chosen his own time to declare war. A government has always the right to
tear up a treaty just as a private individual has the right to refuse
implement of a contract. In the case of the individual, his refusal
exposes him to a claim of damages; in the case of a country, the result
is war. It is the simplest thing in the world; but then why go seeking
for pretexts and explanations, and worrying oneself about making
everybody believe that it was England who brought about the war, when
after all she was only claiming the due execution of a convention?

[Footnote 7: _Le Siècle_, March 27th, 1900.]


2.--_England's Obligations._

When Mr. Gladstone committed the error of entering into the Convention
of 1881, he fully believed that he was guaranteeing the rights of
English and foreign residents in the Transvaal, of the Boers who might
have compromised themselves with the English, and also of the natives.

At a meeting in Birmingham, on March 8th, 1881, on the motion of Sir
Wilfrid Lawson, a resolution was passed demanding that "satisfaction
should be given to the claims of the Boers, without prejudice always to
the rights of the natives and English residents." On July 25th, Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach reminded the House of the necessity for exacting the
necessary guarantees, and of ensuring the tranquillity and security of
the English possessions.[8] He reminded the House of the position of
those 3,700 Boer petitioners who had asked for annexation, and of the
British residents who had invested capital in the Transvaal, upon the
guarantee of the British Government. Mr. William Rathbone proposed a
resolution demanding equal political rights for all the white population