f the 10th May,
1899[41]--that the Liquor Law had never been strictly enforced, but that
this law was simply evaded, and that the Natives at the mines were
supplied with drink in large quantities.

When Mr. Chamberlain wrote these words they were absolutely untrue, and,
like all his grievances, are of an imaginary character.

The results have clearly shown that the Government was quite correct in
its conclusion that it was better to alter the administration of the
laws complained of, than to adopt a principle (the advisory board), the
consequences and eventual outcome of which no one was able to foresee.

[Sidenote: The South African League.]

The agitation in connection with the report of the Industrial Commission
was followed by a great calm. If it had not been that the handling of
the Swazie difficulty by the British Government gave colour to
suspicion, one might have thought that there was no cloud upon the
horizon. To a superficial observer, the two Governments seemed to be on
the best and most friendly footing, and some of us actually began to
think that the era of the fraternal co-operation of the two races in
South Africa had actually dawned, and that the cursed Raid and its
harvest of race hatred and division would be forgotten. Certain
circumstances, however, indicated clearly that the enemy was occupied in
a supreme effort to cause matters to culminate in a crisis.

The South African League, a political organisation which sprang up out
of, and owed its origin to, the race hatred which the Jameson Raid had
called into being, and at the head of which Mr. Rhodes himself stands (a
fact which places Capitalistic influence in a very clear light), began
towards the latter part of last year to agitate against the Government
in the most unheard-of way.

The individuals who stood at the head of this institution in
Johannesburg were such that very little attention was paid to the
League. It was, however, soon clearly shown that not only was the
movement strongly assisted by the Capitalists, and strongly supported
all along the mines, but that there was a close relationship in a
mysterious way with Cape Town and London. The events of the last few
months have brought this out very clearly. Meetings were arranged,
memorials to Her Majesty about grievances were drawn up, and an active
propaganda was preached in the Press; this all proved in a convincing
way that a carefully planned campaign had been organised against