The new Transvaal Ministry were entertained by the citizens of
Pretoria on Monday at a banquet at which General Botha made a memorable speech. He declared that British interests would be absolutely safe in the hands of the new Cabinet, and that the world would see that they were as zealous for the honour of the flag as any Ministry could be. "The honour and interest of the whole population were concerned therein; inoreover, they in the Transvaal were actuated by motives of deep gratitude, because the King and the British Government and people had trusted the Transvaal people in a manner unequalled in history by the grant of a free Constitution." It was impossible for the Boers ever to forget such generosity, and his Ministry would do their best to create a great united ination, in which one section would not regard the other with contempt or distrust. He earnestly denied that they sought to cripple the mines, and declared that neither now nor in the future would the Ministry take any extreme measures in regard to labour. Their policy was one of construction and klontinuity, and in that spirit he would attend the Colonial Conference, when he hoped to have an opportunity of laying their claims "before the King, his Majesty's Ministers, my colleagues from the other Colonies, and the whole people of the British Empire." Nothing could have been better than the tone of the speech, which has been exceedingly well received in the Press, and has elicited a cordial tribute from Lord St. Aldwyn, at present visiting South Africa.
Previous page
