st used in
the Executive Council Chamber when the deputation from the Reform
Committee met the Government Commission and Mr. Lionel Phillips
explained the nature of the connection between the Johannesburg
people and the invading force. After showing that the Rand community
were not responsible for his immediate action, and after
acknowledging that he was on the border with the intention of
rendering assistance if it should be necessary, he said that the
Uitlanders nevertheless believed that, owing to circumstances of
which they were ignorant, Dr. Jameson had started in absolute good
faith to come to their assistance, and for that reason they were
determined to stand by him. For that reason they offered their
persons as security for his peaceful evacuation of the country--a
course which was then, and is still, deemed to be 'standing by him'
in as effective and practical a manner as it was possible for men in
their position to do.

The reproach levelled at the Reform Committee by members of the
Transvaal Government ever since the surrender of Dr. Jameson is
that, whilst professing not to support hostile action against the
State, and whilst avowing loyalty to the Republic, the people of
Johannesburg did not give the logical and practical proof of such
loyalty that the Government were entitled to expect; that is, they
did not take up arms to fight against the invaders. It is scarcely
necessary to say that such a preposterous idea never entered the
minds of any of the Uitlanders. When all is said and done, blood is
thicker than water, alike with the Uitlanders as with the Boers. The
Boers have shown on many occasions that they elect to side with their
kin on the promptings of their heart rather than support those whom
their judgment shows them to be worthy of their assistance. Had the
Uitlanders been sufficiently armed there can be no question that
rightly or wrongly they would have sided with Jameson, and would have
given him effective support had they known that he needed it. Had he
ever reached Johannesburg the enthusiasm would have been wild and
unbounded, and, however much the cooler heads among the community
might realize that such a partial success might have proved a
more serious misfortune than the total failure has been, no such
considerations would have weighed with the community in general; and
the men who were aiming at practical and lasting good results, rather
than cultivating popular enthusiasm, would have