The crisis drew nearer when an immense petition to the Queen was forwarded by the Outlanders, praying for redress of their grievances. A conference was arranged between President Kruger and Sir Alfred Milner at Bloemfontein, and at it Sir Alfred put forward minimum demands--for a reform of the franchise in the Transvaal, by which the Outlanders would be able to obtain votes, and for a redistribution of seats. The demands were refused, Mr. Kruger offering very much less, and the conference broke up. [Illustration: SIR A. MILNER AND PRESIDENT KRUGER LEAVING THE CONFERENCE AT BLOEMFONTEIN, June, 1899. No greater contrast can be imagined than the young, dapper, cultured diplomatist, and the rugged, wily, and uncultured old President.] [Sidenote: SEPT. 1899.] _British Demands Refused._] Then followed a long diplomatic battle between the British Government and Mr. Kruger. Something on our part was conceded of Sir Alfred's minimum, but not by Sir Alfred; nothing was conceded by the Transvaal, which at every turn asserted its right to be considered a "sovereign independent state." Mr. Kruger, as he had always prophesied, was aided and encouraged in his resistance by a certain party of Englishmen which denounced Sir Alfred Milner, pretended that England was aiming at "the destruction of the Transvaal Republic," and asserted that England must concede, and ought to concede, because the nation would never go to war. [Illustration: BLOEMFONTEIN, CAPITAL OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE.] Finally, on September 8, a British note was despatched demanding a franchise attainable after five years' residence, a greater representation for the Outlander majority in the Volksraad--the Transvaal parliament--and equality of the Dutch and English languages in that Parliament. An early answer was required. At the same time 5,000 troops were ordered from England and 5,000 from India to South Africa, where our garrison did not much exceed 7,000 men. [Illustration: [_Photo by Elliott & Fry._ SIR ALFRED MILNER. Son of a doctor of medicine; was educated in Germany, and at King's College, London, and Balliol College, Oxford; barrister, 1881; engaged in journalism, 1882-5; Private Secretary to Mr. Goschen, 1887-9; Under Secretary for Finance in Egypt, 1889-92; Chairman of Board of Inland Revenue, 1892-7; K. C. B., 1895; Governor of the Cape, and High Commissioner of South Africa since 1897.] [Illustration: [_Photo by Elliott & Fry._ RT. HON. JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN.