ompany the Government refused to follow the
procedure prescribed in the contract on the ground that as the
Company had now lost the exclusive right they must accept a less sum
in compensation, otherwise the Government would authorise the rival
Municipal scheme. Under these circumstances the shareholders having
no other power to appeal to adopted the common-sense course of taking
what they could get. The result can only be expressed in figures. The
shares, which had been purchased at over 40s. at the time of the
Volksraad's action were worth less than 28s. in liquidation. The
inquiry into the Raid by the Select Committee of the House of
Commons, early in 1897, was productive of a result which is not
always traced to its real cause. The greatest dissatisfaction was
expressed in the Transvaal and among all the Boers in South Africa
with one feature of the Westminster inquiry, viz., the investigation
of the causes which made the Raid possible. Mr. Kruger and his
friends had enjoyed such a run of luck and so much indulgence, and
had been so successful in presenting their side of the case only,
that it seemed to them improper that anyone should wish to inquire
into all the circumstances. It would even appear from what
followed that the President had convinced himself that there were no
grievances, that he was an entirely innocent party deeply injured by
the Reformers and the British Government, and that the Westminster
inquiry had been authorized and conducted for the sole purpose of
exposing him and justifying the Reform movement.

As the months dragged on and no improvement in the conditions of the
Uitlanders took place, as indeed the complaints grew louder and the
state of affairs grew worse, the President again began to hear the
voices calling for reform. Timid whispers they were, perhaps, and far
between, for the great bulk of the Uitlanders were in a morose and
sullen mood. Having tried and failed on stronger lines they were
incapable as yet of returning with any heart to the old fruitless and
already rejected constitutional methods. The suggestions for reform,
consequently, came principally from those who were on friendly terms
with the Boer party and believed themselves to carry some weight.
They have by this time learned that nobody carries weight with
President Kruger unless he has power to back his suggestions. Many
years before, the late Mr. W.Y. Campbell as spokesman of a deputation
from Johannesburg, addressing