(c) German trade through Walfisch Bay.-In the Cape Assembly Mr. Rhodes opposes a proposal to levy customs on German trade through Walfisch Bay. [It would, he said, cause needless irritation in Germany, but as Damaraland interests were so largely in British hands he hoped that some day Germany would realise the uselessness of the territory to her, and would retire from it.] - JULY 2. Mr. Chamberlain Colonial Secretary.— Mr. Chamberlain becomes Colonial Secretary. 8. The Delagoa Bay Railway.-Official opening, at Pretoria, of the extension of the Delagoa Bay Railway from the Portuguese frontier. [At the banquet held on the following day, Mr. Kruger presiding, to celebrate the opening of the railway, Sir Hercules Robinson said Great Britain felt no petty jealousy of the good fortune of the Transvaal in respect of its material development. Great Britain had but one desire, namely, that the Transvaal should employ the powers conferred upon it to work its wealth in the manner which would best conduce to the welfare and happiness of all classes of its inhabitants. Two British ships had been sent to Delagoa Bay to take part in the festivities as a mark of goodwill towards a friendly State, and he had also received a cablegram from Mr. Chamberlain desiring him to convey publicly to the President the expression of his most friendly feeling towards the Government and inhabitants of the South African Republic. In another speech on the same occasion Sir Hercules said the Transvaal must remain a member of the South African family, with none but That family differences with the British colonies. gathering tacitly acknowledged their community of interests.] - AUG. (a) The franchise laws in the Transvaal.— Petition signed by 35,483 Uitlanders presented to the Volksraad in favour of an extension of the franchise. Request refused, memorialists being referred to the existing laws. [One of the members, Mr. Otto, said in his speech in the House: "He did not consider the Johannesburg people who had signed in that wonderful and fat book on the table were law-abiding, and he would have none of them. The Raad had frequently heard that if the franchise were not extended there would be trouble. He was tired of these constant threats. He would say, 'Come on and fight! Come on!'"] [See 1897, Feb.] (b) The annexation of Bechuanaland: British South Africa Company's demand.—British Bechuanaland Annexation Bill passed by a unanimous vote of the Cape Parliament. [In the course of the discussion on the Bill Mr. Rhodes stated that "the Imperial Government had spent altogether £2,500,000 upon the territory, and now offered it as a free gift with no obligations." He further said he looked forward to the establishment of a Cape Government up to Tanganyika, either by amalgamation or by federation, with one free tariff. The incorporation of British Bechuanaland with the Cape (formally carried into effect on Nov. 16, 1895) had the further important result of leading to a demand from the British South Africa Company that it should be followed up by the concession to them selves of the administration of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, which lay between Rhodesia and the now extended boundaries of Cape Colony. This Protectorate had been included in the Company's charter from the beginning, but the Company had not hitherto had there the administrative powers they now asked for. In the autumn of 1895 terms were drawn up and provisionally agreed to, on this basis, between Her Majesty's Government and the Company. - SEPT. 6. Bechuana chiefs and the British South Africa Company. - The Bechuana chiefs, Khama, Sebele, and Bathoen arrive in England. [Their visit was inspired by the arrangements which were being made between the British Government and the British South Africa Company, as narrated under date August. They wished not only to pay their homage to the Queen but to ask that their territories should not be placed under the administration of the Chartered Company. It was eventually arranged that their territories, and those of one or two other chiefs, all lying to the north of the Molopo, should be constituted Native Reserves, and held by the chiefs under the protection of the Queen, an Imperial officer residing with each, and discharging certain judicial and other functions. The importation of liquor into these Reserves was to be prohibited, but hunting and other rights were to be continued. Each chief, however, was to give up sufficient land for the purposes of the Matabeleland Railway. Subject to these conditions the arrangements for transferring the administration of the Bechuanaland Protectorate were proceeded with, but they were suddenly stopped by the Jameson Raid, and the administration remained, for the time being, in the hands of a Resident Commissioner under the High Commissioner. The next stage will be found under date 1898, Oct. 20.] OCT. 1. The Vaal River Drifts question. — In accordance with a proclamation by President Kruger, the Viljoens Drift and the Zand Drift, on the Vaal River, in the neighbourhood of Vereeniging, are closed for the importation of over-sea goods. [The leading points in this question, which nearly brought about war between Great Britain and the Transvaal, may be stated thus: In 1891 the Cape Government, by agreement with the Transvaal Government and the Netherlands Railway Company, advanced to the latter £600,000 for the construction of the railway from the Vaal River to Johannesburg, and secured the right to fix the traffic rates until Dec. 31, 1894, or until the completion of the Delagoa Bay-Pretoria line. The Cape Government fixed the rates at about 24d. per ton per mile; but at the beginning of 1895 (the agreement with the Cape Colony having then expired) the Netherlands Railway Company raised the rates on its 52 miles of railway from the Vaal River to Johannesburg to the practically prohibitive figure of nearly 8d. per ton per mile. This, of course, was done with the approval of President Kruger, who, it was alleged, aimed at diverting the over-sea traffic from the Cape Colony to the Delagoa Bay route, so as to injure the former by depriving it of customs, dues, and railway rates, and to benefit the latter by forcing the whole current of trade along it. To meet these tactics the Rand importers arranged to remove their goods at the Vaal River, place them on wagons, and so bring them across the river to their destination, disregarding the Netherlands Railway altogether. This move was met in turn by the order of Mr. Kruger closing the drifts, and as the railway (apart from the question of rates) could not clear the traffic, a great block occurred, hundreds of wagons accumulating on the banks of the river. The Cape Government protested against the closing of the drifts, alleging an infraction of Article 13 of the London Convention of 1884 "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 "— inasmuch as the road was left open from the side of Natal; and they also alleged that the result of the action taken was to threaten the trade of the Colony with annihilation. Unavailing appeals were made to President Kruger, who refused to concede anything. The Imperial Government was then urged to intervene. On Nov. I Mr. Chamberlain asked if the Cape Government would bear half the gross cost of an expedition, should one be necessary, furnish a fair contingent of a fighting force, and give full and free use of railways for military purposes. If so a message might be sent to President Kruger that the Imperial Government must regard the closing of the drifts as a breach of the London Convention, and "an unfriendly action" which called for "the gravest remonstrance." The Cape |