WHEN ENGLAND RULED THE TRANSVAAL.

Waikato Argus, Volume VII, Issue 484, 7 September 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

WHEN ENGLAND RULED THE TRANSVAAL.

Thk story of how the Transvaal was annexed to the British Empire twenty years ago in particularly interesting just now, and it is curious, in tho light of later events, to read how what is now tha South African Republic was for tour short years under the Union Jaclc. It is now one of the romances of tho Empire. We owe the story to Cetew.iyo. But for the Boer king tho Union Jack would never have waved over the Boer countrv. The Boers, who are human enough to hate rate and taxes, had brought their country to the verge of bankruptcy. Its exchequer was empty ; its army was all but useless; the natives were rising i" revolt; and the country was theatened with a Zulu invasion. Ccrewayo was in the height of his power —the British arms had not scattered his forces. The king complained _ that the Boers were constantly encroaching on his frontier, and he gathered his men together to fight the last great fight—to wipe the Boers out of existence. Had the right been fought, there cm be no doubt what would have happened, lhe Boers would have eeasnl to be. Ihe Zulus were immensely superior in .strength and numbers;, and had Cetewayo been left free to carry out his plans, there would probably have been no Tnui«vaal question to-day. But Cetewayo was not left free. Sir Thomas Shepstone. who had made himself feared by the Zulus, came to tl> rescue of the Boers. He planted the Union Jack in the Transvaal, and declared it part and parcel of the Queen's Empire. Nothing could have been more simple. 'I lie Boers feared the Zulus, the Zulus feared the white men, and at the moment when Cetewayo was gathering his torees to emash the Boers, the Englishman stepped in and claimed the country. There was no opposition, eveiybody was devoutly thankful, and the Queen's dominions were extended by 112.000 square miles and nearly 800,000 subjects. No country was ever so easily won. Cetewayo wrote a letter of thanks to the peace-maker. ' I thank my father Sompsen for his message,' he said. I nm glad that he has sent it, because the Dutch have tired me out, and I intended to fight them once and once only, and to drive them over the Vaal. You see my iu.pis arc gatherer!. It was to fight the Butch I called them together ; now I will send them back to their homes. The Boers were constantly moving their frontier further into my country. I had therefore, determined to end it once for nil ' As it was the Boers were saved, and tho Zulus learned to respect Sir Theophilus Shepstone. Years before, Shepstone had found himself alone amidst 3,000 Zulu warriors, brandishing their assegais, and howling for his blood. For two hours he stood thus, expecting to be receiving his death blow. Then, as calm as if he had been in England, he rose and spoke to the Zulu army : ' I know you mean to kill roe. It is an easy thing to do ; but I tell you ffinlus that for every drop of blood that ialls to the ground a hundred men will come out of the «ea from tho country of which Natal is one of the cattle kraals, and will nveuge me bitterly.' 'As he spoke, says Mr Rider Haggard, who describes the scene, ' he turned and pointed towards tl'.c ocean. Every man cf the «rcat multitude turned and stared towards the horizon as if they expected to seethe, long lines of avengers creeping ooiobs tho plain.' That speech, spoken with the calmness of a brave man who fears nothing, saved tho Englishman s life and established his ascendancy. From that day his power was unquestioned, and hi* influence with Cetewayo was supreme, It was the knowledge of this that induced .Shepstoue to step in when Cetewavo was threatening the Boers. Had he been merely anxious to extend British territory he would have stood by while the war was waged and occupied the country after Cetewayo had cleared it. But Shepstone was not an Imperialist at that price, and his desiicwas not so much to make the Transvaal British territory as to save the blood which must have been shed if he had stood aside.

Vs it waa, the Transvaal was annexed peacefully, and at a cost of less tl.un ICIOOOO. It was probably the cheapest corner of the British Empire. The cost of the land worked out at .something like Is 10(1 pur Miuare mile, and the Queen e'ained nearly 800,000 subjects at the cost of threepence a head, t'aul Krugerat that time was, perhaps, the most striking feature amongst the. subject p'M.ple, and he was one of the three Boer d« legates who came to England to petition the Queen to set the country free again, iho mission failed, however, and retamed to the Transvaal to take oil.ee as a British offioial-a post which ho hela for a few months, when he was dismissed under curious and somewhat discreditable circumstances. It has been said if the British Government had increased his wages Kruger might it. I have been a humble British official, but that can never he more than mere conjecture. What is certain is that the next few years were years of discontent in the Transvaal, and a movement for demandine the restoration of their independtnee t-rewin favour. . . • .■ lak.ng advantage of our small garrison the Boers plontwl the Hag of independence, the 'I ransvaal war began, and the remit all the world knows.

Tradespeople who uidh to bung their good* prominently before the Waikuto public are informed that Tiw TVaikato Anars is moiv v.ultly circulated than any other journal in the district, awl an ndVertisement in Uj columns will be read ill almost every home.