THE ENGLISH ARM KAFFIRS--THE HAGUE CONFERENCE AND
CIVILIZATION--HANDS-UPPERS AND THEIR POSITION.
Now I wish to say, and will say, a few words about English war
correspondents. I never met but two personally, and they were prisoners
of war in Pretoria, having a few days previously been captured by the
Irish Brigade at Elandsfontein near Johannesburg, at the time of the
British occupation of this city. The two gentlemen were Lord Cecil
Manners and Lord Roslyn. They were given comfortable quarters in the
Grand Hotel, and both seemed contented, although they were anxious to
be released, that they might see what the English and Boers were doing
just outside of Pretoria. They were not prejudiced and thick-headed,
as you generally find Englishmen of their class, and both impressed
me as being honest, reasonable and desirous of the whole truth. Lord
Roslyn showed one of his reports to me, made while Buller was trying to
relieve Ladysmith, and Lord Cecil Manners gave me his views, too. Both
of course were Englishmen, and very handsome and fine looking ones,
too. Naturally they viewed matters from an English stand point, still I
was surprised at their fairness, and I do not believe that either would
intentionally twist a fact in order to conceal British blunders. Now
this brings me to one that I did not meet, but one I wanted to meet.
His name is Bennet Burleigh, and he was war correspondent of the London
_Daily Telegraph_.
In Johannesburg there is a house known as the American Hotel, and the
proprietor of that house was Dave Norris, an American, and one of the
worthiest of the race in South Africa. He despised the English, loved
liberty and longed to see the Boers free and independent. All the Irish
boys knew him, and all loved him, and he in his turn was as warmly
devoted to them, so, naturally, when any of them were in Johannesburg,
they were always to be found with good Dave Norris in the American
Hotel; and wherever the Irish boys were, there I, too, would be.
Now I will return to Mr. Bennet Burleigh. As soon as the English
occupied Johannesburg, they heard that I was still in the city. All
wanted me and they wanted me badly, because it meant quite a neat sum
of money to the fortunate man. Bennet Burleigh was not a combatant; he
was a war correspondent, and was not supposed to take any active part.
[Illustration: MISS MINNIE KINGSMAN
a Boer belle of Johannesburg]
Late one night, Dave Norris was aroused and, on opening the door, in
walked Bennet Burleigh with a revolver in his hand. In the adjoining
room there was a man named Wilson, and to Wilson's ear he placed his
revolver, and said, "I have you at last, Blake, and you are good meat."
"Butch" Wilson replied: "Fooled again, old man! Colonel Blake is not
here." "Butch" having proven his identity, was released. After a few
nights, Bennet Burleigh was again in the American Hotel, but this
time put his revolver in old John Langtry's ear, and said: "I know I
am right this time, come on here, sir, and be quick about it." Old
John asked him what he wanted him for. "I know Blake by his photo,
and you are the man, so get out." Again Mr. Bennet Burleigh, the war
correspondent, _the non-combatant_, was sorely disappointed. Had this
thing, Bennet Burleigh, been captured by the Boers, he would have
whined and cried and begged to be released, because he had nothing to
do with fighting and only acted as a correspondent.
After the general surrender, one of the English majors whom I knew
quite well, told me that Mr. Bennet Burleigh was very anxious to meet
me, and would like an appointment. I was highly pleased and told the
major that I would be glad to meet Mr. Burleigh at the Grand, in
the evening, and that if he presented him to me I would make him a
beautiful present, or give any one $25.00 who would bring the man face
to face with me. Mr. Burleigh never showed up, and I inquired after
him, but he had gone to Johannesburg. He soon left for England, so I
never had the opportunity I so longed for.
Bennet Burleigh is a cowardly thing, and such a thing cannot possibly
make a truthful report. Take all his writings during the war, and I
very much doubt whether one grain of truth could be found in any one
of his reports. We read many of his detailed descriptions, and they
were so ridiculously false that we could not help laughing. Mr. Bennet
Burleigh, you are a thorough-bred Englishman, typical of a degenerate
race, and I now drop you as I picked you up, a dirty thing.
Now I come to the subject of armed Kaffirs. On the English side of the
western border of the Transvaal, the English armed several thousand
Kaffirs, and instructed them to make raids on the Boer farms across
the border, and take all cattle, sheep, horses, etc., they could find.
The Kaffirs were delighted and lost no time in carrying out their
instructions. They crossed, and on the first raid murdered more than
fifty old men, women and children, and destroyed their property. They
came again, and nearly all the Boers were withdrawn from Mafeking
in order to fight them, and drive them out. They slaughtered the
Kaffirs by the hundreds and drove them back to their English allies for
protection.
While the troops were absent, Baden-Powell did not leave his
prairie-dog-holes and come out, because he was afraid the Boers might
catch him out, and that would be the end of Baden-Powell and his letter
writing. A Boer commando had to be formed and kept near the border to
protect the women and children from these savages armed by the English.
All of the many thousands of Kaffirs in the Rustenburg district were
so armed, and at times General de la Rey would have to abandon all
operations against the English and go and fight them, to drive them
far from the women and children. All the thousands of Kaffirs between
Pretoria and Pietersburg and those to the north of Pietersburg were
also armed by the English, and General Beyers had to fight them much
more than he did the latter, in order to save the women and children
from being outraged and murdered.
Armed Kaffirs were stationed all along the Pretoria-Pietersburg railway
line and did all the work that Joe Chamberlain told the British
Parliament the English soldiers were doing.
Northeast of Pretoria, north of Middleburg and all about Lydenburg and
Pilgrims' Rest, were thousands of England's savage allies who murdered
hundreds of men, women and children. In the east, about Komati Poort
and along the Swazie-land border, the same conditions prevailed and the
outrages committed are too sickening to put in print. Nearly sixty men
were attacked, murdered and cut into pieces at one place.
All the blockhouses along the eastern border were manned with armed
Kaffirs. About thirty women and children who had their homes burnt
on the Piet-Retief border by the English and were left to starve to
death, started out on foot to find some Boer commando, and get food
and relief. They had to pass through this line of blockhouses manned
by the armed Kaffirs. The savages seized and outraged all of them, and
then drove them into the high veldt, where they were abandoned. They
were found by the Boers, and a more sickening sight or characteristic
picture of English brutality and savage outrage could not be imagined.
In the face of all this, Lord Kitchener, Lord Milner and Joe
Chamberlain swore to the world that no armed Kaffirs were employed by
the English troops!
There were between 30,000 and 40,000 Kaffirs armed by the English,
and instructed to kill off the Boers. The Kaffirs had always been
friendly to the Boers but the English went to them, and told them that
if they did not take up arms against the Boers, they would destroy all
their food and not allow them to grow any more as long as the war
lasted. The Kaffirs in the mountains near Lydenburg were not to be so
threatened because the English knew them and were afraid of them. In
order to get them to fight the Boers, the English promised to give them
all the Boer farms in their section at the end of the war. Many of my
good friends were murdered in cold blood by these same Kaffirs.
At the town of Lydenburg, the English had more than 1000 armed Kaffirs
side by side with them. At Middleburg they had about 600. In all the
blockhouses and forts along the railway lines there were armed Kaffirs,
with the English soldiers, and the Kaffirs were generally in the
majority.
After the war came to an end, the English sent wagons and carts out to
bring in the rifles, but the Kaffirs refused to give them up until the
English had made good their agreement. The Kaffirs fairly drove out
the English, who then came to the Boers and asked them to join with
them and help them disarm the Kaffirs. The Boers refused to a man, and
told them since they had armed the blacks, they must now disarm them.
The Kaffirs took possession of the Boer farms which the English had
promised to give them, and would not let the Boers return.
At this time, I do not know how the affairs were settled, but I think
all Kaffir claims were paid for, but the rifles were not given up.
Now that the war is over and hundreds of men, women and children have
been murdered by these savages, Lord Kitchener, Lord Milner and Joe
Chamberlain are ready to admit that they armed thousands of Kaffirs and
used them against the Boers. They now admit it because they have to,
for if there was any possible way to lie out of it, it is certain they
would take advantage of it.
The English officers, English soldiers and Kaffirs all tell you now
that they were armed by the English, to fight the Boers, and the
savages do not hesitate to tell why they turned against the Boers. It
is hard for Joe Chamberlain, and Milner and Kitchener to lie out of it.
They can't do it, and they are too smart to try it.
For eighteen months we had the Kaffirs on one side and the English on
the other, and the narrow belt between was not more than twenty-five
to thirty-five miles wide, and here it was that we must live and fight
and try to protect ourselves. Sometimes we were fighting the English,
and sometimes the Kaffirs, and sometimes both at once. How we managed
to hold our own and escape what the English call sure death, I can not
explain, but I do know that nearly all escaped.
I have heard much about Geneva Conventions, Hague Conferences, and have
had to know something about International Law, and I am forced to come
to the conclusion that all these peace and humanity posters are only
intended for times of peace. Great men meet at Geneva; great men meet
at the Hague; great men meet to discuss questions of International
Law; all are lovers of peace, all love humanity, all are determined to
reduce the sufferings of mankind to a minimum in times of war, _but
lay at their feet the lifeless form of a child mutilated by an English
shell, or a savage armed with an English rifle, and all will throw up
their hands in horror, and cry out "what a pity! But the English are a
civilized people, and we must support them."_
When I hear learned and humane men discussing the sufferings of man,
Geneva Conventions, Hague Conferences and International Law, I feel
like crying out "Rot, rot, rot! and three times Rot, rot, rot!" because
that is all there is in the whole business. The savage fights to kill;
he asks no quarter, and he gives none in times of war; he has no Geneva
Conventions to conceal him while murdering the wounded; he has no
Hague Conferences, no International Law; but he is not a hypocrite,
because he proclaims just what he is, and will not appeal to long-faced
humanity to make screens to hide his acts.
I know the savages, because I have lived with them. I know the
civilized, because I have lived with him! and when it comes to decide
on questions of honor, humanity and justice, give me the savage every
time. The great savage nations are better governed, are infinitely
more moral, more humane and just, than any of the so-called civilized
nations.
The Great Indian tribes, before they were corrupted and polluted by the
presence of white men, were proud, high-spirited, well governed, happy
and contented, but now they are low, degenerate, immoral and miserable.
The great Kaffir nations of South Africa, the Zulus, the Basutos, and
the Swazies, probably the finest races of people in the world, are far
more free and independent, better governed, more moral and contented
than the people of the so-called civilized nations on the globe. Both
men and women are pictures of physical perfection; they are proud, but
not boastful; they are honorable and truthful to each other; immorality
with them is punished by death; and they live at peace with each other,
and with the world, so long as greedy, immoral white man does not
interfere.
Now I will pass on to what is in the world known as "hands-uppers,"
that is, those burghers who for various reasons voluntarily went into
the English lines and surrendered their rifles. On the occupation of
Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria, thousands of this name really
thought the war was over, and acted accordingly. All Boer officers
totally condemn them, and declare there was no excuse for them. Here
I differ with the Boer officers, and say that they themselves were
entirely responsible for nearly every one who voluntarily surrendered
his rifle. Thousands upon thousands surrendered on the occupation of
Johannesburg and Pretoria, believing that the war was at an end. Under
Lord Robert's proclamation, setting forth that the war was practically
over, and assuring all burghers who came in and surrendered their
rifles, that neither they nor their property would be in any way
molested, thousands of others surrendered. Not a Boer officer in the
field opened his mouth and told the burghers anything. When they did
assemble the burghers, and talked to them, their theme was Christ and
His teachings, and that all must follow the narrow path, because the
broad one led to hell. Not in a single instance did any Boer officer
tell the burghers what their duty to their country was; not a word
about patriotism was ever mentioned, not a hint given that the war
would proceed more vigorously than ever after the fall and occupation
of Pretoria. No, the burghers were absolutely ignored, and while I
deplored the fact that so many thousands of them surrendered, yet I
felt that the Boer officers deserved infinitely more censure than the
burghers themselves.
For instance, General de la Rey, the noble and patriotic defender
of his Country, called upon the burghers in the Rustenburg district
to take up arms again and fight for their Country. All responded,
and General de la Rey had to send hundreds of miles for rifles and
ammunition with which to equip them. I, at least, do not censure this
class of "hands-uppers," but I do censure the Boer officers, all of
whom were guilty and strictly responsible for their conduct. Had there
been no surrenders, the Boers would have beaten the English.
In Ermelo, in 1901, I heard General Louis Botha make a speech to the
burghers. I did not like what he said, and thereupon did not agree with
him. He told them they could go and surrender if they pleased, but
if they did go, it would be without his permission. This was really
an inducement for them to go and surrender. Idleness always creates
discontent, and from this all the burghers were suffering. They could
see no reason why they should lie in laager and do nothing, and if that
was what General Botha wished them to do, why, they said, it is better
to go and surrender, and be through with the business.
I certainly blame General Botha for the surrender of hundreds of
men, and while I like him and know that he is a great fighter when
pushed to it, yet I must be honest and tell him the great mistake he
made, in not keeping the burghers in hand, and giving them plenty of
fighting, for they were always ready to fight when there was anything
to be accomplished. I used to wish to say to him: "General Botha,
you know what the Governor of North Carolina said to the Governor of
South Carolina, "It is a long time," not "between drinks," but between
fights."
The English columns had not then swarmed over the high veldt, and both
the Delagoa and Natal railway lines were easy to destroy, and many
trains could have been taken, yet he would not allow the burghers to
molest them. I did not understand him then, and I don't understand him
now. Captain Jack Hindon and that most reckless officer, Lieutenant
Hendrik Slegkamp, were destroying armored trains and freight trains,
near Balmoral, and they captured enough supplies and ammunition to
support the whole Boer army, yet the burghers were not there to help
themselves and make provision for the future.
Captain Hindon and Lieutenant Slegkamp had only about 100 men, yet
they were in every way successful. Captain Karl Trichardt, a son of
the patriotic Commandant Trichardt, of the State Artillery, joined
with Captain Hindon and Lieutenant Slegkamp _and together they took in
more than 100 trains in two months_. The burghers were most anxious to
have a hand in this business; but General Botha discouraged them, and
in every instance, when they requested him, they were refused. I do
not like to criticise General Botha, because he is a most excellent
fighter, but I feel that in telling him his weaknesses, he may, at some
time in the future, remember what I say, and benefit by it. I know that
he is loyal and true, but he must feel the prick of the spur in order
to develop the high speed that is really in him.
I say all this with the best intentions, General Botha, for you are a
young man, and in the future possibly your services will be needed. To
your tact, courage and generalship, add energy and foresight, and I
assure you that you will prove yourself a star of the first magnitude
in the eyes of the military world; but remember that you can not ignore
and allow to remain undestroyed the enemy's line of communications,
when all is in your own hands. Make your plans to win, but also prepare
for disaster, and your name will go down in history as a great general.
Of General de lay Rey and De Wet, I have but one criticism to make, and
that is they must tell their burghers less of religion and more of the
duties they owe to their Country.
The burghers know their bibles as well as the officers, can pray as
well and preach as well; then why should their officers keep trying to
drive more bible into the burghers? When the officers tell them that
God has ordained that all men shall be free, and that all burghers who
submit to live as slaves to an English Sovereign can never hope to
pass St. Peter and enter the gates of heaven, they have said enough
on the bible question. In contending with such an unscrupulous and
God-banished government as the British, they must remember that their
rifles and artillery must take first place. The Boers are by nature
intensely humane and religious, and command the respect and admiration
of all who know them, but they must remember that when at war with
the English, they are fighting a lot of savages, and that by way of
retaliation they must play the savage, too. The civilized christian
preaches of humane war, but has any one ever taken part in or witnessed
a humane war, or can any one mention a humane war since the world was
created? When two civilized nations go to war, each strains every
nerve to mow the other down, to cut his throat, to mutilate and kill
him,--by fair means or foul,--and when the battle is lost and won,
they commiserate and sympathize with them, and grieve to see so many
hundreds of their fellowmen writhing in agony on the battlefield. This
is what they call humane war in modern times. If the greedy, ambitious
and unscrupulous politicians who draw the people into war were forced
to shoulder the rifle and take position in the front line of battle,
then we would have a truly humane war, because they would then find a
way to settle all differences without resorting to force of arms.
Had the English law required Joe Chamberlain, Alfred Milner and
C.J. Rhodes, to go into the front line of battle as proof of their
earnestness and sincerity and of their love for their country, it is
certain that the pages of history would never have been stained by the
account of the bloody war in South Africa.
Now a few words on the Anglo-Boer, a class of men in my opinion far
more contemptible than such men as Roberts, Kitchener, Milner and
Chamberlain who had burned down the Boer homes and left the Boer women
to starve to death, because they did not make their men come in and
surrender. The Anglo-Boers deserted their people, took up arms with
the British and materially helped them to destroy their own people's
farms and make the women and children suffer death, if possible. These
Anglo-Boers were organized into a military force and christened by
Lord Kitchener as National Scouts. To show their great loyalty to the
British Crown they endeavored to prove themselves more cruel to the
Boer women and children than the English ever were, and they made
thousands of them suffer. The Boers were fortunate enough to capture
a few of them and they were promptly shot. All of them would have
been shot had they been captured. After the general surrender any one
of those National Scouts who dared to go back to his own farm would
promptly meet his just doom. The English would bury him and ask no
questions. Within the first two months after the surrender, twenty-two
of them were buried, and I learn that occasionally one or two of them
are buried now. They have to live under the protection of the British
troops to avoid being killed. It is hoped that in time the entire 3000
will have died unnatural deaths. In hundreds of instances their own
wives and children deserted them and would not allow them to come near
them. Many of them wanted to go to Somaliland and help the English
fight the Mad Mullah and his negroes, but the English Government felt
that they could not be trusted. They are now ignored and despised both
by the English and the Boers, and the most commendable act they could
do would be for each to cut his own throat and thus earn the thanks and
approval of present and coming generations.
The traitor is the most despicable of all the animal creation, and
of the National Scouts I say with Tom Moore "May the blood that
courses through their dastardly veins and recoils at the very sound of
Freedom's call, stagnate in chains!"
I will now sum up the reasons why the Boers lost their independence
and country, and then throw in a few scraps which are worth recording.
In the first place, the Boers lost because they made the fatal mistake
of laying siege to Ladysmith, Kimberly and Mafeking. Had they driven
ahead and take possession of the capitals of Natal and Cape Colony,
all three of these depots of supplies and ammunition would have fallen
into their hands without a shot being fired; and besides they would
have received at least 75,000 recruits from the Colonies. Mafeking
was absolutely of no importance to them. Of course, Baden-Powell was
there and thousands of dum-dum bullets, and three or four years' supply
of food, but all this in the beginning was not wanted. Baden-Powell
would never have ventured a day's march from his prairie-dog-holes
had there been Boers present, because he did not wish to take any
chances of being captured. In the second place, the Boers lost because
so many thousands of them surrendered voluntarily on the occupation
of Bloemfontein and Pretoria. The Boer generals I hold entirely
responsible for this. Had they met and talked to them and explained
Roberts' proclamations, they would have prevented at least 35,000 men
from surrendering.
[Illustration: SOME OF THE IRISH BOYS JUST AFTER THE GENERAL SURRENDER
Mike Halley, Sidney Blake, Jerry O'Leary, Dr. Worthington, Jack McGlew,
Dick Hunt, Jim French, John Langtry, Pete O'Hare, Joe Kennedy, George
Waldeck, Dave Norris, Colonel Blake, Lieutenant Malan, Joe Wade.]
In the third place even after the voluntary surrender of so many
thousands of men, had the three generals, Chris De Wet, de la Rey
and Louis Botha, concentrated their forces and carried the war into
Cape Colony, they would have won, because they would have received as
many thousand recruits as they had lost in men who had voluntarily
surrendered, and more, too. They could have taken complete possession
of the English lines of communication, and this would have forced
the English to abandon both the Free State and the Transvaal. But with
a hammer and a spike one could not drive into a Boer general's head the
real importance of his enemy's line of communication and the necessity
of its destruction.
In the fourth place, the Boers lost because the English Government in
Washington, D.C., allied itself with the English Government in London,
England, and allowed British officers to establish a military camp
at Chalmette, New Orleans, for recruiting horses, mules and men for
the British army in South Africa. This was a most damnable piece of
business. More than 200,000 horses and mules were sent, and I don't
know how many thousand men.
So anxious was the English Government in Washington, D.C., to supply
the British army in South Africa with horses and mules that to-day,
May, 1903, there is a deficiency of them in the United States and our
own cavalry regiments can not be mounted.
On reading all this in the newspapers, the Boers would come to me and
ask me to explain the conduct of the Government. I recalled to them the
fact that Mr. Hay, Secretary of State, had been ambassador for a month
or so in London, and that the English had so stuffed him with flattery
that he had forgotten that he was a republican and a citizen of a
republic, and that they must expect him to be English in his every act.
Strange to say, practically all American ambassadors to England return
to America as Englishmen. They cannot stand against English flattery.
Read the papers and you will see that at every private dinner or
reception of the King the American ambassador is the only foreign
representative honored with an invitation. He accepts, the King lets
him sit for five minutes in his own chair, allows him to recline on the
couch where Queen Victoria once took a nap after returning from her
drive in Hyde Park, and that settles him, he is denationalized. Kings,
queens, earls, lords and so forth, are trained flatterers, and there is
certainly much power in these titles, too, for let a dissolute, caddish
earl who thinks nothing of his mother, but is devoted to his mistress,
come to America, there are many rich girls who are ready at once to
vend their souls and bodies and give their fortunes for the title of
princess. All learn what there is in such a title when it is too late.
I lived in London fifteen months and I saw a great deal. The nobility
or upper set, and the lower class of Englishmen, are dissolute and
immoral to an extreme, while the middle class is perfection. In this
class one will find the moral, refined, upright, and honest Englishmen,
and no where in the world can be found a better class of men and women
than in this middle class. Unfortunately they are but few, as compared
to the whole, and being sandwiched in between the mighty upper and
lower classes, or immoral and dissolute classes, it is inevitable that
in the end they will be squeezed to death. And then it is that the
remains of a once glorious and proud old England will be laid away in
the same vault with those of Rome and Spain.
There is not an Englishman living that does not at heart despise
every American, yet he must look to the American for his food. All
talk of their cousins across the sea, for all now know that their
very existence as a nation depends upon the good will of America. I
have talked with many business men in London, and all, in speaking of
American merchants, say, "He is smart, but not a good business man."
They mean by this that all Americans are rascals, and so they believe.
In 1895 I was amused one morning when I read in one of the Cape Town
newspapers that "It was strange to see on Adelaide Street, this
morning, the American Consul in a sober condition." I was also amused
in London during the Spanish War to witness such men as Dewey, Schley
and Sampson hissed in the theatres on the very mention of their names.
One picture of the battle-ship _Maine_ leaving New York, was hissed by
the whole house. Another of its destruction was applauded, yet there
are thousands of Anglo-Americans to be seen walking the streets every
day. For more than a hundred years the British Government has labored
to disunite our Union or in some way to destroy our Republic, yet we
still have Anglo-Americans, and, be it said to our shame, an English
Government in Washington, D.C. Let a crown prince or some great lord
come to the United States, and then something is sure to happen. Such
personages come to flatter and arrange matters in Washington for a slap
at the United States. The Venezuelan disgrace was the outcome of Prince
Henry's visit. Lord Charles Beresford comes to tell us how much England
loves us and the Monroe Doctrine, and we are then ready to give up
our rights to Alaska. It is time for the American people to see to it
that no one but true Americans shall hold the highest offices in their
gift. Plain it is that we are drifting towards imperialism, that is,
corruption and crime. The records of our action towards the Philippines
and of the conduct of our army towards the Filipinos will mark the
darkest pages in our history and prove loathsome to posterity. The
Filipinos long to be free, and our motto seems to be to kill or enslave
them. It is unnecessary to give reasons, for the daily papers fairly
teem with accounts of barbarous and murderous acts on the part of
several army officers towards the people, black and white, of those far
away and sorely afflicted islands. Strange to say, our Secretary of War
brings down heavily the stamp of his approval on all these outrages
and endeavors to keep the people in the dark as far as it is within his
power. The very people who declared for liberty for all, and fought to
free the blacks of the Southern States, are now fighting to enslave
the blacks and whites of the far-away Phillipines. I admire nerve, but
despise hypocrisy.
Now I must say a word about the Irish and Irish-Americans on their
conduct in America during the South African War. There are many
millions of Irish in America and there is one organization, the
Clan-na-Gael, known as the Physical Force Element. For nearly half a
century this organization has been crying and preaching that "England's
difficulty was Ireland's opportunity." They have blown up a few barns
and woodsheds in the rear of some lord's residence, managed to get some
good patriotic Irishmen behind the bars of English prisons for life,
and tried to turn the course of the Gulf Stream in order to frighten
or freeze England. But when an English military camp was established
in New Orleans to recruit horses, mules and men, they did nothing but
prohibit every member of the society from doing anything towards its
destruction. Every man of the rank and file wanted to destroy that
camp, and stop the shipment of the horses, mules and men to the British
army in South Africa, and were ready to volunteer for the service. They
saw England's difficulty and wished to take advantage of it. But their
leaders said NO, and not one man was allowed to open his mouth or do
anything.
Lord Salisbury and Chamberlain must have known all about the stand
the leaders of the Clan-na-Gael had taken and the reasons for it, for
both said in Parliament, "there was nothing to fear from the Irish in
America." Clansmen should look out, for there is something wrong about
their leaders. Had the Irish destroyed that camp, it would have told
England, in unmistakable terms, that so long as there are Irish in
America, so long will it be impossible for her to recruit horses, mules
and men on our soil. England would then learn that it would be for her
best interests to allow the people of Ireland to govern themselves.
Irish enmity will live in all its bitterness till the people are free,
and England will find this out when it is too late. She is now going to
give them a land bill by which the tenants can, to a certain extent,
buy the land of which they were forcibly robbed in years gone by; and
I confess this will prove a great boon to them. I believe, however,
that the concession is intended as a bribe, for England is frightened
because the Irish have at last come to their senses and cease to enlist
in the army. Without the Irish, the British army would be helpless in
a war with any country, for they are its very backbone and sinew of
strength. The Scotch will think twice about enlisting, too, when they
learn the Irish have cleared out, for they know that when it comes to a
fight the Englishmen are not there, and if there are no Irish to call
upon, why they, the Scotchmen, would have to stand the whole brunt. By
the concession which England now makes, she hopes the Irish will feel
grateful, to the extent of enlisting again in the army; but I hope they
will have sense enough to do no such thing, as England grants nothing
except when forced to it.
Conclusion.
Now my narrative is virtually at an end, but to be in fashion I must
say another word to be called the "Conclusion."
Queen Victoria had a peaceful reign of some sixty-three years. Of this
long period, only thirty-seven years were devoted to war against her
own people in her own possessions. It was against the blacks, her own
subjects, that her huge armies were principally employed. Her armies
could easily account for 5,000 dead blacks annually, so that during the
thirty-seven years of her long and peaceful reign of sixty-three years,
there could be recorded in the annals of English History the names of
some 185,000 of her black subjects who, innocent, helpless and unarmed,
were deliberately shot down because they were native and rightful
owners of lands that might be rich in gold and other precious minerals.
The venerable Queen died in the year 1901 during her war in South
Africa against an innocent, humane and Christian people who happened
to have the richest gold fields known. She was succeeded by her son
who followed in her footsteps till the Boers finally consented to
surrender in order to save all that remained of their women and
children and therefore their race from extinction.
At last, England longs for peace. She has all the gold fields with the
exception of those in Alaska and she knows that by sending a titled
person to the English Government in Washington, D.C., she can get all
the gold she wishes in that land by the mere asking.
She is through with war and such is her condition financially that if
any Power offers her an insult she must swallow it. The South African
war absorbed all her money and to-day she acknowledges the huge debt of
$4,000,000,000. To pay the interest on that debt alone her population
of 40,000,000 people must be taxed at the rate of three dollars per
head annually for every man, woman and child. Even bread, the sole
food of her thousands of starving poor, must be taxed in order that
she may meet the interest of her heavy debt. She prays for peace not
only because she is pressed to earth by the weight of her debt but also
because the South African War demonstrated the extreme weakness of her
army.
The Mad Mullah in line with the Boers, has also developed the fighting
incapacity of her army. I wonder why they call him "Mad?" Is it because
he has wiped out some English commands? It may be so, because General
Cronje was called the "Butcher" when he wiped out some English commands.
The English army having shown itself so pitifully weak in the presence
of an armed though far inferior enemy, in numbers, the question arises,
"Is her navy as weak as her army?" I don't know, but should her navy
by accident run against either the American or French navy, I have an
idea that it would follow the same course and meet the same fate as the
Spanish navy during the American-Spanish War.
That the English navy is huge in its number on paper I do not doubt,
but that there is any effective strength in its numbers, I seriously
doubt, because so many of her principal ships are armed with old
smooth-bore, muzzle-loading guns, so many of the boilers are burnt out
and so many of the old hulks are rotten with age.
At any rate England is praying for continued peace and will not go to
war unless actually driven to it. For 700 years she has tried to crush
out the very life of the Irish people by thrusting them in prison, by
starvation and by actually murdering them, yet, in the end she found
them invincible and not to be destroyed. Now her King and Queen go to
Ireland and fairly kiss the Irish people's feet and tell them what
a good, noble people they are and how dearly they love them. To be
sincere, they should have added, "Now won't you enlist in for army, for
we can't possibly fight without your help?"
The English, of all people, are the least sincere officially and know
best the value of flattery. It is for this reason, I think, that
the British Empire has so long held together, but now the people of
the Colonies are beginning to reflect, to think and reason, and the
connecting links are growing weaker and weaker every day and some of
them may, at any moment, snap.
As soon as peace was made in South Africa, the English with long faces
and pleading tones, appealed to the Boers to forgive and forget, as
there were no longer any reasons why they should live on unfriendly
terms. Having robbed the Boers of their gold fields, destroyed more
than 22,000 of their women and children, all their homes and property,
and then endeavored to starve to death the whole population, she humbly
begs them to forgive and forget. Yes, the Boers are sure to forgive and
forget, but when?
The Eighty Years' War showed that the Dutch were the most determined
fighters and the greatest lovers of liberty the world had ever known.
Shortly after the conclusion of this war many of them went to South
Africa and settled in Cape Colony. It was fight, fight and fight all
the time for years, but, though they lost many of their women and
children, yet they were determined and held their ground. Near the
close of the 17th century many of the Huguenots driven from France also
sought refuge in Cape Colony. The Boers of to-day are the descendants
of those two races of people. This explains why they are such a
determined race and such great lovers of liberty. The Dutch and French
Huguenots, both being intensely religious, united, fought side by side
during those fearful times and in the end became so intermixed that
to-day there is not one individual Dutch or Huguenot family among the
Boers.
After years of fighting the natives, wild beasts and starvation,
they succeeded in establishing themselves in comfortable homes and
converting a wilderness into a habitable, productive country.
Now the time was ripe for England to act and she fell upon them with
her army and navy and deprived them of all their rights and liberties.
They withstood English domineering for a few years, when many of them,
driven to it, openly rebelled. The terrible murder scene at Slagter's
Nek was the result. Here five men were hung in the presence of hundreds
of men, women and children who had been driven to the scene at the
point of English bayonets. When the five patriots were dropped, the
scaffold broke and down all came, some half dead from choking, and all
writhing in agony. The scaffold was partially repaired and all drawn
up, so that they could die as horrible a death as possible. The Boers
have never forgotten that awful day and that heartrending scene, and
they never will.
During the recent war men, women and children were again forced to
witness many such revolting scenes, and yet the English beg them to
forgive and forget.
Back in the thirties, the English became so oppressive that life to
the Boers was unendurable, so thousands of them banded together, left
their dear old homes and all their property and started on the "Great
Trek" to the unsettled country of Natal. Here again they had to contend
with the savages, wild beasts and starvation. Hundreds of them were
murdered, yet, in the end, they again established themselves in homes
and made the wilderness bloom. No sooner were they comfortable, happy
and in a flourishing condition than the English fell upon them again
and drove them from the land. They now crossed the mountains and sought
homes in the great deserts now known as the Transvaal and Free State.
At last the English said they would no longer hound them and would
allow them to live or die in the desert.
Again the Boers had to contend with the savages, wild beasts and
starvation. Here they suffered terribly, hundreds of them died and
hundreds of women and children were murdered by the savages. Yet they
persevered and converted the desert into two of the richest and most
flourishing little republics in the world. All this is as fresh as ever
in the Boer memory, yet, after the late South African War, the English
beg the Boers to forgive and forget.
Unfortunately for the Free State, as soon as she began to really
flourish, the great diamond fields at Kimberly were discovered. Now
England falls upon her, kills a lot of her people and, in the end,
robs her of her diamond fields and establishes a little despotism in
Kimberly. The diamond fields were alone cut off and annexed to Cape
Colony, for there was nothing else in the Free State worth having as
far as the English knew.
It is at Kimberly that the great "Compound System" was established and
is still running in all its glory. Rhodes, Beit, Phillips and Barnato
were the prime movers.
A large compound was built around the mines and all the employees
locked within it. No employee can buy anything except from the Company
and within that compound. On leaving the compound, the employees have
to go through an ordeal that is simply beastly, because the Company
fears that some of them may have swallowed a diamond. It requires a
week to pass the last door and every one must swallow such purging
drugs as the Company may command. The Compound is simply a little hell
established by the civilized English.
They made a law in the Colony by which any one caught with a rough
diamond in his possession is sent to penal servitude for a term of
years, the period ranging from five to seven years. This law was
especially enacted for the Diamond Company, now known as De Beers
Company.
Any one in Kimberly who might say anything about the Compound System
would incur the displeasure of the Diamond Company. That means that one
of the Company's detectives would watch his chance and drop a rough
diamond in the offender's pocket. In another five minutes the detective
would arrest the offender and charge him with having a rough diamond
in his possession. The offender would plead innocence, but the search
brings out the diamond, the offender is hauled before the Company's
judge and sentenced to five or seven years' penal servitude. I
remember, in one instance, where the judge held a rough diamond in his
hand and remarked to those in the court room that that one diamond had
sent eleven men to penal servitude. Sure it is that under an English
administration, there is no doubt that justice will be given.
This frightful state of affairs exists because Rhodes, Barnato, Beit,
Philips, etc. must be pleased. Rhodes and Bernato are now dead, the
one having been fatally shot by John Barleycorn, and the other having
jumped overboard at sea that it might be recorded of him that he had at
least done one good thing.
Having sliced off the diamond fields and annexed them to Cape Colony,
the English now allowed the Free Staters to live in peace. The people
of the Transvaal had long since established their Government, but
they were struggling hard to keep starvation from the door. There was
no money in the treasury, the people had no money and every official
gave his time and services free. There was no complaint, however, for
all could be happy in their religion even if they had no money and
starvation was staring them in the face.
While still struggling to live, a great misfortune fell upon them
in the year 1887 by the discovery of the great Rand gold fields at
Johannesburg. People from all parts of the world poured into the
country and the Boers suddenly jumped from poverty into affluence.
These fields became world known, all was flourishing in the Transvaal,
and Boers and foreigners alike were all happy and prosperous. England,
through the subsidized press soon manufactured an excuse to make war
upon the Boers and rob them of their gold fields.
With the material assistance rendered by the English Government in
Washington, D.C., she managed to succeed in her highway robbery and at
the same time deprive two little republics of their independence.
Judging by what I read and hear, I am led to believe that President
Roosevelt claims to be of Irish and Dutch extraction, but judging him
by his conduct and the English proclivities of some of those who are
his chief advisers, I should say that real English blood predominates
over all others he may claim. Whatever the composition of his blood may
be, certain it is that he helped England destroy two little republics
in South Africa. The American people will wake up by and by and see
to it that none but true Americans will hold office under the United
States Government.
Having driven the Boers from pillar to post, hounded them, preyed upon
them and robbed and murdered them for 250 years, and then deprived them
of their liberty and independence, England now expects them to forgive
and forget because there is no longer any reason for ill-feelings.
Will the Boers ever forget the sufferings and torture heaped upon their
forefathers in Cape Colony? Will they ever forget what their fathers
and mothers had to endure in Natal? Will they ever forget what they
themselves have had to suffer in the Transvaal and Free State? Will
they ever forget the 3,723 patriots who were killed or died of wounds
during the late South African War? Will they ever forget the 22,000
women and children who were murdered in the English prison camps? Will
they ever forget the many martyrs who were tied hand and foot, and
deliberately shot in cold blood?
Go to the lone tent standing by the charred walls of the destroyed home
and with the children listen to what is taught them by the mother, and
you will hear the answer.
Such noble women as that grand matron, Mrs. Joubert, widow of the late
Commandant-General Piet Joubert, would redeem any land or people. She
is one of thousands of Africander mothers whose sons may forgive much,
because they are Christians but will forget nothing because they are
men. They will not have any of the amiable sentimentality of the Irish
whose soft hearts and heads prompt them too often to let bygones be
bygones. Nor will they have any of the vulgar admiration of success
which makes the American parvenu cringe to the Englishman of rank or
station, until the Yankee to-day is more despised in Great Britain than
his independent father was ever hated there--which is saying a good
deal.
The bible-loving Africanders may enjoy the following poem, with its
Hebraic language of fierce denunciation. It is by an Irish-American
without any Anglo "virus" in his system, James Jeffrey Roche, editor of
the _Pilot_.
With it I conclude this story trusting and believing that it is
anything but the concluding chapter to the Boer fight for freedom, the
bravest and noblest ever fought since God taught men to love liberty.
Her robes are of purple and scarlet,
And the kings have bent their knees
To the gemmed and jewelled harlot
Who sitteth on many seas.
They have drunk the abominations
Of her golden cup of shame;
She has drugged and debauched the nations
With the mystery of her name.
Her merchants have gathered riches
By the power of her wantonness,
And her usurers are as leeches
On the World's supreme distress.
She has scoured the seas as a spoiler;
Her mart is a robber's den,
With the wrested toll of the toiler,
And the mortgaged souls of men.
Her crimson flag is flying,
Where the East and the West are one;
Her drums while the day is dying
Salute the rising sun.
She has scourged the weak and the lowly
And the just with an iron rod;
She is drunk with the blood of the holy,--
She shall drink of the wrath of God!