RIGHTS AND WRONGS OF THE TRANSVAAL WAR BY EDWARD T. COOK Γίνονται μὲν οὖν αἱ στάσεις οὐ περὶ μικρῶν ἀλλ ̓ ἐκ μικρῶν, στασιάζουσι δὲ ARISTOTLE'S Politics, viii. 4. First Edition (8vo.), printed June, 1901. New and Revised Edition (Crown 8vo.), printed April, 1902. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION THE object of these pages is to provide within a single volume of moderate size as complete a handbook as possible to the discussions on the policy of the South African War. Upon the conduct of the war I do not touch. My attempt has been to trace the war back to its ultimate causes, to recall the sequence of events immediately preceding it, to set out the actual course of the negotiations, and to discuss the questions of right and wrong involved in the struggle. I do not pretend to be impartial, in the sense of taking no side. I believe that substantially Great Britain has been in the right, and the Dutch Republics have been in the wrong. The general point of view which will be found in the following pages was summarized in a newspaper article here reprinted in an appendix (p. 363). But though the book is informed with a definite opinion, I have endeavoured to supply the reader with the data necessary for arriving at an independent judgment. The facts and documents on which alone any intelligent opinion can be based are scattered in a large mass of books of reference, of newspaper files, and of Parliamentary papers. I have cited textually the more important despatches, collecting them in their proper order from a chaos of Blue-Books (many of which are now out of print). My purpose has been to supply throughout chapter and verse for every reference, and particular illustrations of every general statement. A full index will, it is hoped, facilitate the use of the book for purposes of reference. The origin of the volume was a suggestion made to me from several quarters that I should collect some of the articles written on South African questions during my editorship of a London 320337 |