So Outrageous Were
These Proceedings That Great Britain Was Forced To Fit Out In 1884
A New Expedition Under Sir Charles Warren For The Purpose Of
Turning These Freebooters Out Of The Country.
It may be asked, why
should these men be called freebooters if the founders of Rhodesia
were pioneers?
The answer is that the Transvaal was limited by
treaty to certain boundaries which these men transgressed, while no
pledges were broken when the British power expanded to the north.
The upshot of these trespasses was the scene upon which every drama
of South Africa rings down. Once more the purse was drawn from the
pocket of the unhappy taxpayer, and a million or so was paid out to
defray the expenses of the police force necessary to keep these
treaty-breakers in order. Let this be borne in mind when we assess
the moral and material damage done to the Transvaal by that
ill-conceived and foolish enterprise, the Jameson Raid.
In 1884 a deputation from the Transvaal visited England, and at
their solicitation the clumsy Treaty of Pretoria was altered into
the still more clumsy Convention of London. The changes in the
provisions were all in favour of the Boers, and a second successful
war could hardly have given them more than Lord Derby handed them
in time of peace. Their style was altered from the Transvaal to the
South African Republic, a change which was ominously suggestive of
expansion in the future. The control of Great Britain over their
foreign policy was also relaxed, though a power of veto was
retained.
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