The Press. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1903,

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11503, 9 February 1903, Page 4

The Press. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1903,

MR CHAMBERLAIN AND THE BOERS

It in a little disappointing to find thatf after all tihe Boer leaders have said as to the futility of making farther demands on the British Government, Dβ Wet bae again raised questions which were definitely settled at the Vereenigdng Conference, and which Mr Chamberlain has again and again refused to reconsider. We have heaird that Schalk Burger and Wolmarans submis- " sion and faifchful co-operation, as Mr Oham- " berlain was too strong," that Dβ Iα Rey urged bis countrymen to be loyal, declaring that "Mr Chamberlain wan a strong mam, "the sort needed to eet matters right," and that the Boer generals admitted that it was hopeless to ask Mr Chamberlain for more concessions, adding "We know now exactly "where we stand, and must work accord- ■ ingly." Even if Mr Chamberlain had been less uncompromising in his remarks to tiie Boer generals in London, these later expressions of opinion seemed to betoken that all ! controversy on the terme of peace was at an end. Once more, however, Mr Chamberlain has had to re-assert, with all the force and outspokenness of which be is capable, that England would not go behind those terns. This is not the first time he has had to apeak to the same effect since he reached South Africa., and it was the finnnen of his attitude at Pretoria that induced gobalk Burger and Wolmarans to arrive at the conclusion quoted above. On t&at occasion Mr Smuts presented Mr Chamberlain with an address which declared, among other things, that reconciliation could only be effected by complete amnesty for all engaged in the past war, and by allowing the Boer leaders in Europe to return to South Africa. Mr Chamberlain's reply, of which a full report is just to hand, was courteously emphatic, and after rta delivery the Boens had no excuse for believing that he was to be shaken or cajoled out of the attitude he has held all along. He told the Boers he would have received the address with greater pleasure if it had contained, besides demands and appeals, some recognition of what Great Britain had done for them. General Botha had thanked, in eloquent terms, his Continental friend* who had subscribed £106,000 for the Boer widows and orphans, but he had not told his fellow-countrymen that England -would have spent on their behalf, when all the cost of repatriation and. the compensation claims had been paid, between ten and fifteen millions. " Never in the history of " the world, he thought, had a conquering "nation ever done so much ior those who "were recently their opponents, and he "thought that when they gave thanks for "a hundred thousand pounds, they might " also recognise that they who had given "a hundred and fifty times that amount " were not altogether undeserving of re"gard." Referring to the latest demands he warned the Boens that their action in continually re-opening settled questions 1 was causing some impatience and giving rise to an impression that " while _tbe " Boer leaden were excellent people at, "bargaining, they failed to recognise the " desire that when a bargain was once made "it sHould 'be stuck to." The tenne of peace did not grant the Boers all they •wanted, but such as they were they had been agreed to, and they were the best England could give. It was a little too early, said Mr Chamberlain, to try now to go behind, or further than, the terms. The rebel British eubjecte, he pointed out, were being treated much better fhan the Boers treated their own rebels, and before a policy of complete forgiveness all round was initiated the Boers should chow that they were ready to forgive those of their llood who had surrendered —the "handsnppem," of .'to-ck.y'a cable message—and those who had assufted the British. The speech made a great impression on the Boers at the time, but with amazing stubbornness a section of them attempted to re-open matters -which the majority have accepted ac absolutely settled. Mr Chamberlain seems to have met J)e Wet and bis deputation "with the gloves off," and one can hardly imagine that any further suggestions will be made to him to relax the terms, of peace. The Bows, as Mr Chamberlain said, are good bargainers, indeed they have much of that fault imputed to the Dutch, "giving too little and asking too much," but the most irreconcilable most now recognise the hopelessness of making any more demands of Mr Cham(berlaia.