ng, consistent and fair
government--were not theirs. The President visited Johannesburg with
the object of giving the assurance that railways would be built. He
addressed a crowd of many thousands of people from a platform at the
Wanderers' Club pavilion. He did not conceal his suspicions of the
people, and his attempts to conceal his dislike were transparent and
instantly detected, the result being that there was no harmony
between his Honour and the people of Johannesburg. Later in the
evening the crowd, which had hourly become larger and more and more
excited and dissatisfied, surrounded the house which the President
was occupying, and, without desire to effect any violence, but by
simple pressure of numbers, swept in the railings and pillars which
enclosed the house. Most fortunately the Chief of Police had
withdrawn all the Boer members of the force, and the crowd, to their
surprise, were held back by Colonial, English, and Irish 'bobbies.'
This was probably the only thing that prevented a very serious
culmination. As it was, some excited individuals pulled down the
Transvaal flag from the Government buildings, tore it in shreds and
trampled it under foot. The incident should have been ignored under
the exceptionally trying conditions of the time, but the Government
determined to make much of it. Some arrests were effected, and men
thrown into prison. Bail was refused; in fact, 'martyrs' were made,
and the incident became indelibly stamped on the memory of both Boer
and Uitlander. The President vowed that he would never visit the
place again, and without doubt made use of his experience to
consolidate the feeling of his burghers against the Uitlanders.

At a meeting of burghers several months after this incident, he
referred to the agitation and constant complaining of the Uitlanders,
and stated that they had only themselves to thank for all their
troubles, and yet they would blame the Government. He then proceeded
to entertain his hearers with one of the inevitable illustrations
from life in the lower animal kingdom. 'They remind me,' said his
Honour, 'of the old baboon that is chained up in my yard. When he
burnt his tail in the Kaffir's fire the other day, he jumped round
and bit me, and that just after I had been feeding him.' For five
years Mr. Kruger was as good as his word. He would not even pass
through Johannesburg when convenience suggested his doing so, but
made circuits by road to avoid the place of de