Dr. Jameson delivered a remarkable speech on South African Union
at Grahamstown on Monday. Apart from the fact that it was the first public utterance in defence of .the Constitution by a delegate, the speech was notable for its candour and tolerance. Dr. Jameson admitted that he came to the Convention with a bias towards federation., but he had been converted when he saw the possibility of unification. Ile also confessed that he had previously done injustice to Mr. Steyn ; but he had entirely changed his estimate of the ex-President, who had converted him to the arrangement by which absolute equality of the English and Dutch languages us secured. Almost every provision, he pointed out, was the result of yielding a point; generally to the weaker side, in order to attain unanimously and cheerfully the great object of union. Re especially defended the compromise on the native question as being the utmost that could be expected, and concluded by strongly urging the acceptance of the scheme in view of the evil consequences of refusal. The speech was very well received by what the Tines correspondent describes as an enthusiastic and
non-political audience, which unanimously adopted a resolution accepting the Constitution. We attach peculiar importance to Dr. Jameson's speech, because its whole tone belies the contentions of those pessimists who attribute the acquiescence of the British political leaders in the settlement in South Africa, not to a conviction of its justice, but to their betrayal by the British Government.
