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The War.—Our Interests in…

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The War.—Our Interests in Africa. By Yz. British Africa. The British possessions in Africa fall into four gioups, viz.. British Guinea, South Africa, Eastern Africa, and the African Islands. Though inferior to French Africa" in area, the British pos- mtiwions far exceed it in population, in trade, and id their potential capacities. Although the old AolonieB on the Guinea Coast have been shut off from their t. Hinterland" or back countries tnrough the energetic action of France, and in kititiern Africa a large territory, complacently loured upon as a natural inheritance of this country, has been surrendered to Germany, there still remains a large area in this quarter (lbea), in addition to the Niger Territorv, with millions of semi-civilized natives, and South Africa, the chief part of the dark continent fit to become the permanent home of a northern race. The question whether Tropical Africa is fit for the permanent residence of Europeans, is most likely to be settled by an advance from the south. Even now, British South Africa has a European population of 650,000; as compared with 510,000 Europeans in Algeria and Tunis; and whilst most of the former are bona fide settlers, the European pooulation of the French dependencies includes quite a dispro- portionate number of military men and function- aries. France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy are not now colouizing nations, and they have long been unsuccessful with their dependencies. There is not a drop of the old Latin blend in any of them. Their virility as empire-creaters is exhaus- ted, and their governing power is lost. They are fading, dying nations. Germany is the only virile, growing, expanding power besides our country. Since the establishment of the Empire its trade has grown mightily but we need not be jealous, there is plenty of room for both of us, and we may each of us sincerely and heartily wish the other God speed. The following is a statement of the British possessions and protectorates in Africa Inh. Sq. Miles. Population. Sq. M. Gambia 4,1^0 60,000 15 Sierra Leone 27,730 180,000 17 Gold Coast 52,990 1,800,000 38 Lagos and Yoruba 21,100 3.000,000 143 Niger Territories & Oil Rivers 375,190 24,380,000 65 BRITISH GUINEA 481,130 29,720,000 62 Cape Colony 225,690 1,800,000 8 Natal. 16,740 550,000 33 Zulu and Tonga Lands.. 4,540 200,000 18 Basuto Land 10,290 220,000 21 British Bechuana Land.. 54,610 60,400 1 Beehuanaland Protectorate 117,860 100,000 1 Matabili & Mitshona Lands 252,880 400,000 2 British Central Africa 285,900 3,000,000 10 Transvaal and Swazi Land 177,7.?0 764,00J 4 BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA 1,153,260 7,094,400 7 Zitn zibar & Pembit (I'eotect.) 960 210,000 219 lbea to 100 N., 60 N. 449,570 4,500.1)00 10 „ 60 to 10° N. 218,110 1,858,000 8 Sokotro 1,382 10,000 7 Somati La id 67,000 200,000 3 BRITISH EAST AFRICA.. 741,300 6,778,000 9 Mauritius & Dependencies 1,090 395,000 363 St Helena, Ascension, and Tritan da Cunha 126 4,300 34 BRITISH AFRICA 2,376,910 43,991,700 20 The British position in Egypt and the Valley of the Nile is unique, and z, must have a special article. We were left alone to crush the rebellion of Aribi and to reconquer the territories seized by the Mahdi. Onr money, soldiers, and statesmen have, unaided, saved Egypt from being over- whelmed by deseit savages and continued her life as A civilizea State, and we are bound to remain as the dominant Power: The Fashoda affair, before mentioned, was notice to the world that we intend toretiin what we have won The nominal sorereignty of Turkey must be (soon will be) I extinguished or obliterated—turned out, bag and baggage. It is entirely dependent for its exib- I e tence as a Sovereign State upon the will of the Great Powers, at the present upon Great Britain. I must now describe, and try to explain, British relations with the Orange Free State and with the Transvaal State (for brevity, say Boers or Boer States). Whitaker's Almanack for 1895 describes these States, substantially, as follows:- Orange Free State. A South Africau Kepublic, situated to the N. of the Cape Colony, and bounded, E. by British Bamtoland and Nahl, N. by the Transvaal, and W. by Griqnaland West; it has an area of 48 326 -q. miles, with a population of 207,503, of whom <7,716 are whites. It was founded by Dutch emigrants from Cape Colony. The country was proc;aimed British territory by Sir Harry Smith in 1848, but, by the convention entered into on tke 23id of February, 1854. between Sir George Clerk, Her Majesty's special commissioner, and the representatives of the people, the inhabitants were declared to all intents and purposes a free and independent people, and their Government to be treated thenceforth as a free and independent Government." But since the formation of a South African Customs Union the State may bp truly said to be within the British sphere of influence. The State is essentially a pastoral country, but the eastern part especially is admirably adapted for the cultivation of grain. Diamonds, garnets, and other previous stones are found, and rich coal and gold mines exist. The chief exports are wool, ostrich feathers, hides, diamonds, grain, &e. In 18 P4 it possessed State property valued at n arly £1.000,000. Public revenue, 189:1- 91, 4293,790. Public expenditure, 2323,899. Public debt, 1894, about ±55,000. Imports and exports about R2,000,000 Capital, Bloemfontein. Population (1892), 5,817. Since the formation of a South African Customs Union the State may truly be said to lie within the British sphere of influence. The State having taken part in the Boer war upon us, be blunder of 1851 will, probably, be corrected. The Orange Boers must in the settlement be treated as their partners, the Transvaal Boers. The Transvaal or South African Republic. bounded on the N. by the Limpopo or Crocodile Rivar, on the E. by the Portuguese possessions, Swaziland and Znluland, on the S. by the Vaal River, aod on the W. by the countries of the Bechuana, Bungwakelsi, and other tribes. Its limits lie between lat. 22° 151-28° 101 S. and long. 26b-32° 101 E. Of the 7(>0,000 inhabitants not more than 80,000, including the Outlanders, are whites. The chief riches of the country, apart from its cattle and agricultural produce, is gold. Copper, lead, cobalt, iron, and coal are also found. In 1840 a number of Dutch farmers, dissatisfied with the Goiernroent at the Cape, left that colony and established themselves in Natal, where the British Government interfered and annexed the •rtilement. The majority of the Bours, rather than submit, again removed from under the British rule, and crossed the Drakeusbergen and the Vaal River and established the South African Republic, which was in 1854 acknowledged by the British Government as a free and independent State, snbject, however, as I will explain, here- after. The new State had many troubles with the Kaffir hordes around them, and the nonse- quence was many wars up to 187/i. In 1877 the British Government again interfered, ebielly on behalf of the natives, and annexed the country. The Boers had, however, in the mean time, in- creased in numbers, and were dttermined not to be driven out of the country, and after ihree years of preparation and consolidation war broke out on the 10th December, 188". After the battle of Amajuba, there was an armistice, upon which followed peace and the retrocession of the country in IsM. trder British suzerainty. In 1 -:84, however, the British suzerainty was modified and the British Resident removed, to be replaced later on by a Bri i-ib Agent Britain reserving the right of coutiolling the foreign relations of the Transvaal, except as regards the Orange Free State. The chief towns are, or were in 1894, Johannesberg, U0,000 inhabitants; Pochefstroom. 3,0)0 inhabitants; Pritjria and KI..rk dc-p, 2,000 inhabitants. By an agreement of November 12, 1892, Swaziland was transferred to the South African Republic. British relations with the Boers: are peculiar, auuauloui?, and puzzling. The re', tons aie governed by the conventions t> which I have referred. A convention is •• an agreement or con- tract less formal than, or preliminary to, a treaty; an informal compact, as between states; also a formal agreement between governments or sore- reign powers; as a postal convention between two governments." By the conventions in ques- tion the Boers surrendered the rights (if they e'er ( had them) of a sovereign independent State, and accepted or acknowledged the suzerainty (sove- • gu'y) of Great Britain, and therefore they j could no longer (if ever they could) protect their citizens or subjects outside their own territory or averge their wrongs. Foreigners might kick and cuff and rob and murder them with impunity, unless they could appeal to Great Britain as their suzerain and Great Britain was entitled and bound to interfere on their behalf, as her subjects. Thus to all intents and purposes Great Britain is the paramount power and tl-.e people of the Transvaal are subjects of our Queen. But, strange to say, or it is strangely said, the Transvaal Govemmtnt will not admit a Briton to the benefits of their citizenship until he has renounced his allegiance to our Queeu and subsequently resided seven years in the Transvaal. But what, then, is his position in the world ? If his reuu- ciation has any virtue, he is no longer the subject of a sovereign State, or entitled in any way tu the protection of one. This is, according to the uncontradicted declaration of Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman, the effect of a man becoming a naturalized citizen of the Boer State and he says that we are prosecuting the war for the ostensible purpose of enabling our pe >ple to place themselves in this position of outlawry. When our people emigrate to Canada or any <*> £ our colonies or dependencies they remain subjects of the Qiit-cu and it appears to me that when they settle in the Transvaal, the Boer contention never- theless, they remain her subjects if they do not, I trust this war will correct the monstrous anomaly. The Boers are struggling to make void the conventions (or escape from them), ti which they owe their existence ns a State or community but we shall defeat them and permanently establish our supremacy. The War and British Policy in Africa. The war was begun by Boers to nullify the conventions to which I have referred, to void their renunciation of independence, and to estab- lish an unprogressive, unimprovable, and tyran- nical oligarchy, antagonistic to the spirit of the age,"—an anachronism at the close of the nine teenth century. Great Britain wil!, I trust, not only resist the attack in defence of the Outlanders and native population but in pursuit of a general African policy to establish, under the aegis of the Union Jack, an unbreakable chain of fraternal communities extending from the Cape to Egypt, in which there shall be political equality for the civilized races and justice for the uncivilized, good government, and opportunities for the develop- ment of all the natural resources of the country and all that is noble in human life and society, and without the burden of taxation for the support of enormous armaments, such as degrade, afSict, and empoverish continental Europe. God helping as, Africa shall be saved from like follies, sins, and sufferings. We have got the money; we have got the arms and we have the statesman- ship, and all the great characteristics of our race unimpaired and we have undoubting ronfldence that this war will "prepare the way, and make the paths straight," for righteous government and enduring peace. I could not in a dozen articles treat the sub- ject with anything like satUfactory amplitude, and if I could the war may be ended before they could be published. I will, nevertheless, enlarge to the extent of two or three articles on some of the most important branches of the subject. Rhyl, 13 Nov., 1899. Y z.

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Y Geninen am 1900.

Why Some Men Excuse Their…

----------The Proposed Water…

THEFT OF TIMBER.

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