South Africa and the Transvaal War Volume I Part 22

This letter, though false in many particulars, certainly pointed out some "home truths," which it was desirable for the British public to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest. It also served to cast aside the thin veil which had covered our political relations with President Kruger and his party, and to show the firm foundations on which the hatred of the Boer for the Briton had been built for years. The question of the franchise was a bagatelle: a soap-bubble would have been pretext enough for war when the right hour and moment arrived. As allowed by this candid writer, whose valuable avowals cannot afford to be ignored, for many years treachery and disloyalty had existed, and the Boers had only bided their time.

They "desired delay, and had it," playing their cards so skilfully as to deceive even the British Government, and imply to them and the world that the franchise question and the discontent of the Uitlanders was the main cause of the disagreement.

Before pa.s.sing on to the terrible drama that, owing to the defiance of Mr. Kruger, was afterwards enacted, we must a.s.sure ourselves that the sad climax was bound to have come sooner or later. If the future of South Africa is to be saved, the prestige of Great Britain must be maintained; her citizens must be protected, and the betrayals of Downing Street of 1881 and 1896 must be atoned for. Though darkness reigns at the time of writing, the future of the Transvaal is a bright one. Reactionaries of the Hofmeyer and Kruger stamp will pa.s.s away, and we may look to the twentieth century for a happy settlement of the terrible difficulties which stare us in the face.

But the settlement can never be effected by the policy of compromise. It can never be lasting while Conventions are allowed to become the p.a.w.ns of parties; it can never be n.o.ble nor dignified until the petty ambitions of political strife are subdued and the grand whole, Great Britain--not the infinitesimal island, but the immense and populous Empire--is ordered and laboured for with the courage and strength that comes of undoubted unanimity! It remains, therefore, with each individual man and woman among us so to work that the grand result is not unnecessarily delayed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VISCOUNT WOLSELEY,

Commander-in-Chief of the British Army.

Photo by London Stereoscopic Co.]

APPENDIX

CONVENTION OF 1881

CONVENTION FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TRANSVAAL TERRITORY

PREAMBLE. Her Majesty's Commissioners for the Settlement of the Transvaal territory, duly appointed as such by a Commission pa.s.sed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, bearing date the 5th of April 1881, do hereby undertake and guarantee on behalf of her Majesty, that, from and after the 8th day of August 1881, complete self-government, subject to the suzerainty of her Majesty, her heirs and successors, will be accorded to the inhabitants of the Transvaal territory, upon the following terms and conditions, and subject to the following reservations and limitations:--

ARTICLE 1. The said territory, to be herein-after called the Transvaal State, will embrace the land lying between the following boundaries, to wit: [Here follow three pages in print defining boundaries].

ARTICLE 2. Her Majesty reserves to herself, her heirs and successors, (_a_) the right from time to time to appoint a British Resident in and for the said State, with such duties and functions as are herein-after defined; (_b_) the right to move troops through the said State in time of war, or in case of the apprehension of immediate war between the Suzerain Power and any Foreign State or Native tribe in South Africa; and (_c_) the control of the external relations of the said State, including the conclusion of treaties and the conduct of diplomatic intercourse with Foreign Powers, such intercourse to be carried on through her Majesty's diplomatic and consular officers abroad.

ARTICLE 3. Until altered by the Volksraad, or other competent authority, all laws, whether pa.s.sed before or after the annexation of the Transvaal territory to her Majesty's dominions, shall, except in so far as they are inconsistent with or repugnant to the provisions of this Convention, be and remain in force in the said State in so far as they shall be applicable thereto, provided that no future enactment especially affecting the interests of natives shall have any force or effect in the said State, without the consent of her Majesty, her heirs and successors, first had and obtained and signified to the Government of the said State through the British Resident, provided further that in no case will the repeal or amendment of any laws enacted since the annexation have a retrospective effect, so as to invalidate any acts done or liabilities incurred by virtue of such laws.

ARTICLE 4. On the 8th of August 1881, the Government of the said State, together with all rights and obligations thereto appertaining, and all State property taken over at the time of annexation, save and except munitions of war, will be handed over to Messrs. Stepha.n.u.s Johannes Paulus Kruger, Martinus Wessel Pretorius, and Petrus Jacobus Joubert, or the survivor or survivors of them, who will forthwith cause a Volksraad to be elected and convened, and the Volksraad, thus elected and convened, will decide as to the further administration of the Government of the said State.

ARTICLE 5. All sentences pa.s.sed upon persons who may be convicted of offences contrary to the rules of civilised warfare committed during the recent hostilities will be duly carried out, and no alteration or mitigation of such sentences will be made or allowed by the Government of the Transvaal State without her Majesty's consent conveyed through the British Resident. In case there shall be any prisoners in any of the gaols of the Transvaal State whose respective sentences of imprisonment have been remitted in part by her Majesty's Administrator or other officer administering the Government, such remission will be recognised and acted upon by the future Government of the said State.

ARTICLE 6. Her Majesty's Government will make due compensation for all losses or damage sustained by reason of such acts as are in the 8th Article herein-after specified, which may have been committed by her Majesty's forces during the recent hostilities, except for such losses or damage as may already have been compensated for, and the Government of the Transvaal State will make due compensation for all losses or damage sustained by reason of such acts as are in the 8th Article herein-after specified which may have been committed by the people who were in arms against her Majesty during the recent hostilities, except for such losses or damages as may already have been compensated for.

ARTICLE 7. The decision of all claims for compensation, as in the last preceding Article mentioned, will be referred to a Sub-Committee, consisting of the Honourable George Hudson, the Honourable Jacobus Petrus de Wet, and the Honourable John Gilbert Kotze. In case one or more of such Sub-Commissioners shall be unable or unwilling to act the remaining Sub-Commissioner or Sub-Commissioners will, after consultation with the Government of the Transvaal State, submit for the approval of her Majesty's High Commissioners the names of one or more persons to be appointed by them to fill the place or places thus vacated. The decision of the said Sub-Commissioners, or of a majority of them, will be final.

The said Sub-Commissioners will enter upon and perform their duties with all convenient speed. They will, before taking evidence or ordering evidence to be taken in respect of any claim, decide whether such claim can be entertained at all under the rules laid down in the next succeeding Article. In regard to claims which can be so entertained, the Sub-Commissioners will, in the first instance, afford every facility for an amicable arrangement as to the amount payable in respect of any claim, and only in cases in which there is no reasonable ground for believing that an immediate amicable arrangement can be arrived at will they take evidence or order evidence to be taken. For the purpose of taking evidence and reporting thereon, the Sub-Commissioners may appoint Deputies, who will, without delay, submit records of the evidence and their reports to the Sub-Commissioners. The Sub-Commissioners will arrange their sittings and the sittings of their Deputies in such a manner as to afford the earliest convenience to the parties concerned and their witnesses. In no case will costs be allowed to either side, other than the actual and reasonable expenses of witnesses whose evidence is certified by the Sub-Commissioners to have been necessary.

Interest will not run on the amount of any claim, except as is herein-after provided for. The said Sub-Commissioners will forthwith, after deciding upon any claim, announce their decision to the Government against which the award is made and to the claimant. The amount of remuneration payable to the Sub-Commissioners and their Deputies will be determined by the High Commissioners. After all the claims have been decided upon, the British Government and the Government of the Transvaal State will pay proportionate shares of the said remuneration and of the expenses of the Sub-Commissioners and their Deputies, according to the amount awarded against them respectively.

ARTICLE 8. For the purpose of distinguis.h.i.+ng claims to be accepted from those to be rejected, the Sub-Commissioners will be guided by the following rules, viz.: Compensation will be allowed for losses or damage sustained by reason of the following acts committed during the recent hostilities, viz., (_a_) commandeering, seizure, confiscation, or destruction of property, or damage done to property; (_b_) violence done or threats used by persons in arms. In regard to acts under (_a_), compensation will be allowed for direct losses only. In regard to acts falling under (_b_), compensation will be allowed for actual losses of property, or actual injury to the same proved to have been caused by its enforced abandonment. No claims for indirect losses, except such as are in this Article specially provided for, will be entertained. No claims which have been handed in to the Secretary of the Royal Commission after the 1st day of July 1881 will be entertained, unless the Sub-Commissioners shall be satisfied that the delay was reasonable. When claims for loss of property are considered, the Sub-Commissioners will require distinct proof of the existence of the property, and that it neither has reverted nor will revert to the claimant.

ARTICLE 9. The Government of the Transvaal State will pay and satisfy the amount of every claim awarded against it within one month after the Sub-Commissioners shall have notified their decision to the said Government, and in default of such payment the said Government will pay interest at the rate of six per cent. per annum from the date of such default; but her Majesty's Government may at any time before such payment pay the amount, with interest, if any, to the claimant in satisfaction of his claim, and may add the sum thus paid to any debt which may be due by the Transvaal State to her Majesty's Government, as herein-after provided for.

ARTICLE 10. The Transvaal State will be liable for the balance of the debts for which the South African Republic was liable at the date of annexation, to wit, the sum of 48,000 in respect of the Cape Commercial Bank Loan, and 85,667 in respect to the Railway Loan, together with the amount due on 8th August 1881 on account of the Orphan Chamber Debt, which now stands at 22,200, which debts will be a first charge upon the revenues of the State. The Transvaal State will, moreover, be liable for the lawful expenditure lawfully incurred for the necessary expenses of the Province since the annexation, to wit, the sum of 265,000, which debt, together with such debts as may be incurred by virtue of the 9th Article, will be second charge upon the revenues of the State.

ARTICLE 11. The debts due as aforesaid by the Transvaal State to her Majesty's Government will bear interest at the rate of three and a half per cent., and any portion of such debt as may remain unpaid at the expiration of twelve months from the 8th August 1881 shall be repayable by a payment for interest and sinking fund of six pounds and ninepence per cent. per annum, which will extinguish the debt in twenty-five years. The said payment of six pounds and ninepence per 100 shall be payable half yearly in British currency on the 8th February and 8th August in each year. Provided always that the Transvaal State shall pay in reduction of the said debt the sum of 100,000 within twelve months of the 8th August 1881, and shall be at liberty at the close of any half year to pay off the whole or any portion of the outstanding debt.

ARTICLE 12. All persons holding property in the said State on the 8th day of August 1881 will continue after the said date to enjoy the rights of property which they have enjoyed since the annexation.

No person who has remained loyal to her Majesty during the recent hostilities shall suffer any molestation by reason of his loyalty, or be liable to any criminal prosecution or civil action for any part taken in connection with such hostilities, and all such persons will have full liberty to reside in the country, with enjoyment of all civil rights, and protection for their persons and property.

ARTICLE 13. Natives will be allowed to acquire land, but the grant or transfer of such land will, in every case, be made to and registered in the name of the Native Location Commission, herein-after mentioned, in trust for such natives.

ARTICLE 14. Natives will be allowed to move as freely within the country as may be consistent with the requirements of public order, and to leave it for the purpose of seeking employment elsewhere or for other lawful purposes, subject always to the pa.s.s laws of the said State, as amended by the Legislature of the Province, or as may hereafter be enacted under the provisions of the 3rd Article of this Convention.

ARTICLE 15. There will continue to be complete freedom of religion and protection from molestation for all denominations, provided the same be not inconsistent with morality and good order, and no disability shall attach to any person in regard to rights of property by reason of the religious opinions which he holds.

ARTICLE 16. The provisions of the 4th Article of the Sand River Convention are hereby re-affirmed, and no slavery or apprentices.h.i.+p partaking of slavery will be tolerated by the Government of the said State.

ARTICLE 17. The British Resident will receive from the Government of the Transvaal State such a.s.sistance and support as can by law be given to him for the due discharge of his functions, he will also receive every a.s.sistance for the proper care and preservation of the graves of such of her Majesty's forces as have died in the Transvaal, and if need be for the expropriation of land for the purpose.

ARTICLE 18. The following will be the duties and functions of the British Resident:--Sub-section 1. He will perform duties and functions a.n.a.logous to those discharged by a Charge d'Affaires and Consul-General.

Sub-section 2. In regard to natives within the Transvaal State he will (_a_) report to the High Commissioner, as representative of the Suzerain, as to the working and observance of the provisions of this Convention; (_b_) report to the Transvaal authorities any cases of ill-treatment of natives or attempts to incite natives to rebellion that may come to his knowledge; (_c_) use his influence with the natives in favour of law and order; and (_d_) generally perform such other duties as are by this Convention entrusted to him, and take such steps for the protection of the person and property of natives as are consistent with the laws of the land.

Sub-section 3. In regard to natives not residing in the Transvaal (_a_) he will report to the High Commissioner and the Transvaal Government any encroachments reported to him as having been made by Transvaal residents upon the land of such natives, and in case of disagreement between the Transvaal Government and the British Resident as to whether an encroachment has been made, the decision of the Suzerain will be final; (_b_) the British Resident will be the medium of communication with native chiefs outside the Transvaal, and subject to the approval of the High Commissioner, as representing the Suzerain, he will control the conclusion of treaties with them; and (_c_) he will arbitrate upon every dispute between Transvaal residents and natives outside the Transvaal (as to acts committed beyond the boundaries of the Transvaal) which may be referred to him by the parties interested.

Sub-section 4. In regard to communications with foreign powers, the Transvaal Government will correspond with her Majesty's Government through the British Resident and the High Commissioner.

ARTICLE 19. The Government of the Transvaal State will strictly adhere to the boundaries defined in the 1st Article of this Convention, and will do its utmost to prevent any of its inhabitants from making any encroachment upon lands beyond the said State. The Royal Commission will forthwith appoint a person who will beacon off the boundary line between Ramatlabama and the point where such line first touches Griqualand West boundary, midway between the Vaal and Hart Rivers; the person so appointed will be instructed to make an arrangement between the owners of the farms Grootfontein and Valleifontein on the one hand, and the Barolong authorities on the other, by which a fair share of the water supply of the said farms shall be allowed to flow undisturbed to the said Barolongs.

ARTICLE 20. All grants or t.i.tles issued at any time by the Transvaal Government in respect of land outside the boundary of Transvaal State, as defined, Article 1, shall be considered invalid and of no effect, except in so far as any such grant or t.i.tle relates to land that falls within the boundary of the Transvaal State, and all persons holding any such grant so considered invalid and of no effect will receive from the Government of the Transvaal State such compensation either in land or in money as the Volksraad shall determine. In all cases in which any native chiefs or other authorities outside the said boundaries have received any adequate consideration from the Government of the former South African Republic for land excluded from the Transvaal by the 1st Article of this Convention, or where permanent improvements have been made on the land, the British Resident will, subject to the approval of the High Commissioner, use his influence to recover from the native authorities fair compensation for the loss of the land thus excluded, and of the permanent improvement thereon.

ARTICLE 21. Forthwith, after the taking effect of this Convention, a Native Location Commission will be const.i.tuted, consisting of the President, or in his absence the Vice-President of the State, or some one deputed by him, the Resident, or some one deputed by him, and a third person to be agreed upon by the President or the Vice-President, as the case may be, and the Resident, and such Commission will be a standing body for the performance of the duties herein-after mentioned.

ARTICLE 22. The Native Location Commission will reserve to the native tribes of the State such locations as they may be fairly and equitably ent.i.tled to, due regard being had to the actual occupation of such tribes. The Native Location Commission will clearly define the boundaries of such locations, and for that purpose will, in every instance, first of all ascertain the wishes of the parties interested in such land. In case land already granted in individual t.i.tles shall be required for the purpose of any location, the owners will receive such compensation either in other land or in money as the Volksraad shall determine. After the boundaries of any location have been fixed, no fresh grant of land within such location will be made, nor will the boundaries be altered without the consent of the Location Commission. No fresh grants of land will be made in the districts of Waterbergh, Zoutspansberg, and Lydenburg until the locations in the said districts respectively shall have been defined by the said Commission.

ARTICLE 23. If not released before the taking effect of this Convention, Sikukuni, and those of his followers who have been imprisoned with him, will be forthwith released, and the boundaries of his location will be defined by the Native Location Commission in the manner indicated in the last preceding Article.

ARTICLE 24. The independence of the Swazies within the boundary line of Swaziland, as indicated in the 1st Article of this Convention, will be fully recognised.

ARTICLE 25. No other or higher duties will be imposed on the importation into the Transvaal State of any article the produce or manufacture of the dominions and possessions of her Majesty, from whatever place arriving, than are or may be payable on the like article the produce or manufacture of any other country, nor will any prohibition be maintained or imposed on the importation of any article the produce or manufacture of the dominions and possessions of her Majesty, which shall not equally extend to the importation of the like articles being the produce or manufacture of any other country.

ARTICLE 26. All persons other than natives conforming themselves to the laws of the Transvaal State (_a_) will have full liberty with their families to enter, travel, or reside in any part of the Transvaal State; (_b_) they will be ent.i.tled to hire or possess houses, manufactures, warehouses, shops, and premises; (_c_) they may carry on their commerce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to employ; (_d_) 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 Transvaal citizens.

ARTICLE 27. All inhabitants of the Transvaal shall have free access to the Courts of Justice for the protection and defence of their rights.

ARTICLE 28. All persons other than natives who established their domicile in the Transvaal between the 12th day of April 1877 and the date when this Convention comes into effect, and who shall within twelve months after such last-mentioned date have their names registered by the British Resident, shall be exempt from all compulsory military service whatever. The Resident shall notify such registration to the Government of the Transvaal State.

ARTICLE 29. Provision shall hereafter be made by a separate instrument for the mutual extradition of criminals, and also for the surrender of deserters from her Majesty's forces.

ARTICLE 30. All debts contracted since the annexation will be payable in the same currency in which they may have been contracted; all uncancelled postage and other revenue stamps issued by the Government since the annexation will remain valid, and will be accepted at their present value by the future Government of the State; all licences duly issued since the annexation will remain in force during the period for which they may have been issued.

ARTICLE 31. No grants of land which may have been made, and no transfer of mortgage which may have been pa.s.sed since the annexation, will be invalidated by reason merely of their having been made or pa.s.sed since that date. All transfers to the British Secretary for Native Affairs in trust for natives will remain in force, the Native Location Commission taking the place of such Secretary for Native Affairs.

ARTICLE 32. This Convention will be ratified by a newly-elected Volksraad within the period of three months after its execution, and in default of such ratification this Convention shall be null and void.

ARTICLE 33. Forthwith, after the ratification of this Convention, as in the last preceding Article mentioned, all British troops in Transvaal territory will leave the same, and the mutual delivery of munitions of war will be carried out. Articles end. Here will follow signatures of Royal Commissioners, then the following to precede signatures of triumvirate.