On the part
of Her Majesty's Government, however, the friendly nature of these
discussions has assumed a more and more threatening tone, and the minds
of the people in this Republic and in the whole of South Africa have
been excited and a condition of extreme tension has been created, while
Her Majesty's Government could no longer agree to the legislation
respecting franchise and the Resolution respecting representation in
this Republic, and finally, by your note of 25th September, 1899, broke
off all friendly correspondence on the subject, and intimated that they
must now proceed to formulate their own proposals for a final
settlement, and this Government can only see in the above intimation
from Her Majesty's Government a new violation of the Convention of
London, 1884, which does not reserve to Her Majesty's Government the
right to a unilateral settlement of a question which is exclusively a
domestic one for this Government and has already been regulated by it.
On account of the strained situation and the consequent serious loss in
and interruption of trade in general which the correspondence respecting
the franchise and representation in this Republic carried in its train,
Her Majesty's Government have recently pressed for an early settlement
and finally pressed, by your intervention, for an answer within
forty-eight hours (subsequently somewhat modified) to your note of the
12th September, replied to by the note of this Government of the 15th
September, and your note of the 25th September, 1899, and thereafter
further friendly negotiations broke off and this Government received the
intimation that the proposal for a final settlement would shortly be
made, but although this promise was once more repeated no proposal has
up to now reached this Government.
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