PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE.
men on the Rand, it being arranged by Mr. Wybergh that a deputation of representative working-men should meet him at the offices of the South African League. As the result of this meeting, he assured the audience that he formed an exceedingly favourable opinion of the character of the men who were now conducting the Reform movement in Johannesburg. He believed that they were honest men, taking part in the movement from honest political motives, one of the leaders in fact having given up a valuable position in one of the largest companies on the Rand, in order to take part in the movement. As to how far capitalists were concerned in the movement, his investigations led him to believe that there was to-day none of that corrupting business, that blank-cheque business, that spoilt the Reform agitation of 1895. He did not believe that capitalists were taking an active part in the movement; it certainly was not run or financed by capitalists. The finances of the South African League were not in a flourishing condition, there being a debt of 150l.; and from people he could trust he had ascertained that the majority of the subscriptions was derived from individuals who paid 1l. or 2l. a piece.
Uitlander grievancesUitlander As to how far the grievances were felt by the population, he should say they did not press hardly upon either the capitalists or the workmen, the country being so rich and the wages so high. The political grievances, on the other hand, were, without doubt, very serious, but that they were severely felt by the whole mass of the Uitlander population he was not prepared to assert. A large portion of the population consisted of Cornish miners, and these men, who in England had been accustomed to receive 1l. a week, were not likely to be active250
