vidence given at the Industrial Commission showed, as to
misrepresent the facts in their defence. The difficulty was how to
explain the association of the State Attorney and State Secretary, in
whose good intentions and integrity there was a general belief. The
solution was to be found in the illusory promises of reform under the
heading of franchise and reorganization of the finances and other
matters. These proposals, it was believed by Mr. Kruger and his
party, would secure the support of the two above-named officials, as
well as entice the capitalists into the trap set for them. But there
were other points of advantage for Mr. Kruger. The whole scheme was
in accordance with the _divide et impera_ policy. The first
impression, if the scheme were accepted, would be that the
capitalists had secured something for themselves by bartering away
the rights of the public; so there would have been a division in
Johannesburg. Another effect to be brought about by the proposed
action regarding the Indians would have been to divide the Uitlanders
from the Imperial Government, and the net result of it all would have
been that neither the public nor the capitalists would have got
anything but illusory promises and Mr. Kruger would have secured his
dynamite; for had he been able to extract from the Industry an
expression of approval or acquiescence, it would have given him his
majority in the Volksraad in favour of the monopoly.

The following is the correspondence which passed:--

JOHANNESBURG, S.A.R.,
_27th March, 1899._

_To the Honourable the State Secretary, Pretoria._

HONOURABLE SIR,

Before communicating to you and the representatives of the Government
whom we met the expression of our opinion and that of our London
friends on the proposals submitted to us by Mr. Lippert on behalf of
the Government of the S.A.R., we deem it advisable to recite shortly
how we have arrived at the present position.

On the 27th of February Mr. E. Lippert called together Messrs. A.
Brakhan, E. Birkenruth, and G. Rouliot, to whom he submitted a
certain programme concerning the settlement of some pending questions
forming the subject of grave differences between the Government of
the S.A.R., on the one part, and the whole Uitlander population and
the mining industry on the other part, with a view to ascertain
whether these gentlemen were willing to open negotiations on the
basis suggested, in order to try to come to a settlement.