been taken by the Government of their scandalous
conduct, and sad to say the judges who heard the case did not think
it their duty to comment strongly upon the matter. I have in my
possession now a notarial deed which proves that the Railway
Commissioner, the Landdrost, and the Commandant of Pretoria are
members of a syndicate whose avowed object is, or was, to wrest from
the companies their right to the 'bewaarplaatsen.' This shows what
is going on, and what is the measure of safety of title to property.
Those who should guard our rights are our worst enemies. In a law
introduced by the present Government, the Government, instead of the
Courts, are the final judges in cases of disputed elections. No
Election Committees are allowed. This operates against candidates
opposed to the Government, because the Government has virtually a
vast standing army of committee men, henchmen, officials being
allowed openly to take part in swaying elections, and the Government
being in a position, by the distribution of contracts, appointments,
purchase of concessions, the expenditure of Secret Service money and
otherwise, to bring into existence and maintain a large number of
supporters who act as canvassers always on the right side in times
of elections.

NATIVE AFFAIRS.

The administration of native affairs is a gross scandal and a source
of immense loss and danger to the community. Native Commissioners
have been permitted to practise extortion, injustice, and cruelty
upon the natives under their jurisdiction. The Government has allowed
petty tribes to be goaded into rebellion. We have had to pay the
costs of the 'wars,' while the wretched victims of their policy have
had their tribes broken up, sources of native labour have been
destroyed, and large numbers of prisoners have been kept in goal
for something like eighteen months without trial. It was stated
in the newspapers that, out of 63 men imprisoned, 31 had died in
that period, while the rest were languishing to death for want of
vegetable food. We have had revelations of repulsive cruelty on the
part of field-cornets. We all remember the Rachman case, and the
April case, in which the judges found field-cornets guilty of brutal
conduct to unfortunate natives; but the worst features about these
cases is that the Government has set the seal of its approval upon
the acts of these officials by paying the costs of the actions out
of public funds, and the President of the State a f