^^m^ m^ M / / i /Co Hdlingier pH 8 J MiU Run F03.2193 -^Dt 933 .S15 -.Copy 1 "^T***S^»*' MASS-MEETING HELD AT THE PEOPLES CHURCH, JANUARY Gth, 190ft THOMAS E. KANE'S Brilliant Address ; "EtiSTORY OF THE SOUTI# AFRICAN REPUBLICS. From the "Daily Volkszeitung", January 10, 1900, St. Paul, Minn. _. Conr 4 '- INTRODUCTION. The condition of affairs in Sotith Africa and the cruel war there being waged by the British government, for che purpose of destroying the two little struggling republics, represented by the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, necessarily appeal to every liberty loving citizen of the United States. Therefore, on the 18th of December 1899, at the request of the fcAv American citizens of Holland birth, residing in St. Paul, a call was issued to the citizens of this city, under w^hich a committee was formed, and n mass-meeting of the citizens called to meet at the Peoples Church, on the 6th of January 1900, to enable such citizens to express their sympathy with the Boers in their present struggle. The Executive Committee represented all nationalities, all politics, and all re- ligious beliefs in the City of St. Paul, and the speakers at the meeting, as will be seen by the names following, represented the same elements. The audience numbered between four and five thous- and, filling the hall to its utmost ca- pacity, and many were turned away. The character of the proceedings, the resolutions there adopted, follow in this pamphlet, and their consideration is asked from every fair-minded, liberty- loving citizen of the state of Minnesota. It is hoped, that the example of the citizens of St. Paul will be followed by their fellow citizens in every city and irillage in the state of Minnesota, and other states of the Union, so that the people will not only have the opportun- ity, but will actually express their views on the subject, and in that hope this pamphlet is printed and disseminated. THEO. F. KOCH, See. Executive Comm. of pro-Boer mass-meeting. St. Paul, Minn, Jan. 12th, 1900. ''4\ THE MEETING. Hon. Moses E. Clapp, Chairman of the meeting, arose amid great applause, call- ing the meeting to order, addressed the audience as follows: Ladies and Gentlemen: In calling this meeting to order, it is proper that I should state the cause which has led to this assembly, and the purpose of this gathering, and this is particularly import- ant in view of the fact that among some of our people in this city the cause and purpose of this meeting it entirely mis- apprehended. In southern Africa there are two repub- lics, commonly known as the Boer Re- publics, the word "Boer" in their language meaning "farmer". These republics con- sist of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. They differ very slightly in their government." (At this point Gov. Lind entered and was given an ovation.) General Clapp then resumed his address as follows: right of franchise according to the ideas of the Salisbury ministry. Now, as 1 un- derstand the fact, it formerly required 14 years of residence in the Transvaal be- fore a man couid become naturalized. This was finally reduced to 7 years, .jiu then the Boers, rather than go to war with a great and almost irresistible pow- er, submitted to the humiliation of chang- ing the internal arrangement of their gov- ernment at the dictation of a foreign pow- er, and changed the term from 7 to 5 years^ the length of time required in this country. (Applause). But they say that in the Boer republics a foreigner cannot enter the upper house of its parliament. Well, my friends, un- der the laws of the United States no for- eign born citizen can be President, and you and I have the right, if we so aesire, witn the rest of the people of the country, to prescribe the same qualifications and the same limitations to the office of Sen- ator, member of the lower House of Con- gress, or any other office that the people of this land see fit, to apply it 'to. Take the republics of South America, and in many of those republics no foreign born citizen can be either President, Sena- tor or Judge. Those are matters that pertain exclus- ively to the people who make and main- tain a government, and it is not the func- tion, nor even the right of any foreign power to dictate as to that policy. (Ap- plause). And it must be remembered that under the English government ,ex- cept by dispensation of the sovereign pow- er, no alien can ever enter its Upper House of Parliament. Again, they say that in the Transvaal, the Transvaalers prescribe a religeous test; that a man must be a member of the State Church of the Transvaal ere he can hold office in that country. It is within the lives of men in this audience that there was a religeous test in England it- self. They can recall the long and bitter struggle before that test was removed, and what right has that government to say that a policy that was pursued for centuries is cause for their interfering with the internal affairs of the Transvaal republic. (Applause). Now, they make another charge. They say that the Transvaalers were opposed to the movement which resulted in the extinction of slavery, ignoring the fact that before their Great Trek, they sol- emnly declared that the government which they were going to inaugurate should contain a fundamental prescription against slavery. And we cannot forget that for over half a century, that blood hallowed flag which you and I love, waiv- ed over millions of slaves in our own fair land. Another claim which they make is that the license imposed for removing the min- eral wealth of their country is excessive. As I understand, they charge a license of 5 per cent for removing the mineral wealth from their land. While I am ad- vised that in British Columbia the license fee is 10 per cent. Now, what is the lesson to be drawn from this ? With the history of our own progress, the awful sacrifice we made to rid ourselves of slavery, it must be recog- nized that a republic fresh born cannot have that complete development that the republic of a century may have, but if these people can be let alone, the govern- ment which they have established and maintained for years, twice recognized in treaty convention by the English govern- ment, will dev^elop as rapidly as any of the other governments upon this earth. 10 Now, I have tried to state the alleged reasons fairly, you will say at once that they are trivial and unimportant. Cer- tainly they are. There is not a sensible, thinking man in this land who believes that these reasons are the correct reasons for the acts of the Salisbury government. When a man gives absurd and ridiculous reasons for his acts, you have the right Ito assume that the reasons thus given are false. I will tell you what, in my humble opinion, is the real reason of this war with the Boer republics. Some man, I do not know, who he is because he lacked the courage to put his signature to the paper,* has been flooding this city with an anonymous document pretending to give the reasons for the war against the Boers, and the burden of his song is that if the Boers prevail, a great republic will be es- tablished in South Africa over which the English government will have no control. (Applause). But that is not all. If we could blot from the page of earth's his- tory the horrors and the suffering which the world has inherited from its unlawful lust for gain, we could change and bright- en the page of the world's history. Down in the Transvaal are the mines. There sits the evil genius of the hour, Ce- cil Rhodes, that prompted the acts of the British ministry under Salisbury and Chamberlain, and there you find the real cause of war. (Applause). Now, it is said, and I have been told in the last few days, that it is none of our business what England does in South Africa. If so, then why this gathering, why these women, why these old men and these young, save that it is the business of humanity to enter a protest against wrong? (Applause). And when Joseph Chamberlain stood up and said the na- u tions of Europe were against him, and the sympathies of the American people wer€ with him, he then challenged you and I as such citizens, to hold just such meet- ings as this, to refute his unjust and tin* fair accusation. (Applause). Whatevet might have been urged in sup';-"t of th« claim that we have no business talking about the war between the English minis- try and the Boer republics, the reason no longer exists, for Mr. Chamberlain has in- vited us to a discussion of this question, and I wish to-night that the man could be where he could gaze upon this audience. The man evidently has forgotten his- tory. He could not have studied human nature. He said that the nations of Eu- rope were against him, but the sympathy of America was with him. (Applause and Laughter) . Where does the sympathy and spirit of America come from? It comes from another source. From our naturalized two sources. There are those in our midst whose ancestors over a century ago bade defiance to that same power, and laid deep and broad the foundation of out own republic, with this difference, that our ancestors were a revolted peoplei where the Transvaalers are existing, re- cognized republic. Or it must come from another source. !brom our naturalized citizens, and they represent the free- est, the most liberty loving of the nation! of the earth, and Chamberlain imagined that while those nations were against him, the people whom the spirit of free- dom had prompted to leave there that they might breath the free air of America and mingle with the people whose tradi- tions go back to the American revolution, were with him. He must have been ig- norant of human nature, he must haVi forgotten history. 13 This is the most remarkable gathering ever witnessed in this city. It is remark- able in this, that creed, faith and nation- ality draw no line here, and no line in this audience. (Applause). While we are all American citizens, our first duty is to America, and the history of this country shows the promptness with which that duty has ever been re- cognized, yet it is natural that the people of this country, born abroad, inheriting the national affiliations of other countries, should deeply sympathize with such national affiliations. We have here to-night our Holland friends. It is natural they should be here. Oh I what a legacy is theirs in the heri- tage of liberty! Far back in the dawn of European history, some historian has plucked one single scene from oblivion. Upon one of the northern rivers of Eu- rope stands a broken bridge. Upon one end of that bridge stands a Homan con- queror, backed by the legions at whose sight the world turned pale with terror. Upon the other end of that bridge stood the brave Batavian, hurling defiance at the Roman conqueror, who had behind him his invincible legions. There the picture fades from history. We know not what became of either, but the historian snatched enough from oblivion to teach us that at that time the Northman stood there ready to battle for his home, and to battle for his rights. Twelve centuries later the Northerner and. Southerner stand again face to face. Th^. legions of Philip are hurled against the Netherlands, the invincible muske- teers of Spain are sent to shoot down the Hollanders, but they meet mere a resist- ance which was as stubborn as it was successful. They fought from year to year until fortresses and towns were tak- 15 en and ruined, until their country "was devastated. And then, in the despair of desparation, they cut the dikes that the ocean might take back the land which centuries of toil had won, rather than that it be given to a foreign foe. (Ap- plause). For almost a hundred years on battered wall and splintered deck they fought. They fought until Spain was compelled to retire and nurse her baffled, sullen hate. A few years later and the partially re- cuperated power of Spain bore down upon the shores of England. Every lover of liberty rejoices that they were huned back, but every student of history must remember that before that time, the pow- er of Spain had in part exhausted itself in the long years of warfare witli the Xetherlands. ( Appl ause ) . We have here our Irish friends. Ire- land, crushed, her people impoverished, but her heart encouraged, never cr^ ihed, and her sons to-night will address you from this platform. (Applause). We have here our German friends. True, Germany is still a mcnarthy, but we must remember that centuries ago, amid iaq forest fastnesses of Germany was -,Iven berth that bulwark of modern liberty, our boasted jury system. That irom Germany poured forth that courage and strength that checked the growing power of the old empire, and that now, year by year, solidifying their power, the spirit of liberty permeates the German people, and to-night the sons of Germany will address you from this platform. France, ground beneath the heel of op- pression, regenerate in her modern free- dom, has taken her place in the great sis- terhood of republics, and to-night her sons represent her here. 14 We have our Scandinavian friends. They too hold a royal legacy in the heri- tage of freedom. Long ago, when all Europe lay shrouded in darkness, when the smouldering fires of liberty seemed but dead and dying embers, there went up irom the midst of Europe a cry for help. In his home in the frozen north, Gustavus heard that cry, and like a mountain avalanche, he rushed down up- on the plains of Europe. The hords of despotism rallied beneath the banners of Wallenstein. On the field of Lutzen they met. Tyrants and des- pots laughed, and predicted that the snow king of the north would melt beneath the fierce rays of the sun of the south. Vain and idle prediction ! When the smoke of battle rolled away, victory perched upon the banners of Gustavus. On that field he yielded his life, a martyr to the cause of human liberty. But over the form of the dying king there hovered the spirit of lib- erty, fanning to fresh flames the smolder- ing embers of freedom, that by their re- newed light the people of Northern Eu- rope might maintain and persevere in their struggle for liberty^ (Applause). When this struggle between the Eng- lish government and the Salisbury i. m- istry broke out, there were Englishmen, like the great liberty loving Brice, who plead the injustice of the struggle. Un- prepared for the struggle, reverses came, which have awakened a national pride among the people. But we none the less cannot flinch from our duty in expressing our sympathies to-night for the Boers in their unequal struggle. Now, in opening this meeting with these remarks, I have trespassed upon the time of others. I know not, no one knows, what the outcome of this strug- m 15 gle will be, but one thing is certain, the Transvaal will be drenched with blood ere the people of that land yield to a for- eign foe. (Applause). Unfortunately it will be the blood of those who, are least respontsible for an unjust war. When the Salisbury government, inspired by that evil genius, Cecil Rhodes, made war upon the Transvaal, it forgot one thing, it for- got that the ancestors of the Boers, 300 years ago, amid devastated fields and ruined cities, laid deep and broad the foundation of republican government. (Prolonged applause and cheering). The chairman then introduced his Ex- cellency, John Lind, Governor of Minne- sota, who spoke as follows: ADDRESS BY HON. JOHN LIND. Governor Lind: In view of the long list of speakers that the chairman has on the table it would ill become me to occupy much of your time this evening. In fact even if I desired to occupy more time, I would feel that perhaps it could be put into better advantage if I stepped out in the street. I happened to be a little tar- dy, and I must say to you frankly that while this is an immense audience there is a larger audience outside this building. (Applause.) This afternoon when my attention was called to this meeting again, over the tele- phone, I thought of an occasion in the house of representatives some years ago, when 1 had the honor to be a member of congress from this state, when a question concerning our Canadian relations was under discussion. A proposition was pend- ing in the house to cut off the right of shipping goods in transit, that is shipping goods through the New England states 16 in transit from our seaboard to Canada. I am not going into a discussion of that question, but, incidentally, our state be- ing very much interested in that discus- sion, I took part in it. On that occasion I used language, which I have copied from the congressional record of September 8, 1888, as follows: "But, sir, I plead not for Canada, nor for England. I hate Eng- land, or rather, I hate and despise her pol- 4 icy of dealing with other nations and peo- f pies weaker than herself. Her sense of right is measured by her power to defy it, her love of justice by the gold it will fetch." (Applause.) *'She enforces vice to replenish her exchequer. She enslaves and impoverishes every land and people that is caught in her toils." (Great Ap- plause.) At that time that I uttered that language, I was told by a friend of mine that it was a little harsh, but it amused me this afternoon, when I noticed in the Record a mark in brackets, after the ex- pression of this sentiment, "(Loud ap- plause on the republican side.)" ) Applause and laughter.) In view of what has transpired since, in view of what is in progress at this very hour in South Africa, do you believe that the judgement I then expressed is un- founded or harsh? (A voice: "N"o".) I do not. But, as I said, I did not come here to occupy much time; neither did I come to denounce England any further. It is my deliberate judgement, Mr. Chair- man, that England to-day is more to be pitied than desecrated. It is a terrible statement, but I honestly believe that it is a true one. In making that statement, however. I do not wish to be misunder- stood; I do not include the English peo- ple. No one respects the English people as such more highly than I do. And I imag- 17 ine that that is the feeling and that those are the sentiments of every individual in this audience. (Applause.) But when I use the language quoted I use it of and concerning the Tory element, the Tory re- gime, the Tory government, which, when- ever it has been in control, has made the English government not only a curse to its own people but to every nation in the world with which it has come in contact. (Applause.) Yes, I say England is to be pitied. By reason of the steady and per- sistent pursuit of a grasping, greedy, un- conscioniabl.e commercialism she has t^e- come, as a natural and necessary result, the nation that she is; a nation of pau- pers and millionaires. (A voice: That's right.) Why this building would hold all the farm, owners in great England. (A voice: Just about.) You can count the owners of her lands by hundreds, and her tenants only by tens and tens and tens of millions. To-day she is not only de- nounced by right-tlimking people for her present acts, but she is despisecl as a mili- tary power — which has been her pride in the past. (Applause.) She has absolute- ly lost her prestige among the nations of the world.. Her own papers, her own press A voice: Pioneer Press. (Laughter.) Governor Lind: I don't know whether Cecil Rhodes has seen the Pioneer Press or not. ' (Laughter.) Her own press, I say, is discussing seriouslv the question whether national decadence has tmaiiy struck England. I thmk Englishmen may well seriously consider that question, when you take into consideration their economic and social conditions ; and furth- er when you take into consideration that in a country almost as populous as ours — that is, relatively, (two-thirds, I believe, of the population that we have), after she 18 had raised a paltry thirty or forty thous- and soldiers beyond her regular available standing army, she found it almost impos- sible to raise any more. Counties in Eng- land in order to procure the quota that the government requires, are compelled to put up bounties of from thirty to tifty thousand pounds to the county. I don't know how much they pay per capita, but I presume that they pay a large sum per capita for volunteers, wheras in our case, when the president called for troops — A voice: He always got them. Governor Lind; Yes. They were not only granted, but ten times as many as were wanted were tendered. (Applause.) But I am taking up too much time. We did not come here to discuss England so much as to express our heartfelt, sincere and earnest sympathy for the noble, pa- triotic, self-sacrificing liberty-loving, men and women of the Tra-nsvaal and the Orange Fre-3 State. (Applause.) No peo- ple in this wovhl, my frienvls, have been so malignantly, so persistently^ eo con- tinuously elandeied and libclsd, as thoso people durinjr the last six to eiffnt /ears: in fact ever sine2 Cecil Rhode* concluded that he wanted to trwn the erttmlry as well as th« qoll idnes and the diamond fields. It is the most revolting, the most monstrous crime of the century, when the printing presses of two continents for val- ue received have been set to work (Ap- plause.) to denounce, malign and abuse a people. (Great Applause.) That is the purpose of this meeting, and in that purpose we all heartily join. And again T want to say that I trust nothing will be said or done on this oc- casion by myself or by anyone else, that will have a tendency to stir up any feel- ing, any bitterness or any strife against the English people, or any prejudice against the English people as such 19 They are as blameless of this as you and I. The men to whom tne preced- ing speaker so eloquently referr- ed are the responsible ones. vVhen they had inaugurated the crime, they waved the flag and appealed to an arous- ed patriotism, to the pride of the people, and said the flag had been insulted. The people, in their patriotic fervor to stand by the flag, rushed, as they thought, to its rescue, — just the same as they rush- ' ed to the rescue of the flag to force opi- um upon the Chinese. The people are not to blame. The politicians are the guilty ones. j I think perhaps there is one other mat- ter tbat we ought to take cognizance of on this occasion. Perhaps it is premat- I ure, but we ought to give it some thought. I For the first time in the history of our I country it has been seriously suggested j to us that flour, human food, food for the babes, for the children, for the women, as I well as for those in the field, is contra- band of war. (Applause and laughter.) 1 Yes, my friends, flour is absolutely es- ' sential for the sustenance of the numer- ous English prisoners of the Transvaal! I (Laughter.) And still it is seriously sug- gested, and apparently seriously enter- tained by our government, that that com- modity is contraband of war. That is a very serious question to us, and that is a question that we have a right to discuss and that we have a right to express our views in regard to and that we have a \ right to brace up the back-bone of our government upon, if ni^oessary. (Ap- plause.) Why, when this nation "was but a child, at the time of the Napoleonic wars, France suggested the same thing to the United States with reference to England. We did not accept the sug- gestion. On the contrary we collected some seven million dollars of damages 20 for French interference with our com- merce; that indemnity was paid in what was known as the French spoliation claims, which were allowed as a part of the purchase money for the province of Louisiana. It is no satisfaction to the American merchant to say that the Eng- lishmen will take our flour and pay for it, which is evidently the way they pro- pose to settle it. Our commercial credit, our commercial engagements, demand that wben an American citizen sells flour to a merchant in Delagoa Bay or in the Transvaal, that flour shall be deliv- ered to the consignee. (Applause.) Upon that theory and upon that theory only, can we build up and maintain a com- merce. And I say, if it should transpire that our government needs a little brac- ing to come to that decision, and to en- force that view, then I think that it is incumbent upon us to give them that en- couragement. I thank you. (Great Ap- plause.) The Chairman then introduced Hon. A. R. Kiefer, Mayor of St. Paul, who spoke as follows: ADDRESS BY HON. A. R. KIEFER. Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: While sitting here listening t-^ the high- minded words as spoken by gentlemen who love liberty and freedom, the thought came to me; --How encouraging it would be for Oom Paul could he look at such a gathering as this in favor of his cause. (Applause). I did not come here this evening with any intention of making a lengthy ad- dress. I came as a citzien to listen to what the friends oi a brave little nation in far off Africa have to say as to tlieir recent struggles for freedom and liberty against one of the leading nations of the earth. 21 I presume, Mr. Chairman, this immense gathering is caused by a desire to express hearty sympathy for the cause of liberty and freedom; sympathy for the love of Republicanism and self-government as championed by that little nation known as the Boer ftepublic, in South Africa; brave and noble people who ha^^^ left their native land far across the sea to settle in the wilds of South Africa, there to build up a new home with a view to bettering their conditions; to plant their fig tr3e, till their soil and raise their grain and thank God for the plentiful returns of their labor; to live in peace and harmony^ and serve their God according to their own hearts' dictation. They were a hap- py, christian, God-fearing people; and in- deed, would have remained so had it not been for the greed of others. (Cheers). But, Mr. Chairman, the war is on; and, rightfully, the one whom we think to be in the right, is entitled to our sympathy in this struggle. Entitled not only to our sympathy, but the sick and wounded should receive care at our hands. The Rer Cross organization, which has of late smoothed the pillows of so many suilering patriots, should be again encouraged to extend its humane work across the seas to the fields of the contending forces in South Africa. (Applause). A people who are ready to sacrifice all to retain their freedom and liberty ;,: "ee- dom to retain a government as by them formed upon the basis of the American Republic, a government of their - eo;-^e, by their people and for their people, is thrice entitled to the sympathy, admiration and assistance of all liberty-loving humanity, (Great Applause). The Chairman: I now have the pleas^ ure of introducing Health Commissioner Ohage, who will address you. (Applause.) 22 ADDRESS BY DR. JUSTUS OHAGE. The purpose of our meeting to-night, Mr. Chairman and ladies and gentlemen, is not only to express our sympathy to that little band of heroes far off in Africa who are fighting a forlorn hope against an empire, heretofore considered the mightiest one of the world, but also as an object lesson to those in whose hands lays the political destiny of the American people; that they may understand the sentiments of the people and shape their policy according to their wishes and de- mands. It is the old story over again, when man destroys man against whom he has no ill-will. The Outlanders had no com- plaints which could not have been recti- fied "by their leaving. People who do not like to live under the laws of the United States need not stay here — the world is large and there are other places for t'hem. (i^aughter and Applause.) But if the oppression and injustice to the Outlanders were as great as reported— and by the way all the reports we have come through the English channels, through London, then why is it that all the Outlanders, the Americans, the Dutch, the Germans, the Irish, the French, the Scandinavians, and quite a number of English even, are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Boers? (Applause.) You are told England is fighting for humanity and civilization. These words in tlie mouth of English statemen are blasphemy and cant. (Applause.) It was English humanity which stood silently by when their Indian allies butchered our colonial troops, it was English humanity which tied the Sepoy leaders to the muz- zles of the cannon and blew them to pieces, and it was English humanity which rules Ireland today without mercy, without jaastice, and denies her the same privileges 23 which she demands of the Transvaal. (Applause.) iPouse tells us that 2000 years ago Julius Caesar made w^r upon a small German tribe, slew them all and took their country. The sweeping off the earth in such manner, of a quarter of a million of human beings, even in those unscrupulous times, could not be heard without a shudder, and Cato called Caesar to account in the Roman senate. Cato died. The Roman Empire crumbled to pieces, and history tells us of her giory and of her shame. The peace conference had barely ended at the Hague. A conference for the purpose of mitigating the horrors of war, if wars could not be prevented by arbitration. Lyddite shells and dumdum bullets were denounced by all nations represented, ex- cept by human England, and I am ashamed to say it, her trabant, the United States. English humanity makes use of both in her African war, and English humanity slaughters defenseless Boer prisoners and boasts of it, or holds them like criminals on her prison ships. English humanity stands to-day where Roman humanity stood 2000 years ago. (Applause.) While it is true that England has ad? vanced civilization, it has only been to her financial profit, and her contracts have been written with blood and tears. She has most liberally civilized small, weak people — on the style of the tiger and the lamb, with the lamb on the inside. (Laugh ter.) Her professed cause for war is for what she to-day denies to thousands of her own subjects at home, the right to vote, the true cause for her war is the greed of gold. Under the mask of friendship, through a press bought by British gold, disgustingly courting an alliance or syr pathy from her dear American cousins. 24 by deceit and cotery she tries to draw us to her, and into her entanglements with other nations. She stood by us when we were fighting a seventh rate power and protected us when nobody wanted to do lis harm. Next to a coward, the most disgusting thinor is a brag- bnaggart. Had not the loud-mouthed press of England bragged and boasted so tnuch of what all they were going to do, her defeats would not have been so humil- iating, so shamefully disgracing. Those whom the srods wish to destroy they first strike with madness. England by her arrogant and insulting treatment of others, has come to a condition of com- plete isolation, a bully among the nations. 8he has not a true friend upon the face of the earth — except perhaps Washington. D. C. and Washington, D. C. is not the American people. (Great laughter and applause.) The people against whom she IS now carrying on a war to the death, are the descendants of noble races. Their forefathers vanoufshed the armies of Phil- ip of Spain, and more than once have they met the Eng-lish snccessfullv in battle. A small, heroic band, those Boers of the African republics! In mimber not more +>ian the population of th<> Twin Cities. They enter noon this war Vi+hout a boast, but with determination. No heralding of comino" events — simplv trust in the God of their fathers. Brave in battle, niercifiil to the smitten. Quick in action, respectful to the vanquished. No vae V i c t i s of the Bomans. but tenderness to the Avonnde^. They are fig-htin^ for their all. their libertv and their homes, Spartans in every sense of the word. A voice : That's right. These, lad-es and gentlemen, are the people that England wants to civilize. (Laughter and apnlanse."^ History ever ,fina ever repeats itself. A period of de- 25 bauchery, lust, unrighteousness and moral decay always precedes the downfall of a nation. The corrupt patricians of Nero and all of their legions, fell before the un- corrupt Teutons, and the power and ty- ranny of Rome vanished. Nations have since risen and fallen, corruption of the masses always preceding their fall. Cor- ruption of the rulers of the nations will drag their people along to destruction and infamy, unless aroused from their lethar- gy by self-sacrificing, patriotic opposition. Home had her Cato. England had her Grand Old Man, Gladstone (Great Ap- plause), but their advice was not heeded; they were cried down by a noisy, irrespon- sible minority. The best Romans were not those who followed Xero, but those who opposed him. The best Englishmen oppose this war, but they are in it, ac- cording to "destiny". England is to-day in the power of an unscrupulous, corrupt cabinet, which created this unholy war for greed and aggrandizement alone. A few men have set two noble races to war who have no grudge against one another. A few political mountebanks, arrogant and corrupt, not representing but usurp- ing the English people, are responsible for a condition of things which staggers hu- manity. Let us pray for the victory for that lit- tle band of Boers, where every man, wom- an or child, is a hero; let them know that the eyes of the world are on them and that every noble heart beats with them in sympathy, and let us wish that the de- feat of England be for her better, for her emancipation from corrupt political and journalistic jingoism, and that she may remain in the family of nations, wiser and better than ever. This, ladies and gentlemen, is, I think, the sentiment of most all the Germans and their descendants among you* It is not hatred against the English people, whose good qualities we appreci- ate, but it is a deep, a just hatred against their jingo government and subsidized press, which has heaped insult after insult upon us, which by the meanest efforts persistently tries to cause a feeling of un- friendliness between our new and our old fatherland, which has caused some of the American people to forget a friendship which has lasted more than a century, made them forget that German blood was mixed with American blood on every bat- tlefield under the stars and stripes. (Ap- plause.) We Germans are as loyal as the best, but while we love our new fatherland, we still have an affectionate spot in our heart for the old, and an insult to either we are Bure to resent. But above all, the right- eousness of the Boer cause, our admira- tion of their manly virtues, our love of liberty and freedom, makes us sympathize with them from the bottom of our hearts. And may the gods of war be with them! (Applause.) The Chairman: Ladies and Gentlemen: It was thought proper as a part of the program of this evening there should be a brief detailed statement of the history of this cause. That will now be presented to you by our fellow-townsman, Mr. T. R. Kane. Mr. Kane was received with great ap- plause. ADDRESS BY MR. T. R. KANE. Ladies and Gentlemen: The world is witnessing at the present hour the sad- dest and most gloomy spectacle that has marred the history of centuries. Two na- tions, peopled by a race that in all the no*blest attributes of man are as noble as ever lived in the tide of time, have been forced through self-defence into all the horrors of modern warfare, and they have been forced there by an invader that seeks to place the standard of brute force upon a higher plane than the banner of impartial justice and the sacred obliga- tions of international treaty and conven- tion. (Applause.) The edict has gone forth from that nation whose processes of civili- zation have been written in characters of cardinal hue from Omdurman to the famine-stricken districts of India, that the presence of a free republic in South Afri- ka is a menace to the domination of Eng- land in the Dark Continent, and that therefore two independent states, carved by the intelligence and the courage and the patriotismoftheirsonsoutof the most adverse circumstances that were ever im- pressed upon the children of men, — shall sink their aspirations for lib- erty and for independence under the iron heel of the invader and live no more ex- cept upon the fading pages of history. (Applause.) And what adds to the sad and gloomy character of the spectacle is that a Chris- tian civilization in every nation, empire, republic and monarchy upon the face of the earth stands idly by and, with folded arms, looks like a spectator upon this hor- rible spectacle without crying protest to the world's blind greed. (Applause.) The claim has been made by England that she has untertaken this war through the stimulus of philanthropic and hum- anitarian motives; first, to open up the internal portions of the great continent of Africa to the progress of modern civili- zation and development; secondly, to grant to a portion of the citizens of the Transvaal the inestimable privilege of the elective franchise. The Boer Eepublics claim that this war 28 is the culmination of a long and fixed determination upon tne part of the Eng- lish government not only to stamp out once and forever every vestige of Repub- lican institutions in Africa, but to secure possession and control and ownership of the fabulously rich and inexhaustible gold mines of the Vvitvvatersrand at Jo- hannesburg. ( Applause ) . Long before this issue was joined upon the field of battle England has sought to prepare her case for the tribunal of pub- lic opinion. By a carefully devised and elaborate scheme of systematic falsifica- tion in reference to the characteristics and the progressiveness of the Boer races, she sought to inculcate throughout the ci\^*- ized world the belief that a portion of South Africa was in the possession of a race that constituted not only an imper- vious barrier to the introduction of any further civilization, but that they were a constant menace and a threatening aanger to the civilization that already existed there. After the war was opened this case was presented to the world at L.rge by every suggestion that skilful diplom- acy could suggest and by every means and methods that a perverted journalism could execute. Through the multitudi- nous tongues of the associated press, as well as through every other means that the capital and the power of England con- trolled, this case was presented to the public at large; while the Transvaal, with the impassable sands of Africa on one side and the cordon of British ships on the other, had to state her case to the world through the British censorship of Durban or Cape Colony or remain silent as to tne justice of her cause. (Applause.) England, however, for once reckoned without her host. She had overlooked the fact that truth and international jus- tice could not be smothered in the sands of Central Africa even when surrounded 29 by the embattled bayonets of the British power. (Applause.) She had forg^otten tiiat the Boer races had lived and acted imperishable history before she had estab- lished her censorship at Durban. (Ap- plause.) She has yet to learn that the st.ry of this tragic struggle will be writ- ten in letters of gold upon the brightest pages of human history long after the British censorship has faded from South Africa. (Applause.) Now, in the brief space of time allotted to me I shall endeavor to prove to that portion of the American people represent- ed by this magnificent audience not only that the claims of the Boer Republics as to the causes leading up to that war were true in spirit as well as in fact, but I will go further than that and I will prove out of the mouth of Joseph Chamberlain him- self, in his admissions before the English parliament, that the war in which Eng- land is now engaged can in no way be fitly characterized than as a war of national immorality. (Applause.) More than 250 years have passed since the ancestors of the Dutch Republics set- tled in South Africa. They sprang from the Holland immigrants and the French Huguenots that were placed there in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company; and I will beg my audience to be a little leni- ent with me while I go over dry histori- cal facts, because I will be as brief as possible, and I feel that this audience here tonight, or a great portion of them, desire to hear the historical truth of the Boer side of this question. (Applause.) After the landing of the immigrants on the Southern portion of Cape Colony, in the control of the Dutch East India Com- pany, a portion of those inhabitants re- mained on the coast. They were the merchant princes of that hour, dealing in the vast trade between India and Europe. 30 Another portion of them strayed into the interior of Africa and became the fron- tiersmen of that continent. Those who went into the interior left the touch of civilization and the outside world, but what they lost in the effete manners and the luxurious customs of a growing civil- ization they made up in vigor of manly independence and love of liberty. (Ap- plause.) During all the period of their existence there and in their constant fight with hostile tribes, with the adverse cir- cumstances that surrounded them in that land of plagues and calamities, they at various times gave evidence of that in- trepidity and that courage that has later been exhibited upon wider fields of action. Now, it must be remembered that aside from the fringe of piratical states in the northern part of Africa and perhaps the Valley of the Nile, that continent is one vast, trackless desert and arid plain. A territory of three thousand miles long and two thousand miles broad lies burning and baking under the unrelenting rays of a tropic sun from year to year, only visited occasionally by swarms of locust, with hot winds and storms of sand that are fatal alike to man and beast. Over this territory there roam with ceaseless activity and promiscuity roaming bands of Basutos and Hottentots and Zulus and Kaffirs, engaged in the eternal struggle of predatory warfare with the only end and aim of robbery and total extinction. It seems, indeed, as if the providential curse had fallen upon this unhappy land with direst effect. So true is this, that the nations of the world for untold cen- turies have allowed this continent to re- main a sealed book to civilization. The nations of the world knew that the profits and the emoluments that all the genius and all the industryof men could wrin^ from the arid plain of Central Africa 31 would never pay for the ordeals and the trials and the dangers of exploring and subjugating it. And indeed it may be said that until a comparatively late peri- od in the world's history the nations of the world had by tacit consent agreed that this "dark continent" was intended by Providence as the eternal and unchang- ing resting-place of the unfortunate des- cendants of Noah's undutiful son. And this description of Central Africa is sup- ported by the authority of the most emi- nent explorers and geographical writers oi the age. And I make this explanation in answer to the claim made by England that one of her philanthropic purposes in carrying on this war is to open up that arid clime to progress and to civilization! (Applause.) She can hardly expect lo in- troduce a better civilization there than she has in the fertile vales of India, where her citizens by the millions today are starving and crying in anguish, from Lucknow to Brahmaputra and from their to Calcutta. Now over the many difficulties and ob- stacles that I have described in that con- tinent, the intrepid courage ,the industry, the strict frugality of the Boer races to a certain extent triumphed. And it may be said in relation to those races that the children of the Boers, of the Dutch inhab- itants of Cape Colony, are the only people of the Caucasian race that have ever been enabled to maintain themselves in the hinterland of Centre. t Africa. (Applause). For a period of 150 years after landing at Cape Colony they lived in peace and contentment until through the fortunes of war, in 1806 Cape Colony was transferred to British ownership; and with it it brought all the degradation and all wne shame and all the humiliation ^^.^y. a proud spirit feels when he is transferred like a chattel from one master to the 32 other. The Dutch inhabitants of South Africa refused to accept the conditions imposed upon them by their new task- masters. Year after year of dissension passed by. No protection was given to the Boer from the rage of border tribes. His language was changed; his courts were changed; he had no schools; and m 1836, after taking the opinion of the most eminent legal jurists in Europe and in England as to their right to expatriate themselves from English territory, there commenced the greatest migration that has ever been recorded in history and has been referred to as the Boer "trelE" of 1836. At that time over ten thousand men with their families, in one body, ex- patriated themselves from the territorial limits of British possessions, and going forth into the wilds of South-eastern Africa to make new homes in a new coun- try, they spread out over the territory that now constitutes the Orange Free State. (Applause.) Shortly after taking possession of the Orange Free State, in order to destroy a powerful native chieftain, who made a living by assassination and public robbery of the Boers, they descended upon the territory of Natal, and after a war with Dirgan the great chieftain of that place, they destroyed his tribe and took posses- sion of Natal and established in South Africa its first republic — the Republic of Natalia. So long as the Boer races continued to fight and to be decimated by the hostility of internal tribes and hordes, England looked upon her expatriated citizens with indifference and contempt and careless- ness. But the moment tnat the Republic of Natalia was established upon the sea- coast, with a flag of independence star- ing England in the face, without cause or provocation that has ever been assign- ed in history, she sent her fleet and her 33 troops and, after a battle with the Boers, again conquered them and proclaimed her sovereignty over all the territory of the Orange Free State. (Applause.) Xow our immigrants who had been chas- ed from their homes once, who had gone into the wilds of a new country in order to obtain their liberty at the expense of the dangers of that migration, were re- duced to the alternative of doing either one thing or the other: either accepting again the yoke of the conquerer, or taking up the burdens of life anew and exploring some other portion of Central Africa. But the intrepid spirit that, as my friends here have said, held at bay for twenty years the power of Spain and Europe be- hind the dikes of Holland, triumphed ov- er the life of ease and the Boer again tak- ing up the burden of his song, leaves the Orange Free State and transports him- self by a second "trek" across the Vaal Kiver into the territory now known as the Transvaal. (Applause.) The Boer was now driven to the in- ternal portions of Africa, and he still car- ried with him his eternal dislike and con- tempt for what he considered British or English duplicity and wrong. For a period of three or four or more years ae continued to have trouble with the inter- ior and with the coast authorities; and at that time — whetiier it was because the territory he occupied was considered worthless or that in course of time his race would be decimated by the hostile tribes — ^we will grant it was prompted by a just motive — England performed the first act of justice that had characterized her conduct towards the Dutch colonists since they came into her possession. In 1852, at the Sand River Convention, the Transvaal Republic's independence was recognized, not only by England but by all the first-class nations of Europe; and 3* the Secretary of State of the United States of America sent a letter of congrat- ulation to the president of the Transvaal Republic. (Applause.) Now the Boer had secured what he had long contended for so well. He was en- titled as an independent nation to sit at the council table of nations as an inde- pendent state, but his heritage was a bar- ren one. In the isolation of his inland po- sition, without an outlet of his own to the sea, and being then (as to-day) dependent upon the outside world for almost every article that goes into the consumption of life and the necessaries of life, he had to import what was necessary to live upon through the maritime ports of Great Brit- ain — ^through New London, Port Eliza- beth, Durban, and Cape Town; and the duties, the ad valorem duties, the postal duties, the trade tariffs that were levied upon every article that entered into the Transvaal or the Orange Free State made it a burden intolerable and unendurable to the Boer. (Applause.) For a period of twenty-five years this condition lasted, until the year 1877. During all that time the merchant princes of the maritime ports became rich and opulent, and during all that time the poor farmer on the African veldt became poor- er and poorer. At that time two historical incidents occurred that exhibit in a remarkable and emphatic degree the disregard which Eng- land has for the sacred character of treaty obligations in dealing with a na- tion unable to protect its rights and its interests. (Applause.) At that time there was discovered in what is known as Griqualand West, a portion of the Orange Free State, the magnificent diamond minesj upon which Kimberly stands today. Immediately upon that discovery England claimed it by territorial right. TheOr- 35 ange Free State considered that it was hers, as well as the capital in which her Volksraad met, but in order to escape destruction by a contest with such a su- perior power, the Orange Free State had to cede those diamond mines to England for the paltry compensation of ninety thousand pounds. And if there is an English sympathizer here that tells me that was a disputed territory as a histor- ical fact I say you are mistaken. If tLat territory was England's territory and she kiiew it, she would not have paid the Orange Free State ninety thousand pounds for it (applause) ; and if it was not her territory it was not honorable or just or right that she shouid compel the infant republic to cede it to her for that inade- quate price. (Applause.) Now, the dia- mond mines from that day to this — al- most thirty years — ^have brought to Eng- lish capitalists and to English pockets an annual revenue of thirty millions of dol- lars. But there is another. At this time the Transvaal State had arrived, by the ex- tortionate charges upon everything that was introduced into the colony, at the verge of financial desperation. She de- cided at that time to redeem herself from that intolerable conu^cion by building a railroad from Pretoria, her capital, to Lorenzo Marquez or Delogoa Bay, as a shorter route to the seaboard and a route over which she would have fairer treat- ment in the importation of what was necessary for both republics. Immediate- ly upon the commencement of that enter- prise Sir Theophilus Shepstone, the repre- sentative of England, appeared in the Transvaal, and with no provocation, with no reason that has been given in history to the present day except the poverty and weakness of the victim, he proclaimed again the Transvaal a portion of her ma- m jesty's dominion and an English colony. (Applause.) This act was accompanied by the hypocrital cant of humanitarian motives that always characterizes her transactions. The reason she gave to the world for claiming the Transvaal as a por- tion of her territory in 1877 was that the impoverished condition in which the Transvaal then stood made it a lasting temptation to the tribes of interior Africa to swoop down upon her, and that Eng- land put out her wing and gathered her in to protect her. (Laughter and Ap- plause.) The old story of the owl gath- ering in the chicken to protect it from the hawk! (Laughter.) The same thing. The real cause of this a ct of internation- al vandalism was England's desire to pre- vent the construction of the Delagoa Bay Railroad and preserve to her ports in Cape Colony an absolute monopoly of the growing trade of the Young Republics. Now, the Transvaal citizens petitioned. They wanted the restoration of their in- dependence. Independence would not be given to them. The long, pa- tient, persevering spirit of the Boer at last ceased to be patient, and with one accord the population of the Transvaal sprang to arms in defence of the liberty and the independence of their country, and on the historic field of Ma- juba Hill they forced England to leave. (Tremendous applause and cheers.) Upon that field they forced England to recog- nize the fact that it is possible for a peo- ple to be poor and proud and still inde- pendent. (Applause.) Happily for the spirit of liberty and for humanity the destiny of England at that time was pre- sided over by the greatest statesman that had existed since the days of Edmund Burk, and that was William E. Gladstone. (Great Applause.) Under his influence a treaty of peace was signed in 1881 res- 37 toring to the Transvaal her independence. But in that treaty, both in the preamble anu in the body of the treaty, there was what was known as the rights of suzer- ainity reserved to her majesty the queen. (Laughter.) That treaty of 1881 was never affirmed by the Volksraad or by the Transvaal Republic. But in 1883 a com- mission was sent from Pretoria to -Lon- don and, if I am not mistaken, the pres- ent president of the Transvaal Republic and General Joubert were parties to that commission that went to London. (A voice: That's right.) They brought with them a new treaty that was to be sub- stituted for the treaty of 1881, and in that treaty they desired that the clause reserving suzeraipity to her majesty should be stricken out. When they went to England and when the convention met it was the hand of the English commissioner, Lord Derby, that struck out from the con- vention or treaty of 1884 all claims in ref- erence to suzerainity, and the commission- ers of the Transvaal returned to their native home, happy in the possession of independence, again among the family of nations, with — and I emphasize these terms — with absolute, unqualified, unlim- ited and complete control over all of their internal affairs.. (Applause.) Now we come to a more interesting period. Now we come to tne considera- tion of one of the arch-conspirators in this magnificent drama of national annihila- tion, as it were. Now is the time we call upon Joseph Chamberlain (hisses in the back part of the building,) the secre- tary of the colonies, to stand forth and answer the questions of an aroused public opinion. Recognizing Mr . Chamberlain- recognizing tne sacred character of the treaty of 1884, bj what right did you de- mand to interfere in the internal manage- ment of the Transvaal? By what au- thority did you or the nation that you represent seek to enforce your demands by violence and by force? What canon of international morality? What barrier to the advancement of a Christian civ- ilization had these races of the two inde- pendent republics made that the self- constituted champion of a growing civili- zation or an advanced civilization such as England, should cast aside the sacred treaty rights of 1884 and destroy the re- ■ publics if their demands were not grant- " ed? But I will go further with Mr. Cham- berlain. Conceding that you had a right to make the demands, what demands have you made from these republics that have not been granted? You asked for a diminishment of the term of the elective franchise, and it was granted — first from fourteen to seven years, and next from seven years to five. You asked that an arbitration committee be appointed to settle the difficulties between your coun- try and the Transvaal, and it was conced- ed. You asked that English be spoken in the public schools, and it was conceded. You asked that English be spoken in the Volksraad, and it was conceded. You asked that the method of choosing their judiciary be changed from an appointive to an elective one, and it was conceded. And then when your diplomacy had be- come exhausted in fabricating new de- mands, the aged president of the Republic in an anxiety to save his people, said in the most pathetic accents that were ever uttered by the lips of man, "You can have all — all — all except independence." (Cheers and applause.) When this state- ment was made by the President of the Transvaal what answer was returned by humanitarian England? The answer, too churlish and insolent to find a place i 39 even in English diplomatic correspond- ence, that was hurled back at that Re- public was, "You are not an indeppndent state, but a vassal, and a rebellious vas- sal, of her majesty tie queen." (Mingled hisses and applause.) Now I want to say that Mr .Chamber- i?An had no right to make any ^demands. I stated in opening this case that I would prove by Mr. Chamberlain's own admis- sions before parliament that he had no right, Hrud I shall proceed to do so. (Re- ferring to papers on the table.) In 1896, after what is known as the Jameson raid (hisses), the following state- ment was made by the Secretary of the colonies in the English parliament. Cer- tain demands had been made upon the president of the Transvaal Republic, which he had refused, and Mr. Chamber- lain speaking on the subject says as fol- lows : . "I do not say that under the terms of the convention (and that was the con- vention or treaty of 1884; no other con- vention existed at that time) — "I do not say that under the terms of tne conven- tion we are entitled to force reforms on President Kruger, but we are entitled to give him friendly counsel. If this friend- ly counsel is not well received, there was not the slightest intention on the part of her majesty's government to press it. I am perfectly willing to withdraw it and to seek a different solution if it should not prove acceptable to the president." Now watch this: "The righteousness of our action under the convention was lim- ited to the offering of friendly counsel, in the rejection of which, if it is not ac- cepted, we must be quite willing to ac- quiesce." (Laughter.) That was the opinion of Mr. Chamber- lain in 1896 before he had his last closet- ing experience with the Warren Hastings 40 of South Africa — ^Mr. Cecil Rhodes. (Ap- plause.) Further, I want to read another state- ment from Mr. Chamberlain before the English parliament: **In some quarters the idea is put forward that the govern- ment ought to have issued an ultimatum to President Kruger-an ultimatum which would certainly have been rejected and which must have led to war. Sir, I do - not propose to discuss such a contingency I as that. A war in South Africa would f be one of the most serious wars that could be possibly waged." He has learned since that it is. (Great Applause.) "It would be in the nature of a civil war; it would be a long war, a costly war, a bitter war. To go to war with President Kruger Jn order to force upon him reforms in the internal affairs of the State, in wnich secretaries of state standing in this place have repudiated all right of interierence on our part, that would be a course of action as immoral as it would be un- wise." (Applause.) If in 1896, when the Transvaal and the Transvaal president, had refused to con- cede any of the demands of Great Brit- ain, — if at that time it would have been immoral to force a war upon them, what is it to-day to force a war upon him when he has conceded every demand that was made ? (Applause. ) I say, fellow citizens,-and I repeat the statement of the gentleman before me,- that I am not making a direct charge up^ on the individual character of an English- man, but the policy that his nation pur- sues; than an intelligent world cannot be deceived by this hypocritical, magic-lan- tern show of Mr. Chamberlain as to the causes of this war. We will tear aside the pictures on the wall and behind that you will see around the round-table of British knighthood Cecil Rhodes sitting 41 at the head, Chamberlain at the foot, and around it the grinning profligate aristocra- cy who sold the prestige of their polluted titles for ten thousand pounds apiece to Ernest Hooley in his dishonest, embezz- ling transactions in London. (Laughter and applause.) "Ah but," said Mr. Chamberlain, "be- hind all this and above the sacred terms of treaty rights there is the English love for an advancing civilization." (Laughter) Yes! A race of people who lived in Afri- ca 250 years, who opened up and devel- oped and made Cape Colony what it is to-day; who opened up the Orange Free State and made it what it is to-day; who opened up the Transvaal and made it what it is to-day; a people that have their. schools and their churches and their courts and their soldiers and their states- men; a people honest in their home life and with their fellowmen; a people faith- ful in their home, hospitable to the stranger that goes through their land,--! say people of that character, loving their home as they do and revering their Bible and their Bible teachings, are not badly in need of the civilization that can be brought there by the hosts of Lord Rob- erts of Waterford and Kandahar. (Ap- plause.) N"ow we will come to a further state- ment of Mr. Chamberlain. The tune has changed now. In 1896 the Transvaal Re- public was a free state; and no matter what the management of her internal af- fairs might have been, England was only •entitled, according to his opinion, to offer her friendly counsel. Now the English nation has handed forth to the world as one of the reasons of this war the fact that certain citizens of the Transvaal were denied the right .of representation in the Yolksraad and in other representa- 42 tions. Now wait-no matter how skill- ful the diplomacy may be, in a long drawn out history of negotiation, the truth will come out-the truth Will come out, — and I want to read this statement of Mr. Chamberlain made before the war commenced, and let the American people as a jury decide whether or not it was avariciousness and cupidity that was the prime motive of this war or humanitarian purposes to open up Central Africa to trade and development. This is from the speech delivered by Mr. Chamberlain in parliament, last October and reported in the New York World on the liOth : "Great Britain must re- main the paramountpower in South Africa. I do not mean paramount in the German and Portuguese possessions." No, they never mean paramount where they are brought into connection with a power like Germany that can protect her rights, (Applause.) I do not mean paramount in the German and Portuguese possessions, but in the two republics and the British colonies." England wanted, before the treaty had been broken, to be paramount in a republic that was independent before the civilized world in all respects as well as she was, and yet the Secretary of the Colonies for England wanted England to be paramount in that republic! Listen! "The whole object of the Boers has been to oust the Queen from her position as suzerain." The Queen was ousted from her position as suzerain by the hand ox Lord Derby when he struck from the con- vention of 1884 the clause containing the suzerainty. (Applause.) Further— and let the American people, the descendants of Washington and of Jefferson and of Jackson and of Lincoln, ponder upon this statement, and then say 43 whether or not the moral sympathy and support of this republic goes out to Eng- land in her present war: "The Transvaal and the Free State have an i d e a 1 which is dangerous to Great Britain." (Laughter) The Transvaal and the Orange Free State have an ideal of republican institutions and republics, and the Orange Free State is the only nation in the civilized world to-day that has copied verbatim for its organic law the constitution of the United States of America. (Great Applause.) And yet that ideal is a menace to Great Britain! ^ Now we have got the key to this situa- tion. The mask has been torn off. We have shown the history of the Boer race. In all their trials and troubles were they ever known to be robbers? Were they ever known to be revolutionists? Were they ever known to be in possession of any characteristic that unfitted them for the highest plane of civilization? When they were driven from Natal, when they were driven from the Orange Free State, they took up their burden with the si- lent taciturnity of a hero who knew the futility of making opposition to his perse- cutor, aiid they went into the new lands with their burdens and their wrongs; and this people, the gravest charge against whom has been that they love their coun- try, their home, their Bible and their lib- erty, is to-day being immolated upon the unsanctified altar of insatiable British greed, and this country — the people of this country, of the fair land of Columbia, are called up to stand stalk still and shout "Bravo" to the performance. (Great Applause.) I realize, ladies and gentlemen that I have consumed more time than I intend- ed (Cries: "Go on, go on!"), but my sub- ject forces me — (Here the audience broke out into tremendous applause and cneers.) It must be easy to realize the difficulty of compressing into a few moments the history of a nation from its birth almost to the hour of its death; but I have shown you I think sufficient to let you know that the people of these republics have been abused and villified and libeled and slandered in the public press of two continents. Now, the ink is hardly dry upon that magnificent treaty that was the production of the Hague conference, and in the ninth clause of that treaty there is a provision made for occasions like this, in which any nation who is it party to that treaty has an absolute right, and it becomes its sacred duty, to proffer its services of mediation, not only to pre- vent war before it commences, but to stop war after it has commenced. (Ap- plause.) in the dying hours of the Nineteenth cBxitury a christian civilization is supposed to have advanced; and why, I ask, have the nations of the world stood aside with- out making an offer of mediation here? I can understand why European nations have not, but I fail to understand why the American republic could not hc^ve made that honorable and that charitable test. I say, fellow citizens, that I will not make the charge that it is due to the fac; that the commercialism, referred to by the distinguished Executive of this State, has emasculated the virtues of the American people, because I do not believe it; nor shall I whisper it at the present time; nor shall I whisper, in fear for I hope that I may never be able to make the charge, that it may be due to the fact that perhaps the hands of others are of, the color of Macbeths. (Applause.) But I say that all the instincts of humanity, 45 that all the teachings of Christianity and civilisation, call upon the nations of the world at this hour to put forth a protect- m