Show fl7 DONT GO I Uncle l e Sails s Offer O of Good G d 1 Offices Regarding Peace is Declined REPLY A VERBAL ONE I 1 I Lord Salisbury I Did not Enter into Details L 1 HE WAS VERY COURTEOUS Representations Hade by Uncle Sam to < John Bull were So Put that They Assumed Nothing of a Desire to Intervene but Simply Transmitted thj Communications Made to United States Consul Adelbert SHay J Hay at Pretoria with the Accompanying Accom-panying Assurances that Anything I the State Department Gould Do in I thJ Interests of Peace Would boG bo-G d y Undertaken Text of tho Correspondence which Passed Be tvwjeri Kruger and Steyn and Salisbury Salis-bury Read in British Parliament bf J London March IThc United slai Government at the request of PrtsMent Kruger and President Steyn hasoffered to tho British Government Its services as mediator with the view of Unlnglng about peace In South Africa Af-rica ricaTht representations made to Great Brlmin were KO put that they assumed WOp of aileslii Lo Jntcryenobut simply transmitted the communications communica-tions made to United States Consul 1 AcIcll crt S Hay with thc accompanying I accompany-ing assurances that anything thc State department could do in the Interests of peace would be gladly undertaken ORIGINATED IN PRETORIA Thc offer of mediation springs from Pretoria where Mr Hay with the other oth-er Consuls subsequent to Presidents Kruger and Steyn sending their peace cablegram to Lord Salisbury were asked to endeavor to secure the good ollltes of their respective Governments apparently with thc view of bringing outside Influence to bear upon Lord Salisburys reply to the Boer overtures These seem to be fruitless except In the Instance of the United States Consul whose representations to Secretary Hay were forwarded March 12lh to the United States embassy In London with the instructions outlined above These Mr White the Charge dAHaires personally presented to Lord Salisbury DECLINED OUR GOOD OFFICES The United States Charge dAffaires Henry White saw Lord Salisbury at the Foreign ofllco this evening and received re-ceived a formal reply from the British Government declining the good ofllces of the United States in regard to peace It Is understood the reasons of the Premier Pre-mier are identical with those already cabled to the Associated Press The interview between Mr White and Lord Salisbury was very brief the Premier Pre-mier confining himself to a courteous verbal declination without entering into details REPLY MEETS APPROVAL Lord Salisburys reply I meets with unanimous approval among conservatives conserva-tives and It Is the universal opinion that the Boers by their extravagant claims and canting tone meant to Influence In-fluence foreign powers however again overreached themselves as they did j by the ultimatum The Government will not allow the KruKcrSteyn appeal to Influence In any way their determination not to spare any effort to prosecute the war There will be no diminution of measures meas-ures calculated to maintain the full tjillcleney of the lluld force and whatever what-ever reinforcements were previously considered advisable will still be sent out PROPOSAL READ TN PARLIAMENT A parliamentary paper containing the telegrams sent to the British Government Govern-ment by the Presidents of tho South African republic and tho Orange Free State and Great Britains reply thereto was Issued today The correspondency was read in both houses of Parliament today and the concluding paragraph of the British Premiers reply elicited I prolonged cheers Thu telegram sent by the two Presidents l to the Marquis I of Salisbury were as follows KRUGER AND STEYXS APPEAL I Bloemfonteln March 51he blood and the tears of thousands who have suffered by this war and tho prospect of all moral arid economic ruin wherewith where-with South Africa Is now threatened make It necessary for both belligerents to ask themselves dispassionately and as In the bight of the triune God for what are they fighting and whether the aim of each Justifies fill this appalling misery and devastation WHY THE WAR WAS BEGUN With this object and III view of the assertions of various British statesmen states-men to tho effect that this war was begun be-gun and Is being carried on with the d purpose of undermining her Maj estys authority In South Africa and of setting up an administration over all of South Africa Independent of her Majestys Government we consider It our duty to solemnly declare that this war was undertaken solely aa a defensive defen-sive measure to maintain the threatened I threat-ened independence of the South African f Afri-can republic andIs only continued In order to secure and maintain the Incon i tcHtJxble Independence of both republics I as sovereign International sin ten and 10 obtain the assurance that those of I her MuJetvK t mbjt < IK who hap taken I 1 part with us JD this wor shall suffer no harm whatever In person or property prop-erty NOW SEEK PEACE On these condition but on these conditions alone are we now as In the past t desirous of seeing peace reestablished reestab-lished in South Africa while if I her Majestys Government Is determined to destroy the independence of the republics repub-lics there Is nothing left to vis ami our people but to persevere to thc end In the course already begun In spite of tho overwhelming preeminence pre-eminence of the British empire we arc confident that that God who lighted the unextlngnlshable fire of love of freedom free-dom In thc hearts of ourselves and of on 11 belief that he will not forsake UB and that he will accomplish his work in ua and in our descendants I REASON FOR DELAY I Ve hesitated to make thin declaration declara-tion earlier to your Excellency as we I feared that as long as the advantage was always on our Iclc and as long as our forces held defensive 1 positions far within her Majestys colonies such a I declaration might hurt lie feelings and I honor of the British people i But now that the prestige of the British empire may be considered to be assured by the capture of one of our forces by her Maj I estys troops and that we have thereby there-by been forced to evacuate other positions posi-tions which our forces had occupied that difficulty Is over Und we can no I longer hesitate to clearly Inform your 1 Government and people in the sight of tho whole civilised world why we arc j i I fighting and on what conditions we are 1 ready to restore peace SALISBURYS ANSWER I I The Marquis of Salisbury to the Presidents of the South African republic repub-lic and Orange Free State Foreign Office March 111 have the honor to acknowledge your Honors telegram dated March 5th from Bloemfonteln of which the purport la principally to demand that her Maj estys Government shall recognize the incontestable independence of the South African republic and Free Stale as sovereign international states and to offer on I those terms to bring the war to a conclusion WHAT GREAT BRITAIN DESIRED In tho beginning of October lust peace existed between her Majesty and I the two republics under conventions which then were In existence A discussion dis-cussion had been proceeding for some months between her Majestys Government Govern-ment and the South African republic of which the object was to obtain redress re-dress for certain very serious grievances griev-ances under which the British residents in South Africa were suffering In thc course of these negotiations the South African republic had to the knowledge of her Majestys Government made considerable armaments and the latter had consequently taken steps to provide pro-vide corresponding reinforcements of J the British garrisons at Capetown and In Natal No Infringement of thc rights I guaranteed by tho conventions had up to that point taken place on the British sideWAR WAR SUDDENLY DECLARED Suddenly at two days notice the i South African republic after Issuing i ztirmsuIflflg l iiltItiinideclcrrM1mrar upon her Majesty and the Orange Free State with whom there had not even been any discussion took a similar step Her Maiestys dominions were I immediately invaded by the two republics repub-lics Siege was laid to three towns within the British frontier a large j portion of two colonies was overrun with great destruction of property and J I life and the republics claimed to treat I I the inhabitants of extensive portions of I her Majestys dominions as if those dominions had been annexed to one or the other of them In anticipation of I lliesi > operations tho South African republic re-public has been accumulating for many years past military stores on an enormous I enor-mous scale which by their character could only have been Intended for ute against Great Britain COSTLY TO GREAT BRITAIN Your Honors make some observances observ-ances of a negative character upon the object with which these preparations were made I do not think it necessary to discuss tho questions you have raised But the result of these preparations prepa-rations carried on with gicat secrecy has been that the British empire has been compelled to confront an Invasion which has entailed upon the empire a costly war and the loss of thousands of precious lives This great calamity has been the penalt Great Britain has suffered suf-fered for having of recent years acquiesced to the existence of two republics re-publics PROPOSITION DECLINED In view of the use to which the two republics have put the position which was given them and the calamities these unprovoked attacks have inlllcted on her Majestys dominions her Maj I I estys Government can only answer your Honors telegram by saying that I they are not prepared to assent to the independence either of tho South African Afri-can republic or the Orange Free Slate |