Show UNCERTAINTY IN LONDON Altered Aspect of Transvaal Situa tion I a Mystery New York Sept 6A dispatch to the Tribune from London says The altered al-tered aspect of the Transvaal affair I continues to be a mystery too deep to be probed by anybody outside of the chief secretarys room in the colonial office President Kruger ha suddenly changed his ground He had been refusing re-fusing to grant a joint inquiry Into the precise effects of the proposed political changes but had offered a five years franchise and increased representation under the condition that the suzer ainfy should be abandoned He has now withdrawn that offer and reverting re-verting to his original scheme has accepted ac-cepted the suggestion for a conference of some kind The facts are in dispute but thi seems to be a close approach to the truth Why has Kruger changed ground so suddenly That is the diffi cult question to answer His new attitude at-titude would be intelligible if he had received from Mr Chamberlain In the last week or the week before a somewhat some-what peremptory intimation that the patience of the British government was exhausted and that It could not wait any longer but must have an answer an-swer by the middle of this week There Is no official suggestion that any demand of this nature ha been made but Kruger has acted impulsively impulsive-ly and with bad temper as though something of this sort had happened He has answered the original proposal for a joint inquiry after long delay and has withdrawn his fended > scheme < t t JJ wittuthe dangerous conditions relating to suzerainty I he has left a door open for a full conference over the effects ef-fects of the franchise as optimists profess pro-fess to believe negotiations may continue con-tinue and peace be maintained Reports respecting the ordering out of the reserves are again contradicted officially today but the situation has become grave and almost critical a is shown by the presence of Mr Chamberlain Cham-berlain in London and theremarkable activity prevailing in military circles There are no signs in the mining market mar-ket that war is close at hand but in financiers crises are not always i well informed |