Steve had taken note of all this and more.
He had seen how England had unwarrantably interfered in a question which did not concern her in the least. The Transvaal had closed certain drifts between itself and the Orange Free State—mind you not between the Transvaal and British territory—it was a matter of policy to meet the machinations of the Cape Colonial Government under Rhodes, who were trying to strangle the railways of the Transvaal by ox-waggon competition. England interfered, and told the Transvaal that its Government had no right to close those drifts—why? Because England says so, of course! The Transvaal—once more to show its desire for peace—opened those drifts.
We have only touched some of the main points South African history for the last few years, so that we may be understood as the story proceeds.
CHAPTER VII
THE REPTILE PRESS OF SOUTH AFRICA
There was one thing which Steve had long noticed, viz., that there could be no doubt of the existence of an organisation formed for the purpose of killing the Transvaal as a republic.
This organisation seemed to have taken for a motto,—
‘If you want to kill a dog, give him a bad name, and nobody will object to your killing him.’
To achieve this dirty work, newspapers were started in Pretoria, Johannesburg, and all over South Africa. Only one line of conduct seemed to have been laid down for the editors of these newspapers, viz.,—Paint the Government of the South African Republic and Boers generally with the blackest verbal paint you can invent; the editor who can invent the most lies and write the dirtiest libels on the Transvaal and on Boers that editor shall receive the greatest reward.
This programme was well followed.