the other hand to do
our utmost to prevent them from defending themselves when their rights
are attacked? I cannot conceive any provision more contrary to that
principle of which we are so proud--British fair play."

Speaking of the treatment of the Bechuanaland people by the Boers he
said: "The story of these men is a very sad one; I would rather never
allude to it again." He then referred to "the settlement of the western
boundary of the Transvaal by Governor Keate, and the immediate
repudiation of it by the Transvaal Rulers. Then came the Pretoria
Convention only two years ago which added a large block of native land
to the Transvaal. That was not enough. Freebooters came over, mostly
from the Transvaal, and afterwards from other parts of the country.
Representations and remonstrances were made to the Transvaal Government.
There was a non possumus reply. 'We cannot stop them;' We seem to have
good ground for believing that the freebooters were stimulated by the
officers of the Transvaal Government. The result was that the native
Chiefs of the people lost by far the larger portion of their land. They
appealed to our Government, and we did nothing; there came again and
again despairing appeals to England, and how were they met? I can only
believe it was through ignorance of the question that it was possible to
meet them as we did. It was proposed to meet them by a miserable
compensation in money or in land, not to the people but to the few
Chiefs, who to their credit, as a lesson to us, a great Christian
Country said: 'We will not desert our people even if you desert us.'
Then there followed utter disorder and disorganisation in Bechuanaland.
Then came in the Transvaal Government and virtually said: 'Give us the
country and we will maintain order; if owners of the land object we will
put them down as rebels; we will take their land as we have taken
Mapoch's, and apprentice their children. You have got tired of these
quarrels, leave them to us; we will put a stop to them by protecting the
robbers who have taken the land.'

"That practically is the demand. Are you prepared to grant it? I for my
part say, that rather than grant it I would (a voice in the
meeting--'fight!') yes, if necessary, fight; but I will do my utmost to
persuade my fellow countrymen to make the declaration that, if
necessary, force will be used, which, if it was believed in, would make
it unnecessary to fight.

"The Transvaal Boers know our power,