The Hastings Standard Published Daily TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1897. AN IMPENDING CRISIS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 307, 27 April 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1897. AN IMPENDING CRISIS.

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.

We hear but very little of the affairs of South Africa. For the moment the complication in Eastern Europe and the war between Greece and Turkey have monopolised the attention. Now and again we have had a brief cable message from Capetown or Pretoria or Johannesberg conveying some information scarcely intelligible to us, beyond perhaps to illustrate the arrogance of President Ivruger or the determination of Cecil Rhodes. Attairs in South Africa are in a critical state, and if we piece together the bald cablegrams that have been recently sent to the colonies we shall realise that. A war in South Africa is not only pending but also very near at hand ; but let us if possible set forth the events that have brought about the present serious condition. The animosity of Boer to Briton though often concealed has never been absent. In the days prior to 1 *!).■}, Cecil Rhodes and all the leading statesmen of Cape Colony and Natal, made every effort to wipe out the racial feelings that existed, and in the British colonies the Dutch subjects have been accorded many privileges. Friendly relations were also cultivated so far as the British ■were concerned with both the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, but conciliation has Ixti i '• rp'ct'-d bv the Boers to mean wiikn -- a t :d presuming upon this l't\ h'.i t <;t-d up insult and injury tp* n :L- I .t----landers. This is the pronounced feature oi the Government of KniC' r . The I'ukiidt-rs of Johannesbur.*. through their industry and enterprise practically eoawtvd tlie Jxmtfi Ateaut

of the -wealthiest of countries. The grievances of the Uitlanders which need not be here recounted led to the invasion of the Transvaal by Dr. •Jameson. That raid would not have ended as it did had not the British Government through its consul intervened and promised the Uitlanders of Johannesburg that their grievances would receive attention. A promise to this effect was made also by President Kruger, and with these assurances the Johannesburg people allowed Dr. Jameson to meet his fate unsupported. They deserted him under pressure from the British Government and promises of redress from Chamberlain and Kruger. The Uitlanders have since discovered that Boer promises in the fulfilment take the very opposite course to expectation. Instead of having their grievances redressed more disabilities and inconveniences have been heaped upon them. Thus we find that while one of the greatest grievances of the Uitlanders was the Education Question, and although it was in a measure redressed, that is to say permission was given to the schools to teach English, the benefit derived from this concession is checked in a most iniquitous manner. At the last meeting of the Volksraad it was, we believe, decided that all inland freight notes and all market notes must be written in the Dutch language, and every inhabitant of the Republic has the right to claim any of the accounts or receipts presented to him to be written in the Dutch language, and the penalty for the breach of this was fixed at not exceeding £5 or in default of payment, imprisonment not exceeding seven days for each violation. To the business community of Johannesburg, principally Uitlanders or rather English speaking people, this means the imposition of a further disability involving much loss. Another irritating affair was the absolute refusal of the Band to allow the sum of £3OOO for postal delivery by postmen in the city of Johannesburg. The Aliens Law and the Press Law are further instances of Boer oppression and illustrative of the manner in which grievances are redressed. While the Uitlanders were being jumped upon the Boers have been preparing for war. With the money wrung from the mining population the South African Republic has purchased immense quantities of war material, and apparently President Kruger is prepared for the worst. We may judge of the Boer temper in the Eloff incident. Lieutenant Eloff made use of a foul epithet during a drunken brawl towards Her Majesty the Queen, and in doing so was no doubt influenced by the example set him by President Ifruger himself. In his speech at the luncheon given in his honor at Bloemfontein on the occasion of his visit to the Orange Free State last month, he referred to Her Majesty as being "an angry woman." At the same time in touching upon the Jameson raid, he referred to it as the time when " Englishmen were so nicely shot through the head." When the report of the speech reached Johannesburg the Uitlanders consoled themselves by singing " Rule Britannia " and " God Save the Queen." To sum up, President Kruger has deliberately broken the terms of the Convention, has deliberately piled up further and more harassing disabilities on the Uitlanders, and has deliberately prepared for war. It is to be hoped that he will not be disappointed as to war, and we believe he will not be. The British troops in South Africa have been warned to hold themselves in readiness for immediate actio* another regiment of infantry has been added to the British forces in South Africa during -the past few weeks, the Cape Squadron of nine vessels is at Delagoa Bay, the key to the Transvaal, the newly appointed High Commissioner left England hurriedly for Capetown, but not, however, before he was assured publicly by the First Lord of the Admiralty that the British Empire was at his back and ready to support him. If all this does not mean war, we shall be exceedingly surprised, and the sooner it comes now the better.