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Selected
Official Documents
OF THE
South African Republic
AND
Great Britain.
* * * * *
A documentary perspective of the causes of the war in South Africa.
* * * * *
EDITED BY
HUGH WILLIAMS, M.A., B.L.S.,
_Library of Congress_,
AND
FREDERICK CHARLES HICKS, Ph.B.,
_Library of Congress_.
PREFACE.
The universal interest in the affairs of the South African Republic is
responsible for the idea that a selection of documents illustrative of
the South African controversy will be appreciated by American readers.
The documents which are here reprinted are by no means unobtainable;
but, to the general reader, they have been hitherto quite inaccessible.
Only the largest public libraries have the proper sources of
information, and even with these books at hand the student has been
forced to delve in a mass of irrelevant material for the hidden object
of his desire.
The present compilation has been made in the hope of meeting the
immediate demands of the public. To avoid cumbersomeness, many important
documents have necessarily been omitted; yet as far as possible, the
editors have given a complete series of documents. The arrangement is
partly chronological, and we hope altogether logical. Commencing with
the London Convention of 1884, which defines the status of the South
African Republic in its relations with Great Britain, we follow with the
revised Constitution of 1889, and its complementary law of June 23,
1890, which granted representation in a second Volksraad to burghers of
two years' standing. The latest legislation concerning the right of
franchise is given in the enactment of July, 1899. This law, together
with negotiations looking toward further concessions to the Uitlander
population forms the subject of our third chapter. No agreement having
been reached, and numerous complications having arisen, conspicuously
the movements of British troops, the Ultimatum of President Kruger on
October 9, precipitated a state of war.
In presenting this Ultimatum President Kruger knew that the Republic
would not have to fight alone, but that there would be practically a war
of the South African Dutch against the English. The declaration of the
Orange Free State to Great Britain will therefore be of interest, as
expressing the grounds of sympathy between the South African Republic
and the Orange Free State, and the latter's view of the _causa belli_.
Lastly we add the constitution of the Orange Free State that the
political status of the two republics may be appreciated by comparison
of their constitutions.
The documents have been compiled from the _Codex van de Locale Wetten
der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. Gröningen, 1894_; _The Political Laws
of the South African Republic. London and Cape Town, 1896_; and the
_State Papers of Great Britain, London, 1884-99_.
WASHINGTON, _February 10, 1900_.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
1. Convention of London, February 27, 1884 7
2. Ratification by Volksraad, August 8, 1884 14
CHAPTER II.
3. Constitution of the South African Republic, revised and published
December 25, 1889 16
4. Establishment of the Second Volksraad, June 23, 1890 40
CHAPTER III.
_The Franchise._
5. The Franchise Law. July 26, 1899 47
6. Proposed modification
(a) Proposal of Great Britain for a joint inquiry, August 2, 1899 53
(b) Alternative proposal of the South African Republic--The five
year franchise, August 19, 1899 53
CHAPTER IV.
7. Ultimatum of South African Republic, October 9, 1899 57
8. Reply of Great Britain, October 10, 1899 61
CHAPTER V.
_Dual alliance of the South African Republic and the Orange Free
State._
9. Resolution of Orange Free State Volksraad, September 27, 1899 62
10. Correspondence between Great Britain and Orange Free State,
October 11, 1899 63
CHAPTER VI.
11. Constitution of Orange Free State, revised and published, 1868 65
CHAPTER I.
CONVENTION OF LONDON, _February 27, 1884_.
_A Convention Between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland and the South African Republic._
Whereas, The Government of the Transvaal State, through its Delegates,
consisting of Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, President of the said
State, Stephanus Jacobus Du Toit, Superintendent of Education, and
Nicholas Jacobus Smit, a member of the Volksraad, have represented that
the Convention signed at Pretoria on the 3rd day of August 1881, and
ratified by the Volksraad of the said State on the 25th October 1881,
contains certain provisions which are inconvenient, and imposes burdens
and obligations from which the said State is desirous to be relieved,
and that the southwestern boundaries fixed by the said Convention should
be amended, with a view to promote the peace and good order of the said
State, and of the countries adjacent thereto; and whereas, Her Majesty
the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has been
pleased to take the said representations into consideration: Now,
therefore, Her Majesty has been pleased to direct, and it is hereby
declared, that the following articles of a new Convention, signed on
behalf of Her Majesty by Her Majesty's High Commissioner in South
Africa, the Right Honorable Sir Hercules George Robert Robinson, Knight
Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint
George, Governor of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and on behalf
of the Transvaal State (which shall hereinafter be called the South
African Republic) by the above named Delegates, Stephanus Johannes
Paulus Kruger, Stephanus Jacobus Du Toit, and Nicholas Jacobus Smit,
shall, when ratified by the Volksraad of the South African Republic, be
substituted for the articles embodied in the Convention of 3rd August
1881; which latter, pending such ratification, shall continue in full
force and effect.
ARTICLES.
ARTICLE I, II.
(Articles I and II relate entirely to the settlement of the boundary
lines of the Republic.)
ARTICLE III.
If a British officer is appointed to reside at Pretoria or elsewhere
within the South African Republic to discharge functions analogous to
those of a Consular officer, he will receive the protection and
assistance of the Republic.
ARTICLE IV.
The South African Republic will conclude no treaty or engagement with
any State or nation other than the Orange Free State, nor with any
native tribe to the eastward or westward of the Republic, until the same
has been approved by Her Majesty the Queen.
Such approval shall be considered to have been granted if Her Majesty's
Government shall not, within six months after receiving a copy of such
treaty (which shall be delivered to them immediately upon its
completion), have notified that the conclusion of such treaty is in
conflict with the interests of Great Britain or any of Her Majesty's
possessions in South Africa.
ARTICLE V.
The South African Republic will be liable for any balance which may
still remain due of the debts for which it was liable at the date of
Annexation, to wit, the Cape Commercial Bank Loan, the Railway Loan, and
the Orphan Chamber Debt, which debts shall be a first charge upon the
revenues of the Republic. The South African Republic will moreover be
liable to Her Majesty's Government for £250,000, which will be a second
charge upon the revenues of the Republic.
ARTICLE VI.
The debt due as aforesaid by the South African Republic to Her Majesty's
Government will bear interest at the rate of three and a half per cent.
from the date of the ratification of this Convention, and shall be
repayable by a payment for interest and Sinking Fund of six pounds and
nine pence per £100 per annum, which will extinguish the debt in
twenty-five years. The said payment of six pounds and nine pence per
£100 shall be payable half yearly, in British currency, at the close of
each half year from the date of such ratification: _Provided always_,
That the South African Republic shall be at liberty at the close of any
half-year to pay off the whole or any portion of the outstanding debt.
Interest at the rate of three and a half per cent. on the debt as
standing under the Convention of Pretoria shall as heretofore be paid to
the date of the ratification of this Convention.
ARTICLE VII.
All persons who held property in the Transvaal on the 8th day of August
1881, and still hold the same, will continue to enjoy the rights of
property which they have enjoyed since the 12th April 1877. No person
who has remained loyal to Her Majesty during the late hostilities shall
suffer any molestation by reason of his loyalty; or be liable to any
criminal prosecution or civil action for any part taken in connection
with such hostilities; and all such persons will have full liberty to
reside in the country, with enjoyment of all civil rights, and
protection for their persons and property.
ARTICLE VIII.
The South African Republic renews the declaration made in the Sand River
Convention, and in the Convention of Pretoria, that no slavery or
apprenticeship partaking of slavery will be tolerated by the Government
of the said Republic.
ARTICLE IX.
There will continue to be complete freedom of religion and protection
from molestation for all denominations, provided the same be not
inconsistent with morality and good order; and no disability shall
attach to any person in regard to rights of property by reason of the
religious opinions which he holds.
ARTICLE X.
The British Officer appointed to reside in the South African Republic
will receive every assistance from the Government of the said Republic
in making due provision for the proper care and preservation of the
graves of such of Her Majesty's Forces as have died in the Transvaal;
and if need be, for the appropriation of land for the purpose.
ARTICLE XI.
All grants or titles issued at any time by the Transvaal Government in
respect of land outside the boundary of the South African Republic, as
defined in Article I, shall be considered invalid and of no effect,
except in so far as any such grant or title relates to land that falls
within the boundary of the South African Republic; and all persons
holding any such grant so considered invalid and of no effect will
receive from the Government of the South African Republic such
compensation, either in land or in money, as the Volksraad shall
determine. In all cases in which any Native Chiefs or other authorities
outside the said boundaries have received any adequate consideration
from the Government of the South African Republic for land excluded from
the Transvaal by the first Article of this Convention, or where
permanent improvements have been made on the land, the High Commissioner
will recover from the native authorities fair compensation for the loss
of the land thus excluded, or of the permanent improvements thereon.
ARTICLE XII.
The independence of the Swazis, within the boundary line of Swaziland,
as indicated in the first Article of this Convention, will be fully
recognized.
ARTICLE XIII.
Except in pursuance of any treaty or engagement made as provided in
Article IV of this Convention, no other or higher duties shall be
imposed on the importation into the South African Republic of any
article coming from any part of Her Majesty's dominions than are or may
be imposed on the like article coming from any other place or country;
nor will any prohibition be maintained or imposed on the importation
into the South African Republic of any article coming from any part of
Her Majesty's dominions which shall not equally extend to the like
article coming from any other place or country. And in like manner the
same treatment shall be given to any article coming to Great Britain
from the South African Republic as to the like article coming from any
other place or country.
These provisions do not preclude the consideration of special
arrangements as to import duties and commercial relations between the
South African Republic and any of Her Majesty's colonies or possessions.
ARTICLE XIV.
All persons, other than natives, conforming themselves to the laws of
the South African Republic (_a_) will have full liberty, with their
families, to enter, travel, or reside in any part of the South African
Republic; (_b_) they will be entitled to hire or possess houses,
manufactories, warehouses, shops and premises; (_c_) they may carry on
their commerce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit
to employ; (_d_) they will not be subject, in respect of their persons
or property, or in respect of their commerce or industry, to any taxes,
whether general or local, other than those which are or may be imposed
upon citizens of the said Republic.
ARTICLE XV.
All persons, other than natives, who establish their domicile in the
Transvaal between the 12th day of April 1877, and the 8th August 1881,
and who within twelve months after such last mentioned date have had
their names registered by the British Resident, shall be exempt from all
compulsory military service whatever.
ARTICLE XVI.
Provision shall hereafter be made by a separate instrument for the
mutual extradition of criminals, and also for the surrender of deserters
from Her Majesty's Forces.
ARTICLE XVII.
All debts contracted between the 12th April 1877 and the 8th August 1881
will be payable in the same currency in which they may have been
contracted.
ARTICLE XVIII.
No grants of land which may have been made, and no transfers or
mortgages which may have been passed between the 12th April 1877 and the
8th August 1881, will be invalidated by reason merely of their having
been made or passed between such dates.
All transfers to the British Secretary for Native Affairs in trust for
Natives will remain in force, an officer of the South African Republic
taking the place of such Secretary for Native Affairs.
ARTICLE XIX.
The Government of the South African Republic will engage faithfully to
fulfil the assurances given, in accordance with the laws of the South
African Republic, to the natives at the Pretoria Pitso by the Royal
Commission in the presence of the Triumvirate and with their entire
assent, (1) as to the freedom of the natives to buy or otherwise acquire
land under certain conditions, (2) as to the appointment of a commission
to mark out native locations, (3) as to the access of the natives to the
courts of law, and (4) as to their being allowed to move freely within
the country, or to leave it for any legal purpose, under a pass system.
ARTICLE XX.
This Convention will be ratified by a Volksraad of the South African
Republic within the period of six months after its execution, and in
default of such ratification this Convention shall be null and void.
Signed in duplicate in London this 27th day of February 1884.
[Signed] HERCULES ROBINSON,
[Signed] S.J.P. KRUGER,
[Signed] S.J. DU TOIT,
[Signed] N.J. SMIT.
RATIFICATION BY VOLKSRAAD.
_August 8, 1884._
The Convention was ratified on August 8, 1884 by the Volksraad in a
resolution as follows: "The Volksraad having considered the new
Convention concluded between its deputation and the British Government
at London on 27th February 1884, as likewise the negotiations between
the contracting parties, which resulted in the said Convention, approves
of the standpoint taken by its deputation that a settlement based upon
the principle of the Sand River Convention can alone fully satisfy the
burghers of the Republic. It also shares the objections set forth by the
deputation against the Convention of Pretoria, as likewise their
objections against the Convention of London on the following points:--
"1st. The settlement of the boundary, especially on the western border
of the Republic, in which the deputation eventually acquiesced only
under the express conditions with which the Raad agree.
"2nd. The right of veto reserved to the British Crown upon treaties to
be concluded by the Republic with foreign powers; and
"3rd. The settlement of the debt. Seeing, however, that in the said
Convention of London considerable advantages are secured to the
Republic, especially in the restoration of the country's independence,
"_Resolves_, With acknowledgment of the generosity of Her Britannic
Majesty, to ratify, as it hereby does, the said Convention of London."