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Show KRUGER SAYS BOERS WILL CONQUER OR DIE New York, March 20. A dispatch to the Herald from Pretoria, dated Feb. 10, says: Your correspondent has just had j an interview with President Kruger. He i shows but little evidence in his countenance counte-nance of the tremendous strain he is undergoing. "This war was forced upon us by ' England, which has been misled by Cecil Ce-cil Rhodes and the millionaires who want the country," he said. "The Boers yielded as far as possible, until they ; saw that nothing but complete surrender surren-der of their independence would satisfy I England. 1 "Having been forced into the war, the i Boers will conquer or die. I expect no aid from other nations, but we are glad of sympathy and friendship. The Transvaal is willing to make peace at any time, but we want no more conventions. con-ventions. Only absolute independence is possible. We do not want more territory, ter-ritory, but are content with our present frontier if we are permitted to live peacefully. This is all we ask. "The Transvaal will stipulate in the peace terms that Natal and Cape Colony Col-ony Dutch now fighting with the Boers shall be regarded as belligerents and , suffer no loss of property. I learned i that some of these men had been cap-' cap-' tured and were being tried at Cape Town, charged with treason. This gov-: gov-: ernment cabled to Lord Salisbury, stat-! stat-! ing that if such men were treated as prisoners of war we would make re-; re-; prisals on the British prisoners held here. Lord Salisbury replied, dodging the real point, and threatening if we injured in-jured a single British prisoner tg hold me personally responsible. I suppose he meant the British would hang me. Such threats are contemptible, and cannot can-not prevent me from Performing my duty to my country. The Transvaal government replied today, informing i Lord Salisbury that they despise his I threats. j "There is no truth in the story,of a i conspiracy among the South African Dutch. This is not their quarrel. The Orange Free State is bound by treaty I to aid us. Mr. Schreiner repeatedly j urged us to yield. "It is too early to prophesy the outcome out-come of the- war or its duration. The Boers are in God's hands, and he will not let us perish. Our total fighting strength is but 40.000, but with God's aid we can prevail. I have 500 blood relatives fighting, and would rather see them all perish than yield to England's unholy aggression. It is liberty or death. I have protected British property prop-erty in the Transvaal and shall continue con-tinue to do so. "Convey to the American people my esteem. We feel that every. American should be with us in this struggle for j liberty." |