Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

[1882-1884 A.D.]

olies. Among the first monopolies which were granted in 1882 was one for the manufacture of spirituous liquor. The system continued steadily down to 1899, by which time railways, dynamite, spirits, iron, sugar, wool, bricks, jam, paper, and a number of other things, were all of them articles of monopoly. In 1882 also began that alteration of the franchise law which subsequently developed into positive exclusion of all but the original Boer burghers of the country from the franchise. In 1881, on the retrocession, full franchise rights could be obtained after two years' residence; in 1882 the period of residence was increased to five years. Meanwhile the land-hunger of the Boers became stimulated rather than checked by the regaining of the independence of their country. On the western border intrigues were already going on with petty tribal chiefs, and the Boers drove out a portion of the Ba-Rolongs from their lands, setting up the so-called republics of Stellaland and Goshen. This act called forth a protest from Lord Derby, the minister chiefly responsible for the Pretoria Convention, stating that he could not recognise the right of Boer freebooters to set up governments of their own on the Transvaal borders. This protest, however, had no effect upon the freebooters, who issued one proclamation after another until in November, 1883, they united the two new republics under the title of the United States of Stellaland. Simultaneously with this "irresponsible" movement for expansion, President Kruger, having found the policy of putting pressure upon Great Britain so successful, proceeded to London to interview Lord Derby and endeavour to induce him to dispense with the suzerainty, and to withdraw other clauses in the Pretoria Convention on foreign relations and natives, which were objectionable from the Boer point of view. Moreover, Kruger significantly requested that the term South African Republic should be substituted for Transvaal State.

The result was the London Convention of 1884. In this document a fresh set of articles was substituted for those of the Pretoria Convention of 1881. In the articles of the new convention the boundaries were once more defined, and to them the Transvaal was bound "strictly to adhere." In what followed it must always be remembered that Lord Derby began by emphatically rejecting the first Boer draft of a treaty on the ground that no treaty was possible except between equal sovereign states. Moreover, it is undeniable that Lord Derby acted as though he was anxious to appear to be giving the Boers what they wanted. He would not formally abolish the suzerainty, but he was willing not to mention it; and though, as before stated, in substituting new articles for those of the Pretoria Convention he left the preamble untouched, he avoided anything which could commit the Boer delegates to a formal recognition of that fact. On the other hand, he was most indignant when in the house of lords he was accused by Lord Cairns of impairing British interests and relinquishing the queen's suzerainty. He declared that he had preserved the thing in its substance, if he had not actually used the word; and this view of the matter was always officially maintained in the colonial office (which, significantly enough, dealt with Transvaal affairs) whatever the political party in power. Unfortunately, the timid way in which it was done made as ineffaceable an impression on Kruger even as the surrender after Majuba. Article 4 stated: "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." The other article to which the greatest interest was subsequently attached was Article 14: "All persons, other than natives, conforming themselves to the laws of the South

[1884-1886 A.D.]

African Republic (1) will have full liberty, with their families, to enter, travel, or reside in any part of the South African Republic; (2) they will be entitled to hire or possess houses, manufactories, warehouses, shops, and premises; (3) they may carry on their commerce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to employ; (4) 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."

As the freebooters continued their operations in Bechuanaland, Sir Hercules Robinson despatched the Reverend J. Mackenzie to adjust matters and if necessary "to order the ejectment of the persons now trespassing at Rooi Grond." Mr. Mackenzie met with but partial success, and Mr. Rhodes was sent to succeed him, but the latter equally failed to bring about a settlement. Meanwhile President Kruger "provisionally" proclaimed and ordained, “in the interests of humanity," that the territory in dispute should be under the protection of the South African Republic. Public protests were made in Cape Town and throughout the colony against this last act of aggression, and in October, 1884, Sir Charles Warren was despatched by the British government to "pacificate" and "hold the country" pending further instructions. Thereupon President Kruger withdrew his proclamation. Sir Charles Warren subsequently broke up the freebooters' two states, and occupied the country without a shot being fired. The expedition cost Great Britain a million and a half, but the attempt at further extension westwards was foiled.

At the eastern border a similar policy was followed by the Boers, and in this instance with more success. Following up the downfall of the Zulu power after the British conquest in 1879, several parties of Boers began intriguing with the petty chiefs, and in January, 1883, in the presence of ten thousand Zulus, they proclaimed Dinizulu, the son of Cettiwayo, to be king of Zululand. As a "reward" for their services to the Zulus, the Boers then took over from them a tract of country in which they established a new republic. Encouraged by success, the Boer claims were extended until at the end of 1885 they claimed about three fourths of the whole Zulu territory. In 1886 the new republic, with limits considerably narrowed, was recognised by Great Britain, and the territory became incorporated with the Transvaal in 1888. Their eastern boundary, in the teeth of the spirit of the conventions and with but scant observance of the latter, was by this means eventually considerably extended. A similar policy eventually brought Swaziland almost entirely under their dominion.

Meanwhile, events occurring within the state augured ill for the future of the country. In 1884 a concession to a number of Hollander and German capitalists of all rights to make railways in the state led to the formation of the Netherlands Railway Company. This company, which was not actually floated till 1887, was destined to exercise a disastrous influence upon the fortunes of the state. Gold digging, which had commenced with the discovery in 1869 of the Zoutpansberg and Lydenburg gold fields, had hitherto enjoyed in the Transvaal but a precarious existence. In 1883 the discovery of Moodie's Reef near the Kaap valley led to a considerable influx of diggers and prospectors. In 1886 the Rand gold fields, which had just been discovered, were proclaimed and Johannesburg was founded. From that time the gold industry made steady progress until the Rand gold mines proved the richest and most productive gold field in the world. As the industry prospered, so did the European population increase. The revenue of the state went up by leaps and bounds. In 1882 it was £177,407; in 1889, £1,577,445; in 1896,

[1886-1892 A.D.]

£3,912,095. At the end of 1886 Johannesburg consisted of a few stores and some few thousand inhabitants. In October, 1896, the sanitary board census estimated the population as 107,078, of whom 50,907 were Europeans. The wealth which was pouring into the Boer state coffers exceeded the wildest dreams of President Kruger and his followers. Land went up in value, and the Boers eventually parted with a third of the whole land area of the country to Uitlander purchasers. Yet in spite of the wealth which the industry of the Uitlanders was bringing both to the state and to individuals, a policy of rigid political exclusion and restriction was adopted towards them.

An attempt was made in 1888, after the conference held between Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and Natal, to induce the Transvaal to enter the customs union. Kruger would have none of it. His design at this time was ultimately to bring the whole of the external trade of the state, which was growing yearly as the gold industry developed, through Delagoa Bay and over the Netherlands Railway. In 1888 Sir John Brand, president of the Free State, died. He was succeeded in 1889 by Mr. Reitz. President Kruger now induced the Free State to agree to a treaty whereby each state bound itself to help the other whenever the independence of either should be threatened or assailed, unless the cause of quarrel was, in the eyes of the state called in to assist, an unjust one. This was the thin end of the wedge, which in Brand's time President Kruger had never been able to insert into the affairs of the Free State.

KRUGER AND THE UITLANDER GRIEVANCES

President Kruger now turned his attention to finding a seaport, and was only prevented from doing so by the British annexation of Tongaland, which barred his progress in that direction. In 1890 a feeling of considerable irritation had grown up among the Uitlanders at the various monopolies, but particularly at the dynamite monopoly, which pressed solely and with peculiar severity upon gold miners. Requests for some consideration in the matter of the franchise, and also for a more liberal commercial policy in the matter of railways, dynamite, and customs dues, began to be made. In response Kruger resorted to the most sweeping alteration in the franchise law. He enacted that the period of qualification for the full franchise should now be raised to ten years instead of five. He at the same time instituted what was called a second chamber, the franchise qualifications for which were certainly less, but which was not endowed with any real power. During this year Kruger visited Johannesburg, and what was known as "the flag incident" occurred. He had by this time rendered himself somewhat unpopular, and in the evening the Transvaal flag, which flew over the landdrost's house, was pulled down. This incensed Kruger so much that for many years he continued to quote it as a reason why no consideration could be granted to the Uitlanders.

In 1892 the Uitlanders began to feel that if they were to obtain any redress for their grievances some combined constitutional action was called for, and the first reform movement began. The Transvaal National Union was formed. This consisted at the outset chiefly of mercantile and professional men and artisans. The mining men, especially the heads of the larger houses, did not care at this juncture to run the risk of political agitation. The objects of this body were avowed from the outset. They desired equal rights for all citizens in the state, the abolition of monopolies and abuses, together with the maintenance of the state's independence. In the furthering of this policy

[1892-1895 A.D.]

the Uitlander leader, Mr. John Tudhope, an ex-minister in the Cape government, was supported by Mr. Charles Leonard and his brother Mr. James Leonard, who at one time had distinguished himself as attorney-general of Cape Colony.

Both the Leonards, as well as many of their followers, were South Africans by birth. They, in common with the great bulk of the Uitlanders, recognised that the state had acquired its independence, and had every right to have that independence respected. They neither sought nor desired to see it abolished. But they asserted that a narrow and retrogressive policy, such as Kruger was following, was the very thing to endanger that independence. The soundness of these views and the legitimacy of Uitlander aspirations were recognised by a few of the most enlightened men among the Boer officials at Pretoria. Some prominent burghers even spoke at Uitlander meetings in favour of the Uitlander requests. At a later date Chief Justice Kotze when on circuit warned the Boers that in its retrogressive action the Boer government was undermining the grond wet or constitution of the state. It soon became evident that one course, and only one, lay open to President Kruger if he desired to avert a catastrophe. It was to meet in a friendly spirit those men who had by their industry converted a poor pastoral country into a rich industrial one, who represented more than half the inhabitants, who paid more than three fourths of the revenue, and who were anxious to join him as citizens, with the rights of citizenship. He chose a course diametrically opposite. In an interview accorded to seven delegates from the National Union, who visited him in 1892, with regard to reforms, he told Mr. Charles Leonard to "go back and tell your people that I shall never give them anything. I shall never change my policy. And now let the storm burst.'

In 1894 there occurred an incident which not only incensed the Uitlanders to fury, but called for British intervention. A number of British subjects resident in the Transvaal, in spite of their having no political status, were commandeered for compulsory service to suppress a native rising. This led to a protest, and eventually a visit to Pretoria, from Sir Henry Loch. President Kruger at length agreed to extend "most favoured nation" privileges to British subjects in reference to compulsory military service, and five British subjects who had been sent as prisoners to the front were released. Following this incident came a further alteration in the franchise law, making the franchise practically impossible to obtain. The Delagoa Bay Railway now being completed, Kruger determined to take steps to bring the Rand traffic over it. The Netherlands Railway began by putting a prohibitive tariff on goods from the Vaal river. Not to be coerced in this manner, the Rand merchants proceeded to bring their goods on from the Vaal by wagon. Kruger then closed the drifts (or fords) on the river by which the wagons crossed. He only reopened them after the receipt of what was tantamount to an ultimatum on the subject from Great Britain.

At this time the Uitlanders formed a majority of the population, owned half the land and nine tenths of the property, and they were at least entitled to a hearing. When in August, 1895, they forwarded one of their many petitions praying for redress of their grievances and an extension of the franchise, their petition with over thirty-five thousand signatures was rejected with jeers and insult. In September a combined meeting of the chambers of mines and commerce was held at Johannesburg, and a letter on various matters of the greatest importance to the mining industry and community at Johannesburg was addressed to the Boer executive. It was never vouchsafed an answer. Men of any spirit among the Uitlanders were exasperated beyond

[1895 A.D.]

measure. Their position was humiliating. What the next step should be was freely discussed. It was easy to propound the question, impossible to answer it. Some urged an appeal to the imperial government; but others, especially men of colonial birth and experience, objected that they would be leaning on a broken reed. That men who had still the memory of Majuba in their hearts should have felt misgiving is not to be wondered at.

THE JAMESON RAID AND ITS CONSEQUENCES (1895 A.D.)

At this juncture came overtures to the leading Uitlanders from Cecil Rhodes and Doctor Jameson, leading to the Jameson raid. To one or two men this scheme, subsequently known as the Jameson plan, had been revealed earlier in the year, but to the majority even of the small group of leaders it was not known till October or November, 1895. The proposition came in a tempting hour. Mr. Rhodes and Doctor Jameson, after considerable deliberation, came to the conclusion that they might advantageously intervene between Kruger and the Uitlanders. They induced Mr. Alfred Beit, who was an old personal friend of Mr. Rhodes, and also largely interested in the Rand gold mines, to adopt this view and to lend his co-operation. They then submitted their scheme to some of the Uitlander leaders. Between them it was arranged that Doctor Jameson should gather a force of eight hundred men on the Transvaal border; that the Uitlanders should continue their agitation; and that, should no satisfactory concession be obtained from President Kruger, a combined movement of armed forces should be made against the Transvaal government. The arsenal at Pretoria was to be seized; the Uitlanders in Johannesburg were to rise and hold the town. Jameson was to make a rapid march to Johannesburg. The various movements were to be started simultaneously. Meanwhile, in order to give President Kruger a final chance of making concessions with a good grace, and for the purpose of stating the Uitlander case to the world, Charles Leonard, as chairman of the National Union, issued a historic manifesto, which concluded as follows:

"We have now only two questions to consider: (1) What do we want? (2) How shall we get it? I have stated plainly what our grievances are, and I shall answer with equal directness the question, What do we want? We want: (1) the establishment of this republic as a true republic; (2) a grond wet or constitution which shall be framed by competent persons selected by representatives of the whole people and framed on lines laid down by them a constitution which shall be safeguarded against hasty alterations; (3) an equitable franchise law, and fair representation; (4) equality of the Dutch and English languages; (5) responsibility to the heads of the great departments of the legislature; (6) removal of religious disabilities; (7) independence of the courts of justice, with adequate and secured remuneration of the judges; (8) liberal and comprehensive education; (9) efficient civil service, with adequate provision for pay and pension; (10) free trade in South African products. That is what we want. There now remains the question which is to be put before you at the meeting of the 6th of January, viz., How shall we get it? To this question I shall expect from you an answer in plain terms according to your deliberate judgment."

The Jameson conspiracy fared no worse and no better than the great majority of conspiracies in history. It failed in its immediate object. Doctor Jameson did not obtain more than five hundred men. Johannesburg had the greatest difficulty in smuggling in and distributing the rifles with which the insurgents were to be armed. The scheme to seize the Pretoria fort had to

« ElőzőTovább »