“ The Government are further willing to recommend to the Volksraad that 8 new seats in the First Volksraad, and, if necessary, also in the Second Volksraad, be given to the population of the Witwatersrand, thus with the 2 sitting members for the Goldfields, giving to the population thereof 10 representatives in a Raad of 36, and in future the representation of the Goldfields of this Republic shall not fall below the proportion of one-fourth of the total. (3) The new burghers shall equally with the old burghers be entitled to vote at the election for State President and Commandant-General. ”

“ All civil servants are subordinate to him; such, however, as are charged with exercise of the judicial power are left altogether free and independent in its exercise.
[Pg 24]
Article 58.—As long as the President holds his position as such he shall fill no other, nor shall he discharge any ecclesiastical office, nor carry on any business. The President cannot go outside the boundaries of the State without consent of the Volksraad. However, the Executive Council shall have the power to grant him leave to go outside the boundaries of the State upon private affairs in cases of necessity. ”

“ If there is any objection, the Executive Council shall decide.
The letters of naturalization and full franchise shall be signed by the State Secretary and State Attorney. The State Secretary shall cause the letters of naturalization and full franchise to be granted by an official appointed for that purpose, and cause the necessary oath of naturalization to be taken before this official.
The letters of naturalization shall bear a stamp of £2 sterling; the granting of the full franchise to persons who are already naturalized shall be free of cost. ”

“ In answer to an inquiry with respect thereto, addressed to His Excellency the High Commissioner, this Government received, to its great astonishment, in answer, a veiled insinuation that from the side of the Republic (van Republikeinsche zyde) an attack was being made on Her Majesty's Colonies and at the same time a mysterious reference to possibilities whereby it was strengthened in its suspicion that the independence of this Republic was being threatened. ”

“ If a British officer is appointed to reside at Pretoria or elsewhere within the South African Republic to discharge functions analogous to those of a Consular officer, he will receive the protection and assistance of the Republic. ”

“ Article 93.—The military force consists of all the men of this Republic capable of bearing arms, and if necessary of all those of the natives within its boundaries whose chiefs are subject to it.
Article 94.—Besides the armed force of burghers to be [Pg 30] called up in times of disturbance or war, there exists a general police and corps of artillery, for which each year a fixed sum is drawn upon the estimates.
Article 95.—The men of the white people capable of bearing arms are all men between the ages of sixteen and sixty years ”

“ Article 56.—The executive power resides in the State President, who is responsible to the Volksraad. He is chosen by a majority of the burghers entitled to vote, and for the term of five years. He is eligible for re-election. He must have attained the age of thirty years, and need not be a burgher of the State at the time of his nomination, and must be a member of a Protestant Church, and have no dishonouring sentence pronounced against him. (By a subsequent law the President must be chosen from among the burghers; he must be a burgher. Outsiders are excluded.) ”

“ Who have at least a fixed yearly income of £200.
(e) Who are owners of movables to a value of at least £300, and have lived at least three years in the State.
Chapter IV.—Duties and Powers of the Volksraad.
5. The highest legislative power rests with the Volksraad.
6. This Council (Raad) shall consist of a member for each Field-Cornetcy of the various districts, and of a member for each principal town of a district. This Council is chosen by majority of votes by the enfranchised inhabitants of each ward of each principal town of a district. ”

“ No coloured persons or bastards shall be admitted into our Assemblies. In like manner no military officer or official of the State, who draws a fixed annual or monthly salary, shall be eligible as member of the Volksraad. ”

“ All burghers as soon as they have reached the full age of 16 years, and all who have obtained burgher-right at a later age, are obliged to have their names inscribed with the Field-Cornet, under whom they have their place of residence, and are subject to burgher service to the full age of 60 years. ”

“ Article 101.—The military force, with the exception of the hired natives, is summoned for the maintenance of order, for commando duty on the occasion of home rebellion, and without any exception for the protection of the country, and to fight with foreign enemies. ”

“ No white man can be condemned to lashes on the body, if not expressly so fixed by law.
Article 128.—The plaintiffs in appeal shall pay, in case their appeal be found groundless or be refused, for an appeal from the sentence of the Landrost's Court 5 Rds. ”

“ All burghers who have reached the age of 18 years are qualified to exercise the right of voting for the election of Field-Commandants and Field-Cornets.
4. All burghers of full age are qualified for the election of members of the Volksraad and of the President:
(a) Who have been born in the State. ”

“ Article 114.—A month after the expiration of a commando the President shall, by means of the Landrost, take care that the assigned share of the booty comes to the seriously wounded, the widows and orphans of the dead. ”

“ Interest at the rate of three and a half per cent. on the debt as standing under the Convention of Pretoria shall as heretofore be paid to the date of the ratification of this Convention.
Article VII.
All persons who held property in the Transvaal on the 8th day of August 1881, and still hold the same, will continue to enjoy the rights of property which they have enjoyed since the 12th April 1877. No person who has remained loyal to Her Majesty during the late hostilities shall suffer [Pg 10] any molestation by reason of his loyalty ”

“ The documents which are here reprinted are by no means unobtainable; but, to the general reader, they have been hitherto quite inaccessible. Only the largest public libraries have the proper sources of information, and even with these books at hand the student has been forced to delve in a mass of irrelevant material for the hidden object of his desire.
The present compilation has been made in the hope of meeting the immediate demands of the public. To avoid cumbersomeness, many important documents have necessarily been omitted ”

“ Such approval shall be considered to have been granted if Her Majesty's Government shall not, within six months after receiving a copy of such treaty (which shall be delivered to them immediately upon its completion) , have notified that the conclusion of such treaty is in conflict with the interests of Great Britain or any of Her Majesty's possessions in South Africa. ”

“ Article 32.—The election of members for the Volksraad shall take place in the month of January or February, or in exceptional cases upon such times as shall be fixed. For each district two members shall be chosen, except the districts Pretoria, Potchefstrom, Rustenberg, Lydenburg and Vryheid, for which three members shall be elected. Elective districts on the Gold-fields shall each elect one member. At the expiration of the second year it shall be decided by lot which half of the members shall go out ”

“ The applicant shall produce proof that he possesses unmortgaged fixed property to the value of £150, or pays rent to the amount of £50 per annum, or draws a fixed salary or wage of £100 per annum, or makes an independent living by farming or cattle-breeding. ”

“ The Convention was ratified on August 8, 1884 by the Volksraad in a resolution as follows: "The Volksraad having considered the new Convention concluded between its deputation and the British Government at London on 27th February 1884, as likewise the negotiations between the contracting parties, which resulted in the said Convention, approves of the standpoint taken by its deputation that a settlement based upon the principle of the Sand River Convention can alone fully satisfy the burghers of the Republic. ”

“ Article 20.—The people shall only appoint as representatives in the Volksraad those who are members of a Protestant Church.
Article 21.—The people desire the growth, prosperity, and welfare of the State, and with this view provision for suitable school teachers. ”

“ Article 9.—The people will not allow any equalization of the coloured inhabitants with the white.
Article 10.—The people will not suffer any slave trade or slavery in this Republic.
Article 11.—The people reserve to themselves the pro [Pg 17] tection and defence of the independence and inviolability of the State, subject to the laws.
Article 12.—The people entrust the legislation to a Volksraad—the highest authority in the land—consisting of representatives or deputies of the people, chosen by the enfranchised burghers ”