yotherpeopleuponequalterms,butclaimtobeaprivilegedclasswhoshalldominatethenewcomerscompletely.Theyareoutnumberedintheirownlandbyimmigrantswhoarefarmorehighlyeducatedandprogressive,andyettheyholdthemdowninawaywhichexistsnowhereelseuponearth.Whatistheirright?Therightofconquest.Thenthesamerightmaybejustlyinvokedtoreversesointolerableasituation.Thistheywouldthemselvesacknowledge.'Comeonandfight!Comeon!'criedamemberoftheVolksraadwhenthefranchisepetitionoftheUitlanderswaspresented.'Protest!Protest!Whatisthegoodofprotesting?'saidKrugertoMr.W.Y.Campbell'youhavenotgottheguns,Ihave.'Therewasalwaysthefinalcourtofappeal.JudgeCreusotandJudgeMauserwerealwaysbehindthePresident.
Again,theargumentoftheBoerswouldbemorevalidhadtheyreceivednobenefitfromtheseimmigrants.Iftheyhadignoredthemtheymightfairlyhavestatedthattheydidnotdesiretheirpresence.ButevenwhiletheyprotestedtheygrewrichattheUitlander'sexpense.Theycouldnothaveitbothways.Itwouldbeconsistenttodiscouragehimandnotprofitbyhim,ortomakehimcomfortableandbuildtheStateuponhismoneybuttoill-treathimandatthesametimetogrowstrongbyhistaxationmustsurelybeaninjustice.
Andagain,thewholeargumentisbaseduponthenarrowracialsuppositionthateverynaturalisedcitizennotofBoerextractionmustnecessarilybeunpatriotic.Thisisnotborneoutbytheexamplesofhistory.Thenewcomersoonbecomesasproudofhiscountryandasjealousofherlibertyastheold.HadPresidentKrugergiventhefranchisegenerouslytotheUitlander,hispyramidwouldhavebeenfirmuponitsbaseandnotbalanceduponitsapex.Itistruethatthecorruptoligarchywouldhavevanished,andthespiritofabroadermoretolerantfreedominfluencedthecounselsoftheState.Buttherepublicwouldhavebecomestrongerandmorepermanent,withapopulationwho,iftheydifferedindetails,wereunitedinessentials.WhethersuchasolutionwouldhavebeentotheadvantageofBritishinterestsinSouthAfricaisquiteanotherquestion.InmorewaysthanonePresidentKrugerhasbeenagoodfriendtotheempire.
SomuchuponthegeneralquestionofthereasonwhytheUitlandershouldagitateandwhytheBoerwasobdurate.Thedetailsofthelongstrugglebetweentheseekersforthefranchiseandtherefusersofitmaybequicklysketched,buttheycannotbeentirelyignoredbyanyonewhodesirestounderstandtheinceptionofthatgreatcontestwhichwastheoutcomeofthedispute.
AtthetimeoftheConventionofPretoria(1881)therightsofburghershipmightbeobtainedbyoneyear'sresidence.In1882itwasraisedtofiveyears,thereasonablelimitwhichobtainsbothinGreatBritainandintheUnitedStates.Haditremainedso,itissafetosaythattherewouldneverhavebeeneitheranUitlanderquestionoragreatBoerwar.Grievanceswouldhavebeenrightedfromtheinsidewithoutexternalinterference.
In1890theinrushofoutsidersalarmedtheBoers,andthefranchisewasraisedsoastobeonlyat