THE ANNEXATION OF THE DIAMOND FIELDS.
In his speech at the opening of the Cape Parliament on the 18th April, 1872, Sir Henry Barkly said:—
"The Sovereignty of Her Majesty was therefore proclaimed and brought into operation with the full consent of the diggers, and the Government has since been carefully and efficiently administered, notwithstanding considerable difficulties."
The Diamond News of the 1st May, 1872, says, in referring to this speech:—
"Of the three short paragraphs which immediately concern us, the first is one of self-congratulation—the diggers and other inhabitants of Griqualand accept the British Government with heartfelt satisfaction. Sir Henry says nothing of the unaccountable and daily increasing dissatisfaction with that Government, and perhaps he knows nothing of it, as it would be an act of suicide for the Commissioners, which they would not be guilty of, to report about the prevailing feelings."
On the 30th May, 1872, the Diamond Fields said:—
"There can be no doubt that the population of the Diamond Fields are strongly opposed to annexation to the Cape Colony.
"If anything like a plebiscite could be taken, the votes against being put under the Cape Government would be in the proportion of nine to one ... even the Free State Government would get two votes to one if the Cape Town Government were the only other candidate."
In December, 1871, scarcely a month after the dispersion of the Free State authorities and the constitution of Sir Henry Barkly's junta, lynch law broke out. Lawlessness and general insecurity prevailed everywhere (see Diamond News, 17th January, 20th March, 17th July, 1872).
One reads in the Diggers' Gazette of the 26th April, 1872:—