THE RAND REFORM MOVEMENT WHICH LED TO THE BOER WAR and PRECIPITATED THE END OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

Sir Walter Scott:

“A Grain of dust,Soiling our cup,

will make our sense reject

Fastidiously the draught we did thirst for;

A rusted nail, placed near the faithful compass,

Will sway it from the truth, and wreck the argosy.

Even this small cause of anger and disgust

Will break the bonds of amity ‘mongst princes,

and wreck their noblest purposes.”

The Crusade.

This article depicts the sad series of events that ended up destroying the career and hopes of one of Britain’s greatest sons, Cecil John Rhodes. His ambitions lay in ruin, his plans of growing the British Empire throughout Africa were no more, with Britain ending up conducting a totally unjust war which destroyed the hopes and lives of thousands of totally innocent persons in Transvaal Republic. Cecil Rhodes had picked his own rusted nail, in the form of the curiously named Leander Star Jameson.

The Background:

The Transvaal Republic was a 112 000 square mile landlocked country in the south of Africa. The Republic was home to a small number of wandering black tribes and comparatively small number of white farmers. It was formed around the mid 19^th century and was created by members of the white community. Most of them had relocated from the British Cape Province. They were farmers escaping from the yoke of the unfriendly and incompetent British rule. They got very little logistical support. The British government did nothing to protect them from assault by  thieving tribes. It failed to register their properties. Britain insisted on unreasonable legal constricts. Farmers were prosecuted. The government publicly hanged a small group of farmers who had protested. Land free of British domination was available across the Vaal river. They named this Transvaal, “across the Vaal”.  The farmers packed up their possessions and moved North, this became known as the Great Trek.

Revenge

Britain attacked these escapees  a number of times. She suffered the first major military setbacks in her history. After this Britain left the Transvaal people alone. They entered into a cautious relationship by means of two major conventions. In London in 1884 the second was agreed. In these very comprehensive agreements aspects covering trade and international relationships and law making and citizens rights were agreed to.

Peace at last

Peace reigned after 1884.  Trade matters such as the stifling customs duties raised by Britain on tobacco imports to the Cape. The farmers were left the with zero profits.

The Transvaal economy relied heavily on farming. Rainfall figures were not really good enough to support large scale farming. There was not a single navigable river. Water flow was mainly seasonal. Called “highveld” because a significant portion of the available land lay nearly a mile above sea level.  Unused fields were lay peppered with  incredibly hard termite mounds called “plough breakers”. The farmers worked hard. They stuck at it, building dams, laying canals and building access roads and setting up town centres. They built churches and co-op silos spending little on their homesteads and probably more on housing their cattle!

Evidence of mineral resources such as iron, coal, copper, silver and even gold was revealed but none of these aroused enough interest to attract serious mining investments. Barberton village gained significant attention due to the alluvial gold deposits found in the nearby rivers but the long term future was very much in doubt. Very much a romantic story with mines such as the one known as Eureka. A few individuals made good money there.

A new era arrived

Then came Jan Gerritze Bantjes and JB Robinson, the two individuals who initiated the Transvaal Gold Rush, the largest the world had ever seen. They were working at the Ridge of the White Waters – the Witwatersrand, located in the southern Transvaal.

Unlike the Yukon which offered explorers the worst weather one can image, the Transvaal offered visitors some of the best weather in the world and a virtually flat geological platform to work on and with.

The realization of what this development would bring about came as a shock to the Government of the day, more concerned with harvesting than mining! But they took to the task seriously and with vigor, ensuring that the right laws were in place, and ensuring that explorers’ claims were registered properly. They initiated the construction of infrastructure, difficult in the beginning because the financial benefits would take time to filter through to the Government coffers.

Johannesburg created.

Within a few short years, the open savanah evolved into a major city, expanding at an almost explosive rate.

Those seeking riches were offered an environment loaded with opportunities. Within a very short period, a large number of men  became millionaires. Many of them started with very little in their pockets. Termed “Rand Lords” they lived in ultra luxury homes both in the Transvaal and in the mansions they bought, and built, in the very best suburbs in London and elsewhere in Europe. They became chairmen of very large companies. They were even blessed with titles in their home countries. Respected and admired, they had the world at their feet.

There was no governmental attempt to control the industry, or to interfere with the activities of individuals. Freedom of association was not limited in any way. So people could join or start any special interest association. Some were already formed for agriculture, mining, and recreation such as clubs and co-operatives, professions, and sport and entertainment.

The inexplicable happened.

Some persons, many of whom had joined the ranks of the richest people in the world under this government set up a secret society aimed at overthrowing the government!

They motivated their actions by constructing a blanket of lies which defied even the most creative imagination and then feeding this foul cocktail to the external world through the agency of what Lord Roberts called “our (literary) comrades”.

They financed this  with the millions they had pocketed from the Transvaal goldfields.

This mad scheme set in motion a train of events that resounded all over the world and led to the death of thousands of innocents including women and children of all races and the destruction of Africa’s most promising economy.

There were two linked activities. Both of them failed miserably,  leaving Southern Africa dripping with blood at the end of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th centuries.

The Rand reform

This was planned by a select group of 62 persons who listed grievances which, they claimed, justified an armed revolution to overthrow the current Transvaal government.

Their planning was poor, their orchestration laughable, using messages secreted within the concocted framework of a “flotation” of a new company, like a bunch of school boys in a “Secret Sevens” adventure. This group of schemers had often floated new companies in the same environment with great fanfare. These same men who floated companies in public with enthusiasm, wallowing in their fortunes, blessed with opportunities offering great future success, were here acting like:

(a secret service.)

The French Revolution was an uprising by

the Poor against the Rich.

This revolution was going to be an

upraising by the Rich against the Poor!

Cecil Rhodes’ biographers Lockhart and Woodhouse commented about the Rand Revolution “its still a puzzle that so many able men could have been drawn into so muddled a plot”.

Financier Charles Rudd said that “it could only have been arranged by a madman”.

The General Manager of Rand Mines had no interest in political ‘filibustering’. He spoke about “bloody fools who take part in politics.

The magnates’ tame newspapers in London and Johannesburg soon went into a crescendo of ranting against Kruger (the Transvaal president).

What has the British enterprise to complain of” asked the Standard and Digger’s News. “It has found a free and flourishing field for it’s operations – has not been handicapped, and has had a splendid return. Yet it has made up it’s mind it is blocked by the Boer. There are those who would prefer the rule of rugged Boerdom to the refined cruelty of Fiend Finance”

Barney Barnato, a prominent figure and financier in Johannesburg said: “The conspiracy was a crime. All was coming right. Another two or three years at the outside would have seen a new Volksraad (parliament), more liberal treatment, and the mining industry more than doubled”.

GA Leyds:“and even in all the pre-raid scheming and negotiating between the leaders there was never complete unity of purpose”.

Who did they represent?

During 1891/2, a mere six years after the discovery of the world’s most promising gold reefs, there were some 153 Mining and associated companies listed on the local Stock Exchange.

The boards of directors of these companies were made up of 675 individuals.

Only 33 of these individual directors joined in this mad action.

This amounts to less than 5% of the board directors.

Yet those 33 individuals claimed that they represented the economic views of the country’s leaders. The schemers who planned and led the revolution aimed at taking over the Transvaal Parliament were mostly English speaking British citizens. There were thousands including French, Germans, Italians, Americans, Russians, Israelites, Greeks and Armenians also living and working in the Transvaal. These people,living and working in the same environment, were never taken into the confidence of the schemers.

So what were the reasons they gave for embarking on this mad scheme?

Reason One: Border and customs issues

They blamed the Government and the  President Paul Kruger, in particular.

The truth is that, in January, 1886 Sir Justice Kotze, the Chief Justice of the High Court of the South African Republic, spoke to the British High Commissioner Sir Hercules Robinson, on behalf of President Kruger who wanted to implement duty free trade arrangements between the Cape and the Republic. Sir Robinson made it clear that he would not agree to this. Chief Justice Kotze then addressed the prime Minister at the Cape, Sir Thomas Upington, hoping that he may support such an arrangement. Sir Upington at first pronounced himself in favor of it, but later changed his mind. Justice Kotze also approached Sir Gordon Sprigg who was totally against it.

The State Secretary of the Transvaal republic, Mr. Bok, also raised the matter officially with the Cape Government, but got no response. The British Cape government had for some time before done it’s best to make life for the Transvaal farmers as difficult as possible. Despite these hardships, they managed to produce some decent harvests, particularly tobacco and maize. The Cape Government constantly raised customs duties on tobacco with the result that the farmers lost between £70 000 and £80 000 per year. All the representations made to the Cape Government fell on deaf ears and even a court action to address this issue failed. President Kruger described the raised duty as “confiscation, not taxation”. 

Kruger refused connecting the Cape Railway to the Transvaal.

British press suggested that President Kruger had opposed extending the Cape railway to the Transvaal.

The truth is that he had requested that the Cape Railway be extended from Kimberley to the Transvaal. This extension was denied by the Cape Government. The British government policy was to land lock the Transvaal. The Cape railway ran from Cape Town to De Aar then to Kimberley then through Botswana, many miles away from the Transvaal. The maps of the railway at the time clearly illustrate the fact that the British Government had no plans to supply the Transvaal with a railway connection.

Reason two: Taxation.

Taxation was said to be “oppressive”. But the mines in Rhodesia (under Britain’s control via Rhodes’ Charter Company) were however taxed higher than those in the Transvaal.

Attorney Charles Leonard, when cross examined before the Commission of inquiry in England on the origin of the Jameson Raid, admitted that his income in Johannesburg as advocate and notary exceeded £10 000 per annum and that he was taxed £150.

Dividends were taxed at 6 pennies per share. The larger companies like Goldfields often declared dividends of ten shillings and more. Ten shillings, that is one hundred and twenty pennies, 6 pennies amounted to 5%.

Railway goods transported on the Cape railway were taxed by the British Government at 12%, while the tax imposed by the Transvaal government on the alternative Delagoa line which they were forced to construct was 7.5%.

Income Tax: There was no income tax.

Capital Gains Tax: There was no Capital gains tax.

This issue was addressed in the USA at a Mass meeting held in the Broadway Theatre, Denver. February 10 1900:

Thomas M. Patterson spoke:

“Coming to the gold discoveries, the production of $90,000,000 a year in gold – “can we understand why England suddenly took exceptions to the alien laws of the Transvaal?” he asked. “Is it strange that the English remonstrates because the system of taxation has increased the cost of mining $2 a ton in some instances. (Laughter) Did we have a popular uprising when a smelter trust was organized and the cost of our mining increased a little over $2 per ton?”

Reason 3. The Transvaal citizens were a backward lot, incapable of managing the developing Gold industry. British spin journalists and writers deliberately painted a dismal picture of the Transvaal citizens. Their writings were littered with negative phrases. President Kruger was consistently ridiculed by the British literary “comrades”. The view that he was a narrow minded, ignorant reactionary, was sediciously spread by the leaders of Transvaal National Union, whose reports, when transmitted by Miller, lost nothing in the telling. (Leyds,p76)

Indians living in Natal

Were as displeased with the British Government as the Transvaal citizens, wanted to relocate to the Transvaal. President Kruger was keen to welcome them. He saw them as people with a strong character, strictly religious, disciplined with strong family values, and good tradesmen and women. Britain initially opposed their moving to Transvaal but Kruger eventually got his way. I came to know one such family whose Grandfather had identified a piece of land to set up shop in a small village called Petit on the road between Benoni and Pretoria. He visited the President at home to discuss his plans. Kruger told him that, when his arrangements were settled, he should bring the details to him and he will write out the title deeds because, “the British, when they have stolen my land, will probably chase you off your property. I will make sure they cannot.” This was now nearly a hundred years and two generations later – despite the efforts of both the British and the National Party governments to move the family their property was still rock solid! Not bad for a man whom the British spin doctors labelled a “baboon”!

Reason 4: Suffrage

They were desperately unhappy with the fact that they could not get voting power on demand, which would have enabled them to take control of the Transvaal parliament. They blamed the Transvaal government for their displeasure despite the fact that the suffrage was provided for on the 1884 LONDON convention, agreed to by both the British and the Transvaal governments.

International comments found this complaint laughable

Governor Charles S. Thomas, at the meeting in Denver, stated: “The granting of suffrage to the Uitlanders (foreigners) means the injection into the body politic of a power that would overthrow the government. It is a national question in which the individual cuts no figure. Suppose there were 500 000 Chinese in Colorado today paying taxes. Would you grant them the power of dictating your government and destiny of the Commonwealth? Has England granted suffrage to her 400 000 subjects in East India? Do you suppose that if the Uitlanders had gone there and asked to be admitted as citizens to become flesh and blood with the Boers to strike hands with them against the oppression of England or any power on Earth, that the Boer would object? Why did England send her subjects there? The discoveries of gold in 1885 inspired an interest in the country that has precipitated the war. Gold was the prize, and to secure it they have sought to force their subjects on the home-loving Boer and demand from them the right to govern them”

Reason 5. Schooling:

The first published Education law in the Transvaal was published was Law no. 4 of 1874. This provided for Ward Schools, which included Farm Schools, District schools, which included Town Schools, and a Gymnasium which was only set up in 1893. In terms of this law all Schools were undenominational. The medium was Dutch or English, depending on the will of the parents.

This law was changed in 1892 at the behest of the Transvaal government by a Mr. Mansvelt, a teacher from Stellenbosch, who damaged the best intentions of the previous popular law by insisting the only medium of instruction would be Dutch and that instruction in a “Foreign language” should limited to a maximum of four hours per week. Mansvelt caused a lot of distress but the government soon appointed Mr.E.B. Sargant who set about rectifying the damage. Sargant later became involved in providing schooling in the concentration camps where he insisted that all schooling be conducted in English! He, supported by Mr. Percy Fitzpatrick (author of Jock in the Bushveld) made a huge difference. He also set in motion the creation of a Technical education commission to provide education in engineering disciplines such as Mining engineering.

Fredrick Thomas Nicholson taught English In a Government High School for 15 years “at the request of the President Paul Kruger”.

The facts

1. Voting. The regulations re suffrage were laid out clearly in the 1884 Convention, agreed to by both the Transvaal and the British governments. Nothing stopped the “reformers” from approaching the British government in this regard. So why on earth did they not?

2. Custom duties. President Kruger had repeatedly approached the British Government to do away with customs duties raised between neighboring states, in South Africa, and the British Government refused. Again, these individuals should have spoken to the British government and joined Kruger in his mission to establish a customs free union.

3. Taxes. Their protests were not based on fact. They were way off target, so far in fact that their statements were not mistakes or opinions but bare faced lies.

4. Administration. The Transvaal population included a large array of professionals, serving law, schooling, municipal administration, engineers, medical issues etc etc.

5. Incompetence. They tried to create a scenario where the local citizens were as useless lot of failing farmers incapable of handling their own affairs, and certainly not that of governing a country.

Consider the following:

* Both my Grandfathers were successful builders, not farmers. Some of the houses they built a hundred years ago are still there. They fought against Britain side by side with the farmers.

* Recent surveyors using the latest technologies reported that the surveyors who had drawn up the plans for the fast expanding town had an “error rate” of one in 213 000, using only equipment that was available 100 years ago! That means 1 metre in 213 kilometres. Not bad for a “Bunch of baboons” as the British literary troops would like you to believe!

* There was a massive amount of administration involved in the registration of claims for the mining industry and it was handled smoothly. Compare this with the British Cape Government that took years in some cases to register title deeds that had been paid for.

* The so-called “Ignorant” farmers had set up the Transvaal Agricultural Union. The bilingual Union met in conference on a yearly basis and had branches in most of the towns of the Republic. The first management of the Union were chosen at the meeting on 29 September 1897.

* “Becker’s guide to the Transvaal”, printed in 1878, is a most useful resource covering Government offices, town councils, market prices, farming products, posts, and really anything you need know for doing business in the Transvaal. This very comprehensive book gives the true picture of how much the local government and its offices were in good order and it comprehensively belies the spurious negative claims of the so called ”Reformers”

Summary

The people involved in the Transvaal goldfields came from all over the world, attracted by the prospect of making a lot of money. Very few of them had any mining experience, or even working experience, like Sir Lionel Phillips who had “no practical work experience”. A well chosen phrase meaning he had never had a job before! But, then, he became well known for his expert turns of phrase.

Very few of them had any money to invest, the only ones that did were, in the main, ones who had done well in the Kimberly diamond diggings. Yet, despite all the claimed hardships, the Transvaal gold industry produced some of the richest people in the world, at the time. The capital registered for the total of 153 mines in1892 came to £23 378 000-00. Of this the amount of £17 971 852-00 went straight into the pockets of the “founders” that set up the mines, only £2 735 1113-00 was allocated to working capital. When they ran out of working capital, or wanted to pocket some more money, all they had to do was to sell some more shares, which happened often, mostly once or twice, but in some cases 3, 4, or 5 times. At that early stage this had already been done in 49% of the mines.

So why an armed revolt? They made it quite clear that they did not want the British government involved, because their illicit actions would not stand up to the kind of scrutiny one could expect from the British authorities.

Picture them

Fortune hunters, explorers, many had ventured elsewhere without success.  Lionel Phillips, who was one of the main drivers of this revolution attempt, arrived in South Africa at the age of 20, got a job in Kimberley from a generous patron and 30 years later retired to his home in Britain “to the role of a country squire in Tylney Hall”.

The fabulously rich Phillips died in 1936 at his Cape estate Vergelegen. https://vergelegen.co.za/

His main fellow schemers all lived a life of luxury and were placed in positions of significance in the Gold Mining industry, drawing very rich rewards.

These men were on a roll, swollen bank accounts, houses in the most select addresses in Britain, membership of the most exclusive clubs, social access to Royalty, and the best education for their children that money could buy.

But they wanted to take over the Transvaal parliament that was running the country while they were growing their fortunes at well more than a leisurely pace.

But why?

There had to be an understandable and real motivation.

There was one – an answer that ticked all the boxes but was clothed in secrecy because it stood no chance of being applied if exposed to public scrutiny. It would not have been approved by Britain so they had to avoid that option. They only way would be to take control of the Transvaal parliament by any means, and change the gold law to suit their plans.

Enter John Hays Hammond

A self declared foremost American Mining Engineer. Introduced himself as “I am John Hays Hammond”. Called a “windbag” by Julius Wernher. His autobiography described as a large “tome”. But he became central to Rhodes’ attempts to take control of the Transvaal goldfields. Recruited from the US by Barney Barnato who had to offer him a massive salary. He was an expert in shaft sinking and his experience would make a major difference in the Transvaal gold fields.

Barnato and Hammond did not get along. After a few months Cecil Rhodes of De Beers fame in Kimberley recruited him away from Barnato by offering him even more money, at Rhodes’ company in Johannesburg, so much that Hammond was earning the largest salary in the Country! Hammond struck up a strong relationship with the “pliable” Colonel Ernest Rhodes, brother of Cecil Rhodes and the resident director, which allowed him to buy and sell properties on a large scale. Hammond profited strongly from these transactions because his agreement with Cecil Rhodes allowed him to take advantage of stock options at par. He became unpopular with the senior managers at Rhodes’ company Goldfields, who objected to his high handed trading activities and were forced to remind Ernest Rhodes that his consultant should stick to his work and not interfere with the sales and purchase activities of the company.

Hammond found out

He really blotted his “copy book” when he wanted to sell his shares, at a high price, in a mine that Goldfields had decided to close down — before the announcement was made. The Managing director Charles Rudd, known for his honesty and straight dealing, took Hammond to task for his motives, reminding him that this was not the way Goldfields did business.

Hammond also spent time traveling with Cecil Rhodes exploring the gold prospects in Rhodesia. It was during this time that they formulated the devious plan that could place control of the Transvaal goldfields neatly into Rhodes’ hands.

Why him?

So what did Hammond have that would justify the incredibly large rewards he received?

The answer is quite simple, and it explains why there was so much subterfuge, secrecy and lies told and why the dangerous attempt at an armed revolt aimed at taking control of the Transvaal parliament was made.

The answer lies in the way in which rights to mining claims were registered. The Transvaal Gold laws restricted the rights to exploit the reefs based on measured claims, commonly known as “vertical rights”.

Extra Lateral Rights

a different approach, known as the American Doctrine. This doctrine states that the rights to work a reef belongs to the discoverer of the reef, to it’s full extent and whatever route it takes, in all its spurs and angles. This is known as the principle of Extra Lateral Rights. Hammond knew this doctrine. The Chief Justice of the Transvaal, Sir John Gilbert Kotze, called this doctrine “objectionable” and when he was asked to draw up the gold laws for Rhodesia he purposely added in a clause abolishing this principle. This clause was later struck out by Rhodes on Hammond’s advice.

Hammond had, before, tried to introduce this “blemish” into the Transvaal gold law. Justice Kotze had drafted an amendment to take this principle out of the local law. His amendment was approved by the Transvaal government.

The adoption of this “principle”, if implemented, would have thrown the Transvaal gold mining industry into chaos. The local reefs were clearly distinct and they extended for several miles through many individual properties. It would have placed control of the mining resources into a few hands and would have led to the collapse of the majority of the existing mining companies. These rights could be traded which meant that those with lots of Kimberley diamond money in their pockets could purchase control.

Rhodes keen on extra lateral rights

Rhodes fancied the prospect. His success in Kimberley was based on the amalgamation of several smaller companies into his De Beers empire, giving him total control. The Hammond principle would create the same scenario on the gold mines.

Hammond needed to install this principle into the local law

The only way to do this would be to take over the legislature, install himself as the leader and carry out the process without any resistance. In order to do this the government in place had to be  taken out of office.

The Negative Spin process

Played a major strategic role in the planned scheme. Supported by journalists and writers, both in South Africa and in Britain, it was aimed at discrediting the Transvaal government, and it’s President in particular. This process involved in some of the most shameful blatant coordinated literary and journalistic misconduct that the world has ever seen. I have already listed some of the untruths that were spread about the so-called issues. They had significant money available from the gold mines’ coffers to buy and influence this process.

Lionel Phillips played along

A rich man of influence he, together with his fellow schemers, had to join in. If Hammond’s ambitions were to gain  approval they could lose out greatly. So they had to be part of the process.

The presence of so many lawyers on their “team”.

The chaos that would precipitate from the adoption of this principle would initiate to a veritable “gold mine” of legal fees lasting for some time. Mark Twain, after visiting the offenders in jail, said that he was quite happy with the conditions in the jail.  He, however, felt seriously uncomfortable being surrounded by so many lawyers!

The obsession with who had discovered the Main reef.

The somewhat curious situation prevailed whereby the main interest among the writers of history did not focus on who had successfully exploited the Banket Reef, but rather who had discovered it. Authors went to incredibly great lengths researching thousands of government archives, taking statements, often under oaths, to prove their often faulty conclusions. As things were, this information was of little value, unless Hammond got his way.

The only way forward.

They had to take over the local government. Using established legal process, either in the Transvaal or London, promised no guarantees particularly because their motives would be clearly revealed. So force was the only answer.

The Raid.

Dr LS Jameson had before been installed in Kimberley by his friend Cecil John Rhodes to look after the medical needs of the population there. He, nice enough fellow, not keen on house visits, had wrongly diagnosed a breakout of smallpox among the black labourers in that town as “phlegm”, refusing to alter his view until things got out of hand.

Rhodes, embarrassed by his friend’s failure, and the impact thereof, assigned him to a position in the north as far away as he could. He appointed Jameson as Administrator in Rhodesia in control of the police force. That worked well, relations with the local tribe leaders were generally good and Rhodes’ generosity paid off handsomely.

The madness begins.

Jameson was party to the ambitions of the Rand Reform schemers in Johannesburg. He, realizing that the Hammond initiative to overthrow the Transvaal parliament was not making any progress, took matters into his own hands. He decided to attack, taking 511 police offers with him, (almost the entire police staff under his control in Rhodesia) and marched with them to the Transvaal.

Some named this action it a “folly”. The British authorities contacted him several times to stop what he was doing, the many telegrams relating to this have been published in several books and in the official records of the trial in London.

He approached the Transvaal with his “soldiers” in disarray. Kruger, President of the Transvaal, had been informed of his action and was keeping a watching eye on his progress. Jameson’s soldiers were apparently running out of their liquor supplies. On the night before the march began, his men had drunk so many toasts that not a few had become fuddled. Two of his soldiers, sent to cut the telegraph lines to Pretoria, were so drunk that they cut some farm fences instead!

Jameson was forced to surrender. He and his men were arrested. 17 of his men died in this stupid attempt.

Sir Hercules Robinson of the Cape Government decided to travel to the Transvaal, against the advice of President Kruger, to see if he could calm the waters. It was not really necessary, added to which he was struggling with a bad foot, and Kruger was quite capable of handling the matters.

Cleaning up.

After the “Raid” failed the Transvaal government prosecuted the planners of the revolution but they sent Jameson to the UK because he was not a South African or a Transvaal resident. The British government was most pleased with Kruger’s decision, as it was the credible thing to do.

Sentencing the Schemers

Here, again, we meet with the pernicious campaign of the aggressive British spin machine. Attack the process and those involved and so lighten the load of the serious responsibility of those guilty of treason. And they were guilty of treason. So attack the Judge, for a start. Judge Gregorowski had an exemplary history, academically both in South Africa and in the UK. Highly popular when in practice as well as in his role as judge. Impartial, sympathetic, with an excellent judgment history. He found the revolt leaders guilty of treason, no one ever disagreed with the sentence. He, in sentencing, reminded the guilty parties that they would be entitled to clemency which he could not give but they should apply for to the Government. The Transvaal government did just that and replaced the sentences with a heavy fine. He did not take away their properties and neither did he stop their salaries. The four sentenced to the death penalty were allowed to rent a suitable house with large open gardens as a jail until matters were settled. They were allowed out without supervision for medical reasons. Not quite Death Row!

Hammond leaves.

Once free he left promptly, having failed in his abominable plan. He had his stash to fall back on, after settling his affairs he went back to America where he pursued a political career which was more to his liking and his flexible skillset. He booked passage for his family on the Drummond Castle which was one of the ships that carried the weekly deliveries of gold bullion from South Africa to the UK. He needed to delay his departure and canceled his booking. The ship sank on the 25^th May 1896 so fast that there were only 3 survivors. It was carrying a significant amount of gold bullion which was later recovered.

Rhodesia suffers death and destruction

The aftermath of Jameson’s abominable raid reached beyond the borders of the Transvaal. He had been put in charge of the local police unit that was responsible for maintaining peace between the warlike Mashona and the Matebele tribes. Jameson took almost all of the members of the police force with him on this raid to the Transvaal, without the slightest concern for the protection of the civilians that were managing the Rhodesian economy.

The Mashona, a loose assemblage of several smaller tribes, were the original occupants of what had become Northern Rhodesia, in a northern portion known commonly as Mashonaland.

The Matabele was the tribe that had resulted from the activities of chief Mzilkaze. Originally Zulu, he had attempted to take control of that powerful nationlike tribe and was chased out of Natal and then the Transvaal by the Zulu soldiers. The aggressive Matabele moved around in the Transvaal region, killing and plundering, till the local farming community chased him across the Limpopo river to where they finally settled in southern Rhodesia.

Dr. Jameson’s role was to manage the Rhodesian police force to assist the local authorities maintain peace and prevent any inter tribal violence between these two tribes. This arrangement worked well, which promised of a good future for this country, with a good agricultural foundation and rich in mineral resources.

Since 1890 in the Shona country and since 1893 in the Ndebele state the company* had built up an administrative and economic infrastructure based on several towns and villages, and all that appeared to be lacking was a profitable exploitation of the mines themselves.

* The British South Africa Company.

The failure of the Jameson Raid at the beginning of 1896 not only ended Rhodes’ plans for the extension of his influence, it endangered his control of his existing possessions.

The most serious consequence of the Jameson Raid in Rhodesia resulted from the actions of the African people whose institutions had been overridden by the establishment of the Europeans in the country. In withdrawing almost all of the police force. Jameson had given the Ndebele people the chance they had awaited since 1893. In March 1896 they and many of the Shona subjects of their state rose against the Europeans. In June, a great number of the Shona who had been independent of the Ndebele followed suit.

Two hundred and sixty four Europeans were killed at the outbreak of these risings.

The total death numbers for both the Matebele and Mashona regions due to to these risings came to 639 white persons by the 31^st December 1897. The number of black persons that lost their lives during this period is not available but it is likely that it would be about the same if not more than those for the white persons.

The negotiations that finally brought the disturbances to an end involved Rhodes personally. He showed great courage by entering the negotiations unarmed, even where he stayed.

The international aftermath.

Sterling had become a strong currency, greatly supported by the constant flow of gold and diamonds from the South African mines. In the 1890’s the mere knowledge that gold was always on the way to London on those weekly consignments in Sir Donald Currie’s ships of the Union Castle line, and that the Bank of England could ‘tap’ this regular flow, if necessary, helped to give the world it’s confidence in Sterling.

France and Germany were also accumulating substantial gold reserves from their interests in the Transvaal. The British government felt that they had to act to protect what they regarded as their own interests. The Transvaal government were prepared to cooperate with Britain in a peaceful manner.

Britain decided to take a totally uncalled for threatening attitude. Their military presence in the area grew substantially, prompting the Transvaal government to act so they issued an ultimatum, not unlike the ultimatum Britain later issued to Hitler, to cease and desist from their actions. The ultimatum required that a satisfactory answer to the demands it contained should be received before or upon Wednesday, 1 October 1899 not later than five o’clock in the afternoon. If no such answer was forthcoming Pretoria would regard the action of Her Majesty’s Government as a formal declaration of war.

Like Hitler, Britain did not respond appropriately, leading to a state of war.

In this case, a war motivated only by money.

They called it the Anglo Boer war but really it was:

An unjust war.

Benjamin Franklin coined the definition of an unjust war in his letter to his friend Benjamin Vaughan, Esq. Dated March 14, 1785 .

This from his letter:

“It is said by those people who know Europe generally, that there are more thefts committed and punished annually in England, than in all the other nations put together.

If this is so, there must be a cause or causes for such depravity in our common people. May one not be the deficiency of justice and morality in our national government, manifested in our oppressive conduct to subjects, and unjust wars on our neighbours? View the long-persist in, unjust, monopolising treatment of Ireland, at length acknowledged! View the plundering government exercised by our merchants in the Indies; and, to say nothing of those upon France and Spain,view the late war upon Holland, which was seen by impartial Europe in no other light than that of a war of rapine and pillage – the hopes of an immense and easy prey being it’s only apparent, and probably its true and real, motive and encouragement! Justice is as strictly due between neighbour nations, as is between neighbour citizens. A highwayman is as much a robber when he plunders in a gang, as when single; and a nation that makes an unjust war is only a great gang.

After employing your people in robbing the Dutch, it is strange, that being put out of that employ by peace, they still continue robbing, and rob one another; piraterie, as the French call it, or privateering, is the universal bent of the English nation, at home and abroad, wherever settled.”

This war was brought to the Transvaal by a British Government doing what it had been doing habitually.

Old habits die hard, as the saying goes.

I have produced this essay because there has been so much said and written by biased persons intent on injecting their own often faulty and misleading views into the history of the Transvaal Republic. I grew up on the very estate on which the reef that powered the greatest gold rush the world had ever seen was first worked. My father was a manager on the mine and we lived in Mine houses on the Bantjes estate. My first school was the Struben School, built by the famous Struben brothers who played such an important role in the Gold mining industry. My friends and I played in some of the exploratory shafts that were dug by those looking for the best gold reefs, only partially closed afterwards. We used home made metal slides to ride down the edges of the mine dumps. I loved visiting the shaft heads where those beautiful steam engines with their large pistons, gleaming brass, where used to haul the cages and bins out of the very deep holes in Mother earth. My father was captain of the mine Proto team, the first responders in case of emergencies. If it was a dangerous situation my mother used to hold a prayer session together with my brother and sister and myself, till we heard the front door open with him coming home.

Most of our family friends were involved in the mining industry. So we lived and breathed mining and mines. I worked at the reduction works on vacations. This is where the rocks were ground to a fine powder which was then processed. I worked where the large tube mills were used to crush the hard reefs. We used the Cyanide process to ensure that all the gold content was recovered. I participated in the assay processes and all the operations that separated the gold content from the other ore components, and even helped to pour the molten gold before it went for refining. So I know the industry a lot better than the vast majority of those who saw fit to construct their often misleading views and impress them on the general public.

I can assure you that some of the rot spread about the Transvaal people will fertilize a thousand corn fields forever. Most of it was produced to cover up the wrongs of people who should know better. Both my grandfathers were builders from the Cape who fought with their families and the other citizens of the Transvaal Republic against British domination.

I sincerely hope that my writing will give you a more balanced view of what the Boer War was about.The photos below are of the Consolidated Main Reef’s Proto and the First Aid teams. Just look at the kit they had to wear on their rescue missions.

Consolidated Main Reefs Shaft 5 Headgear and workshops. The Bantjes mines were included into this group.

Sources: There is a very large number of books and articles that cover or just refer to the events that this essay writes about. A lot of this information is often not original but is repeated, often more than once, as part of presentations by subsequent authors. This is the trap of history writing. So, to be fair, I have listed most of the books that I have read, from original authors, often to confirm or deny the information at hand.

Your comments will be appreciated.

Email me, Ludwig de Klerk, at: opusone@proselityze.com.

Bibliography:

The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. Published by The Macmillan Company, London, 1928. p 315. https://openlibrary.org/search/authors?q=sir+walter+scott

Agter die Magalies. BK de Beer ISBN 0 620 01934 4 Published by Postma Publikasies Fontainebleau Transvaal, December 1975. Author signed. Background information, not specifically quoted.  https://af.wikipedia.ohrg/wiki/B.K._de_Beer

A History of Johannesburg. G.A.Leyds Published by Nasionale Boekhandel Bpk. 1964. Very useful and informative. Not copyrighted.

City Built on Gold. L.E. Neame Published by Central News Agency Ltd. South Africa. Undated. Background information, mostly from the Star newspaper.

“Die Britse Owerheid en die Groot Trek” by Professor C.F.J. Muller Published by Simondium, Johannesburg. 1963. Background information relating to the Great Trek.

Financial, Statistical and General History of the Gold and other companies of Witwatersrand, South Africa.” CS Goldmann 1892

From Bench to Bench. Reflections, reminiscences and rcords of F.W. Ahrens. retired Magistrate and Native Commissioner. Published by Shuter and Shooter Ltd, Pietermaritzburg. Copyright by Author. 1948. One of the most readable and informing books about the relevant history. Written by a Magistrate who did service in many towns and in many roles. A reliable source like Justice Kotze. The only information taken from his volume is who Johannesburg was actually named after, a controversial subject. He knew the man, this info I will release in a later volume. Watch this space!

Gold Paved the Way. The story of the Gold Fields Group of Companies. A.P. Cartwright Published by Macmillan London 1967 History of the Goldfields group of companies, locally and overseas. General information. Not directly quoted.

Guide to the Transvaal. C.J. Becker, Pretoria. Originally printed in Dublin by J. Dollard, Dame Street. Reprint by the State Library, Pretoria. One of the “most useful and important information relative to the District of the Transvaal, drawn from respectable and authentic resources.” Not copyrighted.

Speeches at a Mass meeting in the Broadway Theatre, Denver. From the The Intermountain Catholic. Salt lake city. Utah February 10 190.Detail in the body of this essay.

Memoirs and Reminiscences. Sir John Gilbert Kotze, Vol2 Prepared for the press by Ex President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa from the memories of the late Sir John Kotzé. Published by Maskew Miller Ltd. Cape Town. Undated and not copyrighted. One of the most reliable sources available to serious researchers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gilbert_Kotz%C3%A9#Judicial_career

On the criminal laws, and the practice of Privateering . Including the definition of an unjust war. Benjamin Franklin from his letter to Benjamin Vaughan, Esq. Dated March 14, 178. From The Life and Miscellaneous Writings of Benjamin Franklin Published by William and Robert Chambers and WS Orr and Company, London. 1839.

Ons Goud Roman. Die Marais Dagboek. Produced under the auspices of : “Die Suid Afrikaanse Akademie”, literal translation from the English Diary of Pieter Jacob Marais, edited and commented by Dr. Gustav S. Preller. Published by Wallachs’ Publishers Ltd. 1935 Not copyrighted. Endorsed by C.J. Joubert, vice President and Minister of mines, after whom Johannesburg was named.

Science in South Africa: By The Council of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science. A collection of papers by scientific authors covering a wide range of subjects, including physical, Anthropological, Zoological,,Botanical, Geological, Mineralogical, Economical, Educational and Historical matters. Edited by Rev. Flint, D.D. and J.D.F. Gilchrist M.A., D.Sc., Ph.D., C.M.Z.S., F.L.S. Published by T. Maskew Miller Cape Town.1905

Seventy Golden years. Edited and published by Felix Stark under the authority of the Johannesburg City Council. Very useful and informative. Not copyrighted. 1956.

South African Who’s Who 1917-18

The Banket. Professor Robert B. Young. M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.S.A., F.G.S. Published by Gurney & Jackson,London. 1917Prof Young was the foremost authority on the geology of the Banket and other reefs found in the Transvaal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns_Young

The Farmers of Transvaal and their Organisation by the Transvaal Agricultural Union. 1957 issue.

https://www.tlu.co.za/en/about-us/

The Gold Miners A.P. Cartwright Published by Purnell & Sons (SA) Ltd. Cape Town and Johannesburg. Published 1962, reprinted 1963. One of the more reliable history writers in the Transvaal. Not copyrighted.

The ‘96 Rebellions by Books of Rhodesian Publishing Company. Reprints of reports on the native Disturbances in Rhodesia with particular reference to the aftermath of the infamous Jameson Raid.1975

The Johannesburg Saga. John R. Shorten. Published by John R. Shorten ltd. Under the authority of the Johannesburg City Council. Edition signed by Author. 1970. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Johannesburg_Saga.html?id=hkJBAQAAIAAJ

The Johannesburg Story by F. Addington Symonds. Published by Frederick Muller Lt. London 1953 Useful information. Not copyrighted.  https://en.wikipedia.org wiki/Francis_Addington_Symonds#Non-fiction