Huge packing-cases, marked 'Agricultural
Instruments' and 'Mining Machinery,' arrived from Germany and
France, to find their places in the forts of Johannesburg or
Pretoria. Men of many nations but of a similar type showed their
martial faces in the Boer towns. The condottieri of Europe were as
ready as ever to sell their blood for gold, and nobly in the end
did they fulfill their share of the bargain. For three weeks and
more during which Mr. Kruger was silent these eloquent preparations
went on. But beyond them, and of infinitely more importance, there
was one fact which dominated the situation. A burgher cannot go to
war without his horse, his horse cannot move without grass, grass
will not come until after rain, and it was still some weeks before
the rain would be due. Negotiations, then, must not be unduly
hurried while the veld was a bare russet-coloured dust-swept plain.
Mr. Chamberlain and the British public waited week after week for
their answer. But there was a limit to their patience, and it was
reached on August 26th, when the Colonial Secretary showed, with a
plainness of speech which is as unusual as it is welcome in
diplomacy, that the question could not be hung up for ever. 'The
sands are running down in the glass,' said he. 'If they run out, we
shall not hold ourselves limited by that which we have already
offered, but, having taken the matter in hand, we will not let it
go until we have secured conditions which once for all shall
establish which is the paramount power in South Africa, and shall
secure for our fellow-subjects there those equal rights and equal
privileges which were promised them by President Kruger when the
independence of the Transvaal was granted by the Queen, and which
is the least that in justice ought to be accorded them.' Lord
Salisbury, a little time before, had been equally emphatic. 'No one
in this country wishes to disturb the conventions so long as it is
recognised that while they guarantee the independence of the
Transvaal on the one side, they guarantee equal political and civil
rights for settlers of all nationalities upon the other. But these
conventions are not like the laws of the Medes and the Persians.
They are mortal, they can be destroyed. . .and once destroyed they
can never be reconstructed in the same shape.' The long-enduring
patience of Great Britain was beginning to show signs of giving
way.
In the meantime a fresh dispatch had arrived from the Transvaal
which offered as an alternative proposal to the joint commission
that the Boer Government should grant the franchise proposals of
Sir Alfred Milner on condition that Great Britain withdrew or
dropped her claim to a suzerainty, agreed to arbitration, and
promised never again to interfere in the internal affairs of the
republic. To this Great Britain answered that she would agree to
arbitration, that she hoped never again to have occasion to
interfere for the protection of her own subjects, but that with the
grant of the franchise all occasion for such interference would
pass away, and, finally, that she would never consent to abandon
her position as suzerain power. Mr. Chamberlain's dispatch ended by
reminding the Government of the Transvaal that there were other
matters of dispute open between the two Governments apart from the
franchise, and that it would be as well to have them settled at the
same time. By these he meant such questions as the position of the
native races and the treatment of Anglo-Indians.
On September 2nd the answer of the Transvaal Government was
returned. It was short and uncompromising. They withdrew their
offer of the franchise. They re-asserted the non-existence of the
suzerainty. The negotiations were at a deadlock. It was difficult
to see how they could be re-opened. In view of the arming of the
burghers, the small garrison of Natal had been taking up positions
to cover the frontier. The Transvaal asked for an explanation of
their presence. Sir Alfred Milner answered that they were guarding
British interests, and preparing against contingencies. The roar of
the fall was sounding loud and near.
On September 8th there was held a Cabinet Council - one of the most
important in recent years. A message was sent to Pretoria, which
even the opponents of the Government have acknowledged to be
temperate, and offering the basis for a peaceful settlement. It
begins by repudiating emphatically the claim of the Transvaal to be
a sovereign international State in the same sense in which the
Orange Free State is one. Any proposal made conditional upon such
an acknowledgment could not be entertained.
The British Government, however, was prepared to accept the five
years' 'franchise' as stated in the note of August 19th, assuming
at the same time that in the Raad each member might talk his own
language.
'Acceptance of these terms by the South African Republic would at
once remove tension between the two Governments, and would in all
probability render unnecessary any future intervention to secure
redress for grievances which the Uitlanders themselves would be
able to bring to the notice of the Executive Council and the
Volksraad.
'Her Majesty's Government are increasingly impressed with the
danger of further delay in relieving the strain which has already
caused so much injury to the interests of South Africa, and they
earnestly press for an immediate and definite reply to the present
proposal. If it is acceded to they will be ready to make immediate
arrangements. . .to settle all details of the proposed tribunal of
arbitration. . .If, however, as they most anxiously hope will not
be the case, the reply of the South African Republic should be
negative or inconclusive, I am to state that her Majesty's
Government must reserve to themselves the right to reconsider the
situation de novo, and to formulate their own proposals for a final
settlement.'
Such was the message, and Great Britain waited with strained
attention for the answer.
