THE ANNEXATION OF THE TRANSVAAL AND THE CONVENTIONS OF 1881 AND 1884.[6]
1.--_The "Gold Mines" Argument._
When Dr. Kuyper asserts that "the gold mines of the Rand became the
misfortune of the Transvaal," it is clear, that in his endeavour to
convince his readers, he has no regard to the facts of the case, but
that his aim is to suggest the idea that England's sole object in the
present war has been to possess herself of the gold mines. Here Dr.
Kuyper employs the arguments of _L'Intransigeant_, _La Libre Parole_,
and _Le Petit Journal_; for he is perfectly well aware that England will
derive no benefit from the gold mines, nor will she take possession of
them any more than she has done of the gold mines of Australia. They are
private property.
Further, Dr. Kuyper well knows that the gold mines of the Rand were only
discovered in 1886, and he himself states that the annexation of the
Transvaal took place on April 12th, 1877. The annexation therefore was
prompted by other motives than the possession of the gold mines, but Dr.
Kuyper is careful not to suggest these to his readers.
He informs us that Sir Theophilus Shepstone "entered Pretoria at the
head of a small army." In reality, he had with him five-and-twenty
policemen. Why then did the Boers, "so essentially men of war and
politics," permit this?
"Once again, the fate of the natives served as pretext," Mr. Kuyper adds
"but the wheel of fortune turns; two years later the English,
themselves, were at daggers drawn with the natives, and massacred 10,000
men, women and children." That is how Dr. Kuyper writes history! The
pretext was not the fate of the natives, but the fate of the Boers, who,
having gone to war with Sekukuni, had been beaten. This is admitted in
the "Petition of Rights": "At first, our operations were not very
successful, our opponents declare that we were unable to defend
ourselves against the natives."
[Footnote 6: _Le Siècle_, March 26th, 1900.]
2.--_Boer Anarchy._
The truth is, that after the Sand River Convention, the most complete
anarchy existed among the Transvaal Boers; and that as much after the
promulgation of their Constitution of 1857 as before. The republicans of
Potchefstroom had taken the title of _The South African Republic_, but
their Raad maintained authority only over a small district; Lydenburg,
Zoutpansberg, Utrecht, formed themselves into independent republics. It
is estimated that, at that time, the entire population of the Transvaal
consisted of 8,000 Boers; admitting that this number comprised only the
young men and adults capable of bearing arms, and old men, then each
republic would be composed, approximately, of 2,000 men. On the death of
Andries Pretorius and of Potgieter, who hated each other like poison,
the son of Pretorius conceived the design of making himself master of
the Orange Free State, so as to secure to himself later on the foremost
position in the Transvaal. A war was on the point of breaking out, but
came to nothing, as Pretorius hastily recrossed the frontier in the face
of an advance by Boshof, the Free State President, at the head of a
commando. This action, which demonstrated that his courage and resource
were less lofty than his ambition, did not however prevent his being
elected President of the South African Republic. In 1860 the union took
place.
Notwithstanding his incursion and subsequent flight, Pretorius succeeded
in getting himself elected president of the Orange Free State also. But
the Transvaal burghers dreaded absorption by their neighbours, and
deposed him. A petty civil war between his partisans and opponents was
the consequence; several presidents were elected and deposed. Krüger,
whom we now see making his appearance, and Schoeman, in turn, chased
each other out of Potchefstroom. In 1864 Pretorius forsook the Free
State, and was re-elected President of the Transvaal, Krüger contenting
himself with the office of Commandant-General.
The Orange Free State was at war with the Basutos. The English
Government intervened, and finally annexed Basutoland (1868).
In the same year, the Transvaal Government, disregarding the Sand River
Convention, issued a proclamation extending their frontier in the east
to the seaboard; in the West to Lake Ngami, and in the North to
Mashonaland. The Portuguese and English Governments entered protests and
the matter dropped.
No minister of the Reformed Dutch Church had accompanied the Boers in
their Trek. They therefore formed themselves into a separate reformed
Church, whose members called themselves "doppers" (round-heads). They
allow no liberty of thought; they believe in literal inspiration. If
they had ever heard of Galileo, they would have looked upon him as an
impostor. They place the authority of the Old Testament above that of
the New. There are three contending sects in the Transvaal, whose
hostility is such that both before and after 1881 threats of Civil War
were indulged in.
3.--_The Boers saved by the English._
In 1871, the question of fixing the frontier between the Transvaal and
the Barolongs, a Bechuana tribe, was submitted to arbitration. The
decision was given by Mr. Keate, Governor of Natal. President Pretorius
having accepted it, the Boers deposed him, and continued to occupy the
territory to which they laid claim. They were at a loss whom next to
elect as President.
Overtures were made to Mr. Brand, President of the Orange Free State;
but he wisely refused. They next turned to a Cape Afrikander, a former
minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, Mr. F. Burgers, a capable,
intelligent man. It was his desire to correct abuses; to repress the
slavery that was being carried on under the name of "apprenticeship"; to
introduce railways and schools; he claimed the right to impose
taxation, he got to be credited, in the long run, with the belief that
the devil's tail was not as long as it is represented in the old Bible
pictures. When the Boers were defeated by Sekukuni, they looked upon it
as a punishment from God for having a "free thinker" for President. The
commandos disbanded themselves. At the same time Cetewayo, the Zulu
Chief, was threatening the Boers in the south. Caught between two fires,
without resources or organisation, annihilation was before them. Now the
English, for their own security, had the greatest interest in preventing
the extermination of white men by natives; and on that ground, apart
from all sentimentality, they had never ceased to protest against the
methods employed by the Boers, as the surest means of bringing about
that result. Theophilus Shepstone, who possessed great influence over
the Zulus, was sent to Pretoria. Unable, even with the help of their
President, to bring any order into the Government of the Transvaal, he
ended by annexing it on 12th April, 1877. He annexed it in order to save
it. Had the English abandoned it to itself, the Boer territory would
have been occupied by Basutos and the Zulus, and the Boers would have
disappeared from the face of the earth.
4.--_The Annexation of the Transvaal and the Conventions of 1881 and
1884._
M. Kuyper is very unjust when he reproaches the English with the
massacre of the Zulus; for it was all to the profit of the Boers, who,
it may be added, rendered no assistance. Once delivered from their
native enemies by the English, the Boers appointed, December 16th, 1880,
a triumvirate, composed of Pretorius, Krüger and Joubert. They demanded
the re-instatement of the South African Republic, under British
protection; they commenced attacking small detachments of English
troops, and on February 27th they surrounded a force on Majuba Hill,
killing 92 officers and men, General Colley among them, wounding 134,
and taking 59 prisoners. That is what is called "the disaster of Majuba
Hill." An army of 12,000 men was on the way out; Mr. Gladstone, in his
Midlothian Campaign, had protested against the annexation; and,
although, after he became Prime Minister, he supported it in the speech
from the Throne, the hopes he had given to the separatists proved well
founded, for after this defeat he became a party to the Convention of
1881, by which the independence of the Transvaal, under the suzerainty
of England, was recognized.
5.--_The Convention of 1881 inapplicable._
It must be confessed, that the Liberal Government committed a grave
error. It seemed afraid of a rebellion among the Afrikanders of the
Cape; and these quickly learned that threats only were needed to induce
the English Government to yield to their demands. The English Garrison
in Pretoria was withdrawn; no reparation was exacted from the Boers who,
under the command of Cronje, had conducted themselves in an infamous
manner at the siege of Potchefstroom, and had been guilty of actual
treachery in the case of Captains Elliot and Lambert.
True, the Convention prescribed the suppression of slavery; gave
guarantees for the safety of the persons and property of alien whites;
placed the foreign relations of the Transvaal under the control of the
British Government. But, in reality, it was of little value, for the
English Resident was in the position of a man who has been conquered
with the pretension of controlling the actions of the conquerer.
At the first election under the new conditions, Krüger, who represented
the extreme reactionary party, was elected President, although he had
accepted office under the British Government, while Joubert, who had
declined any dealings with them, was defeated, being suspected of
sympathising with the Uitlanders. His defeat does not prove him to have
been in the minority. His partisans affirm, with a fair show of reason,
that Mr. Krüger never greatly respected the sanctity of the ballot.
6.--_Violation by the Boers._
The powerlessness of the British Government to ensure respect for the
Convention of 1881, explains its consent to the modification of 1884.
"It would be easy to find a _casus belli_ in the behaviour of the
Boers," said Lord Derby in the House of Lords. But the Government had no
wish to find one, and added to the weakness it had displayed after
Majuba a fresh show of weakness, which convinced Mr. Krüger that the
violation of a convention was the easiest method of obtaining anything
he wanted.
In point of fact, it is the British Government that is responsible for
the present war, through having inspired President Krüger with the
conviction, that he had only to continue in 1899 the policy which had
succeeded so well in 1880.