Misplaced Pages

#194805

69-493: A general distinction is made between official proclamations from states and state organs with a binding character and proclamations from political-social groups or organizations, both of which try to win over the mood of those addressed. In addition, the procedure of proclaiming the beginning of a rule over a certain ruling territory is called a proclamation. For example, on July 26, 1581, the Proclamation of Dutch Independence

138-529: A colony until they were proclaimed (e.g. the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 ); and proclamations were constantly issued in furtherance of executive acts. In many British protectorates the high commissioner or administrator was empowered to legislate by proclamation. In the old system of real property law in England, fines, levied with "proclamations", i.e., with successive public announcements of

207-675: A constituency in rural and urban seats. All three objectives were eventually finalised with South Africa to become a union which was the wish of both the Liberal British government and Jan Smuts. On the question of black enfranchisement, the British government was prepared to accept the final wishes of the National Convention. The colonies of the Transvaal, Orange River and Natal wanted no black enfranchisement while

276-673: A humiliating repulse and greatly discredited the Duke. This caused the States General to start looking for a different sovereign. After a first attempt to interest Elizabeth I of England in assuming sovereignty did not succeed, William the Silent was asked to assume the "vacant" title of Count of Holland, but he was assassinated in 1584, before the arrangements could be finalised. After the Treaty of Nonsuch Elizabeth agreed to send aid to

345-572: A misdemeanour) is an aggravation of the offence (see charge of Chief Justice Cockburn to the grand jury in R v. Eyre (1867) and Case of Proclamations 1610, 12 Co. Rep. 74). The Crown has from time to time legislated by proclamation; and the Statute of Proclamations 1539 provided that proclamations made by the king with the assent of the council should have the force of statute law if they were not prejudicial to "any person's inheritance, offices, liberties, goods, chattels or life". But this enactment

414-574: A new policy for the two former Boer colonies, one of self-rule. Jan Smuts visited London and managed to persuade the new government to formulate a system that would favour the Boers and Het Volk in a new political assembly. More than a year later in February 1907 an election was held with Het Volk running on two issues; Chinese labour needing to be ended when new labour sources were found and reconciliation with Britain with which they hoped would attract

483-782: A newly conquered country (Jenkyns, British Rule and Jurisdiction beyond the Seas ); and this power was freely exercised in North America following the Seven Years' War by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and in the Transvaal Colony during the Second Boer War 1899–1902. In the British colonies, ordinances were frequently brought into force by proclamation; certain imperial acts did not take effect in

552-466: A proclamation is a formal announcement (" royal proclamation "), made under the great seal , of some matter which the King-in-Council or Queen-in-Council desires to make known to his or her subjects: e.g., the declaration of war , or state of emergency , the statement of neutrality , the summoning or dissolution of Parliament , or the bringing into operation of the provisions of some statute

621-517: A ruler for having violated the social contract with his subjects, they were the first to apply these theoretical ideas. Historian Pieter Geyl described the Act of Abjuration as a "rather splendid, albeit late, expression of the sturdy medieval tradition of liberty," and noted that while the principles expressed in the act were derived from Calvinism , the document lacked a purely religious argument. In order of appearance, these provinces are mentioned in

690-533: A rural seat while an urban seat would have fifteen percent more constituents. This system for the constituencies would ensure that the Afrikaner would dominate politics in years to come and would be one of the many reasons why Jan Smuts would lose the 1948 South African general election , sweeping D.F. Malan to power and the beginning of Apartheid . The results of the negotiations at the Convention became

759-528: A suggested desertion of the Dutch "flock" by their malevolent "shepherd," Philip. A committee of four members – Andries Hessels, greffier (secretary) of the States of Brabant ; Jacques Tayaert, pensionary of the city of Ghent ; Jacob Valcke, pensionary of the city of Ter Goes (now Goes ); and Pieter van Dieven (also known as Petrus Divaeus), pensionary of the city of Mechelen – was charged with drafting what

SECTION 10

#1732765215195

828-574: A united country in the form of a National Convention. The objective of the convention was to find a solution to the political, racial and economic problems encountered by these colonies and find common ground between the Boers and the English. On 12 October 1908, the thirty delegates of the four colonies met in Durban under the Chairmanship of Sir Henry de Villiers . Twelve delegates came from

897-407: A year. Families would receive a token grant irrespective of their ability to pay it back and additional material and equipment required were obtained via interest-free loans with small cash loans also attracting no interest, with larger loans attracting four percent interest by a mortgage. The loan scheme was never going to compensate a person for the actual loss experienced by the war. Damage and

966-522: The Cape Colony , eight from the Transvaal and five each from the Orange River and Natal Colonies representing a gathering of sixteen from an English background with the remaining fourteen of Boer origin. The main issues discussed were whether the four colonies would become a country made up of a union or a federation , who would be allowed to vote, and the number of voters who would make up

1035-649: The Colonial Secretary in London. In 1903, three seats in the Transvaal Legislative council were offered to Louis Botha , Jan Smuts and Koos de la Rey , but they turned the British down. Due to a lack of a hearing given to the opinions of the Boer generals by the English administrators concerning Chinese mine labour, due to a belief that they did not represent the Boer population, and due to

1104-843: The Dutch Revolt . Signed on 26 July 1581, in The Hague , the Act formally confirmed a decision made by the States General of the Netherlands in Antwerp four days earlier. It declared that all magistrates in the provinces making up the Union of Utrecht were freed from their oaths of allegiance to their lord, Philip, who was also King of Spain. The grounds given were that Philip had failed in his obligations to his subjects, by oppressing them and violating their ancient rights. Philip

1173-460: The Natal , Orange River and Transvaal colonies, but under British influence there was the need now to unite the country under one government. In May 1908, Jan Smuts, Transvaal Colonial Secretary proposed a gathering of representatives from all four colonies and decide on a customs and railways agreement and also included a proposal that the colonies appoint delegates to discuss a constitution for

1242-502: The Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours , while Matthias was bought off with a generous annuity. Holland and Zeeland however did not join in the offer, preferring to look to William himself for the transfer of sovereignty. Transferring the sovereignty of the Netherlands presented a significant problem: the magistrates of the cities and rural areas, and the provincial states themselves, had sworn allegiance to Philip. Oaths of allegiance were taken very seriously during this monarchical era. As long as

1311-635: The monarch's coronation , where they are read at the steps of the Royal Exchange in London and at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh. Act of Abjuration The Act of Abjuration ( Dutch : Plakkaat van Verlatinghe ; Spanish : Acta de Abjuración , lit.   'placard of abjuration ') is the declaration of independence by many of the provinces of the Netherlands from their allegiance to Philip II of Spain , during

1380-561: The British and mining appointed Transvaal Legislative Council it outlined extremely restrictive employment contracts for the Chinese workers and the idea had been sold via a fear campaign aimed at white miners about the need for this labour or face the possibility of loss of mining and their jobs. By 1906, the gold mines of the Witwatersrand were in full production and by 1907, South African gold mines represented thirty-two percent of

1449-421: The British followed a scorched earth policy in the Transvaal, Boer lands, stock and farms had been destroyed. At the conclusion of the war, it was necessary to reconstruct a "government" for the new colony and this was begun with the appointment of a Resident Magistrate in every district of the colony who became District Commissioners while an Assistant Magistrate carried out the legal and magisterial duties of

SECTION 20

#1732765215195

1518-472: The Cape Colony wished to keep what limited enfranchisement it had for all other races. A compromise was reached and all the colonies' wishes concerning their racial make-up for enfranchisement were accepted, though subject to a repeal by a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament. As to the objective of rural and urban constituencies, it was decided to allow fifteen percent fewer constituents for

1587-591: The Colony and indeed all the South African dominion without offending the English. You have only to sacrifice ‘the nigger’ and the game is easy. Any attempt to secure fair play for them makes the Dutch fractious and almost unmanageable." Prior to the grant of responsible self-government on 6 December 1906, the Colony was administered by an Executive Council appointed by the Governor. The first elected Cabinet of

1656-529: The Dutch Revolt, put it – as an attempt whereby “the Republic’s ancient privileges and liberty should be restored”; partly as directed against the royal councillors, not the king: thus the legal fiction was maintained of just having revolted against his viceroys , successively the Duke of Alba , Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens , John of Austria , and the Duke of Parma , while the stadtholders appointed by

1725-411: The Dutch rebels as their protector, though without assuming sovereignty. Under the provisions of the treaty, Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester was appointed Governor-General of the Netherlands. However, like the "reign" of the Duke of Anjou, this proved to be a disappointment. After Leicester's departure in 1587, and given what the British historian John Huxtable Elliott called “the slow decline of

1794-490: The English labourer vote as well as selling themselves as an alternative to the mining capitalistic Progressive Party . The election was held on 20 February 1907 and Het Volk won the election gathering 37 of 69 seats. It stood 43 candidates and won 34 seats outright, all the country seats were gained except Barberton , three seats in Pretoria and four on the Witwatersrand with three independents aligning themselves with

1863-520: The English-speaking population of the Transvaal and the other by teaching the Boer children in English with very little Dutch used, followed by self-rule. The Transvaal Boers' political objectives were the restoration of self-rule in the colony and the political environment to be dominated by the Boers. As the war ended the British were faced with a large proportion of Boer men as prisoners of war and their families in concentration camps. As

1932-547: The Netherlands, strengthening the radicals. At the same time, the States-General had their own claim for authority, as indeed did William as their representative in most provinces, while Anjou was left as a sort of empty figure-head. The latter was not satisfied with his limited powers and made an attempt to subjugate a number of cities, including Antwerp. His assault on the latter, known as the French Fury , led to

2001-465: The Netherlands, though the provinces were all represented in the States General of the Netherlands , since the Great Charter or Privilege of Mary of Burgundy , of 10 February 1477. In the Dutch Revolt , from 1568 several of these provinces rose in rebellion against Philip. Given the monarchical ethos of the time, the revolt had to be justified partly – as William the Silent , the leader of

2070-412: The Silent therefore decided that the rebellious Netherlands should look for an overlord who could bring useful foreign allies. He hoped that Francis, Duke of Anjou , the younger brother and heir-presumptive of King Henry III of France , who did not wish to be someone else's viceroy, was such a man. The rebel States General was persuaded to offer him the sovereignty of the Netherlands, which he accepted by

2139-529: The Spanish king. The Act of Abjuration did not solve the problem of authority in the Low Countries. Philip did not recognise the Act, nor the sovereignty of the Duke of Anjou, while he had already outlawed William of Orange and put a price on his head. Many magistrates refused to take the new oath and preferred to resign from their offices, thus changing the political makeup of many rebellious cities in

Proclamation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2208-756: The Transvaal Colony was formed on 4 March 1907. The Transvaal Colony lay between Vaal River in the south and the Limpopo River in the north, roughly between 22½ and 27½ S, and 25 and 32 E. To its south it bordered with the Orange Free State and Natal Colony , to its south-west were the Cape Colony , to the west was the Bechuanaland Protectorate (later Botswana ), to its north was Rhodesia , and to its east were Portuguese East Africa and Swaziland . Except in

2277-619: The Transvaal. English political movements included the Transvaal Responsible Government Association, the Transvaal Progressive Association and labour groups under an Industrial Labour Party. The Transvaal Responsible Government Association was formed in late 1904 by E.P Solomon and made up of a loose gathering of ex-colonial and ZAR officials and diamond mining magnates, labour and businessmen. They called for

2346-764: The Union of South Africa. Both the Boer republics, the South African Republic (ZAR) and the Orange Free State were defeated in the Anglo-Boer War and surrendered to the UK. The peace treaty ( Treaty of Vereeniging ) contained the following terms: In 1902, with peace following the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging , the new Transvaal colony was faced with intertwined economic and political issues that needed to be resolved. The economic issues faced included

2415-653: The United States communicates information on holidays, commemorations, special observances, trade, and policy through proclamations. After the president signs a proclamation, the White House sends it to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR). The OFR numbers each proclamation consecutively as part of a series and publishes it in the daily Federal Register shortly after receipt. In English law ,

2484-583: The Witwatersrand after contesting 14, but their leader Frederic Creswell failed to gain a seat. Louis Botha became Prime Minister of the Transvaal and Agriculture minister with Jan Smuts as its colonial secretary. Other new cabinet ministers included J de Villiers, Attorney-General and Mines, Henry Charles Hull , Treasurer, Johann Rissik, Land and Native Affairs, Harry Solomon held Public Works and Edward Rooth as whip . The Progressives in opposition would be led by George Farrar and Abe Bailey as

2553-848: The allowance of the colony to create its own policy and strive for self-government and for the party to be eventually renamed the Nationalists. The Transvaal Progressive Association, formed in November 1904 and active from February 1905, had a similar membership but was linked to the mining industry's opposed self-rule and preferred a legislature nominated by the High Commissioner with strong links to Britain. They were led by George Farrar and Percy Fitzpatrick . The pro-Boer Liberal Party in Britain came to power in January 1906 with

2622-518: The area. Roman-Dutch law was translated into English so the law courts could continue, with some old acts repealed and a considerable amount of new law promulgated by the authorities in Johannesburg. The Resident Magistrate then submitted the names of three members of the district to the Governor for district commission under the magistrate. They would consist of one British subject, and two Boers, one from those who had surrendered early on in

2691-491: The army transport requirement to maintain a garrison and civilian requirements to repair the colony. All feed for transport animals had to be brought to the depots as the process started in the winter of 1902. Refugees from the concentration camps and prisoners of war were returned to their districts in a system of drafts. At the depots, they would receive farm equipment, tents and rations to start again and transport to their destinations. Food rations were provided for almost

2760-502: The conflict with Philip could be glossed over, these magistrates could pretend to remain loyal to the king, but if a new sovereign was recognised, they had to make a choice. The rebellious States General decided on 14 June 1581 to officially declare the throne vacant, because of Philip's behaviour. Hence the Dutch name for the Act of Abjuration: "Plakkaat van Verlatinghe", which may be translated as "Placard of Desertion". This referred not to desertion of Philip by his subjects, but rather, to

2829-444: The creation of voters' rolls with the registration process explained in English and Dutch. The British administrators set out to place most Boer farmers back on their land by March 1903 with nineteen million pounds spent on war damages, grants and loans. The administrators reformed the state agricultural departments to modernise farming in the colony which resulted in a maize and beef surplus by 1908. They also attempted to solve

Proclamation - Misplaced Pages Continue

2898-622: The declaration: the Duchies of Brabant and Guelders , the Counties of Flanders , Holland and Zeeland , and the Lordships of Frisia , Mechelen and Utrecht . The provinces of Overijssel (which included Drenthe ) and Groningen also seceded but are not separately mentioned as they strictly speaking were not separate entities but parts of Utrecht and Guelders, respectively. Large parts of Flanders and Brabant were later occupied again by

2967-534: The draft South Africa Act which was released for viewing on 9 February 1909. By 19 August 1909, the South Africa Act passed through the British Parliament and into law. As to the question of black enfranchisement, Milner saw this is a serious issue when it came to a peace treaty: "If I did not have some conscience about the treatment of blacks I personally could win over the Dutch in

3036-413: The duchy of Guelders in his Burgundian territories in 1544. It was constituted as a separate entity with his Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 . His son, King Philip II of Spain , inherited these provinces on Charles' abdication in 1555. But this actually meant that he assumed the feudal title of each individual province, as Duke of Brabant , Count of Holland etc. There never was a single, unified state of

3105-476: The enforcement of which the legislature has left to the discretion of the king or queen in the announcement. Proclamations are also used for declaring bank holidays and the issuance of coinage. Royal proclamations of this character, made in furtherance of the executive power of the Crown , are binding on the subject, "where they do not either contradict the old laws or tend to establish new ones, but only confine

3174-649: The execution of such laws as are already in being in such matter as the sovereign shall judge necessary" ( Blackstone 's Commentaries , ed. Stephen, ii. 528; Stephen 's Commentaries , 14th ed. 1903, ii. 506, 507; Dicey , Law of the Constitution , 6th ed., 51). Royal proclamations, which, although not made in pursuance of the executive powers of the Crown, either call upon the subject to fulfil some duty which they are by law bound to perform, or to abstain from any acts or conduct already prohibited by law, are lawful and right, and disobedience to them (while not of itself

3243-425: The lack of self-rule, Louis Botha and others met in 1904 at a Volkskongres . The result of this people congress was the unification of the Boer political movement in the Transvaal into a new party called Het Volk in January 1905 by Louis Botha and Jan Smuts. This new party's objective was to seek reconciliation with Britain, which would be favoured by the British opposition Liberal Party , and Boer self-rule for

3312-527: The largest parts of Flanders and Brabant and a small part of Gelre were recaptured by Spain. The partial recapture of these areas to Spain led to the creation of Staats-Vlaanderen , Staats-Brabant, Staats-Overmaas and Spaans Gelre. The Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands were united in a personal union by Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V with the incorporation of

3381-433: The mining magnates and the British administrators, there was a need to restart the industry but labour was required. Just prior to the war, white miners wages were high and magnates weren't keen to increase the wages and since black miners wages had been reduced before the war and not increased, so black labourers weren't interested in working the mines. Unskilled white labour was ruled out as their wages would be too high for

3450-416: The monarchical idea, in the face of repeated failures”, the States General decided to assume sovereignty themselves, thereby making the seven United Provinces a republic. Transvaal Colony 25°S 30°E  /  25°S 30°E  / -25; 30 The Transvaal Colony ( Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈtransfɑːl] ) was the name used to refer to the Transvaal region during

3519-474: The opposition whip. They all assembled for the first time in March 1907. After the 1907 election, the issue of Chinese mining labour was revisited with Het Volk believing there was enough labour in the form of black and white miners. Taking into account the economic interests of the Transvaal, Botha ensured a gradual policy of repatriation of Chinese labour. By 1908, the Boers had won control, in elections, of

SECTION 50

#1732765215195

3588-434: The party. The Progressive Party stood 34 candidates and won 21 seats, twenty on the Witwatersrand and one in Pretoria with five Randlords winning seats. Other parties included the Nationalists (old Transvaal Responsible Government Association) that won 6 seats, four on the Witwatersrand and two in Pretoria but their leader Richard Solomon failed to win his seat. The Transvaal Independent Labour Party won three seats in

3657-479: The period of direct British rule and military occupation between the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 when the South African Republic was dissolved, and the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910. The borders of the Transvaal Colony were larger than the defeated South African Republic (which had existed from 1856 to 1902). In 1910 the entire territory became the Transvaal Province of

3726-521: The poor white problem by settling them as tenant farmers on state land, but the lack of capital and labour caused the scheme to fail. An attempt was made to place English settlers on farmland so as to anglicise the Transvaal and increase the English-speaking population but this failed, too, as the policy attracted too few settlers. By the end of 1901, gold mining finally resumed on the Rand around Johannesburg , having virtually stopped since 1899. Backed by

3795-600: The province in which they served, according to a form prescribed by the States General. The actual draft seems to have been written by an audiencier of the States General, Jan van Asseliers. The Act was remarkable for its extensive preamble, which took the form of an ideological justification, phrased as an indictment (a detailed list of grievances) of King Philip. This form, to which the American Declaration of Independence bears striking resemblance, has given rise to speculation that Thomas Jefferson , when he

3864-466: The provincial estates continued to claim they represented Philip. This pretence was already wearing thin, however, by the time of the Pacification of Ghent in 1576. When Don Juan attacked Antwerp and Namur in 1577, the States General – as the provincial estates did with the non-royalist stadtholders – appointed Archduke Matthias , Philip's nephew, as viceroy, without Philip's consent. Matthias

3933-497: The reconstruction required varied from district to district. In the larger towns, municipal or health boards were "appointed" to manage them under the Resident Magistrate. They had limited functions and the only rates they levied were for sanitary functions. Within fifteen months of the end of the war, the municipal government was introduced with preparations made for fair elections based on property valuation and

4002-421: The restoration of the mining industry to pre-war levels, then growing it further with the need for extra labour, the restoration of the Boers to their lands and increasing the agricultural output of those farms. The political issue faced depended on what side of politics one stood on. The existing British administrators under Alfred Milner wished to anglicise the population through two main means. One by increasing

4071-402: The transaction in open court, barred the rights of strangers, as well as parties, in case they had not made claim to the property conveyed within five years thereafter (acts 1483–1484 and 1488–1489). These proclamations were originally made sixteen times: four times in the term in which the fine was levied, and four times in each of the three succeeding terms. Afterwards the number of proclamations

4140-539: The war and one who had fought until the end. The commission would have two functions, one to provide assistance and issuing of rations, equipment, transport and plough animals to those affected by the war, and the second to investigate claims for compensation for actual damages sustained during the war. Repatriation depots were established in the districts and they were stocked with food, seed, agricultural equipment, transport, plough animals, stone and building material. The rail transport network struggled to compete with

4209-521: The work done, so the mining magnates and their Chamber of Mines in 1903 sought alternative labour in the form of cheap Chinese workers. The legislation to import Chinese labour was introduced to the Transvaal Legislative Council on 28 December 1903 by George Farrar and was debated for 30 hours and successfully voted on after its three readings on 30 December 1903, coming into law in February 1904. Having been rubber-stamped by

SECTION 60

#1732765215195

4278-494: The worlds gold output. By 1910, Chinese labour ended on the Witwatersrand and the restrictive job reservation laws preventing Chinese miners doing certain jobs was replicated for Black miners. From the end of the war in 1902, the political administration of the Transvaal colony was controlled by members of a legislative and executive council, all appointed by the British Administrators under Alfred Milner and

4347-590: Was reduced to one in each of the four terms. The proclamations were endorsed on the back of the record. The system was abolished by the Fines and Recoveries Act 1833 . On certain rare occasions, the heralds of the College of Arms and the Lyon Court (or somebody else assigned to) still publicly read out certain proclamations such as the proclamation regarding the dissolution of Parliament or proclamations regarding

4416-473: Was repealed by the Treason Act 1547 ; and it is certain that a proclamation purporting to be made in the exercise of legislative power by which the sovereign imposes a duty to which the subject is not by law liable, or prohibits under penalties what is not an offence at law, or adds fresh penalties to any offence, is of no effect unless itself issued in virtue of statutory authority (see also Order in Council ). The Crown has power to legislate by proclamation for

4485-450: Was signed which led to the creation of the Dutch Republic in 1588, formally recognized in 1648 by the Peace of Münster . The announcement of the intention to marry two people, the bidding, was referred to as a "proclamation" because it was done by reading out a corresponding text during the service. In the cities, laws, ordinances, etc. were "proclaimed" up to modern times so that they would become known and effective. The president of

4554-413: Was therefore considered to have forfeited his thrones as ruler of each of the provinces which signed the Act. The Act of Abjuration allowed the newly independent territories to govern themselves, although they first offered their thrones to alternative candidates. When this failed in 1587 by, among other things, the deduction of François Vranck the provinces became a republic in 1588. During that period

4623-401: Was to become the Act of Abjuration. The Act prohibited the use of the name and seal of Philip in all legal matters, and of his name or arms in minting coins. It gave authority to the Councils of the provinces to henceforth issue the commissions of magistrates. The Act relieved all magistrates of their previous oaths of allegiance to Philip, and prescribed a new oath of allegiance to the States of

4692-422: Was writing the latter, was at least partly inspired by the Act of Abjuration. The preamble was based on Vindiciae contra tyrannos by Philippe de Mornay , and other works of monarchomachs may have been sources of inspiration also. The rebels, in their appeal to public opinion, may have thought it more important to quote "authoritative" sources and refer to "ancient rights" they wished to defend. By deposing

4761-436: Was young and inexperienced, and brought no resources of his own to the battle with Philip. This became a serious problem after the Duke of Parma started to make serious inroads against the tenuous unity of the Pacification with his Union of Arras of a number of southern Provinces, which the rebellious northern provinces answered with their own Union of Utrecht , both in 1579. Each union formed its own Estates General. William

#194805