The second visit of Mr. Kruger to Johannesburg was the famous one of

1890, when the collapse of the share market and the apparent failure

of many of the mines left a thriftless and gambling community wholly

ruined and half starving, unable to bear the burden which the State

imposed, almost wholly unappreciative of the possibilities of the

Main Reef, and ignorant of what to do to create an industry and

restore prosperity. This, at least, the community did understand,

that they were horribly overtaxed; that those things which might be

their salvation, and are necessary conditions for industrial

prosperity--railways, cheap living, consistent and fair

government--were not theirs. The President visited Johannesburg with

the object of giving the assurance that railways would be built. He

addressed a crowd of many thousands of people from a platform at the

Wanderers' Club pavilion. He did not conceal his suspicions of the

people, and his attempts to conceal his dislike were transparent and

instantly detected, the result being that there was no harmony

between his Honour and the people of Johannesburg. Later in the

evening the crowd, which had hourly become larger and more and more

excited and dissatisfied, surrounded the house which the President

was occupying, and, without desire to effect any violence, but by

simple pressure of numbers, swept in the railings and pillars which

enclosed the house. Most fortunately the Chief of Police had

withdrawn all the Boer members of the force, and the crowd, to their

surprise, were held back by Colonial, English, and Irish 'bobbies.'

This was probably the only thing that prevented a very serious

culmination. As it was, some excited individuals pulled down the

Transvaal flag from the Government buildings, tore it in shreds and

trampled it under foot. The incident should have been ignored under

the exceptionally trying conditions of the time, but the Government

determined to make much of it. Some arrests were effected, and men

thrown into prison. Bail was refused; in fact, 'martyrs' were made,

and the incident became indelibly stamped on the memory of both Boer

and Uitlander. The President vowed that he would never visit the

place again, and without doubt made use of his experience to

consolidate the feeling of his burghers against the Uitlanders.

At a meeting of burghers several months after this incident, he

referred to the agitation and constant complaining of the Uitlanders,

and stated that they had only themselves to thank for all their

troubles, and yet they would blame the Government. He then proceeded

to entertain his hearers with one of the inevitable illustrations

from life in the lower animal kingdom. 'They remind me,' said his

Honour, 'of the old baboon that is chained up in my yard. When he

burnt his tail in the Kaffir's fire the other day, he jumped round

and bit me, and that just after I had been feeding him.' For five

years Mr. Kruger was as good as his word. He would not even pass

through Johannesburg when convenience suggested his doing so, but

made circuits by road to avoid the place of detestation. It was on

one of these visits to Krugersdorp, a township within the

Witwatersrand Fields, twenty miles from Johannesburg, that the

President, appreciating the fact that besides his beloved burghers

there might, owing to the proximity of the fields, be some

unregenerate aliens present, commenced his address as follows:

'Burghers, friends, thieves, murderers, newcomers, and others.' This

was not ill-judged and laborious humour; it was said in absolute

earnest. The references were repeated at various intervals in the

address and here explained by allusions to the Scriptures and to the

all-merciful God through Whom even the worst might hope to be

redeemed, the inference clearly being that even the Uitlander, by the

grace of God (and, no doubt, Mr. Kruger), might hope in time to

approach the fitness of the burgher.

In the meantime another affair occurred, which revived much of the

old feeling expressed at the time of the flag affair. War was

declared against Malaboch, a native chief with a following of a few

hundreds, who had, it was alleged, refused to pay his taxes. Such

wars are of frequent occurrence in the Transvaal, the reasons

assigned being usually some failure to pay taxes or to submit to the

discipline of the native Commissioners. In this case British subjects

were commandeered--that is, requisitioned to fight or to find in

money or in kind some contribution to the carrying on of the war. It

was felt that the position of the Republic did not warrant at that

time a resort to commandeering, a measure which no doubt was

necessary in the early days when the Republic had no cash; but with a

declared surplus of about £1,000,000 in the Treasury, it was deemed

to be an uncivilized and wholly unnecessary measure, and one capable

of the grossest abuse, to permit men of inferior intelligence and

training, and of no education, such as the Field-cornets are, to

use their discretion in levying contributions upon individuals. The

Uitlanders were especially sensible of the injustice done to them.

They had been definitely refused all voice in the affairs of the

State, and they already contributed nine-tenths of the revenue. They

received in return an infinitesimal portion in the shape of civil

administration and public works, and they were distinctly not in

the humour to be placed at the mercy of Boer officials, who would

undoubtedly mulct them and spare the burghers. Protests were made;

and five of the men commandeered in Pretoria, having point-blank

refused to comply with the orders, were placed under arrest. The High

Commissioner, Sir Henry (now Lord) Loch, was appealed to, and, acting

on instructions from the Imperial Government, immediately proceeded

to Pretoria. The excitement was intense. In Johannesburg a number of

men were prepared to make a dash on Pretoria to effect the forcible

release of the prisoners, and had any steps been taken to enforce the

commandeering law within the Witwatersrand district, without doubt a

collision would have taken place. The supply of arms in the town was,

it is true, wholly inadequate for any resistance to the Boers, but in

the excitement of the time this was not considered.

Sir Henry Loch's visit had the effect of suspending all action; but

the opinion in Pretoria was that should the High Commissioner proceed

to Johannesburg there would be such an outburst of feeling that no

one could foresee the results. Every effort was made to prevent him

from going. Among other steps taken by the President was that of

sending over for the President of the Chamber of Mines, Mr. Lionel

Phillips, and requesting him, if he had the interests of the State

and the welfare of the community at heart, to use his influence to

dissuade the High Commissioner from visiting the town in its then

excited state. Sir Henry Loch, in deference to the opinion expressed

on all sides, agreed not to visit Johannesburg, but to receive

deputations from Johannesburg people at his hotel in Pretoria. The

High Commissioner's visit was successful. The Government agreed to

absolve British subjects from the operation of the Commando Law; but

the men who had been arrested and already sent under guard to the

front were allowed to proceed and receive their discharge at the

scene of war, and were compelled to find their own way back,

receiving no consideration or compensation for the treatment to which

they had been subjected. In this respect it is difficult to say that

Sir Henry Loch achieved all that might have been expected from him.

Possibly, to insist on more than he did would have left President

Kruger no alternative but to refuse at all risks. The Volksraad being

then in session, there may have been some diplomatic reasons for not

pressing matters too hard.

A trivial incident occurred which once more excited bad party

feeling. The High Commissioner was met at the railway-station by the

President in his carriage. The enthusiastic crowd of British subjects

shouldered aside the escorts provided by the Government, took the

horses from the carriage, and drew it down to the hotel. In the

course of the journey an individual mounted the box-seat of the

carriage with the Union Jack fastened on a bamboo, and in the

excitement of the moment allowed the folds of England's flag to

gather round the President. His Honour rose very excitedly and struck

at the flag with his walking-stick; but in blissful ignorance of what

was going on behind him the standard-bearer continued to flip his

Honour with the flag until the hotel was reached. There it was

understood that the President would leave the carriage with the High

Commissioner, and under this misapprehension those who had drawn

the carriage down left their posts and joined the cheering crowd

the carriage with neither horses nor men to move him, and there he

was obliged to wait until a number of burghers were called up,

who drew his Honour off to his own house. The affair was wholly

unpremeditated and almost unobserved at the time, but it was

unfortunately construed by the President as a deliberate insult,

and it increased, if possible, his dislike for the Uitlander.

The difficulty of dealing with a man of Mr. Kruger's nature and

training was further illustrated by another occurrence in these

negotiations. During a meeting between the President and the High

Commissioner in the presence of their respective staffs the former

became very excited and proceeded to speak his mind very openly to

his friends, referring freely to certain matters which it was

undesirable to mention in the presence of the British party. Mr.

Ewald Esselen, the late State Attorney, wrote in Dutch in a very

large round schoolboy hand, 'Be careful! There is an interpreter

present,' and handed the slip of paper to the President. The latter

stopped abruptly, looked at the slip of paper, first one way and then

another, and after a long pause threw it on the table saying, 'Ewald,

what does this mean? What do you _write_ things to me for? Why don't

you _speak_ so that one can understand?'

Early in 1895 efforts were made by the Dutch officials in

Johannesburg and a number of private individuals to induce the

President to visit the place again, when it was thought that a better

reception would be accorded him than that which he had experienced on

his visit in 1890. Mr. Kruger steadily refused for some time, but was

eventually persuaded to open in person the first agricultural show

held on the Witwatersrand. Every precaution was taken to insure him a

good welcome, or, at least, to avoid any of those signs which would

indicate that Johannesburg likes President Kruger no more than he

likes Johannesburg; and even those who were most conscious of the

President's malign influence did all in their power to make the visit

a success, believing themselves to be in duty bound to make any

effort, even at the sacrifice of personal sympathies and opinions, to

turn the current of feeling and to work for a peaceful settlement of

the difficulties which unfortunately seemed to be thickening all

round. The event passed off without a hitch. It would be too much to

say that great enthusiasm prevailed; but, at least, a respectful, and

at times even cordial, greeting was accorded to the President, and

his address in the agricultural show grounds was particularly well

received. The President returned to Pretoria that night and was asked

what he thought of the affair: 'Did he not consider it an _amende_

for what had happened five years before? And was he not convinced

from personal observation that the people of Johannesburg were loyal,

law-abiding, and respectful to the head of the Government under which

they lived?' Mr. Kruger's reply in the vernacular is unprintable; but

the polite equivalent is, 'Ugh! A pack of lick-spittles.' In spite of

a subsequent promulgation it seems clear that there is no 'forget and

forgive' in his Honour's attitude towards Johannesburg. The result of

this interview became known and naturally created a very bad

impression.

During his second term of office Mr. Kruger lost much of his personal

popularity and influence with the Boers, and incurred bitter

opposition on account of his policy of favouring members of his own

clique, of granting concessions, and of cultivating the Hollander

faction and allowing it to dominate the State.

Outside the Transvaal Mr. Kruger has the reputation of being free

from the taint of corruption from which so many of his colleagues

suffer. Yet within the Republic and among his own people one of the

gravest of the charges levelled against him is that by his example

and connivance he has made himself responsible for much of the

plundering that goes on. There are numbers of cases in which the

President's nearest relatives have been proved to be concerned in the

most flagrant jobs, only to be screened by his influence; such cases,

for instance, as that of the Vaal River Water Supply Concession, in

which Mr. Kruger's son-in-law 'hawked' about for the highest bid the

vote of the Executive Council on a matter which had not yet come

before it, and, moreover, sold and duly delivered the aforesaid vote.

There is the famous libel case in which Mr. Eugene Marais, the editor

of the Dutch paper _Land en Volk_, successfully sustained his

allegation that the President had defrauded the State by charging

heavy travelling expenses for a certain trip on which he was actually

the guest of the Cape Colonial Government.{12}

The party in opposition to President Kruger, with General Joubert at

its head, might, for purposes of nomenclature, be called the

Progressive Party. It was really led by Mr. Ewald Esselen, a

highly-educated South African, born in the Cape Colony of German

parentage, educated in Edinburgh, and practising as a barrister at

the Pretoria Bar. Mr. Esselen was a medical student at the time of

the Boer War of Independence, and having then as he still has

enthusiastic Boer sympathies, volunteered for medical service during

the war. He subsequently became attached to the President's staff,

and finally, on completing his legal education, was appointed Judge

of the High Court in the Transvaal. Relinquishing his seat on the

Bench after some years of honourable service he returned to the Bar,

and became an active factor in politics. Mr. Esselen, from being the

closest personal adherent of Mr. Kruger, became for a time his most

formidable opponent and his most dreaded critic. A campaign was

organized for the presidential election and feeling ran extremely

high. To such lengths, indeed, did the Boer partisans go that for

some months the possibility of a resort to arms for the settlement of

their differences was freely discussed by both parties. The election

took place in 1893, and at the same time elections of members for the

First Volksraad were in progress. Mr. Kruger made masterly use of his

position in office and of his authority over the officials appointed

during his _régime_, and for the time being he converted the Civil

Service of the country into an election organization. Not even the

enemies of the President will deny that he is both a practised

diplomat and a determined fighter. By his energy, intrigue, personal

influence, and intense determination, he not only compelled his party

to the highest effort, but to a large extent broke the spirit of the

opposition before the real struggle began. There are two stages in

the Presidential election at which a fight can under certain

circumstances be made. There were certainly two stages in this

election. The first is at the polls; the second is in the Volksraad,

when objections have to be lodged against candidates and a

commission of investigation appointed, and the steps necessary for

the installation of the new President have to be discussed. Mr.

Kruger and his party took ample precautions. It has been stated

openly and without contradiction, and is accepted in the Transvaal as

an unquestionable fact, that at least three properly elected members

of the Volksraad were 'jockeyed' out of their seats because they were

known to have leanings towards General Joubert. A number of his

supporters among the prominent officials of the Civil Service were

disfranchised by the action of President Kruger because they had

favoured his rival. In a country where the matters of Government

have been so loosely conducted it is no doubt fairly easy to find

flaws, and the President experienced no difficulty in establishing

sufficient case against General Joubert's supporters to satisfy the

persons appointed by him to investigate matters. On various pretexts

newly-elected members were debarred from taking their seats. In one

case, a strong supporter of General Joubert, who was returned by a

majority of something like six to one, was kept out of his seat

by the mere lodging of an objection by his opponent, the former

representative of the constituency; there being a provision in the

law that objections with regard to elections shall be heard by the

Volksraad, and that, pending the return of a new member, the member

last elected for the constituency shall continue to represent it.

That the objection lodged in this case was ridiculous in the extreme

had no bearing on the immediate result. The President, with admirable

gravity, said, 'The law provides that all objections must be heard by

the Volksraad, and that pending the decision the old member (a

strenuous supporter of his Honour) shall retain his seat; and before

all things we must support the law.' In the case of Mr. Esselen, who

was elected member for Potchefstroom, the most flagrant abuses were

proved to have been committed by the polling officer, the landdrost,

dead and absent men having (according to him) rolled up freely to

vote for the Krugerite candidate. Numbers of Mr. Esselen's supporters

were disqualified on various pretexts, and the voting being conducted

openly the moral suasion and close supervision of the official

(Krugerite) party were very effective. Mr. Esselen was declared to

have lost his seat by seven votes. Scrutinies were demanded and

objections lodged, but without avail. The tactics above indicated

were pursued in every case. The old Volksraad having been filled with

Mr. Kruger's creatures, it was, of course, his interest to support

the return of old members. He was thus enabled by the law above

quoted to retain an old member in the Volksraad pending the decision

in a case of dispute. Mr. Esselen's defeat was a crushing blow to the

Joubert party, as the want of a leader in the House itself completely

demoralized the General's followers. The election for President

proceeded, and General Joubert was, without any doubt whatever,

elected by a very considerable majority. The tactics already

described were again followed, and the result was announced as:

Kruger, 7,881; Joubert, 7,009. Objections were lodged by General

Joubert, but, deprived of the services of Mr. Esselen in the First

Raad, and overawed by the fierce determination of his opponent, the

General, finding himself in for a struggle, lost heart as usual and

collapsed.

The difference between the two men is remarkable. Mr. Kruger, to his

credit be it said, has not the remotest conception of the meaning of

fear, and would not know how to begin to give in. Mr. Joubert, 'Slim

(sly) Piet,' as he is called, possessing a considerable share of the

real Africander cunning, is yet no match for his rival in diplomacy,

and has none of his grit and courage. In later years this has been

proved a score of times, and it is, therefore, the more interesting

to recall that at the time of the annexation General Joubert refused

to compromise his principles by taking office under Shepstone, whilst

Mr. Kruger was not so staunch; and both before and during the war

General Joubert refused to accept less than what he considered to be

his rights, and steadily and frequently proclaimed his readiness to

fight whilst Mr. Kruger was diplomatizing.

The Commission appointed by the Raad to investigate matters was

constituted chiefly of Mr. Kruger's supporters, and the result was a

foregone conclusion. They confirmed the result of the election as

declared; and Mr. Kruger, with the grim humour which upon occasions

distinguishes him, seeing an opportunity for inexpensive magnanimity

which would gratify himself and be approved by everyone--except

the recipients--appointed the most prominent supporters of his rival

in the Volksraad to be the official deputation to welcome the new

President.

The President did not neglect those who had stood by him in his hour

of need. Mr. Kock, landdrost and polling-officer of Potchefstroom,

who had deserved well of his patron, if for nothing more than the

overthrow of Mr. Esselen, was appointed member of the Executive to

fill a position created purposely for him. The membership of the

Executive is expressly defined by the Grondwet; but his Honour is not

trammelled by such considerations. He created the position of Minute

Keeper to the Executive with a handsome salary and a right to vote,

and bestowed this upon his worthy henchman.

The Executive Council thus constituted consisted of six members; and

here again the President contrived to kill two birds with one stone,

the expression of his gratitude being by no means unprofitable. After

so bitter a struggle and the resort to such extreme measures as he

had been obliged to use, he anticipated no little opposition even

within the inner circle, and, in any case, he as usual deemed it wise

to provide against all contingencies. Dr. Leyds' vote he knew he

could count on, the interests of the party which the State Secretary

represents being such that they are obliged to work with Mr. Kruger.

The appointment, therefore, of Mr. Kock gave his Honour one half of

the Executive, and the casting-vote which pertains to his office

turned the scale in his favour. Whatever, therefore, might be his

troubles with the Volksraad when, by process of justice, reform, or

death his adherents should be gradually removed from that Chamber,

his position was, humanly speaking, assured in the Executive Council

for the term of his office.

The opposition to Mr. Kock's appointment was extremely strong,

culminating in the formulation of charges of theft against him by Mr.

Eugene Marais, the spirited editor of the leading Dutch paper, _Land

en Volk_. The charge alleged against Mr. Kock was that during his

term of office as landdrost at Potchefstroom he had appropriated the

telegraph-wires in order to fence his own farm. Feeling ran so high

ordinary courts was not permitted, but a Special Commissioner, one

not qualified by legal experience or official position to preside in

such a case, was selected. By a positively ludicrous exercise of

discretion in the matter of admission of evidence Mr. Kock was

cleared. Mr. Marais, nothing daunted, continued his exposures,

challenging that action should be taken against himself for libel,

and finally producing photographs taken by competent witnesses

showing the _corpus delicti in situ_. The President and Mr. Kock were

not to be drawn, however, and, secure in their newly-acquired

positions, they declined the offer of battle and rested on their

laurels.

For some time the Opposition, now called the Progressive Party, was

completely demoralized, and it was not until the following year that

individuals again endeavoured to give cohesion to the party. Appeals

were made by them to prominent individuals and firms associated with

the mining industry for financial support in the manner in which it

is contributed in England for electioneering purposes. A determined

and well-sustained effort was made to educate Boer opinion to better

things, and to bring such influence to bear on the electorate as

would result in the return of a better class of men to the Volksraad.

Newspapers conducted with this end in view were circulated throughout

the country, and when the elections for the Volksraad took place,

specially qualified agents were sent to ascertain the feeling of the

districts, and to work up an opposition to the existing methods of

Government. In every case endeavours were made to select a popular

resident within a district of more enlightened views and higher

character than his fellows. A good many thousand pounds were

contributed and expended for this purpose. Absolutely no stipulation

was made by the contributors to this fund, except that the aim should

be for honest and decent government. The funds were placed

unreservedly in the hands of well-known and highly respected men who

were themselves burghers of the State, and the Uitlanders laid

themselves out for one more effort to effect the reforms by peaceful

means and pressure from within the State. The elections came off and

were regarded as a triumph for the Progressive Party, which it was

alleged had secured some sixteen out of twenty-six seats in the First

Volksraad, and a similar majority in the Second. Hope revived and

confidence was restored among the Uitlanders, but old residents in

the country who knew the Boer character warned the alien community

not to expect too much, as it was a question yet to be decided how

many of those who were Progressives at the time of the election would

stand by their professions when brought face to face with the

President and his party in battle array.

The warning was too well warranted. The Volksraad so constituted was

the one which rejected with sullen incivility (to apply no harsher

term) the petition of 40,000 Uitlanders for some measure of franchise

reform. This Progressive Raad was also the one which passed the Bills

curtailing the liberty of the press, and prohibiting the holding of

public meetings and the organization of election committees, and

which distinguished itself by an attempt to wrest from the High Court

the decision of a matter still _sub judice_--the cyanide case.

In this case the mining industry had combined to test the validity of

certain patents.{13} In spite of attempts at reasonable compromise on

behalf of the mines, and these failing, in spite of every effort

made to expedite the hearing of the case, the question continued

to hang for some years, and in the meantime efforts were being

made during two successive sessions of the Volksraad to obtain

the passage of some measure which would practically secure to the

holders of the patents a monopoly for the use of cyanide, or an

indefeasible title to the patents, whether valid in law and properly

acquired or not. These attempts to evade the issue were in themselves

a disgrace to a civilized nation. Failing the obtaining of an

absolute monopoly, an endeavour was made to pass a law that all

patents held without dispute for a certain period should be

unassailable on any grounds. There was a thin attempt at disguising

the purpose of this measure, but so thin, that not even the

originators could keep up the pretence, and the struggle was

acknowledged to be one between the supporters of an independent

court of justice and honest government on the one side, and a party

of would-be concessionaires--one might say 'pirates'--on the

other. The judges made no secret of their intention to tender their

resignations should the measure pass; the President made no secret

of his desire that it should pass. His party voted as one man in

favour of it, and the coffee meetings on the Presidential stoep were

unanimously for it. The Raad was exactly divided on the measure,

and it was eventually lost by the casting-vote of the chairman. No

absolute harm was done, but the revelation of the shameful conditions

of affairs in a Raad of which so much good was expected did as

much as anything could do to destroy all hope. It was a painful

exhibition, and the sordid details which came to light, the

unblushing attempts to levy blackmail on those who were threatened

with pillage by would-be concessionaires, the shameless conduct of

Raad members fighting as hirelings to impose a fresh burden on their

own country, sickened the overburdened community.

The Bewaarplaatsen question also excited much discussion, but was not

a subject of such close interest to the Uitlander community as

others, for the reason that but few companies were directly

concerned. Bewaarplaatsen is a name given to areas granted for the

purpose of conservation of water, for depositing residues of crushed

ore, etc.--in fact, they are grants of the surface rights of certain

areas at a lower rate of license than that paid upon claim or mineral

areas. This variation in the licensed areas was a wholly unnecessary

complication of the gold law, the difference in cost being

inconsiderable, and the difference in title affording untold

possibilities of lawsuits. In some cases companies had taken out

originally the more expensive claim-licenses for ground the surface

only of which it was intended to use. They had been compelled, by

order of the Government, to convert these claims at a later period

into bewaarplaatsen. They were almost invariably situated on the

south side of the Witwatersrand Main Reef, for the reason that, as

the ground sloped to the south, the water was found there, the mills

would naturally be erected there, and the inclination of the ground

offered tempting facilities for the disposal of residues. After some

years of development on the Main Reef it became clear that the

banket beds, which were known to dip towards the south, became

gradually flatter at the lower levels, and, consequently, it was

clear that bodies of reef would be accessible vertically from

areas south of the reef which had formerly been regarded as quite

worthless as gold-bearing claims. The companies which owned these

bewaarplaatsen now contended that they should be allowed to convert

them into claims, as, by their enterprise, they had exploited

the upper levels and revealed the conditions which made the

bewaarplaatsen valuable. The companies had endeavoured to convert

these bewaarplaatsen into claims when they first discovered that

there was a possibility of their becoming valuable, and that at a

time when the areas themselves were of extremely little market

value to any except the holders of the surface rights. They were

unsuccessful in this through some lack of provision in the law,

and year after year the subject was fought out and postponed, the

disputed ground all the time becoming more and more valuable, and

consequently a greater prize for the concessionaire and pirate, and

a greater incentive to bribery on all hands, until it came to be

regarded by the worthy members of the Volksraad as something very

like a special dispensation of Providence, intended to provide

annuities for Volksraad members at the expense of the unfortunate

owners. After a particularly fierce struggle, the Volksraad went so

far as to decide that those companies which had been obliged to

convert their original claim-holdings into bewaarplaatsen should

be allowed to re-convert them to claims and to retain them. Even

this was only gained after the Minister of Mines had, on his own

responsibility, issued the claim licenses, and so forced the

Volksraad to face the issue of confirming or reversing his action!

In this matter the President again fought tooth and nail against the

industry, and most strenuous efforts were made by him and his party

to obtain a reversal of the decision, but without effect. This,

however, only disposed of a small portion of the ground at stake.

With regard to those areas which had never been held as claims, the

issue lay between two parties known respectively as the companies,

who were the surface-owners, and the applicants. The applicants,

according to the polite fiction, were those who, having no claim

superior to that of any other individual member of the public, had

happened to have priority in order of application. As a matter of

fact, they were Government officials, political supporters and

relatives of the President, financed and guided by two or three of

the professional concession-hunters and hangers-on of Mr. Kruger's

Government. Notwithstanding the existence of a law specifically

prohibiting Government servants from concerning themselves in other

business and speculations, the parties to this arrangement entered

into notarial contracts determining the apportionment of the plunder,

and undertaking to use their influence in every way with the

President and his party and with members of the Volksraad to secure

the granting of the rights in dispute to themselves. With them was

associated the originator and holder of another infamous monopoly,

and it was stated by him in the Chamber of Mines, that should they

fail to obtain these rights for themselves they were prepared to

co-operate with another party and force the Government to put them up

for public auction, so that at any rate the mines should not have

them. The object of this threat was to compel the mining companies to

come to terms with him and compromise matters.

One of the notarial contracts referred to has been made public, and

it contains the names of Mr. 'Koos' Smit, the Government Railway

Commissioner, and one of the highest officials in the State;

Landdrost Schutte, Chief Magistrate of Pretoria, and Mr. Hendrik

Schoeman, one of the most prominent commandants in the Transvaal and

a near relation of the President. Needless to say, all are members of

the Kruger family party, and were most prominent supporters of his

Honour at the time of the 1893 election. They claim that they were

definitely promised a concession for the bewaarplaatsen as a reward

for their services in this election. The precedent quoted on

behalf of the companies in support of their claim is that of the

brickmaker's license under the Gold Law. Brickmakers have privileges

under their license similar to those granted with bewaarplaatsen, but

in their case it is provided that should gold be discovered or be

believed to exist in the areas granted under their licenses, the

holder of the license shall have the right to convert his area into

Law. The companies urged that this reveals the intention of the law,

and that such a condition was omitted in connection with

bewaarplaatsen simply and solely through oversight, and because at

that time it never occurred to anyone to suppose that the

gold-bearing deposits would shelve off and be accessible at such

great distances from the outcrop as where the bewaarplaatsen are

located. The companies moreover pointed out that these areas were in

every case located in the middle of property held under mining

licenses, that they themselves owned the surface of the property and

therefore no one else could work on them, that the areas were in

themselves too small and too irregular in shape to be worked

independently of the surrounding ground, and that the granting of

them to others could not be justified by any right on the part of

applicants, and would merely be placing in their hands the means of

imposing on the owners of the surfaces and the adjacent claims an

excessive purchase price or the alternative of being blocked in the

development of their own ground. After the Second Raad had decided in

principle in favour of the surface-holders, action was taken by the

First Raad, and a change of front was effected by a measure

alteration, which hung the question up for another year. Everyone

realized that this was secured by the influence of the President in

the first place and by the pliability of Raad members in the second,

on the ground that the matter was too profitable to them personally

to be disposed of until it became absolutely compulsory.{14}

One of the first concessions granted by the Boer Government after the

restoration of the country to them was the liquor monopoly. Under

this grant a factory established within a few miles of Pretoria has

the sole right to distil spirits. Time and very considerable

experience are in all countries necessary for the manufacture of good

liquor, and the natural conditions are not more favourable to the

industry in the Transvaal than elsewhere, consequently the product is

not regarded with great favour. The enterprise, however, is a very

prosperous one, being dependent almost entirely upon the sale of

liquor to natives. For a number of years representations were made by

the Chamber of Mines on behalf of the industry, by individuals and by

public petitions, with the object of controlling the liquor trade and

properly enforcing the laws which already existed. The following

terse summary of the evils resulting from this sale of liquor is

taken from the report of the Chamber of Mines for 1895. Unfortunately

the remarks apply equally well to-day:

There is, indeed, no doubt that one of the greatest difficulties with

which local employers have to deal is the question of the liquor

trade. In very many cases the liquor supplied to the natives is of

the vilest quality, quickly inflaming those who take it to madness,

and causing the faction fights which sometimes have fatal results,

and always lead to the, at any rate, temporary disablement of some of

the combatants, and the damaging of property. Accidents, too, are

often attributable to the effects of drink, and altogether, as stated

in the resolutions, a large percentage of the deaths among the

natives here is directly due to drink. In its bearing on the labour

question, drink also plays an important part. The shortness in the

supply, as compared with the demand for labour, has been accentuated

by it. Where possible more natives are kept in the compounds than are

actually required for the work to be done, to make allowance for

those who are disabled by drink.

The granting of licenses to liquor houses was carried to such an

extreme that at last the entire community rose against it, and the

expression of opinion was so strong that the Government was compelled

to make a show of deferring to it. Involved in the liquor question

was the matter of police, and arising out of this, again, was the

question of dealing with crime in general, including the gold and

amalgam stealing that was known to be carried on on a considerable

scale at the expense of the companies.

The Attorney-General, or State Attorney, as he is called in the

Transvaal, is the responsible head of the Law Department, and until

lately was the departmental head of the police. The gentleman then

occupying the position of State Attorney was peculiarly unfit--in the

midst of that world of unfitness--for the duties which he was

supposed to perform. He was removed from office, and after

considerable negotiation Mr. Esselen was prevailed upon at a great

monetary sacrifice to accept the position of State Attorney, he

stipulating that he should have a free hand in reorganizing the

detective and police forces. During the months in which Mr. Esselen

continued in office admirable reforms were introduced, and a very

appreciable influence was exercised on the condition of affairs in

Johannesburg. It is inadvisable to state explicitly the nature of the

objections which existed against some of the officials employed under

the former _régime_; it is sufficient that they were proved to be

participators in the offences which they were specially employed to

suppress. Mr. Esselen's first step was to appoint as chief detective

an officer borrowed from the Cape Colonial Government, Mr. Andrew

Trimble, who in a very little while showed that courage and honesty

of purpose could not only effect considerable reforms, but could

provoke the undisguised and fierce hostility of a very large section

of the community. The canteen keepers were up in arms; the illicit

gold buyers left no stone unturned; the hangers-on of the Government

lost no opportunity in their campaign against Mr. Esselen and his

subordinate and their reforms. The liveliest satisfaction however was

expressed by all those whose interest it was to have matters

conducted decently and honestly, and who had no interest in crime

except so far as its suppression was concerned. Representation was

secured for the Chamber of Mines upon one of the licensing bodies,

and here, too, a very appreciable result followed. During Mr.

Esselen's term of office all went well as far as the public were

concerned, but influences were soon at work to undermine the two

reforming officials. It was represented to the President that Mr.

Trimble had once been in the British army; that he was even then a

subject of the Queen, and entitled to a pension from the Cape

Government. The canteen interest on the goldfields, playing upon the

prejudices of the Boers, represented that this was unfitting the

dignity of the Republic. The President, who was too shrewd to be

caught with such chaff, was perfectly ready to support them for the

sake of the liquor interest, which for him constitutes a very useful

electioneering and political agency throughout the country. Mr.

Esselen was sent for, and it was represented to him by the President

that the employment of a British subject in such a responsible office

as that of chief detective was repugnant to the burghers. The reply

was that it was competent for the Executive to naturalize Mr. Trimble

at once and so remove the objection, the Government having power in

special cases to dispense with the conditions of the Naturalization

Law--a power frequently exercised in the case of their Hollander

friends. The President, in reply, stated that it could not be done,

and he appealed to Mr. Esselen to select a man of another

nationality--'a Frenchman, German, or even an American'--this last

being a concession wrung from him by Mr. Esselen's soothing

suggestion that the Chief of Police should be familiar with the

language of the criminal classes. The hitch was maintained for some

months, but finally the influences on the side of the President

became too strong, and when it became clear that the many months

of laborious work and self-sacrifice which had been given in the

interests of reform were to be nullified by the appointment of a

creature who would connive at every breach of the law, Mr. Esselen

decided to stand or fall by his subordinate, the result being a

triumph for the President.

In Mr. Esselen's place there was appointed as State Attorney Dr.

Coster, a Hollander, who however declined to have anything to do with

the organization of the police; and in Mr. Trimble's stead reappeared

the individual whom he had superseded and whose services had been

dispensed with.{15} The triumph of the back-door influences was again

complete and the blow was a very nasty one to the mining industry.

Small wonder that at about this time the Uitlander community stopped

all agitation, and that a mood of sullen opposition and discontent

took its place. Hope was absolutely dead as abuse after abuse and

scandal after scandal were showered upon them during the Session of

1895. Some of the acts of the Volksraad cut at the foundation of all

security. In the early days of the Republic the Volksraad members had

taken it upon themselves to reverse several of the decisions of the

High Court, and in one case where the Government was being sued for

the fulfilment of a contract the Volksraad had passed a resolution

absolving the Government from certain terms of the contract. The

decision of the Court, delivered by Chief Justice Kotzé, was to the

effect that if the Volksraad should take a decision in conflict with

an existing law, that law became _ipso facto_ so far modified. In

another case (the Dom's case) a resolution was passed disabling the

aggrieved individual from taking action against the Government; in

another, where the responsibility of the Government for the

maintenance of roads had been indicated by a judgment for £1,000

damages, a law was passed in defiance of the conditions of the

Grondwet, which stipulates for a period of notice and publication for

proposed enactments, absolving the Government from all damages of

this nature.

More than once laws were passed with retroactive effect--truly one of

the grossest abuses possible for a civilized Government. But perhaps

the most startling case of all was that concerning the proclamation

of the farm Witfontein. This farm had been proclaimed a public

digging open for pegging on a certain hour of a certain day. An

unprecedented rush of peggers took place. The Government, fearing a

riot and ignoring their obvious duty in the matter of police

protection and the maintenance of order, issued an illegal notice

withdrawing the proclamation, and decided to give out the claims by

means of lottery. Numbers of prospectors pegged out claims

notwithstanding this, and the prospect of legal difficulties being

imminent the Government submitted a measure to the Volksraad, passed

also in defiance of Grondwet provisions, which was broadly to the

effect that all persons who considered that they had claims for

damages against the Government in regard to the farm Witfontein and

the proclamation thereof, had none, and that the Government was

absolved from all liability in this respect. This enactment was only

passed after several persons had signified their intention to sue the

Government. The Raad was in fact becoming familiar with the process

of tampering with the Grondwet and members appeared ready to act on

the dictates of their own sweet will without regard to consequences

or laws.

On several occasions the President and Executive had treated with

contempt the decisions of the High Court, and had practically and

publicly reversed them. There are many instances which it is not

necessary to quote but among the best-known and most instructive ones

are the two cases known as the 'Rachmann' and 'April' cases. Rachmann

was an Indian and a British subject, well educated, far better

educated indeed than the Boer of the country. In following a strayed

horse he had trespassed on the farm of one of the members of the

First Raad. He was arrested and charged with intent to steal, tried

by the owner's brother, who was a Field-cornet (district justice),

and sentenced to receive twenty-five lashes and to pay a fine, the

same sentence being meted out to his Hottentot servant who

accompanied him. Rachmann protested and noted an appeal, stating

(which was the fact) that it was not within the power of a

Field-cornet to inflict lashes, and at the same time he offered

security to the value of £40 pending the appeal. His protests were

disregarded and he was flogged. Not being a native in the sense in

which the law uses the term--_i.e._, a member of the aboriginal

races--he could plead that he was not within the jurisdiction of a

Field-cornet, and there is no doubt that the punishment was inflicted

with full knowledge of its illegality. Rachmann sued Mr. George

Meyer, the Field-cornet in question, in the Circuit Court and

obtained judgment and a considerable sum in damages, the presiding

judge, Dr. Jorissen, animadverting with severity upon the conduct of

the official. Meyer shortly afterwards obtained from Government the

amount of his pecuniary loss through the affair, the President

stating that he had acted in his official capacity and that they

should protect him.

The 'April' case was one in which an unfortunate native named April,

having worked for a number of years for a farmer on promise of

certain payment in cattle and having completed his term, applied for

payment and a permit to travel through the district. On some trivial

pretext this was refused him, his cattle were seized, and himself and

his wives and children forcibly retained in the service of the Boer.

He appealed to the nearest official, Field-cornet Prinsloo, who acted

in a particularly barbarous and unjustifiable manner, so that the

Chief Justice before whom the case was heard (when April having

enlisted the sympathy of some white people was enabled to make an

appeal) characterized Prinsloo's conduct as brutal in the extreme and

a flagrant abuse of power perpetrated with the aim of establishing

slavery. Judgment was given against Prinsloo with all costs. Within a

few days of this decision being arrived at the President addressing a

meeting of burghers publicly announced that the Government had

reimbursed Prinsloo, adding, 'Notwithstanding the judgment of the

High Court, we consider Prinsloo to have been right.'

Actions of this kind have a distinct and very evil influence upon the

supply of native labour. No attempt is made to supply the industry

with natives, or to protect the natives whilst on their way to and

from the mines. The position became so bad that the Chamber of Mines

instituted a department with a highly-paid official at its head to

organize supply. It would inadequately describe the position to say

that the Government have rendered the Chamber of Mines no assistance.

Indeed, it appears as though the officials in the country had of set

purpose hindered in every way possible the work so necessary to

the working of the industry on profitable lines. Agencies were

established in all the neighbouring territories. Some of the tribes

declined to work in the Transvaal on account of the risks of

highway-robbery and personal violence which they ran _en route_.

In one case an effort was made by certain mine-owners to meet the

difficulty by importing a whole tribe--men, women, and children--from

Basutoland and locating them upon an adjacent farm. There is however

a law known as the Plakkerswet, or Squatters' Law, which, framed

with that peculiar cunning for which the Transvaal Government

have achieved a reputation, has the appearance of aiming at the

improvement of the native labour supply whilst in effect it does the

opposite. It provides that not more than five families may reside

upon one farm, the 'family' being an adult male with or without women

and children. Ostensibly the law purports to prevent the squatting

together of natives in large numbers and in idleness. As a matter of

fact however the law is not applied in the cases of Boer farmers.

From the President downwards the Boers own farms on which hundreds

of families are allowed to remain, paying their hut-taxes and

contributing largely to the prosperity of the land-owner. In the case

of the Uitlander however there seems to be a principle at stake, as

the mine-owners above referred to found to their cost. No sooner had

they located their tribe and provided them with all the conditions

necessary to comfort than an official came down to them, Plakkerswet

in hand, and removed all except the five allowed by law and

distributed them among his friends and relations. The experiment has

not been repeated.

Early in 1894 the Chamber of Mines received assurances from the

Government that if they would prepare a Pass Law which would include

provisions for the protection of natives, for the regulation of

their relations with employers, and for their right to travel within

the country, the Government would give their support to the measure

and would endeavour to have it adopted by the Volksraad. The

Commissioner for Native Affairs, General Joubert, admitted his

inability to deal with so complex an affair, and gratefully accepted

the aid of the Chamber. Such a concession on the part of the

Government was regarded as highly satisfactory; the law was prepared,

everything was explained and agreed to, the support of the Government

was promised to the draft law, and it was anticipated that it would

come into force during the Session of 1894. Such was not the case. It

remained pigeon-holed throughout 1894 and 1895, and in the last days

of the latter Session the law was passed; but an important omission

occurred. The Government forgot to create the department to carry out

the law, so that by the end of 1895 the men were no nearer having a

workable law than ever. But reforms when introduced by the Transvaal

Government, are not usually without an object, although not

necessarily the declared one. An opportunity was here presented to

the President to recognize past services, and he appointed to an

office which required the highest intelligence experience character

and zeal an individual who had been implicated in two disgraceful

charges and who, having failed to clear himself had been dismissed

his office by the Boer Government not two years previously. There was

but one explanation forthcoming. The individual in question was a

political supporter of the President and brother of a member of the

Executive Council. No department has yet been created; but a chief

has been appointed at a good salary, and the Pass Law has been

proclaimed in one district of the Witwatersrand out of several; so

that a measure which was designed to effect an immense saving in

expense and convenience to the mining industry was by the appointment

of an improper man and the neglect to organize a department rendered

quite useless, and by partial promulgation it was made even

detrimental.{16}

It has been aptly said of the Boers--and the present instance

illustrates the truth of the remark--that reform with them seems to

be impossible; because, in the first place, they do not know what to

do; in the second place, if they did, they have not got the men to do

it; and, in the third place, if they had the men, they show no

conception of a duty higher than that of utilizing every opportunity

for personal advantage.{17} To the uninitiated it may well be a

puzzle that President Kruger should encourage a system aiming so

directly at the strangling of an industry which is the mainstay of

the country; but in order to appreciate his motives it is necessary

to see things from his point of view. He and his party are not

desirous of cheapening the cost of production. He does not aim at

enabling the ever-increasing alien population to work lower-grade

mines, and so double or treble the number of immigrants, even though

it should profit the revenue of the country. A proposal was once made

to proclaim as a public field the town lands of Pretoria--that is to

say, to enable the public to prospect, and if results warranted,

to open up mines on the lands--some thousands of acres in

extent--surrounding the town. The President attended the debate in

the Second Raad and violently opposed the measure. The appeal at the

end of his address is perhaps as instructive as anything Mr. Kruger

has said. 'Stop and think what you are doing,' he exclaimed, 'before

you throw fresh fields open. Look at Johannesburg. See what a trouble

and expense it is to us. We have enough gold and enough gold-seekers

in the country already. For all you know there may be another

Witwatersrand at your very feet.'

In January, 1891, the average wage for native labourers was £2 2s.

per head per month. In 1893 it had risen to £2 18s. 10d., in 1895 to

£3 3s. 6d. In other South African States wages rule from 15s. to 30s.

per month, and the failure to facilitate the introduction of natives

from outside and to protect them is largely responsible for the high

figures paid on the Rand. Unquestionably the ill-will of the Boer

Government is to blame for the consistent neglect of this growing

need of the mines. If decent protection and facilities were given,

the wage could be reduced to £1 15s. per month. The Government has it

in its power to give the mines labour at this price, but, as a matter

of fact, there is no desire to see the lower-grade mines working. A

reduction of £1 a month--that is, to £2 3s. 6d.--would mean an

annual saving of £650,000, and the main reason why nothing has been

done to obtain this reduction is that President Kruger holds that the

gold fields are already big enough and that their further extension

would be a calamity.

Early in 1895 considerable suspicion and uneasiness were

aroused by indications of the growth of the German policy. The

commercial section of the community was disturbed by reports of

secret arrangements favouring German importers. Facilities were

given, and 'through rates' quoted from Hamburg to Johannesburg at a

reduction which appeared to be greater than any economies in sea

transport, coupled with the complete elimination of agency charges,

would warrant. The formal opening of the Delagoa Bay Railway by the

President furnished him with an opportunity to express with

significant emphasis his friendliness for all things German. At a

banquet given in honour of the German Emperor's birthday, January 27,

1895, the President, after eulogizing the old Emperor William, the

present Emperor, and the loyalty of the Germans in the Transvaal,

continued:

The latter I experienced once again at the time of the Kaffir War.

One day three or four Germans came to me and said: 'We are indeed not

naturalized, and are still subjects of our Emperor in Germany, but we

enjoy the advantages of this country, and are ready to defend it in

accordance with its laws. If your Excellency requires our services,

we are willing to march out.' And they marched. That is the spirit

which I admire. They were under the laws, they worked under the laws,

they obeyed the laws, and they fell in war under the laws. All my

subjects are not so minded. The English, for instance, although they

behave themselves properly and are loyal to the State, always fall

back upon England when it suits their purpose. Therefore I shall ever

promote the interests of Germany, though it be but with the resources

of a child, such as my land is considered. This child is now being

trodden upon by one great Power, and the natural consequence is that

it seeks protection from another. The time has come to knit ties of

the closest friendship between Germany and the South African

Republic--ties such as are natural between father and child.

The very considerable increase in the number of Germans, and the

positive statement that a great many men of military training were

coming out for service in the Transvaal, that officers were being

employed to work up the artillery and to design forts, all tended to

increase the feeling of intense dissatisfaction and uneasiness which

culminated in the outbreak at the close of the year. Dr. Leyds, it

was well known, went on a political mission to Lisbon and to Berlin,

and it was stated that large sums had been withdrawn from the

Treasury and charged to the secret service fund, the handling

of which was entrusted to this gentleman. Dr. Leyds' personal

popularity, never very great, was at the lowest possible ebb. He was

regarded as the incarnation of Hollanderism--the 'head and front' of

that detested influence. It was not credited to him in the Transvaal,

as it has been elsewhere, that he designed or prompted the policy

against the Uitlanders. There it is fully appreciated that there is

but one man in it, and that man President Kruger. Dr. Leyds and

others may be and are clever and willing tools. They may lend acidity

or offensiveness to a hostile despatch, they may add a twist or two

to a tortuous policy, but the policy is President Kruger's own, the

methods are his own, all but the minor details. Much as the

Hollander-German clique may profit by their alliance with Mr. Kruger,

it is not to be believed that he is deceived. He regards them as

handy instruments and ready agents. If they profit by the

association, they do so at the expense of the accursed Uitlander; but

there is no intention on Mr. Kruger's part to allow Germany or

Holland to secure a permanent hold over the Republic, any more than

he would allow England to increase hers. He has played off one

against another with consummate skill.

Early in his official career Dr. Leyds was guilty of an indiscretion

such as few would have suspected him of. Shortly after his

appointment as Attorney-General he wrote to a friend in Holland,

giving his opinion of the Members of the Executive. His judgment was

sound; except of one man. Unfortunately for Dr. Leyds, he quarrelled

with his correspondent; and the letter was of such a nature that,

when published, it made extremely unpleasant reading. Generals

Joubert and Smit, who had been described with admirable truth and

candour, were so enraged that they demanded the instant dismissal of

the 'conceited young popinjay' who had dared to criticise his

masters. The President, however, who had been described as an

ignorant, narrow-minded, pig-headed, and irascible old Boer

whom--with the others thrown in--the writer could play with and twist

round his finger as he chose, was not disturbed by the criticism. In

reply to appeals for forgiveness on the score of youth, and in spite

of the opposition of his colleagues, President Kruger agreed to

retain Dr. Leyds in office, remarking that he was a capable young

fellow and would know better in course of time, and explaining to

him personally that he would keep him there just as long as it suited

his (the President's) convenience. The association has lasted for ten

years, so it is to be presumed that Dr. Leyds has changed his opinion

of President Kruger, and frankly realized his position.

During the early part of 1896, when the question of the release on

bail of the reform prisoners seemed to be of some moment, a

well-known Pretoria man, friendly to the Government, called upon

President Kruger and urged the advisability of allowing the prisoners

out on bail, and with considerable lack of tact explained that it was

well known that the President's humane nature inclined him to be

lenient, but that the malign influence of others was believed to be

swaying him in this matter. The old President jumped up in a huff and

said, 'Ja, ja, ja! You always say it is somebody else! First, it was

Jorissen who did everything; then it was Nellmapius; and then it was

Leyds. Well, Jorissen is done for; Nellmapius is dead; Leyds is in

Europe--who is it now?'

The President's opinion of himself may be commended as food for

reflection to those who think they know everything about the inner

workings of the Transvaal.

Dr. Leyds' reputation, unfavourable as it had been, was not improved

by the Selati Railway exposure. Rightly or wrongly, in this matter,

as in the jobs of the Netherlands Railway and several others of

considerable magnitude, he has been held responsible in the public

mind for the financial loss which the Republic sustained. When he

left, ostensibly on a recruiting trip, few--very few--believed that

the illness was a physical one. It is alleged that a gentleman

on President Faure's staff, on hearing that Dr. Leyds had gone

to Berlin to consult a physician, inquired what the ailment was?

'Mal de gorge,' was the reply. 'Ah,' said the officer, 'mal de

gorge--diplomatique.' And that was the opinion in the Transvaal,

albeit differently expressed.

It is impossible within the limits of this volume nor is it at all

necessary to review all the measures which have been passed by the

Volksraad and pressed by the Government unnecessarily burdening the

Uitlanders and unjustifiably assailing their rights; such for

instance as the Election Law, which made it a crime to form

Committees or do any of those things which are regarded everywhere as

part of the legitimate business of elections--thus leaving Mr. Kruger

the sole master of electioneering machinery, namely, the Government

officials. The Public Meetings Act was another monstrous infringement

of rights. By it a policeman has the right to disperse any gathering

of more than seven persons, if in his opinion it be desirable.

Imagine it! Liberty of Speech against the Discretion of a Transvaal

policeman! But the list would be long, and the tale monotonous. And

as long and equally monotonous would be the list of the measures

proposed or threatened, but fortunately not carried. However, the

review of the period prior to 1896, and the statement of the causes

leading to the outbreak, may fitly be brought to a close by the

recital of some of the measures under both the above headings which

grace the records of the Session of 1895.

As is well known, the Grondwet (the written constitution of the

country) prescribes certain formalities for the introduction of new

laws. In order to evade the law, and so avoid hostile criticism of

proposed measures, in order, in fact, to prevent the public and even

the Volksraad members from knowing and studying or explaining and

digesting the intended legislation, it has become the practice of the

Government to propose and rush through the most radical and important

enactments in the form of amendments or explanations of existing

laws. Prior to 1895 the Transfer Law imposed a tax of 4 per cent.

upon the purchase-price of fixed property; and in the case of sales

for shares a valuation of the property was made by the Government

district officials, and transfer duty was paid on the amount of the

valuation. This was universally done in the case of claims, which

must of necessity in most instances be transferred several times

before they become registered in the name of the company eventually

working them. It was admitted that to pay 4 per cent. of full value

on every transfer, or to pay 4 per cent. on the nominal value of

ground on which years of work would have to be done and large sums of

money expended before shareholders could reap one pennyworth of

profit would be iniquitous. In 1895, however, the Raad thought

otherwise, and amended the law by the insertion of the words 'in cash

or shares' after the words 'purchase-price.' The result is, that

owners who have acquired claims at great cost, who have paid licenses

continuously on their claims, and who have paid full transfer duty on

each nominal change of ownership, necessary to consolidation into

workable blocks or groups, are now required to pay again in cash 4

per cent. on the total capital allotted in respect of these claims in

the company formed to work them. Members of the Raad, in supporting

this measure, did not hesitate to argue that it was a good law,

because the burghers did not sell their farms for shares, but for

cash, and it was right to tax those people who deal in shares.

The sense of insecurity which obtains during the Sessions of the Raad

is due scarcely less to the threats which are not fulfilled and

attempts which do not succeed, than to what is actually compassed. A

direct tax on gold has more than once been threatened; concessions

for cyanide, jam, bread, biscuits, and woollen fabrics were all

attempted. The revival of an obsolete provision by which the

Government can claim a royalty on the gold from 'mynpachts,' or

mining leases, has been promised, and it is almost as much expected

as it is dreaded.

With a monotony which is wearying, but which does not diminish the

unfortunate Uitlanders' interest in the subject, the burden of every

measure falls on the alien. One more instance will suffice. It

illustrates the Hollander-Boer genius for fulfilling the letter and

breaking the spirit of a covenant. It was notified that Government

were about to introduce a war tax, and that this tax was to be one of

£20 per farm, to be levied in event of war if in the opinion of the

Government it should be necessary. Much surprise was felt that

anything so unfavourable to the Boers as a tax on farms should be

proposed. When the measure came on for discussion it was found to

contain provisions exempting the owner who personally resided on his

farm, and especially and definitely taxing those farms which are

owned by companies, associations, corporations, or partnerships. The

Boer, it is well known, takes no shares in companies, joins no

associations, and has partnership with no one. This law was shelved

in 1895, but has since been passed.{18} It is of a piece with the

rest. Having sold his farm to the Uitlander, the Boer now proceeds

to plunder him: and 'plunder' is not too strong a word when it is

realized that the tax falls, not on the really valuable farms of the

high veld, which are nearly all owned by individuals, and are all

occupied, but on the undeveloped outlying farms, the rentable value

of which would not on the average suffice to pay the tax! Indeed, one

very large land-owner stated to the Government at the time, that if

this law were passed and put in force, they might take all his

rentals good and bad in lieu of the tax, as it would pay him better!

These were matters which more immediately concerned persons of

certain means. There is another matter, however, which very directly

concerned every individual who had any intention of remaining in the

country; that is, the matter of education. A dead set had always been

made by the Transvaal Government against any encouragement of liberal

education which would involve the use or even recognition of the

English language. Indeed, some of the legislators have been known to

express the opinion that education was not by any means desirable, as

it taught the rising generation to look with contempt on the hardy

Voortrekkers; and an interesting debate is on record, in which

members pointedly opposed the granting of facilities for the

education of their own women-kind, on the ground that presently the

women would be found reading books and newspapers instead of doing

their work, and would soon get to know more than their fathers,

husbands, and brothers, and would, as a consequence, quickly get out

of hand. It did not seem to occur to these worthy gentlemen that the

proper course would be to educate the men. But it would not be fair

to take this view as the representative one. On the point of the

English language, however, and the refusal to give any facilities for

the education of Uitlander children, the Boer legislature is

practically unanimous. The appalling consequences of allowing the

young population to grow up in absolute ignorance were realized by

the people of Johannesburg, and efforts were constantly made to

induce the Government to recognize the evil that was growing in the

State. The efforts were so entirely unsuccessful that the Uitlanders

found in this as in other cases that nothing would be done unless

they did it for themselves. A fund was opened, to which very liberal

donations were made. The services of a Director-General were secured,

and an Educational Council was elected. A comprehensive scheme of

education--in the first place for the Rand district, but intended to

be extended ultimately for the benefit of the whole of the Uitlander

population in the Transvaal--was devised, and it was calculated that

in the course of a few years a fund of close upon half a million of

money would be required, and would be raised, in order to place

educational facilities within the reach of the people. Needless to

say, this did not at all square with the policy of the Transvaal

Government, and the scheme was looked upon with the utmost disfavour.

In order to defeat it, the Superintendent-General of Education, Dr.

Mansvelt, a Hollander, who for six years had degraded his high office

to the level of a political engine, felt himself called upon to do

something--something to trail the red herring across the too hot

scent; and he intimated that more liberal measures would be

introduced during the Session of 1895, and in his report proposed

certain amendments to the existing law, which would (in appearance,

but, alas! not in fact) improve the condition of the Uitlander. The

following letter appearing in the London _Times_, on October 3, 1896,

although dealing with a period some months later than that under

review, explains the position with authority and clearness--a

position which has not been materially altered, except for the worse,

during Dr. Mansvelt's _régime_. It will be noted that the last-named

gentleman coupled with his 'liberal' provisions the suggestion that

all schools, except those of the State, should be suppressed. Such a

suggestion reveals very clearly the aim of this 'Reform' measure.

SIR,

I trust you will allow me a little space with a view to enable me to

correct, by the application of a little wholesome fact, the erroneous

impression which has been created in England with reference to the

education of Uitlanders in the Transvaal by recent crude and

ill-considered expressions of opinion, notably by Mr. Reginald

Statham and Mr. Chamberlain.

Mr. ----, in a letter addressed to one of your contemporaries,

informed the British public that in view of a liberal Government

grant of £4 per head per annum, the Transvaal Uitlander had nothing

to complain of in respect to education. As Mr. ---- claims to be

completely informed on Transvaal politics, he can only have been

guilty of a deliberate, if not malicious _suppressio veri_ when he

omitted to say that, like most of the legislation of this country,

which has for its ostensible object the amelioration of the condition

of the Uitlander, this measure, which looks like munificence at first

sight, has been rendered practically inoperative by the conditions

which hedge it round. Take, for example, a school of 100 children.

Strike out ten as being under age, ten as having been too short a

time at school, twenty as suspected of being of Dutch parentage. Out

of the sixty that remain suppose fifty satisfy the inspector in the

Dutch language and history, and you have as your allowance for the

year £200--a sum which is insufficient to pay the Dutch teacher

employed to bring the children up to the required standard in that

language. It is small wonder, then, that most teachers prefer to

dispense with this Will-o'-the-wisp grant altogether, seeing that the

efforts of some to earn it have resulted in pecuniary loss. The

actual sum expended on Uitlander schools last year amounted to £650,

or 1s. 10d. a head out of a total expenditure for education of

£63,000, the expenditure per Dutch child amounting to £8 6s. 1d.

Mr. Chamberlain considers the new educational law for Johannesburg as

a subject for gratulation. I should have thought that his recent

dealings with Pretoria would have suggested to him as a statesman

that felicitations upon the passing of a vague and absolutely

undefined measure might possibly be a little too premature. A

Volksraad, which only rejected the forcible closing of private

schools by a majority of two votes, is hardly likely to give the

Executive _carte blanche_ to deal with Uitlander education without

some understanding, tacit or declared, as to how this power is to be

wielded. Be that as it may, nearly two months have elapsed since the

passing of a measure which was to come into operation at once, and

nothing has been done. In the meantime, we can learn from the

inspired press and other sources that English schools which desire

aid under the new law must be prepared to give instruction in

Standard V. and upwards, and entirely in the Dutch language. So far,

the Superintendent of Education, whether acting under instructions or

on his own initiative, has been absolutely immovable on this point,

and the much-vaunted law promises to be as much a dead letter as the

1s. 10d. grant. The Johannesburg Council of Education has exerted its

influence to secure such an interpretation of the new law as would

lead to the establishment of schools where Dutch and English children

might sit side by side, and so work towards establishing a bond of

sympathy and the eventual blending of the races. The Pretoria

authorities however refuse to entertain the idea of meeting the

Uitlander in a conciliatory spirit on anything like equal terms, but

will only treat with us on the footing of master and servant. A

curious and almost inexplicable feature of the situation is the fact

that hundreds of Boers are clamouring for the better instruction of

their children in English, but which is steadfastly refused them.

I might enlarge on what I have written, and point out the injustice

and the gross system of extortion practised by the Government in

making Johannesburg pay something like £7 per head for the education

of Dutch children, whilst it has to pay from £5 to £15 per annum

for the education of each child of its own, meanwhile leaving

hundreds growing up in the blackest ignorance and crime. Any comment

would, however, lay me open to the charge of bias and partisanship,

and I therefore confine myself to the simple statement of a few

facts, which I challenge anyone to controvert, leaving the reader to

draw his own conclusions.

I am, sir, yours, etc.,

JOHN ROBINSON,

_Director-General Johannesburg

Educational Council._

Imagine it! £650 used for the children of those who contributed

nine-tenths of the £63,000 spent on education!

The succession of flagrant jobs, the revelation of abuses

unsuspected, the point-blank refusal to effect any reasonable reforms

had filled the Uitlanders' cup perilously full, and during the latter

half of 1895 the prospect of any change for the better, except at the

cost of fighting, was generally realized to be very poor indeed.

Trouble came to South Africa with the end of 1895. It very nearly

came earlier. Mention has been made that the Netherlands Railway

Company practically dictates the relations of the Transvaal with the

other States in South Africa by means of its tariffs. The competition

between the Cape, Natal and Delagoa lines having become very keen,

and the Cape service by superior management and easier gradients

having secured the largest share of the carrying trade, attempts were

made to effect a different division of profits. Negotiations failed

to bring the various parties to terms, and owing to the policy of the

Netherlands Railway Company, the Cape Colony and Free State, whose

interests were common, were in spirit very hostile to the Transvaal,

and bitterly resentful of the policy whereby a foreign corporation

was aided to profit enormously to the detriment of the sister South

African States. After all that the Colonial and Free State Dutch had

done for their Transvaal brethren in days of stress and adversity, it

was felt to be base ingratitude to hinder their trade and tax their

products.

The Cape Colony-Free State line ends at the Vaal River. Thence all

goods are carried over the Netherlands Railway Company's section to

Johannesburg, a distance of about fifty miles. In order to handicap

the southern line, an excessive rate was imposed for carriage on this

section. Even at the present time the tariff is 8-1/2d. per ton per

mile, as against a rate of about 3d. with which the other two lines

are favoured. Notwithstanding this, however, and the obstructions

placed in the way by obnoxious regulations and deliberate blocking

of the line with loaded trucks at Vereeniging, and also the blocking

of Johannesburg stations by non-delivery of goods--measures which

resulted sometimes in a delay of months in delivery, and sometimes in

the destruction or loss of the goods--the Southern line more than

held its own. The block was overcome by off-loading goods at the Vaal

River and transporting them to Johannesburg by mule and ox waggons.

Mr. Kruger and his Hollander friends were almost beaten when the

President played his last card. He intimated his intention to close

the Vaal River drifts against over-sea goods, and, by thus preventing

the use of waggons, to force all traffic on to _his_ railways upon

_his_ terms; and as the threat did not bring the Colony and Free

State to the proper frame of mind, he closed them. This was a

flagrant breach of the London Convention, and as such it was reported

by the High Commissioner to Mr. Chamberlain, and imperial

intervention was asked. Mr. Chamberlain replied that it was a matter

most closely affecting the Colony, and he required, before dealing

with it, to have the assurance of the Colonial Government that, in

the event of war resulting, the cost of the campaign would be borne,

share and share alike, by the Imperial and Colonial Governments, and

that the latter would transport troops over their lines free of

charge. Such was the indignation in the Colony at the treatment

accorded it that the terms were at once agreed to--a truly

significant fact when it is realized that the Ministry undertaking

this responsibility had been put and was maintained in office by the

Dutch party, and included in its members the best and most pronounced

Africander representatives. But Mr. Kruger is not easily 'cornered.'

His unfailing instinct told him that business was meant when he

received Mr. Chamberlain's ultimatum to open the drifts. The

President 'climbed down' and opened them! He has several advantages

which other leaders of men have not, and among them is that of having

little or no pride. He will bluster and bluff and bully when

occasion seems to warrant it; but when his judgment warns him that

he has gone as far as he prudently can, he will alter his tactics as

promptly and dispassionately as one changes one's coat to suit the

varying conditions of the weather. Mr. Kruger climbed down! It did

not worry him, nor did he take shame that he had failed. He climbed

down, as he had done before in the Stellaland affair, the Banjailand

trek, the commandeering incident, and as he no doubt will do in

others; for he may bluff hard, but it will take a great deal to make

him fight. There is one matter upon which Mr. Kruger's judgment is

perfect: he can judge the 'breaking strain' to a nicety. He climbs

down, but he is not beaten; for as surely as the dammed stream will

seek its outlet, so surely will the old Dutchman pursue his settled

aim.

War is war, and always bad; but sometimes worse; for the cause is

still a mighty factor, as those may see who contrast the probable

effects upon the people of South Africa of war on the drifts question

with the actual results of the Jameson raid.

Footnotes for Chapter II

{04} Among the first notes which poor Colley--brave, wise, generous,

and unlucky--wrote after taking office, was one containing these

words: 'Whether I ... shall find that South Africa is to me, as it is

said to be in general, "the grave of all good reputations," remains

to be seen.'

{05} See Appendix A for the full text of the Pretoria Convention.

{06} In February, 1898, he was elected for the fourth time.

{07} For full text of London Convention, see Appendix B. (July,

1899). A very extensive correspondence has passed on the subject of

the suzerainty. The Transvaal Government now construe the omission of

the Preamble to the 1881 Convention as the result of an agreement to

abolish the suzerainty. Mr. Chamberlain points out that the London

Convention contains specific and not implied amendments of the

Pretoria Convention; that the direct request for abolition of the

suzerainty was refused by Lord Derby; that the preamble as the

fundamental declaration must be deemed to be in force; and that if

not, the same reason which is adduced against the continued existence

of the suzerainty would hold good against the independence of the

Transvaal, for in the preamble of the 1881 Convention alone is any

mention made of either the grant or the reservation.

{08} Written August, 1896.

{09} To those who are not familiar with the conditions of the

country, it will seem incredible that the legislative body could be

'fooled' on such a subject. The extracts from the newspaper reports

of the Raad's proceedings, printed in Appendix D of this volume, will

help them to understand and believe.

{10} The above has been brought up to date for publication,

July, 1899.

{11} Except on the goldfields, where the appointments are made

by Government.

{12} For Volksraad records on this subject see Appendix C.

{13} The decision of the High Court was given in November, 1896, in

favour of the combined companies on all points, and the patents were

thus declared to be invalid!

{14} During the session of '96 the Volksraad decided to put the

bewaarplaatsen up for public auction, the proceeds of the sale to be

divided equally between the Government and the original owners of the

farms on which the bewaarplaatsen had been granted. The _alleged_

reason for this decision is that the areas in question are immensely

valuable, and the State and the owners should profit by them, whilst

the companies should be afforded an opportunity of acquiring them at

a fair price. The _real_ reason is that the companies had refused

to be blackmailed further; and the 'defence' funds not being

forthcoming, the gentlemen of the back-stairs had introduced the

ingenious arrangement safeguarding the original owners' rights,

having previously 'arranged' with the same owners. The excuse that

the areas are too valuable to be given away to the companies is as

illogical and ridiculous as the excuse that the Uitlanders are too

numerous to justify the granting of the franchise now. When the

questions were first raised there were neither great values nor large

numbers in existence. They were questions of principle and justice;

and the fact that 'values' and 'numbers' have grown during the years

of struggle in no way justifies the course taken, but rather shows

very clearly the magnitude of the injustice done during the years of

unjustifiable denial.

This decision shows with admirable clearness how the Uitlander fares

at the hands of the Government. There were, in the last stage of the

affair, four parties concerned: the Government, who are by law

expressly debarred from selling claims (except in case of overdue

licenses), and are obliged to allot them for the consideration of

specified license fees only; the owners of the farms, who are

similarly debarred and are compensated in other ways for the throwing

open of their farms; the 'applicants,' who have been described

elsewhere; and the surface-owners, the mining companies, who were in

possession. Only one of these parties had the slenderest claim to

compensation--namely, the companies, who must inevitably be disturbed

in the possession of the surface by allowing others to work on or

under it. But they get nothing; whilst the Government and the 'owner'

(both of whom had years before derived the fullest profit allowed by

law from these areas in the form of licenses), and the 'applicants'

(who have allied themselves with the 'owners'), divide as

compensation the proceeds of the auction!

{15} (July, 1899.) This individual has been again removed--this

time by the present State Attorney, Mr. Smuts.

{16} (July, 1899.) Provision was made for the costs of this

department by doubling the pass fee. In the early days of

Johannesburg as soon as it became evident that hospital accommodation

was necessary, application was made to the Government for a site

(which was granted on the hill then outside the town), and for some

monetary assistance. A fund was also publicly subscribed and the

hospital built. For the maintenance of the hospital two plans were

adopted: one, the collection of funds once a year, _i.e._, Hospital

Saturday, a source which has yielded steadily between £2,000 and

£3,000; two, having in view the immense number of native cases which

required treatment and the extent to which a native is responsible

for unsanitary conditions, it was proposed to impose upon them a fee

of 1s. per month for their passes, the proceeds of this to be devoted

entirely to the hospital. For several years this continued to yield

sufficient for the purpose. The Transvaal Government, although

accepting the plan proposed by the Uitlanders and for a considerable

time carrying it out faithfully, did not establish the right

permanently but adopted the formality of voting the proceeds of the

pass-fee year by year. There came a year when the Raad in its wisdom

decided that this source of revenue was too precarious for so worthy

an object as the hospital, and they decided to vote instead an annual

subsidy of £30,000. It was then known that the fees of the past year

had amounted to over £40,000 and there was every prospect of steady

annual increase. This explains why a seemingly generous subsidy by

the Government does not meet with that hearty recognition to which it

is apparently entitled. When a Pass Department was proposed, the

Government inquired how it was suggested to maintain it. The Chamber

of Mines proposed to raise the pass fee from 1s. to 2s. per month,

the extra shilling to be devoted entirely to the administration of

the Pass Law. With the experience of the hospital shilling in mind

particular care was taken to have the agreement minuted and confirmed

in writing. Nevertheless, it transpired in the evidence given at the

Industrial Commission that the department was being run at a cost of

slightly over £12,000 a year, whilst the proceeds of the shilling

reached the respectable total of £150,000 a year. The Government,

therefore, by a breach of agreement, make £138,000 a year out of the

pass fund, and £120,000 a year out of the hospital fund; and the

mining industry suffers in the meantime through maladministration in

the department, and are doubly taxed in the sense that the companies

have been obliged to establish and maintain at their own cost other

hospitals all along the reef. It is not suggested that the companies

should not provide hospitals, the point is that having established a

fund, which although nominally paid by the natives really has to be

made up to them in wages, they were entitled to the benefit of that

fund.

{17} The story is told of two up-country Boers who applied to the

President for appointments, and received the reply, 'What _can_ I

do for you? All the important offices are filled, and you are not

educated enough to be clerks!'

{18} (July, 1899.) The law has been declared by the law officers

of the Crown to be a breach of the London Convention.