Americans on the Rand. They assured him that, although the Americans
recognised the rights of the Boers as well as those of the Uitlanders,
unless he could in some way meet the demand of the unenfranchised
people of the Transvaal he could not expect their support when the
revolution came. They also told him that the Americans wanted to see
the Republic preserved, but on a truer basis. And when questioned by
the President if in case of rebellion the Americans would be with or
against the Government, they answered bluntly, 'They would be against
the Government.'

President Kruger dogmatically declared 'this was no time for
discussion, but a time for the people to obey the law,' and with this
they were dismissed.

A Committee of three is appointed to visit Pretoria to-morrow and
again lay before the President a statement of the demands of the
Uitlanders, the attitude of the Americans and their wish to preserve
the integrity of the Republic, but also to warn him that, if the
Government insists upon ignoring these just demands, and thus
precipitates war, the Americans must array themselves on the side of
the other Uitlanders.

A large mass meeting is called to receive these gentlemen on their
return from Pretoria and to decide upon the Americans' future course
of action.

The mail train to Cape Town was crowded with hundreds of
terror-stricken women and children sent away by anxious husbands to a
place of safety. The ordinary accommodation was far too inadequate to
supply the sudden rush. They were crowded like sheep on cattle trucks.