NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THOUGH we are not yet out of the wood, it is quite clear that things are going better in South Africa, and that there is good ground for hoping that a peaceful settlement will be arrived at. Mr. Chamberlain's statement in the House of Commons on Thursday in answer to Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's question was certainly of good omen. He began by reading a telegram from Sir Alfred Milner stating that the Read had substituted seven for nine years in the Franchise Bill, and went on to say that though his informa- tion was not official, "it was stated" that the Transvaal Govern- ment proposed to give seven new seats "to the districts chiefly inhabited by aliens." "If," said Mr. Chamberlain, "this report is confirmed, this important change in the pro- posals of President Kruger, coupled with previous amend- ments, leads the Government to hope that the new law may prove to be a basis of settlement on the lines laid down by Sir Alfred Milner at the Bloemfontein Conference." It was to be noted, however, "that the Volksraad have still retained a number of conditions which might be so interpreted as to preclude those otherwise qualified from acquiring the fran- chise, and might, therefore, be used to take away with one hand what has been given with the other." An example of this was the provision that the alien desirous of burghership shall produce a certificate of continuous registration during the period required for naturalisation, " for it has been stated that the law of registration has been allowed to fall into desuetude, and that but few aliens, however long resident in the country, have been continuously registered. It would also be easy by subsequent legislation to alter the whole character of the concessions now made."
