The seven years offered were two years more than that which Sir Alfred Milner had declared to be an irreducible minimum.

The difference of two years would not have hindered their acceptance, even at the expense of some humiliation to our representative.

But there were conditions which excited distrust when drawn up by so wily a diplomatist.

One was that the alien who aspired to burghership had to produce a certificate of continuous registration for a certain time.

But the law of registration had fallen into disuse in the Transvaal, and consequently this provision might render the whole Bill valueless.