CAPE COLONY AND BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA. 



81 



the Premier stated that in the face of the even- 

 ly divided feeling of the House on the subject, 

 the Government would not feel justified in ad- 

 vising the convening of a conference, and the 

 matter would therefore be dropped. The Gov- 

 ernor, in his address on the prorogation of the 

 Parliament, July 30th, attributed the failure of 

 the conference to the unsatisfactory settlement 

 of Zoolooland and the annexation of the Trans- 

 vaal. 



The annual budget was presented in the Par- 

 liament, June 7th. The revenue for the coming 

 year was estimated at 2,549,000 and the ex- 

 penditure at 2,516,091, against a revenue of 

 2,509,216 and an expenditure of 2,494,397 

 for the year that was expiring. The total ex- 

 penses for war from 1877 to the present date 

 were 1,181,715. 



A party among the Boers of the Transvaal 

 continued to manifest discontent over the an- 

 nexation of that country to the British domin- 

 ions, and to agitate for the reversal of the act. 

 Mr. Bok, secretary of a committee of a meet- 

 ing of Boers, which was held in December, 

 1879, to demand independence, and Mr. Pre- 

 torius, formerly President of the Transvaal Re- 

 public, chairman of the committee, forwarded 

 to Sir Garnet "Wolseley a letter containing the 

 resolutions passed at the meeting, and on ac- 

 count of their prominence in the movement 

 were arrested for connection with a treason- 

 able project. Mr. Bok was released on bail. 

 Sir Garnet Wolseley endeavored to come to an 

 understanding with Mr. Pretorius without suc- 

 cess. The ex-President refused to accept a 

 seat which was offered him in the Transvaal 

 Executive Council. The Government had al- 

 ready taken pains to dispel any hopes the 

 people of the Transvaal might entertain that 

 the annexation would be repealed, Sir Garnet 

 Wolseley having embraced the opportunity of a 

 public dinner at Pretoria to announce that the 

 country would hereafter be regarded as a Crown 

 colony, and to declare that it was considered 

 unsafe to trust the Boers with executive func- 

 tions. A communication was sent to the British 

 Colonial Office on the subject, and a reply was 

 received in March from Sir Michael Hicks- 

 Beach, the Colonial Secretary, explicitly de- 

 claring that the Government was not able to 

 entertain any proposal for the withdrawal of 

 the Queen's troops from the Transvaal. In 

 April, Mr. Kruger, the designated leader of the 

 Boers, and Mr. Joubert, were deputed to visit 

 the Government of the Cape Colony to urge 

 the claims of their constituents and seek a sat- 

 isfactory arrangement. A memorial was ad- 

 dressed to Mr. Gladstone, asking him to use his 

 influence in favor of the reversal of the annex- 

 ation. On the other hand, a petition against 

 reversal received a considerable number of sig- 

 natures. To these applications the British Gov- 

 ernment replied that, whatever might have been 

 the merits of the question in the first instance, 

 it would not be wise or safe to undo the an- 

 nexation at present. Mr. Gladstone added the 

 VOL. xx. 6 A 



expression of his desire that the " white inhab- 

 itants of the Transvaal should, without preju- 

 dice' to the rest of the population, enjoy the 

 fullest liberty to manage their local affairs." 



A proclamation was issued about the tirst of 

 February, summoning the Basutos to surrender 

 their arms. The Basutos were a pastoral and 

 agricultural tribe, who had made some progress 

 in civilization, and had not been involved in any 

 difficulties with the Government. Their loyalty 

 was unsuspected, and a body of them had ren- 

 dered services of great value and importance in 

 the Zooloo war. They claimed to possess fire- 

 arms by virtue of a special and distinct recogni- 

 tion of their right to do so, and had not thought 

 that the attempt would be made to deprive 

 them of them. The policy of disarming them 

 was doubted by many people in the colony and 

 in England ; Sir Garnet Wolseley advised against 

 it, and wrote from the Cape, on the 10th of 

 March, that it would be "incurring a most se- 

 rious risk for an incommensurate object," and 

 would array the native sentiment in every part 

 of South Africa against the British. Letsea, the 

 son of the chief Moshesh, asked for a delay in 

 the enforcement of the order, to enable him to 

 prepare a petition to the Colonial House of As- 

 sembly, and to the Queen, against it. Delay was 

 granted, and the time for carrying out the or- 

 der was extended first to June 21st, afterward 

 to July 12th. The Peace Preservation Act was 

 proclaimed in Basutoland early in April. A 

 deputation of Basutos arrived in the colony 

 early in June, to represent the cause of their 

 people. The House of Assembly, at the begin- 

 ning of June, refused by a majority of nine to 

 pass a vote of censure on the Government for 

 ordering the disarmament and proclaiming the 

 Peace Preservation Act, and on the 23d of 

 July again rejected a similar motion. The Leg- 

 islative Council by a large majority adopted a 

 resolution supporting the Government. An 

 appropriation of 30,000 was voted to compen- 

 sate the Basutos for the arms which they gave 

 up. When the appeal to the Queen had been de- 

 nied, and the Assembly had sanctioned the pol- 

 icy of the Ministers, Letsea, as paramount chief, 

 ordered his people to obey the commands of the 

 Government. Many of the Basutos brought 

 in their arms ; others, with the chief Masupha, 

 determined to resist the disarmament, and op- 

 posed by force those who took steps to submit 

 to it. Letsea collected a force of loyal Basutos, 

 proceeded against the insurgents and besieged 

 the discontented chief Masupha at Thababosigo. 

 He, however, retired from the siege without 

 having accomplished anything, not venturing 

 to exercise his authority by force. The chief 

 Lethorodi declined to accept the terms offered 

 by the Government, and with six hundred fol- 

 lowers attacked the force of Colonel Carrington 

 at Mafeteng. His men were routed and follow- 

 ed for several miles. A second attack was made 

 on Mafeteng, September 21st, by a force of seven 

 thousand Basutos, and was repulsed after a con- 

 test which continued through all the day, with 



