e
settled upon a broad and firm basis, the tension would disappear and
everything come right in time." He has done his best latterly to prove
that he did not say or mean anything of the kind, that the franchise
question was only one of the burning internal matters in which Her
Majesty's Government interested itself, and that a favourable
understanding about the franchise would in no way pave the way to an
agreement as to the other points of difference.

[Sidenote: Sir Alfred Milner's attitude.]

The attitude of Sir Alfred Milner in this and other questions is,
however, of such a nature that it is better to say nothing about his
conduct, but to leave him to the judgment of public opinion and history.
No agreement being possible between the parties, President Kruger left
Bloemfontein and amended the Franchise Law in such a way that the Orange
Free State, the Africanders of Cape Colony, and even Mr. Schreiner,
Premier of the Cape Colony, publicly signified their approval of the
amendments which had been made.

[Sidenote: The joint Commission of Enquiry.]

Mr. Chamberlain now discarded the appearance of friendliness, and began
to adopt a menacing tone in his communications to the Government of the
South African Republic. He proposed that the question as to whether the
new Franchise Law was satisfactory or not should be discussed by a Joint
Commission.

In the meanwhile, owing to informal conversations between the State
Attorney and the British Government, there seemed to be a reasonable
prospect of a speedy and satisfactory settlement.[51] The British
Government, on being sounded by its agent, announced that if a five
years' franchise, unhampered by complicated conditions, and with a
quarter representation for the gold fields, were conceded, it would be
prepared to consider the conditions, upon which the proposal depended,
on their merits, and would not consider such a proposal as a refusal to
accept the Joint Enquiry. The conditions were that (_a_) no further
interference should take place; (_b_), that the claim of suzerainty
should drop; and (_c_) that further disputes should be settled by
Arbitration. As soon, however, as the proposal was formally made the
British Government refused to accept the condition with regard to the
dropping of the suzerainty claim, notwithstanding the fact that the High
Commissioner had declared in an official dispatch that the suzerainty
controversy appeared to him to be etymological and