112 



CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFKICA. 



publican title, and to the debt incurred by the 

 British administration, and, most of all, to the 

 southwestern boundary. They made their con- 

 tention good by resuming the style of South 

 African Republic, failing to meet the payments 

 of the debt, and fomenting the disturbances 

 that led to the establishment of petty repub- 

 lics across the border. The English Govern- 

 ment, in 1883, expressed a willingness to mod- 

 ify the terms of the convention in so far as 

 they were impossible of fulfillment on the part 

 of the Transvaal State. When the friendly 

 chiefs were ousted from their domains in 

 Bechuanaland, and their people reduced to 

 wretched straits, the British authorities were 

 spurred to take a more resolute tone. The 

 Transvaal Government disclaimed responsi- 

 bility for the acts of the citizens of Stellaland 

 and Goshen, yet insisted on the untenability 

 of the boundary of the Pretoria convention. 

 About the beginning of 1884 President Krii- 

 ger, Gen. Smit, who defeated the British at 

 Majuba Hill, and Minister of Education Du 

 Toit, who came as interpreter, arrived in Eng- 

 land to treat with the English Government for 

 the revision of the convention of 1881. 



A new convention was concluded February 

 27. The independence of the Transvaal was 

 re-established in all particulars save one. Eng- 

 land still required the South African Republic, 

 under which name, instead of the Transvaal 

 State, the Boer Republic was now recognized, 

 to submit for her approval any treaty entered 

 into with native tribes outside the Transvaal, 

 or with foreign nations, the Orange Free State 

 excepted. If no objections are raised by the 

 London Government within six months, the 

 treaty goes into force without English sanction. 

 The British residency in Pretoria was abol- 

 ished. The British claim for the administra- 

 tion of the country from 1877 to 1881 was re- 

 duced to 250,000, bearing 3 per cent, inter- 

 est, to be extinguished in twenty-five years. 

 The anti-slavery provision of the Sand River 

 Treaty was repealed. Tho republic accords 

 religious liberty to all persons dwelling within 

 its dominions, and equal rights to all white 

 persons taking up their residence in the Trans- 

 vaal. Persons who immigrated during the 

 British administration, and fought on the side 

 of England, shall suffer no prejudice in their 

 persons or property. The Swazi tribes are to 

 remain independent. The right to acquire 

 land is promised to the natives of the Trans- 

 vaal, also equal access to the courts. No higher 

 duties than the existing ones shall be levied on 

 English imports. 



The convention fixed a new southwestern 

 boundary-line, which incorporated in the Trans- 

 vaal a part of Stellaland and a small strip of 

 the land of Goshen. The Boer delegates were 

 anxious to incorporate in the Transvaal Mo- 

 shette's and Massouw's territories and Stella- 

 land. Sir Thomas Scanlen, the Cape Premier, 

 objected to this arrangement, because it would 

 place within the Transvaal one hundred miles 



of a certain trade-route. The Cape Govern- 

 ment offered to bear a fair share of the ex- 

 penses of a joint protectorate. Lord Derby 

 insisted on preserving this trade-route and 

 the dominions of Montsioa and Mankoroane 

 from Boer control, and obtained the reluctant 

 consent of the plenipotentiaries of the Trans- 

 vaal to a line drawn with these objects. The 

 British and Transvaal governments were each 

 empowered by the treaty to appoint commis- 

 sioners for the maintenance of the boundaries 

 and the preservation of order on the western 

 and eastern sides of the Transvaal. In case of 

 a divergence of views between the represent- 

 atives of the two governments, the matter is 

 to be referred to Sir John Brand, the Presi- 

 dent of the Orange River Republic, as umpire. 



British Protectorate over Bechuanaland. Soon 

 after the convention of London was signed, an 

 imperial protectorate was proclaimed over 

 Bechuanaland. Rev. J. Mackenzie, formerly a 

 missionary, was appointed Deputy Commis- 

 sioner. He arrived in Bechuanaland about the 

 1st of May. Mankoroane, Montsioa, and the 

 other chiefs who were favorable to the Brit- 

 ish, signed treaties accepting the protectorate. 

 Mackenzie's instructions authorized him to 

 leave the Stellalanders in possession of their 

 lands, and to appoint an assistant commissioner 

 to administer the affairs of the community. 

 The Goshenites were to be ejected, and their 

 lands restored to Montsioa. The Deputy Com- 

 missioner was authorized to raise a force often 

 police, with power to increase the number to 

 twenty-five, and later to one hundred. 



Events in Stellaland. Mr. Mackenzie spent a 

 long time in treating with the Volks Commit- 

 tee and the administrator of Stellaland. The 

 people were many of them from Cape Colony, 

 while the Goshenites were all Transvaal Boers. 

 "When the Stellalanders were convinced that 

 the policy of the imperial authorities was to 

 confirm the titles they received from Massouw, 

 and eventually incorporate the district in Cape 

 Colony, many of them were favorable to the 

 protectorate. The Volks Committee and the 

 inhabitants assembled in a general meeting and 

 petitioned the Cape Parliament in May to an- 

 nex Stellaland to Cape Colony. There was a 

 party fiercely opposed to the British protec- 

 torate, and anxious that the territory should 

 be restored to the South African Republic. 

 The administrator, P. J. Van Niekirk, sympa- 

 thized with these aims. Mackenzie offered to 

 continue him in office, and nominated him As- 

 sistant Commissioner. Van Niekirk gave no 

 decided answer. With the rest of the Boer 

 sympathizers he waited for the result of the 

 petition to the Cape and for the developments 

 of the British policy. When Mackenzie pro- 

 ceeded to employ force against the Goshenites, 

 the Stellalanders divided into two antagonis- 

 tic parties. Those who were satisfied with the 

 security to their property offered by the Brit- 

 ish protectorate and the prospect of admission 

 to Cape Colony, were represented by the ma- 



