ained unshaken. But for that consideration the
Transvaal Government inwardly viewed the whole of the treaties as waste
paper, since it was not only intended to violate them all, but also to
bring about, at an opportune moment, a hostile severance from England.
In the meantime, the academic squabble was to serve as a decoy to hide
Transvaal identification with any such sinister objects, and to divert
attention and suspicion.

TRANSVAAL HISTORY--TREATMENT OF UITLANDERS--FRANCHISE

To resume the cursory history of the Transvaal. Mr. Burger, during his
Presidency in the early seventies, went to Europe with the mission of
attracting capital to the development and exploitation of gold, etc.,
then already authentically discovered; also, to provide for the building
of a railway connecting with Delagoa Bay. The Transvaal Boers were at
that time exceedingly poor, and without a sufficient revenue for
properly maintaining the administration. Beyond creating a lively
interest, his success was confined to an agreement with a company in
Holland for building a section of that railroad, which, however, fell
through, because the Transvaal proved ultimately unable to furnish its
quota of the necessary funds. The present President fared better. A
Dutch company styled "The Nederlandsch Zuid Afrikaansche Spoorweg
Maatschappy," abbreviated "Z.A.S.M.," undertook the work and completed
it in 1887, from the Portuguese border to Pretoria. The line from
Pretoria to the Natal border was soon after built, as also several
extensions around the Wit-waters Rand, and that from Pretoria to
Pietersburg. The section connecting Delagoa Bay as far as the Transvaal
border had previously been completed by McMurdo, and is the subject of
the present Berne arbitration.[2]

The contract conferred to the Dutch Company a monopoly, and most
advantageous financial terms as well. By that time great strides had
been made in the development of the Transvaal gold-fields, especially at
the Wit-waters Rand (Johannesburg); and immigration on a large scale
from all parts of the world had set in, and was constantly increasing
with vast amounts of investments in mercantile and other enterprises, as
well as in mining industries. At first, equitable laws governed burghers
and Uitlanders alike, administered by an independent judiciary. All
desirable security was afforded for person and property, with confidence
in the safety of investments, and great general prosperity k