It must not be supposed that the intelligent Boer is non-existent;
but, as I have said, he is in the minority. He reads the newspapers,
and he has a great deal to say on both sides. He has very few personal
prejudices; his whole concern is concentrated in a desire to further
the progress of the country. His mind is developed; he does not regard
the Englishman as an interloper; he wants 'to live and let live.'
There is, unfortunately, the other element, a most undesirable
one--the Boer who is continually stirring up ill-feeling. You will
find him everywhere, and he is always at it. If his own brother
happened to be an educated man, he could not get on with him; his
nature is despicable. President Kruger thinks that race hatred will
gradually disappear, for 'wherever love dwells, prosperity must
follow.' Can anyone imagine love existing in the nature of the man I
have cited? President Kruger himself is an educated man, an able man
in his own sphere. If he practises the art of brotherly love to the
same extent that he preaches it, why does he not make some arrangement
by which it would be possible to instil a portion of the sentiment
into some of his erring children? Then we should have no more racial
hatred to concern ourselves with; we should have instead the inspiring
spectacle of a reclaimed Dutchman falling upon the neck of his English
next-door neighbour and weeping.
At the same time, however, even supposing Oom Paul's influence were
capable of producing such picturesque results, it would be well
meantime if a little fundamental education could be introduced. This
may seem impracticable at the first blush, considering that the
population is so widely scattered, but no doubt there is some hidden
solution. Ignorance is accountable in a great measure for the
ill-feeling which exists between Dutch and English, and rancour cannot
be removed until ignorance is ordered out through the back-door.
[Illustration: RAADZAAL, OR BOER PARLIAMENT HOUSE.]
There is also the fact that the generality of the people exhibit
little or no interest in the leaders of their Government. It is said
that the perusal of biography ennobles and develops the mind. This is
also the case when a man follows with interest and profit the mature
reasoning and diplomatical tact of some of our present-day
politicians. I say some of them, because not all of them exhibit that
intellectual refinement which characterized the great Plato. Still, a
great many people might acquire a tolerable education if they applied
themselves to the perusal of newspapers in this way, and it is my firm
belief that the Boers would benefit by such a course.
The average Boer does not know exactly the meaning of the word
'politics,' except that in most things he prefers to be conservative.
He likes to move along very quietly, without any outside
interference. He knows full well that he has sent his representative
to Parliament, and he leaves that member severely alone. Sometimes the
member calls a public meeting of his own accord, and the Boer attends
that meeting, not because he is anxious to bring forward any matter
affecting the welfare of his country or district, nor because the
member has failed to satisfy him, but merely because he is desirous of
meeting his fellow-men and discussing crops and Kaffirs and oxen and
sheep and wool--in short, anything outside of politics, in which he
professes no interest whatever. He is not interested in general
measures for the benefit of the whole country; his attention is fully
occupied with the affairs of his own particular piece of land, and so
long as he himself prospers, he does not trouble about the prosperity
or otherwise of his neighbours.
Oom Paul is the leading light, and should he elect to do this or that,
he need exercise no discretion concerning the probable feeling of the
country. He is the man at the wheel, and the crew have such implicit
faith in him that he can practically steer where he wills. He may
sometimes experience a little opposition in the House, but he is
long-headed as well as hard-headed, and he invariably holds the trump
card. He is not a Boer in the ordinary sense of the word; he is only a
Boer in the sense that he smokes hard and prefers coffee. He lives in
a very ordinary dwelling-house, and it is even stated that his vrouw
starches and irons his dress-shirts, but this may only be surmise. At
all events he does not allow these trifles to worry him, his renowned
diplomacy being directed chiefly to the management of his cosmopolitan
children, who are apt occasionally to wax troublesome and exceed the
bounds of caution.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT KRUGER'S HOUSE.]
When a Government assumes a more or less aggressive attitude, or
something tantamount, it is safe to predict that such a Government
will encounter difficulties. It may be a good Government; but it will
not be a successful one. The actions of any Government reflect upon
the country, adversely or otherwise. In a country like the Transvaal,
the Government is a weighty concern which does not so much consider
the voice of the people as the preservation of its own individual
sanctity. The presidential chair represents the universal criterion
either for good or for evil, although it is not usually associated
with evil. It practises the art of cabling--with Mr. Chamberlain for
preference. The voice of the people is duly represented, but it is a
very weak and halfhearted voice. There is not that hearty ring in it
which is so marked when, for instance, a crowd of Englishmen greet
their Queen. President Kruger represents the Transvaal burghers, and
the requisitions which are published previous to the Presidential
election are sufficient and convincing proof that he is a popular and
highly respected man. These requisitions usually refer in a general
way to the numerous difficulties through which Oom Paul has so ably
piloted the country. According to such requisitions innumerable
difficulties have assailed the poor country on all sides, and the
general tone throughout would imply that they were insidious and
uncalled for. The country had done nothing; the people had gone about
their business innocently, and attended church regularly, and no
thoughts of intrigue or anything resembling it had existed in their
bosoms. Their desire was to govern the country honestly and with a
view only to its prosperity, adopting precautions at the same time
which would exclude the participation of foreigners--Englishmen, for
example. They didn't believe in the English element; it was too
dangerous. The President all the while tried to make out that he liked
the English; but he didn't. Of course, a great Power like the
Transvaal must keep up appearances. The German Emperor, for instance,
doesn't say straight out that the English are a bad lot, and therefore
Oom Paul must not display official ignorance by doing that which the
German Emperor does not do. A man may not exactly be born a King, or a
President, but he can learn a lot of useful little formalities by
watching the other Kings and Presidents. It will be observed,
therefore, that the Transvaal has all along been very docile and
consequently very badly used. And because it has displayed the best
and noblest qualities and on all occasions endeavoured to obviate
friction with other people, it has been unjustly assailed and trampled
upon.
Oom Paul is a very good man, but he kicks at the traces a great deal.
He likes to go out of his way to find out what other people are saying
about him, and he displays, moreover, another undesirable
characteristic--he is suspicious. It is in the family; it is in the
whole people. He is continually working himself up into the condition
of a man whose highly-strung nerves convince him that the whole world
is against him. He always imagined that everybody was working out
plans of campaign by which it would be possible to annex the Transvaal
to the British Empire. Fortunately there were other matters and other
countries to consider, and if Oom Paul would just study a map of the
world for a few weeks and reflect, he would probably find his position
less irksome. But Oom Paul has a great deal to think about--he must
think for the whole nation. The 'unfortunate affair which occurred
after 1895' seems to trouble him a great deal. Despite the fact that
the country was well paid for it, this incident seems fated to crop up
at least every six months, and it will be handed down to generations
untold, so that it may ever be kept green. It will be nurtured and
well looked after, and the one regret will be that it does not bring
in an annual income in proportion to the original amount.
[Illustration: PRESIDENT KRUGER.]
The Boer's politics are summed up in the single word 'Defence.' He is
not aggressive, but he is strong on Defence. Possession with him is
ten points of the law--it is everything. Let the independence of his
country be threatened, and he is at once a man of action. He
figuratively converts his ploughshare into a sword, although the uses
of that weapon are unknown to him. At the time of the Jameson Raid it
may safely be asserted that there did not exist a single Boer--young
or old--who was not in possession of a serviceable firearm and the
full complement of ammunition. The Kantoors--i.e., the Government
offices--were daily besieged by eager men as eager to possess
themselves of the instruments and munitions of war. Every man was
ready; farmers were no longer farmers, but soldiers, prepared to face
the worst in the defence of their only love--their country.