its kinsmen in Cape Colony--for you must not
forget that the oldest Transvaalers, from President Kruger
downwards, are ex-Cape Colonists, and quondam British subjects--and
imported a bureaucracy of Hollanders to plait a whip wherewith to
castigate her children.

"On the Rand, at present, the Uitlanders are voiceless, voteless,
and leaderless, whilst, on the other hand, large quantities of arms
have been introduced into the country, and the burghers, every one
of them, trained in the use of these weapons. Fortifications have
been raised at Johannesburg and Pretoria, to cowe those who are
putting money into the State's purse, and for this purpose the
President has acquired the services of German military officers who
will find congenial employment in thus dragooning defenceless
citizens.

"This is the state of affairs in the South African so-called
Republic in this year of grace (1898), which, according to the
Convention, granted equal rights to Briton and to Boer."

This being no exaggerated picture of the situation, it is small
wonder that at last the Uitlanders determined to bear the burden no
longer, but set their grievances before the Queen. Early in the new
year the following petition was forwarded to her Majesty:--

"_Humble Petition of British Subjects resident on the Witwatersrandt
Gold Fields to her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria._

"1. Your loyal subjects on these fields are by law denied the free
right of possessing such arms as may be necessary to protect their
lives and property, and such obstacles are placed in their way as to
render the obtaining of the necessary official permit almost
impossible. Consequently the Uitlander population of this State is
to all intents and purposes an unarmed community.

"2. On the other hand, the whole of the burgher section of the
community, irrespective of age, are permitted to possess and carry
arms without let or hindrance, and are, in fact, on application,
supplied with them by the Government free of charge.

"3. The police force of this State is exclusively recruited from the
burgher element, many of the police being youths fresh from rural
districts, without experience or tact, and in many instances without
general education or a knowledge of the English language; therefore,
as a whole, entirely out of sympathy with the British section of the
community, which forms the majority of the population.

"4. The foot police of Johannesburg, in whose appoin