The Hastings Standard Published Daily. FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1896. THE NEWS FROM TRANSVAAL.

Hastings Standard, Issue 100, 21 August 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1896. THE NEWS FROM TRANSVAAL.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

The latest news from South Africa is ugly enough to satisfy the most eager of the fighting spirits of the British nation. Oom Paul, with his customary scheming, has something sensational in store. It is singular that the startling news should follow so quickly upon the granting of the franchise to 5,000 loyal Uitlanders. This reward must have come with startling suddenness, and the manner of its coming must have roused the suspicions of those who mistrust Kruger and his people. The astute old President is incomparable at playing a double game, and appears to need more watching when he simulates graciousness. The Special Correspondent of the Times has evidently bumped up against some specially reliable information, to compel the " Thunderer " into making use of such significant words as "if challenged Great Britain will settle the question once and for ever."

The military preparations in the Boer Republic have been on a tremendous scale. Writing on the 80th March last, the Johannesburg correspondent of the Times said: " The military preparations here are quite inconsistent with any other explanation than that war is considered imminent. Large quantities of cannon, Maxims, rifles, and ammunition are pouring into the country, and orders, especially to German firms, are being given for all the requirements of military operations. The people are being roused up, and inflammatory speeches are made in various parts of the country." As confirming the statements of this correspondent, the Johannesburg correspondent of a Hamburg journal wrote about the same time that "the Boers are all well armed with rifles of the newest pattern, are ready for war, and, if it comes to blows, can reckon on the support of the Orange Free State and the Africander Bond. They can easily place 30,000 to 35,000 men in the field. Either Great Britain must accede, to the legitimate demands of the Transvaal or there will be a vast South African war." Referring to this, the Times, of April 17, said: " Tbe arming of the Dutch Bepublics

is unquestionably a very grave act. Preparations, we are told, are being made in the Orange Free State as well as in the Transvaal, and it would be fatuous to affect a doubt as to the contingent object with which they are undertaken."

The official explanation of the military preparations was given by Mr Montagu White, Consul-General in London for the South African Bepublic, as follows : " Article 25 of the Grondwet, of 1858, demands that in times of peace satisfactory measures should be taken for efficient armament. This provision had not latterly been observed, and it is reported that great dissatisfaction exists amongst the burghers owing to its having practically been allowed to fall into abeyance. Many of the men who withstood Dr Jameson had only a few rounds of ammunition, while others did not have a rifle or even a single cartridge. The Government has explained that their unpreparedness in the face of the bitter and unexpected lesson of January 2 is a sufficient reason for complying with the provisions of the law as above stated."

The explanation seems fair enough, but the "contingent object" of a South African war remains, and the Special Correspondent of the Times has evidently thrown light upon the aims and objects of President Kruger. The wily Oom Paul will find out when too late that the nation of shopkeepers when challenged will leap over their counters and light for the integrity of the Empire and to avenge Majuba Hill.