The South-African crisis - pagina 60

THE SOUTH-AJEICAN

•^•5

CRISIS.

lam

grieved to say. on the field of battle. Without a scrupulous respect for acquired rights and without sincerity above all suspicion eveiy civilization breaks or,

down. But England has violated the treaties of Bloemfontein and the Sand River and, by an unjustitiable interpretation,

has

tried to escape

from the ConvenMore, one of the most imiwrtant resolutions of the Volksraad was inserted in the Bine tion

London.

of

Blook,

not as

it

appeared in the

official

journal, but

was reported in the Press (of July 29*^ 1899). In the Blue Book text the essential words ''with complete as

it

:

franchi-sed

rights''

were

suppressed »). It was this omission which Dr. Clarke called ihe lying misrepresent tation of the text in the Bine Book 2). Even the des-

patch

of President

Steyn of Sep. 27 tb was mutilated in the Blue Book by the omission of 29 lines in five different paragraphs

^j. Worse still, in his last dispatch but one Mr. Kniger, subject to three conditions, offered naturalisation after five years residence, and

in his

additional

propositions

went beyond the overtures

Sir Alfred Milner at Bloemfontein.

been accepted

the

Had

this

of

proposal

war would have been prevented.

Mr.

Chamberiain replied in a despatch which everyincluding Mr. Kruger himself; believed to be an absolute refiisal. Yet on Oct. 19th Mr. body,

Cham-

berlain

declared

in

the House of

Commones

that his

answer had been a "qualified acceptance", and added ')

Acts of Parliament, p. 777.

2)

Ibid.

^)

Compare the two

texts in the BufF Book and the Blue Book. will be found in "VF«r againsl War" by Mr. Stead, p. 36.

It

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