CHAPTER XIV.

THE FRANCHISE.

AFTER THE CONFERENCE OF BLOEMFONTEIN.[20]


1.--_A Krüger Trick._

The Anglophobe Pro-Boers of course blame Mr. Chamberlain for the rupture
of the Bloemfontein Conference, and extol the forbearance of Mr. Krüger,
who carried off his proposal to have it passed by the Volksraad, and
"his" burghers.

They do not reflect, that, had he honestly desired to put the matter on
the road to settlement, Mr. Krüger should first have come to an
understanding upon it. By passing it through the Volksraad as law, he
should have cut the cable, were he in reality, anything but an autocrat,
and such ratifications anything but mere formalities.

Mr. Krüger had the condescension to say to England, "So you will have
none of my proposals which compel those already in the Transvaal to an
eleven or twelve years' residence, coupled with impossible formalities,
before obtaining the franchise? Very well, I will renew my offer to you
in the name of the Volksraad and of "my" burghers, and if you are not
satisfied, leave me alone to hoodwink a large proportion of enlightened