NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THERE is still no certain news from South Africa; but Friday's telegrams declare that President Kruger will not agree to the Joint Commission, but, instead, means to offer a new Franchise Law, with, according to the Times' corre- spondent, "a five years' franchise, ostensibly free from irksome formalities, with a redistribution of seats which will nominally enable the goldfields, the centres of the Outlander population, to return Members equal in number to one-fourth of the entire Raad." There are other " undiselosed con- ditiona," it is said,- but these are believed to " include " a suggestion that the Imperial Government should grant a quid pro quo. It is obviously impossible to say without knowing the details whether the new sch ewe affords a satis- factory solution. If it really amounts to Sir Alfred Miler's minimum it would of course be acceptable, for we may be sure that the Imperial Government have no sort of desire before they have taken any hostile action to ask for more. If war takes place all the conditions will necessarily be•changed.
