to his fate; but against this was
firstly, the fact publicly admitted that he had remained on the
border by arrangement with the leaders in order to help them should
the necessity arise; next, that if he gave heed to the reports which
were being circulated he might have thought that the necessity had
arisen; and finally, that the leaders had taken such steps in the
smuggling in of arms and the arming of men as would warrant the
Boers, and indeed anybody else, in associating them with Dr. Jameson,
so that they might confidently expect to be attacked as accomplices
before the true facts could become known. They realized quite well
that they had a big responsibility to the unarmed population of
Johannesburg, and it was with the object of fulfilling that
obligation that they decided to arm as many men as possible and to
fortify and defend the place if attacked, but, in view of the
impossibility of aggressive measures being successful, to take no
initiative against the Boers. It would in any case have been entirely
useless to suggest the repudiation of Dr. Jameson at that moment. The
Johannesburg people would never have listened to such a suggestion,
nor could anyone have been found to make it.

In view of the fact that the Reform Committee have been charged with
the crime of plunging the country into civil war with a miserable
equipment of less than 3,000 rifles, it is only fair to give some
heed to the conditions as they were at the time and to consider
whether any other course would have been practicable, and if
practicable, whether it would have been in the interests of any
considerable section of the community. To the Committee the course to
be taken seemed perfectly clear. They determined to defend and hold
the town. They threw off all disguise, got in all the arms they
possibly could, organized the various military corps, and made
arrangements for the maintenance of order in the town and on the
mines. Throughout Monday night all were engaged in getting in arms
and ammunition and doing all that could be done to enable the town to
hold its own against possible attack.

During Monday night the Reform Committee came into existence. Those
who had so far taken a prominent part in the agitation had been for
convenience utilizing Colonel Rhodes' office in the Consolidated
Goldfields Company's building. Many prominent men came forward
voluntarily to associate themselves with the movement, and as the
numbers increased and w