"As to the principle politically in dispute, the British Government asks
nothing more than this--That British subjects in the Transvaal shall
enjoy--I cannot say the same privileges, but a faint shadow of what
every Dutchman, as well as every man, white and black, in the Cape
Colony enjoys. Every Dutchman in the Cape Colony is treated exactly as
if he were an Englishman; and every subject of Her Majesty the Queen,
black and white, is treated in the Transvaal, and has always been, as a
man of an alien and subject race. The franchise is only one of many
grievances, and it is utterly a mistake to suppose that England is going
to war over a question of mere franchise. Let us be just, however. There
are in the Cape Colony and out of it loyal Dutchmen, loyal as the day,
to the British power, which is the ruling power. They know the freedom
they enjoy under it, and the folly and futility of trying to upset it.
"No superfluous pity or sympathy need be wasted on President Kruger or
the Transvaal Republic. The latter (Republic) is a shadow of a name, and
as great a travesty and burlesque on the word as it is possible to
conceive.
"Paul Kruger is at the present moment the real troubler of South Africa.
If the spirit and principles which he himself and his Government
represent were to prevail in this struggle, it would arrest the
development of the southern half of the continent. It is too late in the
day by the world's clock for that type of man or government to continue.
"The plain fact is this:--President Kruger does not mean to give, never
meant to give, and will not give anything as a concession in the shape
of just and necessary rights, except what he is forced to give. He wants
also to get rid of the suzerainty. That darkens and poisons his days and
disturbs his nights by fearful dreams. There is no excuse for him, and,
as I say, there need be no sentiment wasted on the subject. Let
President Kruger and his supporters do what is right, and give what is
barely and simply and only necessary as well as right, and the whole
difficulty will pass into solution, to the relief of all concerned and
the preservation of peace in South Africa. If not, the blame must rest
with him.
"I am sorry I cannot give any information or express any views different
from what I have now stated. They are the result of thirty years'
residence in Africa. But I would ask your readers to believe that the
British Government are rather being forced into war than choosing it of
their own accord. I would also ask your readers to believe that Sir
Alfred Milner, the present Governor of Cape Colony, though undoubtedly a
strong man, is also one of the least aggressive, most cautious, and
pacific of men; and that he has the entire confidence of the whole
British population of the Cape Colony. I know also that when he began
his rule three years ago, he did so with the expectation that by pacific
measures the Dutch question was capable of a happier and better solution
than that in which the situation finds it to-day. The question and
trouble to-day is, briefly, whether the British Government is able to
give protection and secure reasonable rights for its subjects abroad."
* * * * *
The following was addressed by Mr. John Bellows of Gloucester, to
Senator Hoar, United States, America, and was published in the _New York
Tribune_, Feb. 22nd, 1900. Mr. Bellows, on seeing the publication of his
letter, wrote the following postscript, to Senator Hoar:--
"As the foregoing letter was headed by the Editor of the _New York
Tribune_, 'A Quaker on the War,' I would say, to prevent
misunderstanding, that I speak for myself only, and not for the Society
of Friends, although I entirely believe in its teaching, that if we
love all men we can under no circumstances go to war. There is, however,
a spurious advocacy of peace, which is based, not upon love to men so
much as upon enmity to our own Government, and which levels against it
untrue charges of having caused the Transvaal War. It was to show the
erroneousness of these charges that I wrote this letter."