At a meeting held in Manchester on Friday, Septem- ber
15th, for the purpose of protesting against a war with the Boers, Mr. Morley and Mr. Courtney were the chief
ipeakers. The essence of Mr. Morley's speech, which was moderate in tone, was contained in the resolution, which declared that the meeting, "while recognising the pressing need of reform of the franchise laws of the Transvaal, believes that this reform can best be secured by pacific means," and by a strict respect for the independence of the South African Republic. That, declared Mr. Morley, was only what the High Commissioner and her Majesty's Ministers had "again and again declared themselves in favour of." Possibly, but the difference is that her Majesty's Ministers say that if the Transvaal will not recognise the need for pressing reforms voluntarily, they must be made to do so. Mr. Morley, on the other hand, is like the American politician who was in favour of the Law, but "agin " enforcing it. Mr. Morley, in fact, follows Dogberry's method of dealing with a similar problem. When Dogberry told the watch to "bid them that are drunk to get them to bed," the Second Watchman very pertinently inquired, " How if they will not ? " To which Dogberry replied, "Why then, let them alone till they are sober; if they make you not then the better answer, you may say they are not the men you took them for." No doubt Mr. Morley and Mr. Courtney, like Dogberry and good neighbour Verges, will in the end tell Mr. Kruger and Dr. Smuts that they are not the men they took them for, but can we expect the Outlanders to regard that as a very satisfactory solution?
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