88 



BECHUAST ALAND. 



the murder of Bethell and Walker, Englishmen 

 killed in the war against Montsioa and Manka- 

 roane; Mr. Walker, an efficient frontier soldier, 

 under circumstances indicating that hie was 

 shot after being wounded. At this point Mr. 

 Upington persuaded the High Commissioner to 

 put a stop to these summary trials. Sir Her- 

 cules Robinson accordingly ordered the pro- 

 ceedings to be stayed. 



The English commander was suspicious of 

 the Transvaal Boers, and governed his move- 

 ments with reference to a flanking attack. 

 To guard against this eventuality, he took a 

 much larger force than was necessary to cope 

 with the Bechuanaland settlers alone, and es- 

 tablished fortified posts and telegraph commu- 

 nications along the line of march. The Trans- 

 vaal authorities were not less suspicious of the 

 English, and believed that the object of so 

 large an expedition must be to invade the 

 republic and hoist the British flag at Pretoria 

 and Bloemfontein. They sent a large force to 

 the frontier, on the pretext of depredations 

 committed by the natives. The provoking 

 course of action taken by the Special Commis- 

 sioner in employing Mr. Mackenzie in face 

 of the protest of the Cape Government, in 

 sending for Mr. Fry, an official publicly dis- 

 missed by the Cape Government, to act as his 

 legal and financial adviser, in arresting Van 

 Niekerk, in dismissing Mr. Rhodes, in enroll- 

 ing and equipping a black regiment, etc. 

 strengthened these apprehensions, notwith- 

 standing the friendly assurances of Sir Hercu- 

 les Robinson. Sir Charles Warren's course cre- 

 ated great excitement and alarm throughout 

 South Africa. Sir Hercules Robinson, in his 

 capacity of High Commissioner, exerted his 

 authority to arrest the irritating and danger- 

 ous course of the Special Commissioner, but 

 the latter refused to be guided by the Gov- 

 ernor of Cape Colony, The home authorities 

 were then called upon to decide upon the con- 

 flict of authority. Lord Derby expressed general 

 concurrence with Sir Hercules Robinson, and 

 directed Sir 0. Warren to refer questions of civil 

 policy to the High Commissioner, whenever 

 practicable, and to observe special precaution 

 in matters affecting the susceptibilities of the 

 Dutch population. Sir Charles Warren pro- 

 tested against this decision, and practically dis- 

 obeyed it. All his arrangements with the na- 

 tive chiefs were made on the basis of a perpet- 

 ual imperial administration, and the exclusion 

 of the Dutch from Bechuanaland. This was 

 in accordance with a new development of the 

 imperialistic policy that found favor with cer- 

 tain sections of Liberal opinion in England, 

 represented by Mr. Forster, the Aborigines 

 Protection Society, and the anti-Dutch of both 

 parties, and with the English party in South 

 Africa, moved both by sentiment and interest. 

 The establishment of German settlements in 

 South Africa, and manifestations of German 

 sympathy for the Dutch race in South Africa, 

 quickened the sentiment in favor of a vigorous 



South African policy that was a heritage of the 

 Transvaal war. The financial exigencies of the 

 Cape Government necessitated the transfer of 

 the responsibility for Basutoland, Pondoland, 

 and other native districts to the Imperial Gov- 

 ernment. At the same time the establishment 

 of a German colony on the coast impelled the 

 British Government to extend its jurisdiction 

 over Bechuanaland and other native districts. 

 The friends of a vigorous policy proposed to 

 maintain permanently all these native districts, 

 enlacing the Boer republics and Cape Colony, 

 as Crown colonies, to be governed according 

 to English ideas, and settled, if possible, by 

 British colonists. Cape Colony had originally 

 resigned the task of establishing the protector- 

 ate of Bechuanaland, because the home Gov- 

 ernment required the expulsion of the Boer 

 settlers and the carrying out of its views of na- 

 tive policy. After the pacification of the coun- 

 try through the mere presence of Sir Charles 

 Warren's irregular troops, Sir Hercules Robin- 

 son again offered on behalf of the Cape Gov- 

 ernment to assume the administration and fur- 

 nish the small body of police that was ne- 

 cessary to preserve order. Shortly before re- 

 tiring from office, the Liberal Government in 

 England intimated their willingness to trans- 

 fer the administration to the Cape authorities, 

 and informed Gen. Warren that the volunteer 

 force must be disbanded at the end of the six- 

 months term of enlistment and the heavy ex- 

 penditures stopped. In answer to his proposal 

 to investigate Stellaland titles, Lord Derby in- 

 structed him that the titles must be generally 

 recognized and upheld, and the Rhodes agree- 

 ment maintained. 



When Sir Charles Warren started onward 

 from Vryburg, the defiant burghers of Goshen 

 became suddenly quiet, and the bands that 

 threatened resistance disappeared in the Trans- 

 vaal. When the troops entered Rooi Grond 

 the representatives of the republic of Goshen 

 had vanished, and no protest was raised to the 

 declaration of British sovereignty. 



The expedition proceeded northward to visit 

 the three Bechuana chiefs who had not yet 

 appealed to British protection. They were 

 eager for a protectorate, and were willing to 

 sacrifice the best part of their land to secure 

 English rule, but begged to be preserved from 

 the control of the Colonial Government. The 

 conditions they made were that they should be 

 protected from white land-grabbers, robbers, 

 and murderers, that gold-diggers should not be 

 free to overrun the country, that rum should 

 not be imported, and that their native laws 

 should remain in force. The troops opened 

 up a good road all the way to Shoshong, with a 

 telegraph line and convenient watering-places. 

 When they reached Sechele's town, that chief 

 expressed doubts of the efficacy of English 

 protection, and told the Special Commissioner 

 to go and restore to Mankaroane and Montsioa 

 their lands, and then talk to him. 



The general reached Shoshong May 12th. 



