“The object Her Majesty’s government had in view in the recent negotiations has been stated in a manner which cannot admit of misunderstanding—viz.: To obtain such substantial and immediate representation for the outlanders as will enable them to secure for themselves that fair and just treatment which was formally promised [[240]]them in 1881, and which Her Majesty intended to secure for them when she granted privileges of self-government to the Transvaal.
“No conditions less comprehensive than those contained in the telegram of September 8 can be relied on to effect this object.
“The refusal of the South African government to entertain the offer thus made—coming, as it does, after four months of protracted negotiations, themselves the climax of five years of extended agitation—makes it useless to further pursue the discussion on the lines hitherto followed, and the imperial government is now compelled to consider the situation afresh and formulate its own proposals for a final settlement of the issues which have been created in South Africa by the policy constantly followed by the government of South Africa.
“They will communicate the result of their deliberations in a later dispatch.”
PRITCHARD STREET, LOOKING EAST, JOHANNESBURG.
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