Authentic information received since this pamphlet has been in
preparation amply confirms the statements made herein. The English
press continues its insidious practise of praising unstintedly the
management of the prison camps. Those who think the statements of
the shameful conditions are exaggerated should compare them with
the information which at rare intervals comes directly from these
prisoners. Rev. F. S. Ballentine, of Philadelphia, who was inside the
Boer camps, practically confirms everything that is told in these pages
in an article in the _Outlook_ of November 9th. A letter sent to Boston
by one of the most prominent prisoners, Mr. Joubert Reitz, son of the
Secretary of State, and published in the _Boston Globe_ of November
13th, urgently asks for clothing and food. Reliable reports from these
sources should be more convincing than a hundred British commendations
to the contrary. An appeal to the benevolence of the American people is
so much more warranted because the Bermuda authorities do not seem to
favor local charity so much as they had the appearance of doing in the
beginning. The other day a Hamilton mob played havoc with the promoters
of domestic charity, and, with the connivance of the government, burnt
them in effigy. It now appears that the Governor of Bermuda refuses to
admit any second-hand clothing, ostensibly through fear of infection.
There is at present no report of an epidemic of a contagious disease
throughout the United States, and therefore this refusal seems a
subterfuge. The governor is no doubt alarmed over the sympathy aroused
in this country by previous appeals for the Boer prisoners.
To assist the Boer prisoners promptly the friends of those in
confinement will have to contribute new clothing, digestible food, like
condensed milk, and small tools, all of which can be of great use to
the four thousand prisoners.
The British government as well, in spite of the explicit article in
the Hague Conference providing for free entry for all articles for
prisoners, demand a duty of five per cent. on all articles sent to the
Boer prisoners. The Hague Conference provides in Chapter II., Article
XVI., that “gifts and relief in kind for prisoners of war shall be
admitted free of all duties of entry and others.”