It seems almost too good to be true that the terrors of Siberian exile are to be abolished. To most of the unfortunate prisoners who were interviewed by Mr. George Kennan when he visited the Siberian convict settlements, even the horrors of the exile were as nothing compared to the awful journey on foot across the desolate steppes of Russia.
All this will soon be at an end, and the nearness of the prisons to civilization will perhaps remove some of the abuses and ill-treatment of the prisoners now practised in the far-away Siberian prisons.
If the young Czar Nicholas continues his kindly and humane methods of government it is likely that he will soon need very few political prisons.
He has shown much kindness and clemency to his people since he came to the throne, and there is little doubt that his subjects will soon learn to love him and trust him in return.
The relations between the Transvaal and England are again being brought prominently before the world.
Early in the spring, when it was rumored that Germany was taking too friendly an interest in the affairs of the Transvaal, Mr. Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary of England, sent a very stormy letter to the Boers, saying that England insisted that the Transvaal should not make any foreign alliances without her consent, and that the treaty between the Transvaal and Great Britain, which is known as the "London Treaty," must be very closely observed.
To this the Boer Government replied that it would be glad to arbitrate that point as well as the amount of the payment to be made for the Jameson raid; and the various other points on which the two governments were at issue.
Soon after this Dr. Leyds, President Krüger's confidential agent, arrived in England, and had a conference with Mr. Chamberlain. They appeared to come to satisfactory understanding, and there was every prospect of a peaceful settlement to the dispute.
Some weeks after this conversation with Dr. Leyds, Mr. Chamberlain was asked by the House of Commons whether he had consented to arbitrate with the Transvaal.