The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 13, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1832, 13 August 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 13, 1906.

Gradually as the exact terms of the new Constitution of tiio Transvaal colony are unfolded the details may have t.lio elfect of minimising the apprehensive feelings of blunder on the part of the British Cabinot which the first announcement gavo rice to, Tho latest detail that has trickled through tho cable this morning is only what coimuonsenso would anticipate, for the folly of extending tho franchise to the wholo adult population of that unhappy country was too apparent. Now wo learn that only British subjects will 1)0 allowed to participate in tho electoral privileges •: but among the many difficulties that confront those who are responsible for the good government of tho country (aud they are numerous enough) will be to find out who are British subjects and who are not. Even in this colony we have known of A-nnaturalisod aliens having their namc-s planed on the electoral roll and voting for or against candidates in tho metropolis itself, and if such things occur hero where the means are amplo for tho discovery of such a thing, how much more probable is it that tho same thing will bo done there seeing that the bulk of the population in many constituencies are most probably aliens, and most of them strangers 'i It is indeed very problematical whether many of the mining magnates themselves are British subjocts. Few of them, as a matter of fact, live in tho country at all, and only 'pay occasional visits to it .from their home,a in foreign | countries' but if they can got their names on tho rolls in view of tho keen struggle that is likely to eventuate it is almost certain that they will do so. In a newly acquired country too it will be a difficult matter to confine the lists to those who were British subjecls resident there before the war, or who have since taken lip their abode there,

mid tlio 1 tool a who linvo bocom British subjects hy conquest, for it is clour that nono othor aro outitlod to inclusion in tlio doliuition of what is mount hy “British subject” in the wording of tlio now (Jonstitutiou. If timt lino of demarcation between voters and non-voters can bo properly traced and adhered to it is quite certain that the Boors can muster up lingo majorities in most of tlio con stituericies, and what the effect will lie upon the future of the country it is impossible to say. One tiling, however, is certain, that is that eon dieting feelings and interests will opposo one another in such a way as to onr.uvo a very lively contest for tmpvornacy, and , it is a moot poiir whether th» conquered Boers will nor, p-o m diem selves hotter subjects Mis MAy-.ty in tie diiectioii of pcope.-iy no di .g tho country than tlin managers of the alien millionaires whoso first duly is not to servo His Majesty, hut to satisfy their masters The position altogether is a moat complex one, and as such the granting of self-govern-ment at this early stage savours somewhat of rashness. Truo, the Boors luivo taken tlio oath of allegiance to the tlirono of Britain ; but many of diem still entertain bitter feelings of resentment —which, after all, is but natural —against the incursions of a 'to them) foreign power. They cannot so soon bo expected to forget the traditions of their race and the fact that at least on one occasion since the doubtful justice of Sir Thoophilus Shepstono’s commission was inllicted upon thorn, they havo fought for and rogained thoir indopendonco. Indeed, before that time thoir forefathers vacated Cope Colony under pressure of British invasion, and the antagonism thus engendered and fanned into ilamo hy subsequent struggles cannot bo instantaneously annihilated. It lives now- among a section of those people, if not all of them, and thus the only safeguard against further rebellion lies in the Boor conscience itself, for that feeling still conflicts with his respect for the oath taken under pressure of defeat, and the stronger of the two will mark the course of future South African history. It may be that that course will not be strewn with the doud bodies of both raee3, as in the past; but that it will be one free from strife and bitterness, or even danger to the stability of the Empire no one can confidently prognosticate, yet certain it is that if alien money grabs had not been allowed so much sway the path would have been smoother, and tho granting of a Constitution at this early stage would not be of such a highly experimental nature. Fortunately among tho Boer leaders there aro iron of discernment and honor, who, though they may smart under the absence of traditional race freedom, may recogniso an equal freedom except in name in tho new Constitution, and thus the extreme liberality of its torms may prevo to bo its more lasting though loss apparont stability. That, however, docs not dispose of the alien question, or the conflicting interests of mino-owners and farmers, for the Boor hates tho Chinaman with a hatred that m deep and determined, and the British settlers in the country who have no personal interest in the mines are his sympathisers in this respect. Then tho place is overrun with alien Jews who are not tho friends of either Boev or Briton, and who havo practically monopolised tho commer ’G of the place and are driving British- rs out of tho country Ail these elemea.s of disruption and conflict and many more tend towards such a general complexity of conditions that make the (iovernment experiment an exceedingly interesting one, anu about which ~f I---'ornern it, .would . 1)0 (txtrmely unwise to hazard anything like a definite opinion, for the only thing certain is that trouble is looming ahead.