omething.

General SMUTS: Is it your opinion that our proposal must be set aside?

Lord KITCHENER: Yes, certainly. It is impossible for us to act on it.

Lord MILNER: We cannot take your proposal into consideration. We can
send it to England, but it will certainly contribute to injure the
negotiations. This is my personal opinion, which, of course, you need
not accept. We can only say that this is all the reply that we can get
out of you.

Lord KITCHENER: It will be better to draft a new document in which we
note what is important and what not, and omit the unimportant.

General SMUTS: But Point 3 of our proposal has not even been touched
upon. We are prepared to give up a portion of our territory.

Lord MILNER: That would be inconsistent with the annexation of the
whole. If the whole is annexed by us, how can you part with a portion
of it?

General SMUTS: The portion we gave up would then become a crown
colony. The rest would be governed as proposed here.

Lord MILNER: You mean that one portion would become a British Colony
of the ordinary type, and the other portion a Protected Republic?

Lord KITCHENER: Two forms of government in the same country would
cause great friction. Our proposals are too divergent. From a military
point of view, the two forms of government could not exist. We would
be at war again in a year's time.

The meeting then adjourned until the afternoon.

During the adjournment the Republican Commission discussed the
situation and sent General Smuts to talk over a few matters with Lord
Kitchener and Lord Milner.

The Conference resumed at 4 o'clock.

Lord MILNER: In consequence of an informal conversation between
General Smuts and ourselves, Lord Kitchener and I have drafted a
document, which indicates the form in which we think the only
agreement which can be entered into must be worded. This is a draft
document which we think the Governments can subscribe to. Our idea is
that after it has been considered here, it can be submitted to the
burghers, and you can ask them: "Do you agree to our signing it?"

The document read as follows:

"The undersigned Leaders of the Burgher forces in the Field, accepting
on behalf of themselves and the said Burghers the Annexations notified
in Lord ROBERTS' Proclamations, dated respectively, the 24th day of
May in the year of our LORD 1900, and No. 15 dated the 1st day of
September in the year of our LORD 1900, and accepting as a result
thereof t