with our possession of the island of Guam, which we acquired by right of the comic conquest by the Charleston and Captain Glass.

The islands sold by Spain comprise the Ladrones, with the exception of Guam, the whole of the Carolines, and a small group attached to them, known as the Pelew group.

The acquisition of these islands is of the highest importance to Germany, as they will afford her stations for coaling and repair midway between her Chinese possessions at Kiao-Chou and the Samoan Islands.

It is stated that Germany, as a sign of good will toward us, has offered to give us a cable station in the Caroline Islands. The rumor is that at the time the United States allowed the landing of a German cable at New York the Kaiser agreed to allow us similar privileges in the Carolines.

The Conference between President Paul Krüger, of the Transvaal, and Sir Alfred Milner, Governor of Cape Colony, and British High ComThe Conference in missioner for South Africa, took place on Wednesday, June 7.

the Transvaal.

The object of the Conference was to obtain redress for the wrongs complained of by the Uitlanders, or foreigners who have entered the country for the purpose of money making in gold digging and trading with the mining camps around Johannesburg.

The reforms asked for are lessening of taxation, the teaching of English in the schools, and the shortening of the time required before the Uitlanders can attain

1899]

Conference in the Transvaal

799

full rights of citizenship and have a voice in the government of the country. At present the required time is twelve years.

The Conference took place at Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State.

It was decided it would be best for both parties to the discussion for the meeting to be held on neutral ground, and the Orange Free State was selected on account of the friendly feelings existing between the people of the Transvaal and those of the Free State. A warm sympathy is said to exist between the rulers of these two little republics, and it is averred that negotiations are on foot to make a common citizenship between the people of the two states. President Steyn, of the Orange Free State, is, it is said, only waiting until the question of the rights of Great Britain over the Boers is settled to arrange a treaty which will give the Boers and Orange Free Staters equal rights of citizenship in either country.

It is this question of the rights of Great Britain that underlies the whole trouble, and until it is settled the Boers will fight against giving the British any further privileges.

England maintains that the Transvaal is a dependent state and that her laws must be satisfactory to the government of Great Britain. The Transvaal, on the contrary, claims that since 1884 the British control of the South African Republic has been confined to the right to dictate the treaties and alliances which she shall make with other nations.

In consequence of this misunderstanding the President is afraid to allow the Englishmen in the Trans

vaal any liberties, lest they claim everything as their right.

When President Krüger and Sir Alfred Milner arrived at Cape Town they found that great preparations had been made in their honor. The town of Bloemfontein was gayly decorated with flags, a triumphal arch had been erected outside the station in their honor, and addresses were presented to them hoping for a successful result of the Conference.

In spite of these good wishes the result was, in the words of the Earl of Selbourne, Parliamentary Secretary of the Colonial Office, "eminently unsatisfactory."

President Krüger offered to make important concessions to the Uitlanders, but offered them solely on condition that Great Britain would consent to allow all the matters in dispute to be submitted to arbitration. This Sir Alfred Milner would not consent to. The Transvaal has made repeated efforts to bring about arbitration, but Great Britain has always refused, because consent would mean that she acknowledged the equality of the South African Republic, and her ability to enter into such negotiations. This acknowledgment would put an end forever to her claims of suzerainty (the state of being possessed of superior authority) over the Transvaal, for if her contention is correct that the Boers are her dependents, then the South African Republic should no more arbitrate with Great Britain than a child should arbitrate with its father.

President Krüger with his customary shrewdness struck at the root of the matter in his reply, but un

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The Alaskan Boundary

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fortunately the position of the South African Republic as a nation is so ridiculously weak that his defiance of England will avail him nothing.

Great Britain is determined that the Uitlanders shall receive better treatment at the hands of the Boers, and has practically resolved that if the Boers refuse to listen to her wishes, the South African Republic must be wiped out.

The English papers are beginning to talk seriously about the possibility, of war with the Transvaal, and it is thought that war is the object toward which the President is tending. He has, it is said, the firmest faith in the success of the Boers in the field, and hopes by bringing matters to an issue to rid himself of the Uitlanders altogether.

England declared that diplomacy has been exhausted and that nothing remains but a show of force. It is, however, doubted whether she seriously contemplates fighting the Boers.

The good news is announced that Great Britain and

The Alaskan
Boundary.

the United States have reached a settlement of the vexed question of the Alaskan boundary.

The story of the difference between the High Commissioners appointed to discuss the matters of dispute between Canada and the United States has now come to light.

It appears that by February 18 agreements had been reached on a majority of the twelve points at issue, and all the rest except the boundary question were in such a fair way of settlement that the Canadian

Commissioners proposed to separate this point from the rest, and submit it to arbitration. The United States Commissioners accepted the offer, but proposed that the treaty for the Venezuelan boundary dispute, on which it was suggested to model the Alaskan matter, should be modified to read that "all towns and settlements on tide water which had been settled by the United States and were under its jurisdiction should remain the property of the United States."

The British Commissioners refused to entertain this proposal, and decided not to hold further meetings, but to refer the matter to their government.

The result of this reference has been that our Ambassador, Mr. Joseph H. Choate, was able to make an arrangement with Lord Salisbury, the British Premier, by means of which the Alaskan boundary will be settled for two years, while the other points are being discussed. The settlement is so satisfactory to both sides that it will probably become permanent. The boundary line is fixed at three points near the head of the Lynn Canal, which will, it is supposed, be sufficient to prevent any further discussion.

The first is on the White Pass at the old Canadian Custom House.

The second is on the Chilcoot Pass, also at the Canadian Custom House.

The third, which was the real bone of contention, has been fixed above the Indian village of Kluckwan, on the Dalton Trail.

The Canadians were anxious to have the line settled below this village at a point which would enable them to reach tide water, but the United States contended