CHAPTER XVI.

[Contents]CHAPTER XVI.CAUSES OF THE AFRICANDERS’ SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.—CONCLUDED.The “later dispatch” promised by the British cabinet was never sent. The answer to it of the Transvaal government was, therefore, delayed for several days, awaiting the new proposals that were to come as the result of further deliberations on the part of Her Majesty’s government. At last, on the eve of the outbreak of war, Mr. Chamberlain gave out, on the 10th of October, the text of the republic’s rejoinder to the British cabinet’s note of the 25th of September. It was transmitted by cable, through Sir Alfred Milner, and read thus:“Dear Sir: The government of the South African Republic feels itself compelled to refer the government of Her Majesty, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, once more to the convention of London, 1884, concluded between this republic and the United Kingdom, and which, in Article[242]XIV., secures certain specific rights to the white population of this republic—namely: That all persons other than natives, on 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 other premises.“C—They may carry on their commerce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to employ.“D—They shall not be subject, in respect of their premises or property or in respect of their commerce and industry, to any taxes other than those which are or may be imposed upon the citizens of the said republic.“This government wishes further to observe that these are the only rights which Her Majesty’s government has reserved in the above convention with regard to the outlander population of this republic, and that a violation only of those rights could give that government a right to diplomatic representations or intervention; while, moreover, the regulation of all other questions[243]affecting the position of the rights of the outlander population under the above-mentioned convention is handed over to the government and representatives of the people of the South African Republic.“Among the questions the regulation of which falls exclusively within the competence of this government and of the Volksraad are included those of the franchise and the representation of the people in this republic; and, although this exclusive right of this government and of the Volksraad for the regulation of the franchise and the representation of the people is indisputable, yet this government has found occasion to discuss, in friendly fashion, the franchise and representation of the people with Her Majesty’s government—without, however, recognizing any right thereto on the part of Her Majesty’s government.“This government has also, by the formulation of the now existing franchise law and by a resolution with regard to the representation, constantly held these friendly discussions before its eyes. On the part of Her Majesty’s government, however, the friendly nature of these discussions has assumed more and more a threatening tone, and the minds of the people of this republic and[244]the whole of South Africa have been excited and a condition of extreme tension has been created, owing to the fact that Her Majesty’s government could no longer agree to the legislation respecting the franchise and the resolution respecting representation in this republic, and, finally, by your note of Sept. 25, 1899, which broke off all friendly correspondence on the subject and intimated that Her Majesty’s government must now proceed to formulate its own proposals for the final settlement.“This government can only see in the above intimation from Her Majesty’s government a new violation of the convention of London, 1884, which does not reserve to Her Majesty’s government the right to a unilateral settlement of a question which is exclusively a domestic one for this government, and which has been already regulated by this government.“On account of the strained situation and the consequent serious loss in and interruption of trade in general, which the correspondence respecting franchise and the representation of the people of this republic has carried in its train, Her Majesty’s government has recently pressed for an early settlement, and finally pressed, by your intervention, for an answer within forty-eight[245]hours, a demand subsequently somewhat modified, to your note of September 12, replied to by the note of this government of September 15, and to your note of September 25, 1899, and thereafter further friendly negotiations were broken off, this government receiving an intimation that a proposal for a final settlement would shortly be made.“Although this promise was once more repeated, the proposal, up to now, has not reached this government.“Even while this friendly correspondence was still going on the increase of troops on a large scale was introduced by Her Majesty’s government, the troops being stationed in the neighborhood of the borders of this republic.“Having regard to occurrences in the history of this republic, which it is unnecessary here to call to mind, this republic felt obliged to regard this military force in the neighborhood of its borders as a threat against the independence of the South African Republic, since it was aware of no circumstances which could justify the presence of such a military force in South Africa and in the neighborhood of its borders.“In answer to an inquiry with respect thereto, addressed to His Excellency, the High Commissioner,[246]this government received, to its great astonishment, in answer a veiled insinuation that from the side of the republic an attack was being made on Her Majesty’s colonies, and, at the same time, a mysterious reference to possibilities whereby this government was strengthened in its suspicion that the independence of this republic was being threatened.“As a defensive measure this government was, therefore, obliged to send a portion of the burghers of this republic in order to offer requisite resistance to similar possibilities.”It will be seen from this correspondence that the British government had failed to send the formulation of “its own proposals for a final settlement” promised in the note of September 25, and that active preparations for war, even to the mobilization of troops, had been going on—on both sides—for some weeks.On the 7th of August, forty-nine days before the British cabinet engaged to prolong friendly diplomatic correspondence on the subjects at issue by promising a later dispatch containing its own proposals for a final settlement, Mr. Chamberlain delivered a speech in the House of Commons which has become historic—a speech which signified past all possibility of mistake that at[247]that early date war was a foregone conclusion. After deprecating the use of the word “war” unless it were absolutely necessary, he went on to say:“The government had stated that they recognized the grievances under which their subjects in Africa were laboring. They had stated that they found those grievances not only in themselves a serious cause for interposition, but a source of danger to the whole of South Africa.“They (the government) said that their predominance, which both sides of the House had constantly asserted, was menaced by the action of the Transvaal government in refusing the redress of grievances, and in refusing any consideration of the requests hitherto put in the most moderate language of the suzerain power. They said that that was a state of things which could not be long tolerated. They had said: ‘We have put our hands to the plow and we will not turn back,’ and with that statement I propose to rest content.”Language could not be plainer. It was the British government’s demand that the South African Republic must accept British control of her internal affairs—of affairs so purely domestic as the franchise and the representation of her citizens[248]—or fight. It is not a little remarkable in this connection that Germany, France, the United States of America and other powerful nations whose subjects were mingled with the English in that vast foreign population in the Transvaal, heard of no grievances inflicted on their subjects by the South African Republic sufficient to call forth even a friendly diplomatic representation and request for redress.On the morning of August the 8th, the day after Mr. Chamberlain’s warlike speech, the London papers announced that the Liverpool and Manchester regiments, then at the Cape, had been ordered to Natal; that the Fifteenth Hussars were to embark on the 23d of August, and that troops were to be massed along the Transvaal frontier. On the 11th of August it was announced that 12,000 British troops were to be dispatched from India to South Africa, and on the same day a large consignment of war stores, including medical requisites, was given out from the royal arsenal, Woolwich, for shipment to Natal, and the sum of $2,000,000 in gold was sent to South Africa for the War Office account. British troops began to arrive in South Africa from India and from England in the first week of October. By the 10th some 15,000 had landed.[249]These were hurried to the frontiers of the Orange Free State—both west and east—most of them being concentrated along the northern boundary of Natal, convenient to the southern frontier of the Transvaal.The government of the South African Republic made no mistake as to the meaning of Chamberlain’s belligerent speech in the House of Commons. On the 8th of August orders were given for the purchase of 1,000 trek oxen, to be used in the operations of the commissary department. On the 11th the German steamer Reichstag arrived at Lorenzo Marquez with 401 cases of ammunition. On the 12th it was decided to proceed at once with the construction of fortified camps at Laing’s Nek and Majuba Hill, and orders were issued for the preparation of armored trains. The mobilization of artillery was begun on the 13th, and the next day that force went into camps of instruction to learn the handling of guns of the latest pattern. On the 14th of August the Field Cornets were ordered to distribute Mauser rifles to the burghers, and the government began the purchase of mules, provisions and general war supplies. Large quantities of arms and ammunition were dispatched on the 15th of August to Oudtshoorn, Aliwal Bethany,[250]and other points in Cape Colony and the Orange Free State for the use of any Africanders who should rise against Great Britain when hostilities began. On the 19th of August another German steamer, the Kœnig, arrived in Delagoa Bay with 2,000 cases of cartridges for the Transvaal government. The same day fifty cases of ammunition each were dispatched to Kimberley, Jagersfontein and Aliwal North for the arming of sympathizers in those districts of Cape Colony. On the same day 300 Transvaal artillerists, with guns, ammunition and camp equipage, left Johannesburg for Komati Pass, in the Libombo Mountains.And so it went on during the “friendly diplomatic correspondence,” which terminated on the 25th of September—awaiting the “later dispatch” from the British cabinet, which never came; both sides arming and maneuvering for strategic advantages in preparation for the struggle that was seen to be inevitable.Perceiving that all the days spent in waiting for that “later dispatch” were being used by Great Britain in massing her gigantic powers of war in South Africa and along the Transvaal frontier, and believing that no such dispatch would now come until the points of war were all[251]secured by his great antagonist, President Kruger at last astonished the world—and, most of all, Great Britain—by issuing an ultimatum sufficiently bold and defiant to have come from any of the first-rate powers of the earth.The document was dated 5 o’clock, p. m., on Monday, October the 9th, and read as follows:“Her Majesty’s unlawful intervention in the internal affairs of this republic, in conflict with the London convention of 1884, and by the extraordinary strengthening of her troops in the neighborhood of the borders of this republic, has caused an intolerable condition of things to arise, to which this government feels itself obliged, in the interest not only of this republic, but also of all South Africa, to make an end as soon as possible.“This government feels itself called upon and obliged to press earnestly and with emphasis for an immediate termination of this state of things, and to request Her Majesty’s government to give assurances upon the following four demands:“First—That all points of mutual difference be regulated by friendly recourse to arbitration or by whatever amicable way may be agreed upon by this government and Her Majesty’s government.[252]“Second—That all troops on the borders of this republic shall be instantly withdrawn.“Third—That all re-enforcements of troops which have arrived in South Africa since June 1, 1899, shall be removed from South Africa within a reasonable time, to be agreed upon with this government, and with the mutual assurance and guaranty on the part of this government that no attack upon or hostilities against any portion of the possessions of the British government shall be made by this republic during the further negotiations within a period of time to be subsequently agreed upon between the governments; and this government will, on compliance therewith, be prepared to withdraw the burghers of this republic from the borders.“Fourth—That Her Majesty’s troops which are now on the high seas shall not be landed in any part of South Africa.“This government presses for an immediate and an affirmative answer to these four questions and earnestly requests Her Majesty’s government to return an answer before or upon Wednesday, October 11, 1899, not later than 5 o’clock p. m.“It desires further to add that in the unexpected event of an answer not satisfactory being[253]received by it within the interval, it will with great regret be compelled to regard the action of Her Majesty’s government as a formal declaration of war and will not hold itself responsible for the consequences thereof, and that, in the event of any further movement of troops occurring within the above-mentioned time in a nearer direction to our borders, this government will be compelled to regard that also as a formal declaration of war.”This document was signed by F. W. Reitz, State Secretary, and handed by him to Mr. Conyngham Greene, Her Majesty’s agent at Pretoria. On Wednesday afternoon, October the 11th, at 3 o’clock, Mr. Greene delivered the reply of his government, which read thus:“Her Majesty’s government declines even to consider the peremptory demands of the Transvaal government.”Within an hour the telegraphic wires had flashed through all the South African Republic the ominous word “Oorlog”—war!Mr. Conyngham Greene at once asked for his passport, and on the next day, October the 12th, with his family, he was sent, attended by a guard of honor, to the border of the Orange Free State,[254]where a similar guard received and conducted him to British territory in Cape Colony.Thursday, the 12th of October, was a busy and exciting day in both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State—for the two republics stood as one in the struggle. That night—twenty-four hours after war had been declared—30,000 burghers were on the borders ready to do battle. Of these 20,000 invaded Natal under General Joubert, and the vanguard under General Kock occupied Newcastle on the 13th of October. The other 10,000, under GeneralPietCronje, crossed the western border into British Bechuanaland and marched on Mafeking.Thus, and for the causes set forth, began the Africanders’ Second War of Independence. It was not in the proposed scope of this book to treat of its fortunes. The prospect is that it will be a long and sanguinary war. The story of it will afford abundant and interesting matter for a later volume.It only remains to show that in all the matters in dispute between the government of the Transvaal and that of Great Britain, and in the war which resulted therefrom, the two Africander republics acted in solidarity. Early in November, 1899, the President of the Orange Free State[255]announced this to his people and to the world in the following proclamation:“Burghers of the Orange Free State: The time which we had so much desired to avoid—the moment when we as a nation are compelled with arms to oppose injustice and shameless violence—is at hand. Our sister republic to the north of the Vaal river is about to be attacked by an unscrupulous enemy, who for many years has prepared herself and sought pretexts for the violence of which he is now guilty, whose purpose is to destroy the existence of the Africander race.“With our sister republic we are not only bound by ties of blood, of sympathy and of common interests, but also by formal treaty which has been necessitated by circumstances. This treaty demands of us that we assist her if she should be unjustly attacked, which we unfortunately for a long time have had too much reason to expect. We therefore cannot passively look on while injustice is done her, and while also our own dearly bought freedom is endangered, but are called as men to resist, trusting the Almighty, firmly believing that He will never permit injustice and unrighteousness to triumph.“Now that we thus resist a powerful enemy, with whom it has always been our highest desire[256]to live in friendship, notwithstanding injustice and wrong done by him to us in the past, we solemnly declare in the presence of the Almighty God that we are compelled thereto by the injustice done to our kinsmen and by the consciousness that the end of their independence will make our existence as an independent state of no significance, and that their fate, should they be obliged to bend under an overwhelming power, will also soon after be our own fate.“Solemn treaties have not protected our sister republic against annexation, against conspiracy, against the claim of an abolished suzerainty, against continuous oppression and interference, and now against a renewed attack which aims only at her downfall.“Our own unfortunate experiences in the past have also made it sufficiently clear to us that we cannot rely on the most solemn promises and agreements of Great Britain, when she has at her helm a government prepared to trample on treaties, to look for feigned pretexts for every violation of good faith by her committed. This is proved among other things by the unjust and unlawful British intervention, after we had overcome an armed and barbarous black tribe on our eastern frontier, as also by the forcible appropriation[257]of the dominion over part of our territory where the discovery of diamonds had caused the desire for this appropriation, although contrary to existing treaties. The desire and intention to trample on our rights as an independent and sovereign nation, notwithstanding a solemn convention existing between this state and Great Britain, have also been more than once and are now again shown by the present government, by giving expressions in public documents to an unfounded claim of paramountcy over the whole of South Africa, and therefore also over this state.“With regard to the South African Republic, Great Britain has moreover refused until the present to allow her to regain her original position in respect to foreign affairs, a position which she had lost in no sense by her own faults. The original intention of the conventions to which the republic had consented under pressure and circumstances has been perverted and continually been used by the present British administration as a means for the practice of tyranny and of injustice, and, among other things, for the support of a revolutionary propaganda within the republic in favor of Great Britain.“And while no redress has been offered, as justice demands, for injustice done to the South[258]African Republic on the part of the British government; and while no gratitude is exhibited for the magnanimity shown at the request of the British government to British subjects who had forfeited under the laws of the republic their lives and property, yet no feeling of shame has prevented the British government, now that the gold mines of immense value have been discovered in the country, to make claims of the republic, the consequence of which, if allowed, will be that those who—or whose forefathers—have saved the country from barbarism and have won it for civilization with their blood and their tears, will lose their control over the interests of the country to which they are justly entitled according to divine and human laws. The consequence of these claims would be, moreover, that the greater part of the power will be placed in the hands of those who, foreigners by birth, enjoy the privilege of depriving the country of its chief treasure, while they have never shown any loyalty to a foreign government. Besides, the inevitable consequence of the acceptance of these claims would be that the independence of the country as a self-governing, independent sovereign republic would be irreparably lost. For years past British troops in great numbers have been placed on the[259]frontiers of our sister republic in order to compel her by fear to accede to the demands which would be pressed upon her, and in order to encourage revolutionary disturbances and the cunning plans of those whose greed for gold is the cause of their shameless undertakings.“Those plans have now reached their climax in the open violence to which the present British government now resorts. While we readily acknowledge the honorable character of thousands of Englishmen who loathe such deeds of robbery and wrong, we cannot but abhor the shameless breaking of treaties, the feigned pretexts for the transgression of law, the violation of international law and of justice and the numerous right-rending deeds of the British statesmen, who will now force a war upon the South African Republic. On their heads be the guilt of blood, and may a just Providence reward all as they deserve.“Burghers of the Orange Free State, rise as one man against the oppressor and the violator of right!“In the strife to which we are now driven have care to commit no deed unworthy of a Christian and of a burgher of the Orange Free State. Let us look forward with confidence to a fortunate end of this conflict, trusting to the[260]Higher Power without whose help human weapons are of no avail.“May He bless our arms. Under His banner we advance to battle for liberty and for fatherland.M. T. Steyn, State President.”[261]

CHAPTER XVI.CAUSES OF THE AFRICANDERS’ SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.—CONCLUDED.

The “later dispatch” promised by the British cabinet was never sent. The answer to it of the Transvaal government was, therefore, delayed for several days, awaiting the new proposals that were to come as the result of further deliberations on the part of Her Majesty’s government. At last, on the eve of the outbreak of war, Mr. Chamberlain gave out, on the 10th of October, the text of the republic’s rejoinder to the British cabinet’s note of the 25th of September. It was transmitted by cable, through Sir Alfred Milner, and read thus:“Dear Sir: The government of the South African Republic feels itself compelled to refer the government of Her Majesty, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, once more to the convention of London, 1884, concluded between this republic and the United Kingdom, and which, in Article[242]XIV., secures certain specific rights to the white population of this republic—namely: That all persons other than natives, on 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 other premises.“C—They may carry on their commerce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to employ.“D—They shall not be subject, in respect of their premises or property or in respect of their commerce and industry, to any taxes other than those which are or may be imposed upon the citizens of the said republic.“This government wishes further to observe that these are the only rights which Her Majesty’s government has reserved in the above convention with regard to the outlander population of this republic, and that a violation only of those rights could give that government a right to diplomatic representations or intervention; while, moreover, the regulation of all other questions[243]affecting the position of the rights of the outlander population under the above-mentioned convention is handed over to the government and representatives of the people of the South African Republic.“Among the questions the regulation of which falls exclusively within the competence of this government and of the Volksraad are included those of the franchise and the representation of the people in this republic; and, although this exclusive right of this government and of the Volksraad for the regulation of the franchise and the representation of the people is indisputable, yet this government has found occasion to discuss, in friendly fashion, the franchise and representation of the people with Her Majesty’s government—without, however, recognizing any right thereto on the part of Her Majesty’s government.“This government has also, by the formulation of the now existing franchise law and by a resolution with regard to the representation, constantly held these friendly discussions before its eyes. On the part of Her Majesty’s government, however, the friendly nature of these discussions has assumed more and more a threatening tone, and the minds of the people of this republic and[244]the whole of South Africa have been excited and a condition of extreme tension has been created, owing to the fact that Her Majesty’s government could no longer agree to the legislation respecting the franchise and the resolution respecting representation in this republic, and, finally, by your note of Sept. 25, 1899, which broke off all friendly correspondence on the subject and intimated that Her Majesty’s government must now proceed to formulate its own proposals for the final settlement.“This government can only see in the above intimation from Her Majesty’s government a new violation of the convention of London, 1884, which does not reserve to Her Majesty’s government the right to a unilateral settlement of a question which is exclusively a domestic one for this government, and which has been already regulated by this government.“On account of the strained situation and the consequent serious loss in and interruption of trade in general, which the correspondence respecting franchise and the representation of the people of this republic has carried in its train, Her Majesty’s government has recently pressed for an early settlement, and finally pressed, by your intervention, for an answer within forty-eight[245]hours, a demand subsequently somewhat modified, to your note of September 12, replied to by the note of this government of September 15, and to your note of September 25, 1899, and thereafter further friendly negotiations were broken off, this government receiving an intimation that a proposal for a final settlement would shortly be made.“Although this promise was once more repeated, the proposal, up to now, has not reached this government.“Even while this friendly correspondence was still going on the increase of troops on a large scale was introduced by Her Majesty’s government, the troops being stationed in the neighborhood of the borders of this republic.“Having regard to occurrences in the history of this republic, which it is unnecessary here to call to mind, this republic felt obliged to regard this military force in the neighborhood of its borders as a threat against the independence of the South African Republic, since it was aware of no circumstances which could justify the presence of such a military force in South Africa and in the neighborhood of its borders.“In answer to an inquiry with respect thereto, addressed to His Excellency, the High Commissioner,[246]this government received, to its great astonishment, in answer a veiled insinuation that from the side of the republic an attack was being made on Her Majesty’s colonies, and, at the same time, a mysterious reference to possibilities whereby this government was strengthened in its suspicion that the independence of this republic was being threatened.“As a defensive measure this government was, therefore, obliged to send a portion of the burghers of this republic in order to offer requisite resistance to similar possibilities.”It will be seen from this correspondence that the British government had failed to send the formulation of “its own proposals for a final settlement” promised in the note of September 25, and that active preparations for war, even to the mobilization of troops, had been going on—on both sides—for some weeks.On the 7th of August, forty-nine days before the British cabinet engaged to prolong friendly diplomatic correspondence on the subjects at issue by promising a later dispatch containing its own proposals for a final settlement, Mr. Chamberlain delivered a speech in the House of Commons which has become historic—a speech which signified past all possibility of mistake that at[247]that early date war was a foregone conclusion. After deprecating the use of the word “war” unless it were absolutely necessary, he went on to say:“The government had stated that they recognized the grievances under which their subjects in Africa were laboring. They had stated that they found those grievances not only in themselves a serious cause for interposition, but a source of danger to the whole of South Africa.“They (the government) said that their predominance, which both sides of the House had constantly asserted, was menaced by the action of the Transvaal government in refusing the redress of grievances, and in refusing any consideration of the requests hitherto put in the most moderate language of the suzerain power. They said that that was a state of things which could not be long tolerated. They had said: ‘We have put our hands to the plow and we will not turn back,’ and with that statement I propose to rest content.”Language could not be plainer. It was the British government’s demand that the South African Republic must accept British control of her internal affairs—of affairs so purely domestic as the franchise and the representation of her citizens[248]—or fight. It is not a little remarkable in this connection that Germany, France, the United States of America and other powerful nations whose subjects were mingled with the English in that vast foreign population in the Transvaal, heard of no grievances inflicted on their subjects by the South African Republic sufficient to call forth even a friendly diplomatic representation and request for redress.On the morning of August the 8th, the day after Mr. Chamberlain’s warlike speech, the London papers announced that the Liverpool and Manchester regiments, then at the Cape, had been ordered to Natal; that the Fifteenth Hussars were to embark on the 23d of August, and that troops were to be massed along the Transvaal frontier. On the 11th of August it was announced that 12,000 British troops were to be dispatched from India to South Africa, and on the same day a large consignment of war stores, including medical requisites, was given out from the royal arsenal, Woolwich, for shipment to Natal, and the sum of $2,000,000 in gold was sent to South Africa for the War Office account. British troops began to arrive in South Africa from India and from England in the first week of October. By the 10th some 15,000 had landed.[249]These were hurried to the frontiers of the Orange Free State—both west and east—most of them being concentrated along the northern boundary of Natal, convenient to the southern frontier of the Transvaal.The government of the South African Republic made no mistake as to the meaning of Chamberlain’s belligerent speech in the House of Commons. On the 8th of August orders were given for the purchase of 1,000 trek oxen, to be used in the operations of the commissary department. On the 11th the German steamer Reichstag arrived at Lorenzo Marquez with 401 cases of ammunition. On the 12th it was decided to proceed at once with the construction of fortified camps at Laing’s Nek and Majuba Hill, and orders were issued for the preparation of armored trains. The mobilization of artillery was begun on the 13th, and the next day that force went into camps of instruction to learn the handling of guns of the latest pattern. On the 14th of August the Field Cornets were ordered to distribute Mauser rifles to the burghers, and the government began the purchase of mules, provisions and general war supplies. Large quantities of arms and ammunition were dispatched on the 15th of August to Oudtshoorn, Aliwal Bethany,[250]and other points in Cape Colony and the Orange Free State for the use of any Africanders who should rise against Great Britain when hostilities began. On the 19th of August another German steamer, the Kœnig, arrived in Delagoa Bay with 2,000 cases of cartridges for the Transvaal government. The same day fifty cases of ammunition each were dispatched to Kimberley, Jagersfontein and Aliwal North for the arming of sympathizers in those districts of Cape Colony. On the same day 300 Transvaal artillerists, with guns, ammunition and camp equipage, left Johannesburg for Komati Pass, in the Libombo Mountains.And so it went on during the “friendly diplomatic correspondence,” which terminated on the 25th of September—awaiting the “later dispatch” from the British cabinet, which never came; both sides arming and maneuvering for strategic advantages in preparation for the struggle that was seen to be inevitable.Perceiving that all the days spent in waiting for that “later dispatch” were being used by Great Britain in massing her gigantic powers of war in South Africa and along the Transvaal frontier, and believing that no such dispatch would now come until the points of war were all[251]secured by his great antagonist, President Kruger at last astonished the world—and, most of all, Great Britain—by issuing an ultimatum sufficiently bold and defiant to have come from any of the first-rate powers of the earth.The document was dated 5 o’clock, p. m., on Monday, October the 9th, and read as follows:“Her Majesty’s unlawful intervention in the internal affairs of this republic, in conflict with the London convention of 1884, and by the extraordinary strengthening of her troops in the neighborhood of the borders of this republic, has caused an intolerable condition of things to arise, to which this government feels itself obliged, in the interest not only of this republic, but also of all South Africa, to make an end as soon as possible.“This government feels itself called upon and obliged to press earnestly and with emphasis for an immediate termination of this state of things, and to request Her Majesty’s government to give assurances upon the following four demands:“First—That all points of mutual difference be regulated by friendly recourse to arbitration or by whatever amicable way may be agreed upon by this government and Her Majesty’s government.[252]“Second—That all troops on the borders of this republic shall be instantly withdrawn.“Third—That all re-enforcements of troops which have arrived in South Africa since June 1, 1899, shall be removed from South Africa within a reasonable time, to be agreed upon with this government, and with the mutual assurance and guaranty on the part of this government that no attack upon or hostilities against any portion of the possessions of the British government shall be made by this republic during the further negotiations within a period of time to be subsequently agreed upon between the governments; and this government will, on compliance therewith, be prepared to withdraw the burghers of this republic from the borders.“Fourth—That Her Majesty’s troops which are now on the high seas shall not be landed in any part of South Africa.“This government presses for an immediate and an affirmative answer to these four questions and earnestly requests Her Majesty’s government to return an answer before or upon Wednesday, October 11, 1899, not later than 5 o’clock p. m.“It desires further to add that in the unexpected event of an answer not satisfactory being[253]received by it within the interval, it will with great regret be compelled to regard the action of Her Majesty’s government as a formal declaration of war and will not hold itself responsible for the consequences thereof, and that, in the event of any further movement of troops occurring within the above-mentioned time in a nearer direction to our borders, this government will be compelled to regard that also as a formal declaration of war.”This document was signed by F. W. Reitz, State Secretary, and handed by him to Mr. Conyngham Greene, Her Majesty’s agent at Pretoria. On Wednesday afternoon, October the 11th, at 3 o’clock, Mr. Greene delivered the reply of his government, which read thus:“Her Majesty’s government declines even to consider the peremptory demands of the Transvaal government.”Within an hour the telegraphic wires had flashed through all the South African Republic the ominous word “Oorlog”—war!Mr. Conyngham Greene at once asked for his passport, and on the next day, October the 12th, with his family, he was sent, attended by a guard of honor, to the border of the Orange Free State,[254]where a similar guard received and conducted him to British territory in Cape Colony.Thursday, the 12th of October, was a busy and exciting day in both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State—for the two republics stood as one in the struggle. That night—twenty-four hours after war had been declared—30,000 burghers were on the borders ready to do battle. Of these 20,000 invaded Natal under General Joubert, and the vanguard under General Kock occupied Newcastle on the 13th of October. The other 10,000, under GeneralPietCronje, crossed the western border into British Bechuanaland and marched on Mafeking.Thus, and for the causes set forth, began the Africanders’ Second War of Independence. It was not in the proposed scope of this book to treat of its fortunes. The prospect is that it will be a long and sanguinary war. The story of it will afford abundant and interesting matter for a later volume.It only remains to show that in all the matters in dispute between the government of the Transvaal and that of Great Britain, and in the war which resulted therefrom, the two Africander republics acted in solidarity. Early in November, 1899, the President of the Orange Free State[255]announced this to his people and to the world in the following proclamation:“Burghers of the Orange Free State: The time which we had so much desired to avoid—the moment when we as a nation are compelled with arms to oppose injustice and shameless violence—is at hand. Our sister republic to the north of the Vaal river is about to be attacked by an unscrupulous enemy, who for many years has prepared herself and sought pretexts for the violence of which he is now guilty, whose purpose is to destroy the existence of the Africander race.“With our sister republic we are not only bound by ties of blood, of sympathy and of common interests, but also by formal treaty which has been necessitated by circumstances. This treaty demands of us that we assist her if she should be unjustly attacked, which we unfortunately for a long time have had too much reason to expect. We therefore cannot passively look on while injustice is done her, and while also our own dearly bought freedom is endangered, but are called as men to resist, trusting the Almighty, firmly believing that He will never permit injustice and unrighteousness to triumph.“Now that we thus resist a powerful enemy, with whom it has always been our highest desire[256]to live in friendship, notwithstanding injustice and wrong done by him to us in the past, we solemnly declare in the presence of the Almighty God that we are compelled thereto by the injustice done to our kinsmen and by the consciousness that the end of their independence will make our existence as an independent state of no significance, and that their fate, should they be obliged to bend under an overwhelming power, will also soon after be our own fate.“Solemn treaties have not protected our sister republic against annexation, against conspiracy, against the claim of an abolished suzerainty, against continuous oppression and interference, and now against a renewed attack which aims only at her downfall.“Our own unfortunate experiences in the past have also made it sufficiently clear to us that we cannot rely on the most solemn promises and agreements of Great Britain, when she has at her helm a government prepared to trample on treaties, to look for feigned pretexts for every violation of good faith by her committed. This is proved among other things by the unjust and unlawful British intervention, after we had overcome an armed and barbarous black tribe on our eastern frontier, as also by the forcible appropriation[257]of the dominion over part of our territory where the discovery of diamonds had caused the desire for this appropriation, although contrary to existing treaties. The desire and intention to trample on our rights as an independent and sovereign nation, notwithstanding a solemn convention existing between this state and Great Britain, have also been more than once and are now again shown by the present government, by giving expressions in public documents to an unfounded claim of paramountcy over the whole of South Africa, and therefore also over this state.“With regard to the South African Republic, Great Britain has moreover refused until the present to allow her to regain her original position in respect to foreign affairs, a position which she had lost in no sense by her own faults. The original intention of the conventions to which the republic had consented under pressure and circumstances has been perverted and continually been used by the present British administration as a means for the practice of tyranny and of injustice, and, among other things, for the support of a revolutionary propaganda within the republic in favor of Great Britain.“And while no redress has been offered, as justice demands, for injustice done to the South[258]African Republic on the part of the British government; and while no gratitude is exhibited for the magnanimity shown at the request of the British government to British subjects who had forfeited under the laws of the republic their lives and property, yet no feeling of shame has prevented the British government, now that the gold mines of immense value have been discovered in the country, to make claims of the republic, the consequence of which, if allowed, will be that those who—or whose forefathers—have saved the country from barbarism and have won it for civilization with their blood and their tears, will lose their control over the interests of the country to which they are justly entitled according to divine and human laws. The consequence of these claims would be, moreover, that the greater part of the power will be placed in the hands of those who, foreigners by birth, enjoy the privilege of depriving the country of its chief treasure, while they have never shown any loyalty to a foreign government. Besides, the inevitable consequence of the acceptance of these claims would be that the independence of the country as a self-governing, independent sovereign republic would be irreparably lost. For years past British troops in great numbers have been placed on the[259]frontiers of our sister republic in order to compel her by fear to accede to the demands which would be pressed upon her, and in order to encourage revolutionary disturbances and the cunning plans of those whose greed for gold is the cause of their shameless undertakings.“Those plans have now reached their climax in the open violence to which the present British government now resorts. While we readily acknowledge the honorable character of thousands of Englishmen who loathe such deeds of robbery and wrong, we cannot but abhor the shameless breaking of treaties, the feigned pretexts for the transgression of law, the violation of international law and of justice and the numerous right-rending deeds of the British statesmen, who will now force a war upon the South African Republic. On their heads be the guilt of blood, and may a just Providence reward all as they deserve.“Burghers of the Orange Free State, rise as one man against the oppressor and the violator of right!“In the strife to which we are now driven have care to commit no deed unworthy of a Christian and of a burgher of the Orange Free State. Let us look forward with confidence to a fortunate end of this conflict, trusting to the[260]Higher Power without whose help human weapons are of no avail.“May He bless our arms. Under His banner we advance to battle for liberty and for fatherland.M. T. Steyn, State President.”[261]

“Dear Sir: The government of the South African Republic feels itself compelled to refer the government of Her Majesty, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, once more to the convention of London, 1884, concluded between this republic and the United Kingdom, and which, in Article[242]XIV., secures certain specific rights to the white population of this republic—namely: That all persons other than natives, on 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 other premises.

“C—They may carry on their commerce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to employ.

“D—They shall not be subject, in respect of their premises or property or in respect of their commerce and industry, to any taxes other than those which are or may be imposed upon the citizens of the said republic.

“This government wishes further to observe that these are the only rights which Her Majesty’s government has reserved in the above convention with regard to the outlander population of this republic, and that a violation only of those rights could give that government a right to diplomatic representations or intervention; while, moreover, the regulation of all other questions[243]affecting the position of the rights of the outlander population under the above-mentioned convention is handed over to the government and representatives of the people of the South African Republic.

“Among the questions the regulation of which falls exclusively within the competence of this government and of the Volksraad are included those of the franchise and the representation of the people in this republic; and, although this exclusive right of this government and of the Volksraad for the regulation of the franchise and the representation of the people is indisputable, yet this government has found occasion to discuss, in friendly fashion, the franchise and representation of the people with Her Majesty’s government—without, however, recognizing any right thereto on the part of Her Majesty’s government.

“This government has also, by the formulation of the now existing franchise law and by a resolution with regard to the representation, constantly held these friendly discussions before its eyes. On the part of Her Majesty’s government, however, the friendly nature of these discussions has assumed more and more a threatening tone, and the minds of the people of this republic and[244]the whole of South Africa have been excited and a condition of extreme tension has been created, owing to the fact that Her Majesty’s government could no longer agree to the legislation respecting the franchise and the resolution respecting representation in this republic, and, finally, by your note of Sept. 25, 1899, which broke off all friendly correspondence on the subject and intimated that Her Majesty’s government must now proceed to formulate its own proposals for the final settlement.

“This government can only see in the above intimation from Her Majesty’s government a new violation of the convention of London, 1884, which does not reserve to Her Majesty’s government the right to a unilateral settlement of a question which is exclusively a domestic one for this government, and which has been already regulated by this government.

“On account of the strained situation and the consequent serious loss in and interruption of trade in general, which the correspondence respecting franchise and the representation of the people of this republic has carried in its train, Her Majesty’s government has recently pressed for an early settlement, and finally pressed, by your intervention, for an answer within forty-eight[245]hours, a demand subsequently somewhat modified, to your note of September 12, replied to by the note of this government of September 15, and to your note of September 25, 1899, and thereafter further friendly negotiations were broken off, this government receiving an intimation that a proposal for a final settlement would shortly be made.

“Although this promise was once more repeated, the proposal, up to now, has not reached this government.

“Even while this friendly correspondence was still going on the increase of troops on a large scale was introduced by Her Majesty’s government, the troops being stationed in the neighborhood of the borders of this republic.

“Having regard to occurrences in the history of this republic, which it is unnecessary here to call to mind, this republic felt obliged to regard this military force in the neighborhood of its borders as a threat against the independence of the South African Republic, since it was aware of no circumstances which could justify the presence of such a military force in South Africa and in the neighborhood of its borders.

“In answer to an inquiry with respect thereto, addressed to His Excellency, the High Commissioner,[246]this government received, to its great astonishment, in answer a veiled insinuation that from the side of the republic an attack was being made on Her Majesty’s colonies, and, at the same time, a mysterious reference to possibilities whereby this government was strengthened in its suspicion that the independence of this republic was being threatened.

“As a defensive measure this government was, therefore, obliged to send a portion of the burghers of this republic in order to offer requisite resistance to similar possibilities.”

It will be seen from this correspondence that the British government had failed to send the formulation of “its own proposals for a final settlement” promised in the note of September 25, and that active preparations for war, even to the mobilization of troops, had been going on—on both sides—for some weeks.

On the 7th of August, forty-nine days before the British cabinet engaged to prolong friendly diplomatic correspondence on the subjects at issue by promising a later dispatch containing its own proposals for a final settlement, Mr. Chamberlain delivered a speech in the House of Commons which has become historic—a speech which signified past all possibility of mistake that at[247]that early date war was a foregone conclusion. After deprecating the use of the word “war” unless it were absolutely necessary, he went on to say:

“The government had stated that they recognized the grievances under which their subjects in Africa were laboring. They had stated that they found those grievances not only in themselves a serious cause for interposition, but a source of danger to the whole of South Africa.

“They (the government) said that their predominance, which both sides of the House had constantly asserted, was menaced by the action of the Transvaal government in refusing the redress of grievances, and in refusing any consideration of the requests hitherto put in the most moderate language of the suzerain power. They said that that was a state of things which could not be long tolerated. They had said: ‘We have put our hands to the plow and we will not turn back,’ and with that statement I propose to rest content.”

Language could not be plainer. It was the British government’s demand that the South African Republic must accept British control of her internal affairs—of affairs so purely domestic as the franchise and the representation of her citizens[248]—or fight. It is not a little remarkable in this connection that Germany, France, the United States of America and other powerful nations whose subjects were mingled with the English in that vast foreign population in the Transvaal, heard of no grievances inflicted on their subjects by the South African Republic sufficient to call forth even a friendly diplomatic representation and request for redress.

On the morning of August the 8th, the day after Mr. Chamberlain’s warlike speech, the London papers announced that the Liverpool and Manchester regiments, then at the Cape, had been ordered to Natal; that the Fifteenth Hussars were to embark on the 23d of August, and that troops were to be massed along the Transvaal frontier. On the 11th of August it was announced that 12,000 British troops were to be dispatched from India to South Africa, and on the same day a large consignment of war stores, including medical requisites, was given out from the royal arsenal, Woolwich, for shipment to Natal, and the sum of $2,000,000 in gold was sent to South Africa for the War Office account. British troops began to arrive in South Africa from India and from England in the first week of October. By the 10th some 15,000 had landed.[249]These were hurried to the frontiers of the Orange Free State—both west and east—most of them being concentrated along the northern boundary of Natal, convenient to the southern frontier of the Transvaal.

The government of the South African Republic made no mistake as to the meaning of Chamberlain’s belligerent speech in the House of Commons. On the 8th of August orders were given for the purchase of 1,000 trek oxen, to be used in the operations of the commissary department. On the 11th the German steamer Reichstag arrived at Lorenzo Marquez with 401 cases of ammunition. On the 12th it was decided to proceed at once with the construction of fortified camps at Laing’s Nek and Majuba Hill, and orders were issued for the preparation of armored trains. The mobilization of artillery was begun on the 13th, and the next day that force went into camps of instruction to learn the handling of guns of the latest pattern. On the 14th of August the Field Cornets were ordered to distribute Mauser rifles to the burghers, and the government began the purchase of mules, provisions and general war supplies. Large quantities of arms and ammunition were dispatched on the 15th of August to Oudtshoorn, Aliwal Bethany,[250]and other points in Cape Colony and the Orange Free State for the use of any Africanders who should rise against Great Britain when hostilities began. On the 19th of August another German steamer, the Kœnig, arrived in Delagoa Bay with 2,000 cases of cartridges for the Transvaal government. The same day fifty cases of ammunition each were dispatched to Kimberley, Jagersfontein and Aliwal North for the arming of sympathizers in those districts of Cape Colony. On the same day 300 Transvaal artillerists, with guns, ammunition and camp equipage, left Johannesburg for Komati Pass, in the Libombo Mountains.

And so it went on during the “friendly diplomatic correspondence,” which terminated on the 25th of September—awaiting the “later dispatch” from the British cabinet, which never came; both sides arming and maneuvering for strategic advantages in preparation for the struggle that was seen to be inevitable.

Perceiving that all the days spent in waiting for that “later dispatch” were being used by Great Britain in massing her gigantic powers of war in South Africa and along the Transvaal frontier, and believing that no such dispatch would now come until the points of war were all[251]secured by his great antagonist, President Kruger at last astonished the world—and, most of all, Great Britain—by issuing an ultimatum sufficiently bold and defiant to have come from any of the first-rate powers of the earth.

The document was dated 5 o’clock, p. m., on Monday, October the 9th, and read as follows:

“Her Majesty’s unlawful intervention in the internal affairs of this republic, in conflict with the London convention of 1884, and by the extraordinary strengthening of her troops in the neighborhood of the borders of this republic, has caused an intolerable condition of things to arise, to which this government feels itself obliged, in the interest not only of this republic, but also of all South Africa, to make an end as soon as possible.

“This government feels itself called upon and obliged to press earnestly and with emphasis for an immediate termination of this state of things, and to request Her Majesty’s government to give assurances upon the following four demands:

“First—That all points of mutual difference be regulated by friendly recourse to arbitration or by whatever amicable way may be agreed upon by this government and Her Majesty’s government.[252]

“Second—That all troops on the borders of this republic shall be instantly withdrawn.

“Third—That all re-enforcements of troops which have arrived in South Africa since June 1, 1899, shall be removed from South Africa within a reasonable time, to be agreed upon with this government, and with the mutual assurance and guaranty on the part of this government that no attack upon or hostilities against any portion of the possessions of the British government shall be made by this republic during the further negotiations within a period of time to be subsequently agreed upon between the governments; and this government will, on compliance therewith, be prepared to withdraw the burghers of this republic from the borders.

“Fourth—That Her Majesty’s troops which are now on the high seas shall not be landed in any part of South Africa.

“This government presses for an immediate and an affirmative answer to these four questions and earnestly requests Her Majesty’s government to return an answer before or upon Wednesday, October 11, 1899, not later than 5 o’clock p. m.

“It desires further to add that in the unexpected event of an answer not satisfactory being[253]received by it within the interval, it will with great regret be compelled to regard the action of Her Majesty’s government as a formal declaration of war and will not hold itself responsible for the consequences thereof, and that, in the event of any further movement of troops occurring within the above-mentioned time in a nearer direction to our borders, this government will be compelled to regard that also as a formal declaration of war.”

This document was signed by F. W. Reitz, State Secretary, and handed by him to Mr. Conyngham Greene, Her Majesty’s agent at Pretoria. On Wednesday afternoon, October the 11th, at 3 o’clock, Mr. Greene delivered the reply of his government, which read thus:

“Her Majesty’s government declines even to consider the peremptory demands of the Transvaal government.”

Within an hour the telegraphic wires had flashed through all the South African Republic the ominous word “Oorlog”—war!

Mr. Conyngham Greene at once asked for his passport, and on the next day, October the 12th, with his family, he was sent, attended by a guard of honor, to the border of the Orange Free State,[254]where a similar guard received and conducted him to British territory in Cape Colony.

Thursday, the 12th of October, was a busy and exciting day in both the Transvaal and the Orange Free State—for the two republics stood as one in the struggle. That night—twenty-four hours after war had been declared—30,000 burghers were on the borders ready to do battle. Of these 20,000 invaded Natal under General Joubert, and the vanguard under General Kock occupied Newcastle on the 13th of October. The other 10,000, under GeneralPietCronje, crossed the western border into British Bechuanaland and marched on Mafeking.

Thus, and for the causes set forth, began the Africanders’ Second War of Independence. It was not in the proposed scope of this book to treat of its fortunes. The prospect is that it will be a long and sanguinary war. The story of it will afford abundant and interesting matter for a later volume.

It only remains to show that in all the matters in dispute between the government of the Transvaal and that of Great Britain, and in the war which resulted therefrom, the two Africander republics acted in solidarity. Early in November, 1899, the President of the Orange Free State[255]announced this to his people and to the world in the following proclamation:

“Burghers of the Orange Free State: The time which we had so much desired to avoid—the moment when we as a nation are compelled with arms to oppose injustice and shameless violence—is at hand. Our sister republic to the north of the Vaal river is about to be attacked by an unscrupulous enemy, who for many years has prepared herself and sought pretexts for the violence of which he is now guilty, whose purpose is to destroy the existence of the Africander race.

“With our sister republic we are not only bound by ties of blood, of sympathy and of common interests, but also by formal treaty which has been necessitated by circumstances. This treaty demands of us that we assist her if she should be unjustly attacked, which we unfortunately for a long time have had too much reason to expect. We therefore cannot passively look on while injustice is done her, and while also our own dearly bought freedom is endangered, but are called as men to resist, trusting the Almighty, firmly believing that He will never permit injustice and unrighteousness to triumph.

“Now that we thus resist a powerful enemy, with whom it has always been our highest desire[256]to live in friendship, notwithstanding injustice and wrong done by him to us in the past, we solemnly declare in the presence of the Almighty God that we are compelled thereto by the injustice done to our kinsmen and by the consciousness that the end of their independence will make our existence as an independent state of no significance, and that their fate, should they be obliged to bend under an overwhelming power, will also soon after be our own fate.

“Solemn treaties have not protected our sister republic against annexation, against conspiracy, against the claim of an abolished suzerainty, against continuous oppression and interference, and now against a renewed attack which aims only at her downfall.

“Our own unfortunate experiences in the past have also made it sufficiently clear to us that we cannot rely on the most solemn promises and agreements of Great Britain, when she has at her helm a government prepared to trample on treaties, to look for feigned pretexts for every violation of good faith by her committed. This is proved among other things by the unjust and unlawful British intervention, after we had overcome an armed and barbarous black tribe on our eastern frontier, as also by the forcible appropriation[257]of the dominion over part of our territory where the discovery of diamonds had caused the desire for this appropriation, although contrary to existing treaties. The desire and intention to trample on our rights as an independent and sovereign nation, notwithstanding a solemn convention existing between this state and Great Britain, have also been more than once and are now again shown by the present government, by giving expressions in public documents to an unfounded claim of paramountcy over the whole of South Africa, and therefore also over this state.

“With regard to the South African Republic, Great Britain has moreover refused until the present to allow her to regain her original position in respect to foreign affairs, a position which she had lost in no sense by her own faults. The original intention of the conventions to which the republic had consented under pressure and circumstances has been perverted and continually been used by the present British administration as a means for the practice of tyranny and of injustice, and, among other things, for the support of a revolutionary propaganda within the republic in favor of Great Britain.

“And while no redress has been offered, as justice demands, for injustice done to the South[258]African Republic on the part of the British government; and while no gratitude is exhibited for the magnanimity shown at the request of the British government to British subjects who had forfeited under the laws of the republic their lives and property, yet no feeling of shame has prevented the British government, now that the gold mines of immense value have been discovered in the country, to make claims of the republic, the consequence of which, if allowed, will be that those who—or whose forefathers—have saved the country from barbarism and have won it for civilization with their blood and their tears, will lose their control over the interests of the country to which they are justly entitled according to divine and human laws. The consequence of these claims would be, moreover, that the greater part of the power will be placed in the hands of those who, foreigners by birth, enjoy the privilege of depriving the country of its chief treasure, while they have never shown any loyalty to a foreign government. Besides, the inevitable consequence of the acceptance of these claims would be that the independence of the country as a self-governing, independent sovereign republic would be irreparably lost. For years past British troops in great numbers have been placed on the[259]frontiers of our sister republic in order to compel her by fear to accede to the demands which would be pressed upon her, and in order to encourage revolutionary disturbances and the cunning plans of those whose greed for gold is the cause of their shameless undertakings.

“Those plans have now reached their climax in the open violence to which the present British government now resorts. While we readily acknowledge the honorable character of thousands of Englishmen who loathe such deeds of robbery and wrong, we cannot but abhor the shameless breaking of treaties, the feigned pretexts for the transgression of law, the violation of international law and of justice and the numerous right-rending deeds of the British statesmen, who will now force a war upon the South African Republic. On their heads be the guilt of blood, and may a just Providence reward all as they deserve.

“Burghers of the Orange Free State, rise as one man against the oppressor and the violator of right!

“In the strife to which we are now driven have care to commit no deed unworthy of a Christian and of a burgher of the Orange Free State. Let us look forward with confidence to a fortunate end of this conflict, trusting to the[260]Higher Power without whose help human weapons are of no avail.

“May He bless our arms. Under His banner we advance to battle for liberty and for fatherland.

M. T. Steyn, State President.”[261]

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