the Conference at Bloemfontein, where President Kruger met the
British High Commissioner. Such a direct interchange of views between
the leading representatives of two Powers may often be expedient,
because it helps the parties to get sooner to close quarters with the
substantial points of difference, and so facilitates a compromise. But
its utility depends on two conditions. Either the basis of discussion
should be arranged beforehand, leaving only minor matters to be
adjusted, or else the proceedings should be informal and private. At
Bloemfontein neither condition existed. No basis had been previously
arranged. The Conference was formal and (although the press were not
admitted) virtually public, each party speaking before the world, each
watched and acclaimed by its supporters over the country. The eyes of
South Africa were fixed on Bloemfontein, so that when the Conference
came to its unfruitful end, the two parties were practically further off
than before, and their failure to agree accentuated the bitterness both
of the Transvaal Boers and of the English party in the Colonies. To the
more extreme men among the latter this result was welcome. There was
already a war party in the Colony, and voices clamorous for war were
heard in the English press. Both then and afterwards every check to the
negotiations evoked a burst of joy from organs of opinion at home and in
the Cape, whose articles were unfortunately telegraphed to Pretoria.
Worse still, the cry of "Avenge Majuba" was frequently heard in the
Colonies, and sometimes even in England.

The story of the negotiations which followed during the months of July,
August and September, cannot be told fully here, because it is long and
intricate, nor summarized, because the fairness of any summary not
supported by citations would be disputed. There are, however, some
phenomena in the process of drifting towards war which may be concisely
noticed.

One of these is that the contending parties were at one moment all but
agreed. The Transvaal Government offered to give the suffrage after five
years residence (which was what had been asked by the High Commissioner
at Bloemfontein) coupled with certain conditions, which had little
importance, and were afterwards so explained as to have even less. This
was, from their point of view, a great concession, one to which they
expected opposition from the more conservative section of their own
burghers. The British negotiators, thoug