The Anglophobe Pro-Boers of course blame Mr. Chamberlain for the rupture of the Bloemfontein Conference, and extol the forbearance of Mr. Krueger, who carried off his proposal to have it passed by the Volksraad, and “his” burghers.

They do not reflect, that, had he honestly desired to put the matter on the road to settlement, Mr. Krueger should first have come to an understanding upon it.  By passing it through the Volksraad as law, he should have cut the cable, were he in reality, anything but an autocrat, and such ratifications anything but mere formalities.

Mr. Krueger had the condescension to say to England, “So you will have none of my proposals which compel those already in the Transvaal to an eleven or twelve years’ residence, coupled with impossible formalities, before obtaining the franchise?  Very well, I will renew my offer to you in the name of the Volksraad and of “my” burghers, and if you are not satisfied, leave me alone to hoodwink a large proportion of enlightened men on the Continent into believing that I am simply the victim of Mr. Chamberlain’s animosity, and England’s greed.”

[Footnote 20:  Le Siecle, April 10th, 1900.]

2.—­The Bill passed by the Volksraad.

The bill introduced into the Volksraad on July 13th was passed on July 19th, with only the addition of one amendment to Article 4, by which residents in the Transvaal, prior to the promulgation of the law, were entitled to obtain naturalisation after seven, instead of nine years of residence, on condition that they had complied with the requisite formalities, and had submitted to the delays before stated.  People admired Mr. Krueger’s generosity.  Nine or ten years, instead of eleven or twelve, for the Uitlanders already settled in the Transvaal!  What sacrifices he was making to ensure peace!  What magnanimity towards Uitlanders!  The first paragraph of Article 4 runs thus: 

“Article 4.  All persons who shall have settled in the South African Republic prior to the commencement of this Act, and who shall be eligible according to the conditions laid down in Article 1, may obtain letters of naturalisation seven years after arrival in the country.”

This article, therefore, only accorded naturalisation to former residents; their seven years in the country counted no more than two.

Suppose them naturalised; in reality, they are deprived of all nationality.

They belong no longer to the land of their birth; if wronged, or maltreated they have no claim upon it for redress.

They are not burghers:  they have no political rights; they are, in fact, minors who have lost their guardian.

This condition was to last for seven years in a country where changes are made by the week.

The art of importing confusion into the simplest matters, has been most successfully practised by Mr. Krueger and Dr. Leyds.  They have even succeeded in persuading thinking men that the Uitlanders should have accepted with enthusiasm the law of July 19th, and that they should have been deeply grateful to Mr. Krueger who had “reduced from nine to seven years the term first proposed by him at Bloemfontein.”