ounsel of the prisoners availed
themselves of it freely, with the result that in Elliot's case, the jury
was composed of eight Boers and one German, nine being the full South
African jury. The necessary result followed; in both cases the prisoners
were acquitted in the teeth of the evidence. Barber's murderers were
tried in the Free State, and were, as might be expected, acquitted.

Thus it will be seen that of all the perpetrators of murder and other
crimes during the course of the war not one was brought to justice.

The offence for which their victims died was, in nearly every case, that
they had served, were serving, or were loyal to Her Majesty the Queen.
In no single case has England exacted retribution for the murder of
her servants and citizens; but nobody can read through the long list
of these dastardly slaughters without feeling that they will not go
unavenged. The innocent blood that has been shed on behalf of this
country, and the tears of children and widows now appeal to a higher
tribunal than that of Mr. Gladstone's Government, and assuredly they
will not appeal in vain.

The next point of importance dealt with by the Commission was the
question whether or no any territory should be severed from the
Transvaal, and kept under English rule for the benefit of the native
inhabitants. Lord Kimberley, acting under pressure put upon him by
members of the Aborigines Protection Society, instructed the Commission
to consider the advisability of severing the districts of Lydenburg and
Zoutpansberg, and also a strip of territory bordering on Zululand and
Swazieland from the Transvaal, so as to place the inhabitants of the
first two districts out of danger of maltreatment by the Boers, and to
interpose a buffer between Zulus, and Swazies, and Boer aggression, and
_vice versa_.

The Boer leaders had, it must be remembered, acquiesced in the principle
of such a separation in the preliminary peace signed by Sir Evelyn Wood
and themselves. The majority of the Commission, however (Sir Evelyn Wood
dissenting), finally decided against the retention of either of these
districts, a decision which I think was a wise one, though I arrive
at that conclusion on very different grounds to those adopted by the
majority of the Commission.

Personally, I cannot see that it is the duty of England to play
policeman to the whole world. To have retained these native districts
would have been to make ourselves responsible for their go