We do not pretend to be able to say whether
these pro- visions comply with the requirements of , the Imperial Government,—namely, that any franchise scheme must at once enfranchise a substantial number of Outlanders, and that a reasonable increase shall be made in the representation of the mining district. That may seem at first sight a some- what high and arbitrary demand, but in reality it gives the Outlanders very little, owing to the fact that they are prac- tically concentrated in one district. Suppose the Rand is given six Members and that the enfranchisement is liberal enough to secure all these seats. Yet even then the Out- landers, instead of swamping the Boers, would be in a pitiful minority in the Read. They would only have six Members out of some thirty-two. Our Government when they have got tbe full facts before them will, of course, examine the new proposals carefully, and will be only too glad if they can find in them the minimum of concessions needed. We may be sure that they will not, as has been very foolishly alleged, be ready to go to war as to the difference between a five-year and a seven-year period, but they must see that the Outlanders are not mocked with unreal conces- sions. Especially must they be careful that the new voters shall be real and not sham citizens, and so shall be able to share in the election of the President. To create two kinds of political status, and to give one to the Outlanders and keep the other for the Boers, would be worse than useless. Any Outlander who is emancipated must be able to feel that he is on an absolute political equality with all other citizens.
