Mr. Chamberlain's address, also issued on Thursday, deals, as might
be expected, chiefly with the South African War and the settlement. He shows how monstrous is the accusation that the Government precipitated the war, and then asks whether the sacrifices made to repel the Boer attack and to secure the future peace of South Africa are to be thrown away. Mr. Chamberlain goes on to give an outline of the nature of the final settlement which will afford satisfaction to all who desire that the free tradi- tions of our Colonial system shall be maintained. It is, he declares, the policy of the Government that "after a period of administration, backed by military force, the length of which will depend on the readiness with which the Boer populations accept the British flag, the people of the two States shall be received into the Empire on the foot- ing of self-governing Colonies, in which position they will enjoy more liberty than they ever did before, and an equality of rights and privileges which they have persistently denied to the British in their midst." This clear and specific state- ment should surely be enough to silence the ignorant or malignant statements of those who declare that the Govern- ment and its supporters were anxious to annex the Republics in order to plunder them of their land and their gold, and desired to reduce their inhabitants to slavery. The late Republics will have a freedom of government such as they never possessed before as soon as we can be sure that the Boer will not use the powers entrusted to him to put his foot once more on the neck of the Outlander.
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