And yet, it was these facts that were constantly being pointed at. They were declared to be insurmountable. Many advised those who wished to continue the war, to consult not only their hearts but their common sense, and if they did this they would see what God's purpose with us in this war was. One Delegate said that the war had been commenced with prayer and with the Mauser, and, he asked, what had been God's answer to this prayer? "Can you not see," he continued, "that the hand of God is stretched out against us?"
The Middleburg proposals then were before the meeting. The question now was, what the meeting was going to do in regard to those proposals? It was soon evident that the Delegates were not prepared to accept them, and were of opinion that before deciding another endeavour should be made to see whether the British Government was not inclined to conclude peace upon some other basis, a basis which would not exclude the Independence of the two States. It had, however, become plain to all that, as matters then stood, the People could not expect to have the same measure of Independence which they had enjoyed before the war, and the Delegates felt that they would have to concede and surrender much. The State-Secretary, Mr. F. W. Reitz, had suggested what might be surrendered. We could, he said, agree to the surrender of a portion of our territory—the goldfields and Zwasieland, for instance. We could relinquish our foreign policy. We could even agree to an English protectorate. There were those who were opposed to this idea, yet it seemed that Mr. Reitz's view was in accordance with the sentiments of the meeting, and several members expressed themselves to the same effect.
I have now briefly summed up, and arranged in order, what was discussed by the Representatives of the People at Vereeniging. I have now in this chapter only to add that on the third day of the meeting, on Saturday, 17th May, two resolutions were adopted. The first empowered both Governments to conclude peace on this basis:—
The retention of a limited Independence, with the power to offer, over and above what had already been offered, by both Governments in their negotiations of 15th April 1902—
1. The relinquishment of foreign relations and embassies.
2. The acceptance of the protectorate of Great Britain.
3. The surrender of a portion of the territory of the South African Republic.
4. The conclusion of a defensive treaty with Great Britain with regard to South Africa.
The second proposal authorised the Governments to appoint a commission to negotiate with Lord Kitchener on any subject that might lead to a satisfactory peace, and to submit, through the Governments, the result of their labours to the meeting for ratification.
Shortly after these two resolutions had been agreed to the meeting was closed with prayer, and adjourned until the report of the commission was handed in.