, is unfortunately not yet available for direct communication with foreign States, but the telegraph wire is always with him. He has already used it to sanction the Eton style of rowing; yesterday he used it to promote the Transvaal to the rank of a fully independent Power. In his telegram to President Kruger he announces three contributions to the better ordering of the world, to wit: (a) the Transvaal is an independent Power; (b) Germany is its ally; (c) if President Kruger had asked for help against Dr. Jameson he, William, would have saddled up and proceeded southward. It is all very sad and very dreadful. What, perhaps, is still more remarkable is that he has now, through his official organ, decided that the mother-country of the Boers is not Holland, as some scientists have supposed, but Germany. There was a time, we say it with a blush, when Germany had nothing to do with the South African Republic; there was even a time when, by the Convention of London, President Kruger undertook to make no treaty or agreement with any European Power except with the consent of Her Majesty’s Government. Only then Englishmen discovered gold on the Rand, and English capital was applied to digging it out. The effect was magical. The Convention ipso facto disappeared, Germany acquired ipso facto most important interests in the Transvaal, and the Boers, as we have explained, are honorary Germans.

(Westminster Gazette)

Are not some of us making rather too much fuss over the German Emperor’s telegram to President Kruger? On one point, indeed, which can admit of no question, we all do well to insist. The suzerainty of this country over the South African Republic is going to be maintained, and it is just as well that everybody should know it. But this point is so certain, and our ability to maintain it so absolute, that we really need not excite ourselves over every ill-natured article which a German journalist chooses to indite, or even over every utterance of the German Emperor. We have never been able to perceive what is gained by those international wars of words which have so irresistible a fascination for many persons. But just now there seems a disposition to push the game a little further; and diplomatists are as quick as journalists to quarrel over turns of phrase and points of academic interest.

(The Star)

The congratulatory telegram sent by the German Emperor to President Kruger provides food for serious reflection for all sober-minded Englishmen. Its dispatch was not a mere personal freak on the part of a somewhat excitable young man, for the Emperor consulted his chief advisers before sending it off. It is easy to show that the Emperor has disregarded certain fine points in international etiquette, but we think it is more desirable, while everyone is anxiously awaiting news from Johannesburg, to remind the public of the enormous risks this country runs by reason of rampant Jingoism on the outskirts of the Empire. We presume that no sane man would regard a war with Germany as a trifle; and while no Englishman is prepared to submit to undue or unjust interference from Germany or from any other nation, we cannot afford to be embroiled with our European neighbours merely to suit the purposes of a ring of Stock Exchange adventurers.

(The Echo)

Nothing in the politics of the modern world is so sudden as the emergence of the South African problem as an international question of the first order. “Africa always brings forth some new thing,” said the old Roman writer, and the bald, matter-of-fact statement is as true today as it was then. Dr. Jameson’s filibustering trip has brought France and Germany on the scene—especially Germany, whose message to President Kruger, of the Boer Republic, is about the most catastrophic incident in the whole business. This message is also the neatest utterance ever made by Emperor William. All the papers have been saying that Dr. Leyds, the Boer delegate, has gone to Berlin for the purpose of asking the Emperor’s assistance. But the Emperor congratulates Kruger on his having succeeded “without appealing for the help of friendly Powers.” The Emperor makes short work of an important rumour, and, for the first time, asserts active sympathy with the Boers in the Transvaal.

(The Sun)

The telegram of the German Emperor, then, has the one advantage of bringing us face to face with the very grim and even terrible realities of the situation, and of making us appreciate all the wanton and insane folly of which Dr. Jameson has been guilty. But, all the same, it is not an agreeable or a glorious morning for us in England.

THE GENERAL SITUATION

On the general situation the London papers, daily and weekly, continued to have long articles.

(Daily Chronicle)

We are asked to suppose that this “cool-headed Scotchman” so lost his reasoning faculties as to feel impelled on an instant mission of mercy. No; we are afraid—though we will not speak absolutely—there is something lying deeper than all this. Is that something a long-planned attempt to involve this country and Cape Colony in hostilities with the South African Republic? If so, it was necessary to keep Mr. Chamberlain in ignorance of it, as, though he was bent on the abatement of the grievances of the British at Johannesburg, he was equally determined to do justice to the Boers. For the moment the duty of all Englishmen must be to back Mr. Chamberlain as the representative of the Imperial Government, and as a statesman who has acted throughout, so far as we can judge, with perfect loyalty to the Empire, with admirable decision, and without offence to any patriotic interest. We need not even pronounce finally against Mr. Rhodes. We simply wait. The cloud of suspense is very black, but we must be patient until it clears.

(The Morning)

The whole outlook, indeed is disquieting. Whether German intrigues at Pretoria have prompted President Kruger to withhold concessions from the English is a question which, we are sorry to say, cannot be lightly dismissed. As for the Chartered Company, the prevailing opinion among the older members of Parliament at the Carlton Club last night was that it would be held responsible for Jameson’s action, notwithstanding its protestation of ignorance and repudiations, and that in consequence the Charter would be forfeited. There is also a pretty general belief that Mr. Cecil Rhodes will be seriously discredited, if not finished, as a politician…Sir Jacobus de Wet is the connecting link between the High Commissioner at Cape Town and President Kruger at Pretoria, and all communications are supposed to be made through him. Seven or eight years ago, when Mr. de Wet’s health was failing, and he desired to be relieved of his duties, Lord Knutsford was anxious to appoint some gentleman from home with experience in Imperial politics to the post of Agent; but for reasons best known to himself Mr. Cecil Rhodes pressed for the continuance in office of Sir Jacobus de Wet, who has proved to be little more than a cipher, though he was personally agreeable, perhaps for that reason, to the Boer clique at Pretoria. It is now manifest that the post is one to which a man with some of the qualities of a statesman ought to be appointed, and the salary ought to be raised from its present ridiculously inadequate figure of £1200 a year to a sum which would attract a man of brains and experience. With a strong Agent at Pretoria much of the present trouble might have been avoided.

(Financial News)

Dr. Jameson’s invasion of the Transvaal was a terrible blunder. No doubt he was actuated by the best motives. No one who knows him will believe that he could be influenced by any other. But, none the less, he has done grievous injury to every British interest in South Africa. He has enabled the Boers to triumph once more over British arms, and in all probability he has retarded by many years the emancipation of the British residents in the Transvaal. Had he succeeded in his raid, as he might well have done if the uitlander population of Johannesburg had gone to his assistance, Dr. Jameson would today have been the hero of the hour. As it is, he must submit to the penalty of his failure—which is, indeed, his chief offence. The full effects of his reckless adventure have yet to be realized, and they will not be by any means confined to the stock markets. The tone of the foreign press and the action of the crazy Kaiser already indicate that the incident will be played for all it is worth by our continental competitors in South Africa.

(Morning Post)

By showing mercy to the conquered, President Kruger will have a grand opportunity of reducing the opposition to his people, and it is to be sincerely hoped that he will not hesitate to take advantage of the occasion. It must not be forgotten that the Dutch and the British have to live side by side in South Africa, whether they like it or not, and the sooner the two races get accustomed to the necessary conditions of their position the sooner will the racial rivalry which at present exists disappear, or at any rate diminish to such an extent as to extinguish the present feeling of animosity which it would be idle to say does not exist. But it is with the present, rather than with the future, that we have now to deal, and that matter is rendered all the more difficult by the absence of all information.

(The Economist)

However the matter is approached, and from whatever point of view considered, it will be admitted that the position occupied by the Chartered Company is extremely unsatisfactory. Dr. Jameson is one of the most trusted servants of that body. Indeed, he may be described as their chief executive officer. Again, the troopers who moved with him into the territory of the Boers were apparently in the military employment of the Company, and committed something very like an act of mutiny in taking the course they did. Now, these being the circumstances, of two things one. Either the Chartered Company winked at and allowed Dr. Jameson’s action, or they did not. Which of these views is the true one we shall make no attempt to decide. All we desire to point out is that in either case the Company and the system of government carried on by them stands condemned. If the Company, or rather those who control their affairs in South Africa, were privy to the movement made by Dr. Jameson, they have, of course, forfeited all right to the confidence that has been reposed in them by Parliament. If, on the other hand, the Company were not either directly or indirectly privy to Dr. Jameson’s action, then they have shown themselves quite incapable of controlling their own forces, and have proved themselves unfit to do the work with which they have been entrusted. It cannot be said that a body so utterly without the power to keep its executive officers in hand ought to be entrusted with the command of a military force. The only thing that can justify us in delegating Imperial and governmental powers to a trading company is the absolute ability of that company to carry out the great responsibilities devolved upon them. When it shows itself incapable of controlling those nominally under its orders, a chartered company has become as dangerous as a ship with a crew in mutiny.

WHAT THE PROVINCIAL PAPERS SAID

On Saturday great batches of provincial papers came to hand. A few extracts from the leading articles therein will be sufficient to indicate that the current of opinion in the provinces ran in much the same channel as that of the Metropolis.

(Manchester Guardian)

Our contemporary always pays particular attention to South African questions. It wrote thus:--“One cannot resist, in spite of the reckless misconduct of their leader, a feeling of compassion for these wretched countrymen of ours who have been shot or arrested like housebreakers in a peaceable citizen’s house. Some of them, it is said, held commissions in the British army, and these are, of course, forfeit. We do not know the exact legal position of the survivors, nor the punishment to which they have made themselves liable under British and Transvaal law. Of course, they are not prisoners of war, for there is no war between us and the South African Republic. Far graver questions of personal responsibility, however, than that of these unhappy men will have to be settled in the next few weeks, and the gravest of these is the responsibility of Mr. Rhodes.”

(Birmingham Post)

It is, however, tolerably evident that there must have been immense dissatisfaction within the Republic before even the most mad-brained filibuster would have marched across its frontier from without; and we prefer to dwell on Mr. White’s assurance that his Government are prepared to kill all chance of such expeditions in the future by granting constitutional relief to grievances constitutionally laid before the Executive. What is wanted at the present moment is cool-headedness and common-sense. The uitlanders must, so far as they are British subjects, respond loyally to the injunction made in the Queen’s name by Sir Hercules Robinson, and avoid any violent opposition to the laws of the State in which they find themselves; and the Boer Government, realising that no infringement of Transvaal rights is intended by the British Government, will, if they are wise, meet the just claims made upon them.

(Birmingham Gazette)

Knowing how much depended upon success, Jameson and his men would fight with resolute valour, and they were well qualified to give a good account of themselves. But Providence is generally on the side of big battalions. Jameson and his men, disappointed in their hope of joining forces with the revolting miners, were surrounded and overpowered, and the rash leader and the remnants of his troop are prisoners in the hands of the Boers. We know they were wrong, and we know, too, that, being disavowed by their Government, they can be hanged like dogs by the victors, who are entitled to treat them as mere brigands. It is this sad knowledge that has inspired Mr. Chamberlain’s prompt appeal for merciful treatment, and we shall hope that it has been in time to prevent a further sacrifice of lives. Jameson’s whole career makes his last act inexplicable. He is no rude filibuster, but a scholar, a gentleman, and a diplomatist of tried capacity. How he met the Boers on the banks of the Limpopo in 1891, and by sheer personal persuasion broke up the trek and prevented the advance of a powerful and well-armed Boer force, is matter of history, and will even now be remembered to his honour. Surely there were reasons far stronger than we are yet aware of to make a man who was so cautious and so capable take a step so desperate as that of invading foreign territory with a mere handful of men.

(Liverpool Courier)

The repressive influence of the Imperial and Colonial authorities, combined with the repudiation of his action by the Chartered Company whose interests he recklessly sacrificed, was a factor which the raiding chief had not probably taken into account. But this influence proved a very chilling wet blanket to the conspiracy of which Dr. Jameson’s mad venture evidently formed a part. The prompt and effective measures adopted by Mr. Chamberlain to isolate the invaders and deter people from joining in the movement may be said to have cut the ground from under the feet of the invaders. Instead of the uitlanders rising in their armed thousands to support those who were coming to enforce justice, they were content to limit their assistance to shouts. It is not credible that Dr. Jameson would have engaged in so quixotic a venture as that which has just met with so sanguinary and disastrous a conclusion, if he had not been led to believe that he would be very effectively supported. It may be that the whole scheme of revolution has come to nought through the premature disclosure of the invasion.

(Manchester Courier)

Yet he still went on, knowing that the British Government would not back him up, and at the least doubtful if the Chartered Company would do so. But we, who sit at home, will be told that we can afford lightly to regard a disaster which, if it had been courted under the sanction of our Government, would have been more disastrous to our prestige and power in South Africa than many a Majuba. It is enough. Our repudiation saves us. Dr. Jameson’s forlorn expedition has been magnificent, but it has not been war. But we almost wish that it had been. For if ever filibustering was justifiable, it was so in this case. Of course Dr. Jameson’s conduct has been all very wrong. He had to be repudiated and condemned. Since he has failed, he will not improbably be shot. At the least a bold and useful career is cut short. But why did he take this step at all—which the “Little England” journals denounce as an “amazing outrage”? First, because of the supineness of the home Government, which is apparently content, even under the regime of Mr. Chamberlain, to let fifteen thousand fat Dutchmen trample upon fifty thousand British subjects, and deny them the most elementary political rights. Secondly, because of all the cant and humbug about “blood-guiltiness” which Mr. Gladstone so nauseously poured forth at the time of his Majuba surrender, when he gave way to the Boers, after a single casual defeat. By his pusillanimous policy then, he not only retarded the civilization of South Africa indefinitely, but made himself directly responsible for the blood that was shed yesterday, and for all that will yet have to be shed before the Boers are finally defeated and the Transvaal again becomes British.

(Leeds Mercury)

Had any of us been placed in Dr. Jameson’s position we should, probably, if we were worth our salt, have acted as he has done. We should have heard the cries of the women and children at Johannesburg, and would have put their immediate needs above all questions of European diplomacy. No doubt it was a very shocking thing for Englishmen to invade a “friendly” country in time of peace, and we have nothing but praise for the action of the Government in doing all it could to disclaim responsibility for the irregularities which have taken place. It is properly incumbent upon Governments to act slowly and after due deliberation. It has, in fact, become the practice, as we see in relation to Armenia, to deliberate until there is no chance of helping those most in need of it, and to salve the national conscience by a guinea subscription on behalf of those who are past all earthly needs. From an official point of view, therefore, we cannot but deplore Dr. Jameson’s “disobedience,” which is all the more lamentable from its want of success. Had we been in a position this morning to tell our readers that Dr. Jameson had marched triumphantly into Pretoria, and had been able to dictate terms to the Government of the Republic, we should probably not have had to publish any comments from Mr. Chamberlain reflecting adversely upon the hero. As it is, however, we must all agree that Dr. Jameson’s action was entirely improper. He had no business to interfere in a question affecting the lives and property of only 60,000 of his countrymen. He was deservedly repudiated by his erstwhile master, Mr. Rhodes, and if he is still alive he will no doubt be made to feel the full weight of the disapprobation of the British Government and people at—his want of success!

(Liverpool Mercury)

It is plain, however, that, whatever may have been his ultimate aim, Dr. Jameson reckoned without the sagacious “Oom Paul.” He expected to find unpreparedness, and discovered to his mortification and surprise that he had to deal with stern, resolute men, who are quite as ready as they were at Majuba Hill to give a good account of themselves on the field of battle. It is easy to believe that there was hard fighting. The police of the Chartered Company are accustomed to rough work and dangerous adventures. But their military skill was no match for the consummate genius of General Joubert, and the result of an encounter in which the Boers fought on terms of anything approaching to equality could not fail to be disastrous to the invaders.

(Glasgow Herald)

Mr. Chamberlain, according to the statement which has been issued in his name, maintains friendly relations with President Kruger. So far well, of course. But that is the best of all reasons why the difficulty which has set Dr. Jameson a-filibustering should be dealt with firmly and promptly, if also in accordance with the etiquette of high polity. Dr. Jameson may be brushed aside, or he may have been induced to go back to Mafeking by this time. The almost anarchical condition of the Rand cannot be ignored so easily. It may be remedied by the application of constitutional remedies, but by nothing less, and if this remedy is to be effective it must be employed at once.

(Liverpool Post)

Both Mr. Rhodes and Dr. Jameson are credited with having long entertained a desire to wipe out what Jingoes habitually speak of as the disgrace of Majuba Hill, and when President Kruger put himself in the wrong a few months ago by the closing of the drifts there were those in South Africa who hoped that he would persist in his wrong until war was declared. It was then that Dr. Jameson’s little army was concentrated on the frontier, and it has been kept there, waiting for the ripening of the revolutionary movement at Johannesburg. This circumstance goes far to create doubt as to the reality of the grievances of the uitlanders, who, however, we believe have just grounds for demanding considerable reforms. Mr. Chamberlain may be trusted to impress this view of the situation upon the Boers, though the suzerainty of England concerns itself only with the foreign relations of the Republic, and does not extend to interference with its internal administration. But friendly advice of this kind cannot be assisted by filibustering raids into Transvaal territory, nor by Jingo threats to avenge Majuba. The South Africa Company must perceive too, that it is seriously compromised by what has happened, and if it be true, as is asserted by Mr. White, the Consul-General in London of the Transvaal Republic, that three years ago a filibustering raid by the South Africa Company’s forces upon the Portuguese port of Beira was only thwarted by the prompt and loyal action of Mr. Colquhoun, and that “shortly afterwards Mr. Colquhoun left the service of the Company,” the British public will wish to know whether it is wise to allow these Chartered raiders to any longer enjoy governing power in South Africa.

(The Scotsman)

In any case a step has been taken that cannot wholly be undone. A fire has been kindled that, in spite of the best intentions and efforts of statesmen at home and in Africa, cannot be extinguished without producing a signal mark on the political conditions and relations of the South African races and States. It is scarcely too much to say that the removal—always certain and now made urgent—of the grievances under which the uitlander population in the Boer Republic suffer may prove to be among the minor rather than the major consequences of what is now happening in the Rand. For while it is impossible to justify the wild step taken by Dr. Jameson, it must not be overlooked that it is the reactionary section of the Boers, as represented by the men now in office in Pretoria, that have brought this storm upon themselves. They have been blind to the change of circumstances going on within as well as around their country, and deaf to the rise of the tempest. More than this, they have deliberately defied and invoked it. The gravest aspect of the affair is in the fact that, whatever political and commercial influences may have helped to direct events, behind all is the motive-force of race prejudices and race competition. The “Dopper” party in the Volksraad have challenged the new residents in the country to fight for their rights; and the challenge has been taken up, although the men who have lifted the gage have no better ground for interfering than the circumstance that they are of the same blood and language as those who have been denied a voice in the management of their own affairs. The Boers brought away from Majuba Hill the conviction that they were the stronger and better men, and in their laws and in many other ways they have taken care to let the Britisher know that in their estimation he is an inferior type of being, at least when it comes to the last resort of fighting with fire-arms. The inroad from Mafeking is part of the ill-fruit of the bungled business of the Retrocession; and to all appearance has only been made worse by the choice of the worst possible time and means for renewing an interrupted and unsettled trial of strength. Other questions of great importance have been brought to the front in a way that demands settlement. One of these is the future status and powers of the Chartered Company. It is declared on behalf of Mr. Rhodes and other Directors of the Company, that the Administrator acted on his own initiative, and without authority, in invading the Transvaal. This, we may hope, will be made good in the inquiry that is bound to take place; although it is not very easy to believe that an officer of Dr. Jameson’s experience—a man who has hitherto given proofs of great prudence and ability—should have taken upon himself the responsibility of what would be, in effect, making war on his own account. But whether with the knowledge of the leading minds of the Company or not, there can be no question that he has acted in the most gross and glaring excess of his powers. He is the servant of the British Government as well as of the Chartered Company. By the agreement entered into in May last year between the Government and the Company, defining, among other things, the Administrator’s powers, it is laid down that he “shall be appointed by the Company with the approval of the Secretary of State, and may be removed either by the Secretary of State or by the Company with the consent of the Secretary of State.” As if specially to cover a case like the present, Clause 35 declares that “the armed forces of the Company shall not, without the permission of Her Majesty’s Government, act outside of the limits” of their territories. The very object of granting the Royal Charter, as declared in Lord Knutsford’s memorandum, was that by this means the Company’s “constitution, objects, and operations would become more directly subject to control by Her Majesty’s Government” than if they were left to follow their own devices; and that the Government would thus be more able “effectually to prevent the Company from taking their own line of policy, which might possibly result in complications with native chiefs and others, necessitating military expenditure, and perhaps even military operations.” In the present instance this object of “relieving Her Majesty’s Government from diplomatic difficulties and heavy expenditure” has been signally disappointed; and Dr. Jameson may by his raid have precipitated not merely the settlement of the Transvaal question, but also the solution of the problem of how to control chartered companies.

(Sheffield Telegraph)

Had the uitlanders risen against the Boers, we should have deemed it no business of England’s to interfere with the internecine quarrel. As the Transvaal’s suzerain power, it would have been England’s duty to have tried to avert bloodshed by bringing pressure to bear upon the Boers to concede part, at least, of the just demands of the uitlanders. Had our efforts in that direction failed, our place would have been to let the parties fight the matter out for themselves, though our sympathies would have gone freely with our fellow-countrymen in the struggle. Dr. Jameson’s excursion, however, alters the situation entirely. Both Germany and France are jealous of our interference in Transvaal affairs. They have no right to be. The foreign relations of the South African Republic are by treaty entirely within our control, except so far as the Orange Free State is concerned. It is, in our judgment, a gross breach of that treaty if Dr. Leyds, the Transvaal Secretary of State, is at present negotiating, as there is reason for suspecting he is, with Germany for aid against British intervention. At the same time, both France and Germany will hold Dr. Jameson’s invasion of the Transvaal to be an act of the English Government, and no amount of protestation will be likely to convince them to the contrary. There are a large number of Germans in the Transvaal. French interests there are also considerable; and France conceives herself the more entitled to a say in the matter, because of her newly-acquired rights in Madagascar. It need surprise no one, therefore, if the fleets of these two countries are already under orders to proceed to Delagoa Bay, with a view to eventualities.

(Bristol Mercury)

It will of course be contended that with such an appeal before him as that of the fearful inhabitants of Johannesburg, hardly any other course was open to him than that of promptly marching to their assistance. True their danger was so far only a risk. The Boers had not risen, and it might be that the apprehensions of the outlanders were somewhat exaggerated. Still, it may be urged, the letter was couched in terms of such evident alarm, the appeal was so pressing, and the appellants clearly believed their position to be so dangerous, that Dr. Jameson could do no more than march, if not to save them from slaughter, at least to be ready to act in their defence. But second thoughts suggest the awkward question—Is this appeal a genuine thing, or are the outlanders trying to force the situation? To say the least, this desperate position in which outlanders find themselves has been sprung upon us with startling suddenness. A rupture was not unexpected, but the general impression in this country has been that the outlanders were well prepared for it, and it comes almost as a shock to hear that, so far from being ready to meet the Boers in open fight, they are reduced to terror by apprehensions of massacre and pillage. If the letter to Dr. Jameson is merely a move in the game, a “put-up job,” so to speak, the outlanders must bear the responsibility of having precipitated, or nearly so, a second Transvaal war.

(Newcastle Chronicle)

The first idea that will occur to the majority of dispassionate observers is that Dr. Jameson, on the spot, must understand the situation very much better than people thousands of miles away from it. The second idea will be that nothing in Dr. Jameson’s history warrants the inference that he has committed himself to a hazardous undertaking out of “pure cussedness,” as the expressive Americanism has it. His conduct in the past is calculated rather to lead us to suppose that if he has interfered vi et armis in the internal affairs of the Transvaal, he has not lacked excellent grounds for his procedure. Dr. Jameson succeeded Mr. Colquohoun in the Administratorship of the Chartered Company’s possessions. He is entrusted with the government of an enormous stretch of territory, vastly exceeding in size France, Germany, Austria, and Italy combined; and, although he has had difficulties innumerable and formidable to surmount, he has not, so far as our memory serves us, been guilty of a single serious blunder. His management has been simply marvelous; and the colonists are not to be blamed if they place the profoundest confidence in his prudence, capacity, and foresight. He has not escaped criticism. People remote from the sphere of his operations have often expressed the conviction that he was acting recklessly; but the result has invariably proved that he was right and his critics were wrong. The Matabele campaign, a masterpiece of its kind, is a case in point….The danger is that Dr. Jameson, actuated very likely with the best of intentions, having thrown the fat into the fire, has brought about the conflagration which everybody—himself included, we should imagine—was anxious to avoid, and has, besides, jeopardized his own life and that of his companions. It must be remembered that the Boers are not Matabeles. Whatever else may be urged to their discredit, it must be confessed that these Dutch Puritans, whose worst fault is that they are three centuries out of harmony with their environments, are no despicable antagonists. They are brave, and they are the best of marksmen. Sir George Colley learnt their qualities to his cost at Majuba Hill and Laing’s Nek. Dr. Jameson’s experience may not be dissimilar.

(Bradford Observer)

A swift retribution has overtaken Dr. Jameson, and it is impossible to say that the retribution is other than just. Whatever questions were at issue between the Boers and the uitlanders of the Transvaal, and to whatever extreme the Boers may have pushed their indisputable right as an independent and self-governing people, the Dutch Republic was not the less at peace with its neighbours and ourselves. If it taxed heavily, at least the minerals were within its own borders, and it still paid the uitlander of his own free choice to exploit them; if it imposed a difficult barrier to the exercise of the full franchise, to do otherwise would have been to surrender the reins of government to a largely transitory mining population of alien race and alien ideals. The Transvaal Government was within its formal rights, even if its insistence on its pound of flesh was open to some adverse criticism on grounds of reason and equity; and there were many signs that in the end reason and equity would prevail by reasonable and equitable means, and the narrow restrictions of formal right be insensibly and naturally relaxed. But in any case their formal right had to be recognized; the quasi-international relations had to be duly respected; the official peace had to be maintained unbroken except by deliberate official act. Even if provocation to a uitlander insurrection within the borders of the Republic really existed, such an act would still, in view of the whole circumstances, have had to be condemned with scant reservation. Dr. Jameson’s raid had not even this measure of excuse. He had absolutely no standing, official or otherwise, in the Transvaal, no shadow of business across the frontier. The foreign relations of the Chartered Company of which he is the servant are formally reserved to the control of the Crown; the sphere of his administration is confined to Mashonaland and Matabeleland. Yet in time of peace, without title, without clear declaration of intention or the right to make such declaration, he crosses in force the frontier of a friendly State, and takes upon himself and on behalf of the Company—in some measure on behalf of the Colony and the Crown—the responsibility of an act of war. It was an act of outrage which, as apart from the frequent lawlessness and recklessness of Colonial pioneering, might have been deemed impossible, and which, not less in success than in deserved failure, would have demanded the severest reprobation. Wretched as the tragic fate of the expedition is from more than one point of view, every other consideration has to be laid aside and the matter viewed solely as an act of criminal folly clothed in a flimsy pretext which has brought upon itself a most righteous chastisement…We may throw over Jameson—we have already thrown him over; and for any direct support accorded him by the nation as a whole, the repudiation is sincere and just. But not the less is Jameson the scapegoat of the sins of others, as well as the victim of his own—sins of commission by not a few, and sins of omission by many more; and the responsibility for these things must remain with us. The Chartered Company may plead ignorance and innocence, and adhere strenuously to the plea, but it is a plea which would be accepted by no tribunal in the world. For one thing, its record is against it—what scruple has it shown in the past in employing methods precisely analogous to, and as little justifiable as, those just employed by its servant Jameson? But it is not a matter of past record only, it is a question in this regard of present evidence; and the entire available evidence goes to show that Jameson was only working out a preconcerted plan to which at least the Executive of the Company was privy, and which, had it proved successful, would not long have remained disavowed.

(Yorkshire Post)

There were some scandalous insinuations in this paper. The following are extracts from one of its articles:--“We do not suppose that the prisoners will meet with this utmost rigour of the law; indeed, it may be expected with some confidence that all but the leaders of the expedition will be disarmed and expelled the Transvaal; and Mr. Chamberlain’s action in making representations on behalf of Dr. Jameson will meet with general approval in this country. That he has rendered himself liable to short shrift at the hands of those whom he has tried to kill, by invading their country with an armed force, may be admitted. But mercy in this instance would be politic. In all the circumstances, it would be a grave mistake to execute one who, in all probability, was the agent—though, doubtless, a zealous agent, expecting pay proportionate to his boldness and criminality—of some wealthy syndicate, whose members are discontented with the millions sterling they have picked up in the Transvaal and on the Stock Exchanges during the last 10 or 15 years. Public opinion here will not be satisfied unless Mr. Chamberlain is able to sift this conspiracy to the bottom, and punish those who have been concerned in it. There can be no doubt that Jameson and his 800 troopers would not have violated their engagement with the Chartered Company—practically deserting and taking with them quantities of arms and ammunition—and have risked their lives in such an expedition, had they not been tempted by offers of great gains, such as were won from unfortunate subjects of Lo Bengula. The overthrow of the Boers, apart from the possible confiscation of their lands, must have provided the opportunity for large pickings out of the State taxes on gold mining and the duties on imports—such revenue, in short, as is paid to the Chartered Company by settlers in Mashonaland and Matabeleland; and the advocates of the Outlanders’ National Association have declared with some significance, that if they got rid of the Boers they would not consent to be ruled by the Imperial Government. In fact, much as they objected to the administration of President Kruger, they would prefer him to the Imperial authorities. Clearly then, success would have provided chances of profit for some who have instigated the raid, and it must be assumed that, if Mr. Rhodes has been almost miraculously ignorant of what was contemplated when the forces of the Chartered Company, abandoning the duty of protecting life and property in the territory of the Company—and this is the only pretext for their enrolment—were massed on the Transvaal frontier, Dr. Jameson had reason to believe that he would be indemnified and sufficiently rewarded. But who in South Africa would be able to protect him from the consequences of the impudent disobedience of the orders of the Imperial Government to which Mr. Chamberlain calls attention?...Conduct such as this, coupled with what now appears to be the fact, that there has been no actual and immediate danger at Johannesburg—Dr. Jameson’s allies there preferring to await events rather than risk their own lives—shows the raid to be absolutely without justification. Dr. Jameson might have asked the Government for authority. That he did not do so, goes to show that, in his judgment, to ask would have been to receive a peremptory negative. If the only danger lay in the statement, which may be true, that it was the intention of the National Union to issue an appeal to arms on Monday next, that was not of a kind to warrant in any degree action like that of the Administrator. The outlanders, who, of their own good will and pleasure, have settled more or less permanently in the Transvaal, are not represented upon the ruling authority; but neither are any persons who, exercising a similar freedom of choice, settle in the territory of the Chartered Company. Dr. Jameson has been quite as much of a despot as President Kruger. It does not follow that immigrants are entitled to resort to force to upset such Governments. If wanton cruelties and oppression were inflicted that would be a different matter; but in this case it is certain the British Government would not be slow to interfere. That there was no such justification for armed rebellion may be inferred from the fact that nothing of the kind was telegraphed from Johannesburg by our Official representatives. The telegraph wires have been opened all along, though Mr. Chamberlain seems to have closed tem, and wisely, against private messages while there was danger of an outbreak, which might have been precipitated by persons in this country….The supposition, then, that Dr. Jameson had knowledge of a most dangerous and pressing state of affairs that was concealed from Sir Hercules Robinson and the Colonial Office, must be rejected. The evidence is wholly against it…In short, the whole question of our position in South Africa has been raised in regard both to the Transvaal and to the system of chartered companies; and it will have to be settled in the light of full information.

MILITARY VIEWS

The Daily News of Saturday had the following:--“We have excellent authority for saying that occurrences in the Transvaal so far have not pointed to the necessity for any action on the part of the home authorities. If orders have been sent for the Black Watch to prevent a second column of the British South Africa Company’s forces from crossing the Transvaal frontier, those orders must have emanated from the general commanding the British forces in Cape Colony. Such action on his part would be very probable, and in accordance not only with the known wishes of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, but also with the obvious duty of an officer who has command of frontier forces. Whatever the orders may have been, however, it is difficult to see how they could be enforced by four companies of the Black Watch stationed at Mafeking against an armed body, which if it was really on the march with intent to support Dr. Jameson would probably have crossed the frontier some hundreds of miles from Mafeking. Without doubt there was a strong impulse among the adventurous elements of the population in Stellaland and Griqualand to throw in their lot with the column that has just suffered serious disaster, and there may still be signs of a similar desire manifested by settlers at Mafeking and members of a highly-trained volunteer force at Kimberley, which could only be checked by the pressure of British troops acting under the orders of the general commanding; but on these points no information whatever has reached the War Office. The rumours of reinforcements being sent out from England ‘in view of the crisis’ are, as we said yesterday, without foundation. Similarly baseless is the statement that Lord Methuen and other generals versed in African warfare were engaged with Sir Evelyn Wood yesterday in considering the situation. Lord Methuen’s presence at the War Office had much more to do with arrangements for the forthcoming Military Tournament at Islington than with affairs in the Transvaal. As to the British officers who are said to have been with Dr. Jameson’s force, nothing is known at head-quarters, and reports on the subject originate in mere surmises. Several officers selected from the Guards and other regiments are by permission of the authorities serving temporarily under the British South Africa Company, and it is possible that some of them may have been foolish enough to accompany the column which was so decisively beaten at Krugersdorp on Wednesday; but probably the majority, with Sir John Willoughby, are still in Rhodesia, whence no news has been received by telegraph for many days. The British South Africa Company’s officials are not able to give any information yet concerning the officers who were with Dr. Jameson, as they know nothing whatever about the composition of his force, nor is it possible for them to say where individual officers are stationed, all such details being dealt with by their Administrator, who would naturally send his reports to the office in Africa. Information on these points, anxiously looked for by hundreds who have relatives in the Company’s service, may come at any time in reply to the telegram which was sent to Cape Town two days ago asking for full particulars, but up to a late hour last night no reply had been received at St. Swithin’s Lane.

“Assuming that there was any truth in the statement that many thousands of uitlanders in Johannesburg were well armed and ready to rise against the Boers, much surprise has been expressed because they made no attempt to render Dr. Jameson any assistance in a battle that must—if the telegraphed account be trustworthy—have raged for hours within a short distance of Johannesburg. Any force which General Joubert could have detached from his main body would have been powerless to suppress a determined movement of the thousands about whom so much has been said recently. Possibly there may have been serious divisions at the supreme moment among these uitlanders which paralysed them, so that united action was not to be hoped for. But the British Resident’s telegram mentions nothing about an attempt of the kind, and if they had meditated an outbreak, it is more probable that they were restrained by an intimation from the Resident that Dr. Jameson’s force had been ordered back. At the same time he might, in obedience to Mr. Chamberlain’s mandate, have issued a strong protest “in the Queen’s name” against any resort to arms. An impression that Dr. Jameson did not mean to fight if hostilities could by any possibility be avoided is gaining ground. That would, of course, account for much that is at present inexplicable. The fact that he was driven from position after position in spite of the Maxim guns, which should have made him so strong in a defensive fight, has been commented upon; but the value of Maxim guns when used against such enemies as Boer sharpshooters may be overrated. Their system of fighting closely resembles the methods practiced by scouts in all irregular warfare. Each man trusting in himself and in his skill with a rifle takes his position under cover, and does the best he can to account for any foes who show themselves so long as he has a shot left or until the way has been cleared for a forward rush. A Maxim gun and the men who work it must be exposed to the deadly aim of these sharpshooters, who can pick off the gunners one by one while themselves sheltered from the hail of bullets. In such fighting, at a range that suits the magazine rifles or Winchester repeater, with which Boer scouts are armed, neither machine guns nor artillery can be used with much effect, however destructive their fire may be against masses in comparatively open ground.”

A correspondent of the Daily Chronicle had a lengthened interview with a most distinguished general officer, who had seen much service in the Transvaal, Bechuanaland, and the Cape. He said that there was little doubt that Dr. Jameson’s extraordinary expedition was not remotely connected with the formation of something like a South African Republic, to include the Transvaal. He had great experience of South Africa, and he could not contemplate a South African Republic without regret. It was fortunate for this country that Dr. Jameson had been defeated at the outset, for if he had succeeded the consequences must have created an even more difficult state of affairs than exists at present. If Jameson’s attempt had been successful our troops would certainly have received orders to enter the Transvaal and drive back our own people. He could not make out how it was telegraphed that a great fight had taken place outside Johannesburg between Dr. Jameson and Joubert’s force, when the casualty list numbered some thirty men only. Everyone knew, and he had seen it, the wonderful marksmanship of the Boers. If the latter attacked 700 men, and only killed five, and wounded twenty or so, the collision must have been a reconnaissance, or the telegram erred. It was pointed out that the telegram referred to was sent off earlier than the telegram stating that Jameson had surrendered, and the gallant officer replied that if there had been any great fight we should have heard more of it. He had been over the exact ground where the fighting is said to have taken place. It was a good road and natural veld. Indeed, he passed over the whole route from Mafeking to Johannesburg without taking particular notice of any extremely perilous point for an army. As to the Boers, he was sympathetic towards them. We had treated them badly once, and we got beaten for it. He had every knowledge of them, and he had always found them rough and uncouth, but good-natured fellows withal. He always got on well with them, and never found them otherwise than willing to listen in peace to good counsel. He believed they would now act honourably towards Jameson and his force, and would not shoot Jameson, but try him fairly and legally. He could scarcely say more, as his position entailed reserve. However, he did not think now there would be a necessity to send British regular troops into the Transvaal.

It has been stated that the officers of the British Army serving with the British South Africa Company’s Police, and some of whom are supposed to have been with Dr. Jameson’s column, are Major Sir J. C. Willoughby, Royal Horse Guards; Captain the Hon. R. W. White, Royal Welsh Fusiliers; Lieutenant Keith Falconer, Northumberland Fusiliers; Captain Forbes; Captain Graham, Northampton Regiment; Lieutenant Grenfell, 1^st Life Guards; and Captain Doyne, 4^th Oxfordshire Light Infantry. It is believed that there are other officers with the Company’s troops who formerly served in the Army.

Recent returns show that the strength of the British Imperial troops in the South African Colonies is about 3500 officers and men, of whom rather more than half are in Cape Colony, and the remainder in Natal and Zululand.

NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT

During Friday and Saturday the comments of the Berlin, Paris, and Vienna papers on the Jameson affair were generally in a tone unfriendly to Great Britain.

A Berlin telegram of Friday night ran:--

Dr. Leyds has received information of the fatal fray at Krugersdorp, according to which the fighting was most desperate, lasting for twenty-four hours and there was heavy slaughter, but up to a late hour this afternoon he had not heard the names of the fallen. Dr. Jameson was not burnt alive, as one report affirms. He is a prisoner, as well as all those of his companions who survived the fighting. As it is pretty certain that some will be hanged or shot as an example, and to atone for the blood of the fallen Boers, Dr. Jameson’s fate may, as far as one can judge from here, be considered as sealed.

Dr. Holub, with whom an interview is published in the Neues Wiener Tagblatt, though his name is not directly mentioned, stood alone in Berlin in disbelieving in the connivance either of Mr. Chamberlain or Mr. Rhodes.

“I am perfectly convinced,” said the African traveler, “that the English Government was absolutely foreign to the whole affair, because whenever differences in South Africa arose, there was always evidence of the goodwill of England towards the Boers; and with regard to Mr. Cecil Rhodes, he was the Messias of the idea that English and Dutch must work together in South Africa, and to have secretly endorsed Jameson would be madness on the part of a man who stands foremost for co-operation between the Boers and the English, both of whom are equally hated by the black natives.”

The Tageblatt reports an interview which one of its collaborators has had with a personage closely connected with the Transvaal Government, and residing at present in Berlin (presumably Dr. Leyds). The interviewed gentleman said that:--

“The whole agitation of the uitlanders was started by a small group of English financiers (including first and foremost the Chartered Company) who wished to effect a revolution in order to get rid of President Kruger. They fancied they could do this all the more easily now, as several of the most respected and influential persons, like Dr. Leyds, the German Lippert, and others, were abroad. All the business men at Johannesburg, however, especially the Germans, but also the English, held aloof. Jameson’s coup had long been planned, for the financiers in question sold hundreds of millions of South African gold shares weeks ago, confidently hoping to buy them back soon two-thirds cheaper. The recent panic on the Exchanges of Paris, Berlin, and Vienna was brought about mainly by them. The result was, for the most part, secured by the prompt intervention of the German Government, which went much further than had been expected. Jameson’s defeat might almost be called a victory of Germany’s diplomatic weapons. It was true, indeed, that the interests Germany had to defend in the Transvaal were enormous. The assertion that Rhodes knew nothing of Jameson’s expedition was simply comical. A few weeks ago he telegraphed urgently for Alfred Beit, one of the above-mentioned financiers, as the Chartered Company had armed a large number of blacks, as auxiliaries for Jameson. The Boers would treat their prisoners with the utmost humanity, as was their wont. Large sums were being collected for the wounded Boers. All the Transvaal telegrams to Berlin were stopped at Cape Town and many letters opened.

A telegram from Rome on Friday night was as follows:--“A conference respecting the situation in the Transvaal has taken place between Baron Blar??, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the German Ambassador. Numerous despatches have also been exchanged between Rome and Berlin on the subject, and it is now announced that Germany has undertaken the defence of Italian interests and the protection of Italian subjects in the Transvaal.”

FURTHER INTERVIEWS

In the absence of any news from South Africa, everybody and anybody who might be supposed to throw light on the dark situation was interviewed by newspapers and news supply agencies. If nobody had news, there was a demand that the surmise and the speculation of authorities and others should be voiced. We gave a number of these interviews in our last issue. The most important of the fresh ones reported on Saturday was that with

HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF ABERCORN,

The President of the British South Africa Company.

A representative of the Central News proceeded to Baronscourt, near Newtown Stewart (Ireland), the residence of the Duke, for the purpose of obtaining from him an authorized statement regarding Dr. Jameson’s action. His Grace said: “You will distinctly understand that as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the British South Africa Company I cannot make any official statement, but any information at my disposal which the public should know I have no objection to give you.” The Duke, who looked somewhat ill, then went on to say that he regretted very much that he had not been able to attend the meeting of the Board in London on Thursday, owing to a severe chill. Had it been at all possible for him to have journeyed to London he would certainly not have spared himself. That was one of the disadvantages of residing in Ireland.

The Board, his Grace continued, had no hint whatever of anything of the sort taking place such as had happened. The Board and Dr. Jameson had been in regular communication every week, and in no way did their administrator indicate, either in letter or telegram to any of the officials in London or to the Directors, that the step he had taken was even remotely in contemplation. In fact, the news came like a thunderclap. When it was definitely ascertained that the news was true, telegrams were sent to Dr. Jameson directing him immediately to withdraw. “But it is quite evident,” he continued, “these did not reach him, because no reply has come back to London. The fact of Dr. Jameson not having replied might have arisen from the wires having been cut, as has been stated. Of this, however, I am firmly convinced until it is proved to the contrary, that the cutting of the telegraph wires is not one of those things that Dr. Jameson would, under ordinary circumstances, feel disposed to do. Dr. Jameson is a man of great pluck and commanding energy, yet, withal, a shrewd, long-headed Scotchman—in fact, one of those men who would think twice before making any important move. When I was in South Africa last year,” added His Grace, “I was greatly struck with his more than ordinary shrewdness and ability. He is an Edinburgh University man, his father being Writer to the Signet, and, all things considered, he is not the man to do what most people consider a rash thing.” As to the statement that Dr. Jameson had previously severed his connection with the Company, he said: “The Board had no knowledge of such a step having been taken. Most of the statements in circulation at the present time must be received with a large grain of salt.” One thing regarding which the public could be assured was, so far as the Board was concerned, Dr. Jameson had neither encouragement, suggestion, nor authority from the Directorate or the Company’s officials to do what he did. However, it would be only fair to Dr. Jameson and to the Company if the public suspended judgment regarding the matter until a full explanation was forthcoming from the Company’s Administrator and other officials in South Africa. All men were, of course, fallible, and Jameson might have blundered, but at the same time the Duke believed that the Board would not pass judgment upon him until after the fullest investigation had taken place into all the circumstances of such an inexplicable affair. When matters had quieted down, a satisfactory explanation would probably be forthcoming, and it would be seen that the Chartered Company had not been responsible for what had happened. The Company had no quarrel with President Kruger or the Boer people, and they were sincerely sorry that anything should have occurred to disturb the friendship between the Transvaal and England. “As,” continued the Duke, “my health does not permit me to cross over to London, I am anxious that anything I have said should be regarded as altogether unofficial, because I cannot really say what may be taking place or the exact character of the information which my co-Directors may have received from Africa. It may be that what I have stated will not bear out the exact facts of the case, but of this you may rest assured, as I have already stated, that the Board knew nothing of any plot or scheme, knew nothing of any contemplated action such as Dr. Jameson appears to have taken, and that in what he has done he has acted solely on his own responsibility, and in direct opposition to the South African Convention. I thoroughly approve of the action taken at the meeting of the Board, and have the utmost confidence that in whatever other steps they may take, they will do what is right, and hold the balance evenly between all parties.”

The Duke of Abercorn, although still in poor health, left Baronscourt for London on Friday, immediately on receipt of the serious news from the Transvaal respecting the defeat of Dr. Jameson’s force.

CONSUL-GENERAL, ORANGE FREE STATE

Sir William Dunn, M.P., Consul-General in London for the Orange Free State, and whose firm has extensive business connections all over the Transvaal, was interviewed by a representative of the Press Association. In reply to questions he said:--“I have this afternoon had somewhat exceptional opportunities of meeting influential South Africans in London and gauging their opinion upon the present crisis, but most of them feel like myself that it is somewhat premature to pronounce dogmatically until we have more authentic information as to the contradictory telegrams and rumours now current. Being personally familiar with the ground, one thing which strikes me as somewhat strange is that Dr. Jameson should have chosen to pass from Bechuanaland towards Johannesburg by way of Rustenburg, for in that locality he must have known he was sure to encounter a larger proportion of Boers than in most other parts of the Transvaal. Indeed, he might have chosen a route on which along a greater part of its length he might have entirely avoided contact with civilization. Dr. Jameson himself is known to me to be such a cautious Scotchman that when the first news of his movement was published I concluded that if he had taken a step across the border he would not go further than that he could step back again before any serious consequences ensued. What has actually occurred is, therefore, a painful surprise to me and to all others who know him, and we find it hard to believe that there can be foundation for some of the stories which have been circulated with regard to the motives, and indeed with regard also to the fate of his expedition. As some telegrams received about the killed and wounded have come through Boer sources, it may be well to receive them for the present with caution, and for more authentic details we must no doubt possess our souls in patience.” Asked with reference to the probable commercial effects of the present crisis, Sir William said: “I have been carefully considering whether my firm should discontinue shipments of large orders which they have at present on hand for South Africa, but reviewing all the circumstances and their probably outcome, I have this afternoon sent a message to my house in South Africa stating that as things will probably have resumed their normal state within ten days or a fortnight from the present time, we are executing our orders as formerly.” In reply to a question as to whether he thought recent events would hinder the concession of the political demands of the uitlanders. Sir William said: --“I do not submit that there will be any serious or prolonged delay on that account alone, although President Kruger admits finding a difficulty in granting even such concessions as he is most disposed to make. There is reason to hope that Sir Hercules Robinson, with the support of the Colonial Office, will be able to obtain from President Kruger some concession of the reasonable demands of those who form the majority of the population, and who provide the greater part of its revenue.”

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY

There seems (says the Law Journal) to have been some misapprehension as to the exact degree of responsibility resting on the Imperial Government for the action of Dr. Jameson in crossing the Transvaal border. There can be no real doubt that the Government is internationally responsible for the acts of its Commissioner, however promptly these acts may have been countermanded and reversed. Any other rule of international intercourse would be liable to the gravest abuse, as it might well be convenient for a Government to secretly authorize acts which afterwards could be in form repudiated, while consequences of such acts had already passed in the region of faits accomplis. We say this, of course, without expressing any judgment as to the wisdom or the reverse of Dr. Jameson’s action or of the Colonial Office. Every Government whose subordinate has blundered, either through excess of zeal or otherwise, is under the most complete responsibility to foreign nations, a responsibility which makes compensation necessary if any breach of international right has been committed.

MR. ARCHIBALD PARKER

A Press representative saw Mr. Parker, of Messrs. Parker and Wood, the large firm of South African merchants and exporters. He did not believe that there was any foundation for the stories to the effect that the uitlanders had been secretly furnished with arms in view of Dr. Jameson’s advance. One story was that a number of rifles had been sent in boilers. His own firm had been sending out boilers and other machinery, but these goods certainly contained no arms whatever. In reply to further questions, Mr. Parker, speaking under reserve, said he feared that what had occurred might to some extent, interfere with the progress and development of trade in the Transvaal for a short time, but he believed that ultimately, and he hoped before long, confidence would be restored. With regard to the political effect of the present crisis, it was, he thought, possible that for a time the younger Boers might make themselves somewhat more unpleasant than hitherto to the uitlanders. This might not occur so much in Johannesburg, where the settlers were in so large a majority, but more probably in some of the outlying districts. Before any news had been received as to the fate of Jameson’s expedition, and, indeed, so soon as they heard that it was started, City men connected with South Africa whom he had met were expressing not only surprise but great regret that so rash an enterprise should have been gratuitously undertaken, and of course their regret was not lessened by the fate to which Dr. Jameson’s force had apparently succumbed.

MR. MONTAGU WHITE

In a further interview on Friday night, Mr. Montagu White stated that he was still without any details of the conflict near Johannesburg. He added:--“It seems a little premature to talk about redressing grievances. Successive Ministries have repudiated in both Houses of Parliament any right of interference in the internal administration of the Republic. I repeat that on December 18 my Government, after due inquiry, assured me that there was no cause for uneasiness in the state of feeling in Johannesburg, and though some of the newspapers, both here and in Cape Town, seem to have been preparing the public mind in the expectation that the patience of the new population was at an end, the news about the present attitude of Johannesburg belies that statement. Let any constitutional questions be decided in the South African Republic itself. But this is not the time, as I said, to talk of redressing grievances. The first and obvious duty is to have a searching investigation to find out who were at the bottom of this business, and are responsible for it.”

MR. MATHERS

Mr. Mathers said, in a second interview with a representative of the Press Association:--

“I am more and more convinced that the reason for Dr. Jameson’s entrance to the Transvaal was a good one, and I shall certainly wait for very much more definite news than has yet come to hand before I join in a chorus of condemnation of what was most probably an act of splendid gallantry, even if it failed. For the moment all the usual sources of information from the Transvaal appear to be completely closed by the Boers, or the information dispatched thence is subject to a severe scrutiny and partisan censorship by the Transvaal Government officials. Until there is a free outlet along the telegraph wires it is in the last degree unmanly and un-English to condemn Jameson because misfortune overtook him. The main factor for forming an opinion of Dr. Jameson’s action is still absent—namely, the reason which prompted him to take 700 men practically at a hard gallop 150 miles across the country. It is impossible to credit that this reason was other than one of paramount gravity. Dr. Jameson has had no fighting with the Boers, as we understand fighting between two military bodies. We shall find, most probably, that, misguided though he might have been, his errand was one of peace and protection for life in Johannesburg. I shall not be surprised to ultimately hear that, misguided in that event, he was practically taking a body of police to Johannesburg—a body which should have been welcomed by the Government rather than fired upon. I waive the whole question of whether Dr. Jameson was committing an act of war. He committed no more an act of war than the uitlanders committed an overt act of rebellion in asking him to come into the country to their aid. If Dr. Jameson extended his 700 men in fighting order, he gave a much better account of himself than the Boers have permitted us to hear. If he did not extend his men in fighting order, I can only account for the loss of life by the Boers firing upon the party through some momentary misunderstanding.”

Mr. J. B. ROBINSON

In order to ascertain Mr. Robinson’s views on the present position in the Transvaal, an Exchange Telegraph Company’s representative called upon him yesterday at the offices of the bank in Prince’s Street. Mr. Robinson said:--“Some ten days ago I received telegrams from my representatives in Johannesburg giving me the exact position, and stating that he had been informed that there was an armed force in Bechuanaland, which intended to support the action of the uitlanders. I could not believe, however, that an armed force of the Chartered Company would invade Transvaal territory, but I immediately dispatched the following cable to my representative:--“I regret armed force is contemplated against Transvaal Government. Feel sure constitutional methods must succeed. To have burghers and uitlanders arrayed against one another in civil warfare would be a great calamity, result impossible to foresee. It must raise bitter feelings, and estrange people throughout South Africa. Use your best endeavours to pacify until my arrival.’ I also dispatched (Mr. Robinson said) the following cable to President Kruger on the same day:--‘I deeply regret to hear of trouble amongst inhabitants of country, and deprecate as great calamity measures other than constitutional. Sincerely trust matters will be amicably arranged. I leave on January 4 for Transvaal.’ On December 31 I again telegraphed to the President:--‘I beg you as a friend of your country to use your influence to prevent bloodshed, which would be a serious calamity, and would bring about a state of things inimical to the whole of South Africa.’ I feel sure that matters will be amicably arranged, and that Sir Hercules Robinson’s visit to Pretoria will meet with the general assent of the President and the people. I believe that Sir Hercules will be able to restore order, and that the uitlanders, through him, will be able to convince the Transvaal Government that their cause must be listened to and redress given, so as to make them peaceful and contented citizens of the South African Republic. There is no doubt that the Imperial Government is doing its utmost to bring about a settlement on fair and equitable lines, and that the Transvaal Government will realize how necessary it is that the uitlanders’ grievances should be redressed, and that they should be dealt with in a proper spirit.”

SIR CHARLES DILKE

A representative of the Central News called upon Sir Charles Dilke, more particularly in reference to Germany’s attitude in the present South African crisis. He expressed the opinion that the interest which Germany is now showing in the events that are transpiring in the Transvaal was not an evidence of positive unfriendliness towards Great Britain, but a material result of the trading relations which the Germans had with the Transvaal, and of the knowledge that there are a fair number of Germans resident there. It was further due to interests of a similar character which Germany has with South Africa generally, which interests must necessarily be disturbed by serious political and civil complications like the present. With regard to the suggestion that the Emperor’s telegram gave colour to a suggestion that a secret understanding existed between Germany and the Transvaal, he replied that his observation led him into a disbelief of anything of the kind, and he remarked very decidedly that of course there could be nothing of the nature of a secret treaty. Under the Convention with Great Britain, the Transvaal was precluded from making any treaty whatever with an external Power. She could no more make such a treaty with Germany than Afghanistan could make a treaty with Russia. This was not a mere matter of opinion on his part. It was a matter of fact. The impossibility of the Transvaal having external relations of its own was completely acknowledged by the Transvaal Government. It had never been disputed. “Apart from your specific inquiry as to the relations of the Boer Government with Germany, I may say,” went on Sir Charles, “that I have seen no signs of a desire on the part of the Boers to repudiate our sovereignty. On the contrary, at the recent opening of the railways, when Sir Hercules Robinson went out there, the speeches at the public meetings, and, as is well known, everything said at the private meetings between President Kruger and Sir Hercules Robinson, were most friendly, and indicated the intention of adhering to the international engagements of the Convention. The present attitude of the Boers is no doubt due to a belief on their part that there has been a plot to destroy their domestic independence. Labouring under this belief, they have naturally looked for help to every quarter from which they could hope to get it, more especially from Germany. As bearing upon this question, I attach great importance to the statement published in this day’s newspapers of the Consul-General in London for the South African Republic. I have no doubt that it is a perfectly honest statement. Clearly the Boers think there has been a plot to annex them.”

“As to the situation generally,” continued Sir Charles, “I think it is a most dangerous situation. But in what I am saying I recognize that it is always well to try to be fair all round. You are then more likely to arrive at a settlement. We have to face this state of things—that the Transvaal have apparently all along accepted their situation towards us, that on the last occasion when they had an opportunity of giving expression to their view that expression was freely and fully given by President Kruger himself in a friendly sense. No one can object more than I do to certain features of their rule. I have written very strongly with regard to the Second Chamber, their franchise laws, and the failure of antiquated institutions which they keep up, and also with regard to their treatment of natives. But that is no reason for being unfair to them. They have been willing to keep to the terms of the Convention and our present attitude towards them should be based on an adequate recognition of that fact. Of course, the whole of this Jameson business will have to be the subject of a full inquiry. I have already stated that I think it inconceivable that Dr. Jameson should have mustered his forces without orders from somebody. I don’t think that we have a sufficient knowledge of facts to go further at present. What the nature of the inquiry will be it may be premature to say. Dr. Jameson might be tried by President Kruger or handed over to us. He has committed a grave offence against the laws of the South African Republic, and of the British Crown as well.”

“Might there not ultimately be an inquiry by Royal Commission?”

“I cannot say. Much would depend on how far the facts that lie behind the personal action of Dr. Jameson were revealed by the court-martial. In some form or other there would have to be a complete inquiry into all the facts.”

MR. JAMES BRYCE, M.P.

The following expression of his views has been telegraphed by the Right Hon. James Bryce, M.P., to the London correspondent of the Neues Wiener Tagblatt:--

“Should think present news very imperfect, if not unreliable; cannot express opinion until facts better ascertained. Jameson’s character and career so generally respected in South Africa that judgment ought to be suspended. Feel sure Cecil Rhodes not cognizant. Believe conciliatory counsels will prevail.—BRYCE.”

SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING

As Saturday advanced towards noon the public at last began to get news from the Transvaal, and it at once confirmed the gravest fears as to the sanguinary character of the engagement between Dr. Jameson’s forces and the Boers.

THE BATTLES NEAR KRUGERSDORP

STUBBORN AND GALLANT FIGHTS, BUT JAMESON’S FORCE OVERWHELMED BY NUMBERS

HIS LOSS ESTIMATED AT 80 KILLED AND 30 WOUNDED

JAMESON, WHITE, AND WILLOUGHBY IN PRETORIA GAOL

The following was the first message given to the Press by Mr. Chamberlain:--

SIR HERCULES ROBINSON TO MR. CHAMBERLAIN

January 3, 5.00 p.m.

I have received following from De Wet:--

“Your Excellency’s telegram just received. Everything quiet now, and no further serious disturbances will occur.

“ A deputation from Johannesburg Reform Committee came over last evening, giving a guarantee to keep peace and order.

“I waited on President Kruger and informed him of the guarantee.

“He gave me an assurance that pending your Excellency’s arrival, if the Johannesburg people keep quiet and commit no hostile acts, or in any way break the laws of the country, Johannesburg will not be molested or surrounded by the burgher forces.

“The deputation was highly grateful for this assurance of His Honour, and pledged the Committee to preserve peace and order.

“I wired the assurance to the Committee, and I take this early opportunity of testifying in the strongest manner to the great moderation and forbearance of the Government of the South African Republic under the exceptionally trying circumstances. Their attitude towards myself was everything I could wish.

“The prisoners have just arrived.

“Casualties on their side are said to be severe; on the side of the burghers very slight.

“ROBINSON”

Sir H. Robinson’s message was put on the wires at Victoria West.

The following official telegram was received by Mr. Chamberlain at the Colonial Office from Sir Hercules Robinson at 12:10 on Saturday:--

SIR H. ROBINSON TO MR. CHAMBERLAIN

January 3

Following just received from British Agent:--

“Wounded of Jameson’s force, over 30.

“All at Krugersdorp, attended by doctors and receiving attention, but names and particulars and nature of wounds cannot be given by Government.

“The number of killed estimated at 70 odd, but no authentic information can be obtained.

“Bodies are still being picked up on the battle-field and buried.

“Johannesburg Reform Committee pledged to keep peace and order.

“Understand it is stated in Cape Town papers that Jameson, White, and Willoughby have been lodged in Pretoria Gaol, and that Gray and Coventry were wounded.

“Also stated that prisoners number about 500.

“(Signed) ROBINSON”

From Naauw Poort Junction

The following further dispatch was received at the Colonial Office on Saturday afternoon from the Government officials at Cape Town:--

“Your telegrams yesterday and today.

“Battle was fought at Krugersdorp

“Following details in local Press telegrams:

“There is now no room for doubt that Jameson surrendered to the Boer forces.

“This took place about two o’clock this afternoon (January 2), after Jameson had lost no fewer than 28 men.

“The battle lasted from three in the afternoon until eleven at night.

“Jameson made three principal attacks, and the men distinguished themselves with great gallantry.

“Position taken up was right-angled position, and Boers attacked in the re-entering angle, thus having the fire both in front and on flank.

“Boers much superior in numbers to Jameson’s column, and position unassailable.

“Jameson, with 550 men, taken into Krugersdorp as prisoners, and afterwards sent to Pretoria.

“Jameson is not wounded.

“The Cape Times further states that 80 of the Chartered forces were killed.

“Amongst the killed are Lamb, Davis, Hennessy, Foster, and Ostler.

“Wounded: Major Gray, Major Coventry, McCracken, McLaughlin, Drayer, Mostyn, Den, Fraser, Hays, Pattison, Cozalett, Brook, Edgecombe, McTivy, Fannary, Barnes, Standard, Ewing.

“Further stated in Press that Johannesburg is quieting down and people disarming.

“Your cables only received here this morning, and have been forwarded on to High Commissioner

“(Signed) Officer-in-Charge, Government House.”

WHAT WE HAD LEARNT BY MONDAY

EXCHANGE OF FRIENDLY MESSAGES BETWEEN MR. CHAMBERLAIN AND PRESIDENT KRUGER

MORE ABOUT THE FIGHTING

By Monday last the news which had arrived from South Africa in consequence of the partial relief of the blocked condition of the cable permitted of the construction of something like a continuous narrative of the events of the past week. The narrative lacked the main point of interest for which the public waited with keen anxiety, and gave no hint that might serve to elucidate the motive of the still up to that time absolutely incomprehensible action of Dr. Jameson and the force that followed him to Krugersdorp. That he of all men in South Africa should have led a force under his command to commit a wanton aggression by carrying war in time of peace over a friendly frontier remained a mystery of which any conceivable solution was still left as far off as ever. The unanimous opinion of his friends remained unshaken that some extraordinary misunderstanding had yet to be revealed which, if it did not excuse, would at least throw some light of explanation on his conduct. The story, so far as it had been received, dealt with the consequ