ask of you.
The rest will come in time. We must have a beginning, and that will
be the beginning. If you people get your rights, the Customs Union,
Railway Convention, and other things will all come in time." He then
added that we must take our own time about this movement, and that he
would keep Jameson on the frontier as long as it was necessary as a
moral support, and also to come to our assistance should we get
ourselves into a tight place. We asked him how he hoped to recoup
himself for his share of the expense in keeping Jameson's force on
the border, which should be borne by us jointly. He said that seeing
the extent of his interests in the country, he would be amply repaid
by the improvement in the conditions which it was intended to
effect.'

It has since been suggested that the object of the movement was to
'steal the country' and to annex it to Rhodesia, in order to
rehabilitate the Chartered Company. The suggestion is too ludicrous
for serious discussion. It must be obvious to anyone that the
persons most concerned in the movement, and whose interests lay in
the Rand, would be the very last to consent to any such scheme. There
appears to be no conceivable basis upon which such an arrangement
could have been entered into, and it is quite clear that no sensible
business man having interests in a rich country in a comparatively
advanced state of development would consent to share that certainty
with a new country such as Rhodesia, the value of which, however
promising, has still to be proved. Notwithstanding the ludicrous
nature of the charge, it is quite certain that the Boers have a
deep-rooted conviction of its truth.

The arrangements with Dr. Jameson were made with him in person.
During the month of September he visited Johannesburg, and it was
then agreed that he should maintain a force of some 1,500 mounted men
fully equipped, a number of Maxims, and some field artillery; that he
was, in addition to this, to have with him 1,500 spare rifles and a
quantity of spare ammunition; and that about 5,000 rifles, three
Maxim guns, and 1,000,000 rounds of ammunition were to be smuggled
into Johannesburg. It was calculated that in the town itself there
would be, perhaps, 1,000 rifles privately owned. Thus, in the event
of a junction of forces being effected, Johannesburg would be able to
command about 9,000 armed men, with a fair equipment of machine-guns
and cannon. Nor was this all, for on the original plan it