A Century of Wrong

A Century of Wrong, by F. W.
Reitz

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Title: A Century of Wrong
Author: F. W. Reitz
Release Date: February 25, 2005 [EBook #15175]
Language: English
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A CENTURY OF WRONG
ISSUED BY

F.W. REITZ
State Secretary of the South African Republic
WITH PREFACE BY
W.T. STEAD
"Audi Alteram Partem"
LONDON:
"REVIEW OF REVIEWS" OFFICE, MOWBRAY HOUSE,
NORFOLK STREET, W.C.

CONTENTS.
PAGE. PREFACE. By W.T. Stead. vii.
INTRODUCTION 1
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 4
THE FOUNDING OF NATAL 13
THE ORANGE FREE STATE 17
THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC 23
THE CONVENTIONS OF 1881 AND 1884 33
CAPITALISTIC JINGOISM--FIRST PERIOD 37
CAPITALISTIC JINGOISM--SECOND PERIOD 49
CONCLUSION 89
APPENDIX A.--Lord Derby's Dispatch on Convention of 1884 101

B.--The Annexation of the Diamond Fields 105 C.--The Reply to Mr.
Chamberlain's Dispatch on Grievances 109 D.--The Final Dispatch of
Mr. State Secretary Reitz 127 E.--The Text of the Conventions, 1852,
1881, and 1884 128
INDEX 149

PREFACE.
"In this awful turning point of the history of South Africa, on the eve of
the conflict which threatens to exterminate our people, it behoves us to
speak the truth in what may be, perchance, our last message to the
world."
Such is the raison d'être of this book. It is issued by State Secretary
Reitz as the official exposition of the case of the Boer against the
Briton. I regard it as not merely a duty but an honour to be permitted to
bring it before the attention of my countrymen.
Rightly or wrongly the British Government has sat in judgment upon
the South African Republic, rightly or wrongly it has condemned it to
death. And now, before the executioner can carry out the sentence, the
accused is entitled to claim the right to speak freely--it may be for the
last time--to say why, in his opinion, the sentence should not be
executed. A liberty which the English law accords as an unquestioned
right to the foulest murderer cannot be denied to the South African
Republic. It is on that ground that I have felt bound to afford the
spokesman of our Dutch brethren in South Africa the opportunity of
stating their case in his own way in the hearing of the Empire.
Despite the diligently propagated legend of a Reptile press fed by Dr.
Leyds for the purpose of perverting public opinion, it is indisputable
that so far as this country is concerned Mr. Reitz is quite correct in
saying that the case of the Transvaal "has been lost by default before
the tribunal of public opinion."
It is idle to point, in reply to this, to the statements that have appeared

in the press of the Continent. These pleadings were not addressed to the
tribunal that was trying the case. In the British press the case of the
Transvaal was never presented by any accredited counsel for the
defence. Those of us who have in these late months been compelled by
the instinct of justice to protest against the campaign of
misrepresentation organised for the purpose of destroying the South
African Republic were in many cases so far from authorised exponents
of the South African Dutch that some of them--among whom I may be
reckoned for one--were regarded with such suspicion that it was most
difficult for us to obtain even the most necessary information from the
representatives of the Government at Pretoria. Nor was this suspicion
without cause--so far at least as I was concerned.
For nearly a quarter of a century it might almost have been contended
that I was one of the leading counsel for the prosecution. First as the
friend and advocate of the Rev. John Mackenzie, then as the friend and
supporter of Mr. Cecil Rhodes, and latterly as the former colleague and
upholder of Sir Alfred Milner, it had been my lot constantly, in season
and out of season, to defend the cause of the progressive Briton against
the Conservative Boer, and especially to advocate the Cause of the
Reformers and Uitlanders against the old Tory Administration of
President Kruger. By agitation, by pressure, and even, if need be, in the
last resort by legitimate insurrection, I had always been ready to seek
the establishment of a progressive Liberal Administration in Pretoria.
And I have at least the small consolation