Selected Official Documents of the South African Republic and Great Britain Part 1

Selected Official Doc.u.ments of the South African Republic and Great Britain.

by Various.

PREFACE.

The universal interest in the affairs of the South African Republic is responsible for the idea that a selection of doc.u.ments ill.u.s.trative of the South African controversy will be appreciated by American readers.

The doc.u.ments which are here reprinted are by no means un.o.btainable; but, to the general reader, they have been hitherto quite inaccessible.

Only the largest public libraries have the proper sources of information, and even with these books at hand the student has been forced to delve in a ma.s.s of irrelevant material for the hidden object of his desire.

The present compilation has been made in the hope of meeting the immediate demands of the public. To avoid c.u.mbersomeness, many important doc.u.ments have necessarily been omitted; yet as far as possible, the editors have given a complete series of doc.u.ments. The arrangement is partly chronological, and we hope altogether logical. Commencing with the London Convention of 1884, which defines the status of the South African Republic in its relations with Great Britain, we follow with the revised Const.i.tution of 1889, and its complementary law of June 23, 1890, which granted representation in a second Volksraad to burghers of two years' standing. The latest legislation concerning the right of franchise is given in the enactment of July, 1899. This law, together with negotiations looking toward further concessions to the Uitlander population forms the subject of our third chapter. No agreement having been reached, and numerous complications having arisen, conspicuously the movements of British troops, the Ultimatum of President Kruger on October 9, precipitated a state of war.

In presenting this Ultimatum President Kruger knew that the Republic would not have to fight alone, but that there would be practically a war of the South African Dutch against the English. The declaration of the Orange Free State to Great Britain will therefore be of interest, as expressing the grounds of sympathy between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, and the latter's view of the _causa belli_.

Lastly we add the const.i.tution of the Orange Free State that the political status of the two republics may be appreciated by comparison of their const.i.tutions.

The doc.u.ments have been compiled from the _Codex van de Locale Wetten der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. Groningen, 1894_; _The Political Laws of the South African Republic. London and Cape Town, 1896_; and the _State Papers of Great Britain, London, 1884-99_.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, _February 10, 1900_.

CHAPTER I.

CONVENTION OF LONDON, _February 27, 1884_.

_A Convention Between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the South African Republic._

Whereas, The Government of the Transvaal State, through its Delegates, consisting of Stepha.n.u.s Johannes Paulus Kruger, President of the said State, Stepha.n.u.s Jacobus Du Toit, Superintendent of Education, and Nicholas Jacobus Smit, a member of the Volksraad, have represented that the Convention signed at Pretoria on the 3rd day of August 1881, and ratified by the Volksraad of the said State on the 25th October 1881, contains certain provisions which are inconvenient, and imposes burdens and obligations from which the said State is desirous to be relieved, and that the southwestern boundaries fixed by the said Convention should be amended, with a view to promote the peace and good order of the said State, and of the countries adjacent thereto; and whereas, Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has been pleased to take the said representations into consideration: Now, therefore, Her Majesty has been pleased to direct, and it is hereby declared, that the following articles of a new Convention, signed on behalf of Her Majesty by Her Majesty's High Commissioner in South Africa, the Right Honorable Sir Hercules George Robert Robinson, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and on behalf of the Transvaal State (which shall hereinafter be called the South African Republic) by the above named Delegates, Stepha.n.u.s Johannes Paulus Kruger, Stepha.n.u.s Jacobus Du Toit, and Nicholas Jacobus Smit, shall, when ratified by the Volksraad of the South African Republic, be subst.i.tuted for the articles embodied in the Convention of 3rd August 1881; which latter, pending such ratification, shall continue in full force and effect.

ARTICLES.

ARTICLE I, II.

(Articles I and II relate entirely to the settlement of the boundary lines of the Republic.)

ARTICLE III.

If a British officer is appointed to reside at Pretoria or elsewhere within the South African Republic to discharge functions a.n.a.logous to those of a Consular officer, he will receive the protection and a.s.sistance of the Republic.

ARTICLE IV.

The South African Republic will conclude no treaty or engagement with any State or nation other than the Orange Free State, nor with any native tribe to the eastward or westward of the Republic, until the same has been approved by Her Majesty the Queen.

Such approval shall be considered to have been granted if Her Majesty's Government shall not, within six months after receiving a copy of such treaty (which shall be delivered to them immediately upon its completion), have notified that the conclusion of such treaty is in conflict with the interests of Great Britain or any of Her Majesty's possessions in South Africa.

ARTICLE V.

The South African Republic will be liable for any balance which may still remain due of the debts for which it was liable at the date of Annexation, to wit, the Cape Commercial Bank Loan, the Railway Loan, and the Orphan Chamber Debt, which debts shall be a first charge upon the revenues of the Republic. The South African Republic will moreover be liable to Her Majesty's Government for 250,000, which will be a second charge upon the revenues of the Republic.

ARTICLE VI.

The debt due as aforesaid by the South African Republic to Her Majesty's Government will bear interest at the rate of three and a half per cent.

from the date of the ratification of this Convention, and shall be repayable by a payment for interest and Sinking Fund of six pounds and nine pence per 100 per annum, which will extinguish the debt in twenty-five years. The said payment of six pounds and nine pence per 100 shall be payable half yearly, in British currency, at the close of each half year from the date of such ratification: _Provided always_, That the South African Republic shall be at liberty at the close of any half-year to pay off the whole or any portion of the outstanding debt.

Interest at the rate of three and a half per cent. on the debt as standing under the Convention of Pretoria shall as heretofore be paid to the date of the ratification of this Convention.

ARTICLE VII.

All persons who held property in the Transvaal on the 8th day of August 1881, and still hold the same, will continue to enjoy the rights of property which they have enjoyed since the 12th April 1877. No person who has remained loyal to Her Majesty during the late hostilities shall suffer any molestation by reason of his loyalty; or be liable to any criminal prosecution or civil action for any part taken in connection with such hostilities; and all such persons will have full liberty to reside in the country, with enjoyment of all civil rights, and protection for their persons and property.

ARTICLE VIII.

The South African Republic renews the declaration made in the Sand River Convention, and in the Convention of Pretoria, that no slavery or apprentices.h.i.+p partaking of slavery will be tolerated by the Government of the said Republic.

ARTICLE IX.

There will continue to be complete freedom of religion and protection from molestation for all denominations, provided the same be not inconsistent with morality and good order; and no disability shall attach to any person in regard to rights of property by reason of the religious opinions which he holds.

ARTICLE X.

The British Officer appointed to reside in the South African Republic will receive every a.s.sistance from the Government of the said Republic in making due provision for the proper care and preservation of the graves of such of Her Majesty's Forces as have died in the Transvaal; and if need be, for the appropriation of land for the purpose.

ARTICLE XI.

All grants or t.i.tles issued at any time by the Transvaal Government in respect of land outside the boundary of the South African Republic, as defined in Article I, shall be considered invalid and of no effect, except in so far as any such grant or t.i.tle relates to land that falls within the boundary of the South African Republic; and all persons holding any such grant so considered invalid and of no effect will receive from the Government of the South African Republic such compensation, either in land or in money, as the Volksraad shall determine. In all cases in which any Native Chiefs or other authorities outside the said boundaries have received any adequate consideration from the Government of the South African Republic for land excluded from the Transvaal by the first Article of this Convention, or where permanent improvements have been made on the land, the High Commissioner will recover from the native authorities fair compensation for the loss of the land thus excluded, or of the permanent improvements thereon.

ARTICLE XII.

The independence of the Swazis, within the boundary line of Swaziland, as indicated in the first Article of this Convention, will be fully recognized.

ARTICLE XIII.

Except in pursuance of any treaty or engagement made as provided in Article IV of this Convention, no other or higher duties shall be imposed on the importation into the South African Republic of any article coming from any part of Her Majesty's dominions than are or may be imposed on the like article coming from any other place or country; nor will any prohibition be maintained or imposed on the importation into the South African Republic of any article coming from any part of Her Majesty's dominions which shall not equally extend to the like article coming from any other place or country. And in like manner the same treatment shall be given to any article coming to Great Britain from the South African Republic as to the like article coming from any other place or country.

These provisions do not preclude the consideration of special arrangements as to import duties and commercial relations between the South African Republic and any of Her Majesty's colonies or possessions.

ARTICLE XIV.

All persons, other than natives, conforming themselves to the laws of the South African Republic (_a_) will have full liberty, with their families, to enter, travel, or reside in any part of the South African Republic; (_b_) they will be ent.i.tled to hire or possess houses, manufactories, warehouses, shops and premises; (_c_) they may carry on their commerce either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to employ; (_d_) they will not be subject, in respect of their persons or property, or in respect of their commerce or industry, to any taxes, whether general or local, other than those which are or may be imposed upon citizens of the said Republic.

ARTICLE XV.

All persons, other than natives, who establish their domicile in the Transvaal between the 12th day of April 1877, and the 8th August 1881, and who within twelve months after such last mentioned date have had their names registered by the British Resident, shall be exempt from all compulsory military service whatever.

ARTICLE XVI.

Provision shall hereafter be made by a separate instrument for the mutual extradition of criminals, and also for the surrender of deserters from Her Majesty's Forces.