le
secures certain specified rights to the white population of this
Republic, namely, that "All persons, other than natives, conforming
themselves to the laws of the South African Republic (_a_) will have
full liberty, with their families, to enter, travel, or reside in any
part of the South African Republic; (_b_) they will be entitled to hire
or possess houses, manufactories, warehouses, shops, and premises; (_c_)
they may carry on their commerce either in person or by any agents whom
they may think fit to employ; (_d_) they will not be subject, in respect
of their persons or property, or in respect of their commerce or
industry, to any taxes, whether general or local, other than those which
are or may be imposed upon citizens of the said Republic." This
Government wishes further to observe that the above are only rights
which Her Majesty's Government have reserved in the above Convention
with regard to the Uitlander population of this Republic and that the
violation only of those rights could give that Government a right to
diplomatic representations or intervention while, moreover, the
regulation of all other questions affecting the position or the rights
of the Uitlander population under the above-mentioned Convention is
handed over to the Government and the representatives of the people of
the South African Republic. Amongst the questions the regulation of
which falls exclusively within the competence of the Government and of
the Volksraad, are included those of the franchise and representation
of the people in this Republic, and although thus the exclusive right of
this Government and of the Volksraad for the regulation of that
franchise and representation is indisputable, yet this Government has
found occasion to discuss in a friendly fashion the franchise and the
representation of the people with Her Majesty's Government, without,
however, recognizing any rights thereto on the part of Her Majesty's
Government. This Government has also, by the formulation of the now
existing Franchise Law and the Resolution with regard to representation,
constantly held these friendly discussions before its eyes. On the part
of Her Majesty's Government, however, the friendly nature of these
discussions has assumed a more and more threatening tone, and the minds
of the people in this Republic and in the whole of South Africa have
been excited and a condition of extreme tension has been created, while
Her Majesty's Government could