THE TOWN GUARD
MAFEKING, _November 15th, 1899_.
The straits of a beleaguered city are only just beginning to come to
Mafeking. A retrospect of the history of the Franco-Prussian war
reveals how very great were the sufferings of those unfortunate people
who were unlucky enough to be besieged by the Prussian armies. Their
difficulties, the dangers to which they were constantly subjected,
their constant struggle against the extortionate demands of the few
who had been able to "corner" the provisions can perhaps be taken as
conveying a general impression of the hardships of a siege. Yet,
however, when we come to consider the siege of Mafeking in its more
elemental details, the picture is not unlike those presented by the
farcical melodrama. It is now nearly six weeks since Mafeking was
proclaimed as being in a state of siege, and, although there has been
no single opportunity of any commercial reciprocity between ourselves
and the outside world, the ruling prices are at present but very
little above normal, distress is wholly absent, danger is purely
incidental, and, indeed, it would seem, as Colonel Baden-Powell said
in a recent order, that "everything in the garden was lovely." This
somewhat happy state of things is, of course, to be attributed to the
extraordinary foresight and sagacity which characterises the
arrangements that the well-known firm of contractors in South Africa,
Julius Weil, concluded for provisioning the town. Immense stocks of
foodstuffs had been stored in the town before the war, and it is the
knowledge of the valuable stores which are lying here which has
inspired the Boers to court us so assiduously. The tale might have
been different had the Colonial Government been permitted to arrange
for any such emergency as a siege. In this respect, so completely
opposed to any preparation were Mr. Schreiner and his Cabinet, that it
was not even possible to procure through such an agency any adequate
means of defence, much less to obtain the essential food supplies.
When Kimberley appealed to Mr. Schreiner for permission to send up
from Port Elizabeth some Maxims which had been ordered by the De Beers
Company, the licence was refused on the ground that there was no cause
to strengthen the defences of that town, nor any reason to believe
that the situation demanded such precautions. The Colonial Government
repeated their policy in relation to Mafeking, and when urgent appeals
were sent to Mr. Schreiner, to the Castle authorities, and to Sir
Alfred Milner, the influence of the Cabinet was such that no notice
was taken of their request.
Nothing perhaps can excuse such an obstructive policy as that which
was followed by the Colonial Government upon the very eve of
hostilities. It is only when we come to deal with the situation which
their neglect has created that we can adequately measure the full
extent of their culpability. The claim of so important a centre as
Mafeking upon their attention was wilfully ignored with a persistence
which is positively criminal, and when taken into consideration with
the repeated warnings which were sent to them by leading members of
the community of Mafeking it is difficult to believe that the Colonial
Cabinet, by so flatly contravening the spirit of their loyalty to the
Imperial Crown, were not directly conniving with a hostile oligarchy
for the downfall of this colonial town. Had Mafeking been anything but
Anglo-Saxon at heart, had it possessed that proportion of debased
Dutch and renegade British colonists which is to be found in Vryburg
and those other hostile areas in our own colony, the story of Mafeking
would have been a story of treachery and deceit, of broken allegiance,
and of palsied faith. As it was, when the petition for extra armaments
was ignored, the town, disdaining the danger which confronted them,
proceeded to stand their ground, and to show, at any rate, a firm
front to any enemy that might assail them. While Colonel Baden-Powell
organised the defences of the Western Border, the men of Mafeking,
under the supervision of Colonel Vyvyen, base commandant, strongly
entrenched the position of their town, which hitherto had been open to
every corner of the earth. In times of peace Mafeking is a collection
of buildings placed upon the veldt, lacking both natural and
artificial protection, the centre into which all roads come and from
which all classes of people go. It is a thriving mid-African township
which, more by good management than by good luck, has become at the
present time an important outpost of our Empire. In these days, when
the boom of cannon destroys the silences of our splendid isolation,
and the scream of shell disturbs the harmony of night, Mafeking rests
with patient steadfastness behind its hastily improvised earthworks,
seeking shelter when the shells of the enemy press too hotly upon one
another, yet always ready for work at the outposts, prepared for the
fitful turbulence of our invading foe. Possibly from the Boer trenches
Mafeking may look an armoured citadel. Possibly it is the sturdy
appearance of our ramparts which have caused the Boers to bring their
heavy artillery to bear upon our mud brick walls. Yet there is humour
in this situation, since the gravity of our position accentuates the
grim travesty of our defences. We have not so much as appears, and it
would be unfair to give such a moment as the present the correct
estimate of dummy camps which have been built, dummy earthworks which
have been thrown up, of dummy guns which are in position. The
situation between the Boers and ourselves may be likened to a game of
poker, Mafeking possessing no hand, yet retains the privilege of
bluffing. In the end it will be seen that the dignity of our impudence
has swept the board, although we may be excused from wishing to renew
the game. But there is perhaps a finer spirit in the tribute which
this place has paid to Queen and country than mere courage. We have
the faith of our affections, the steadfastness of a duty which, if
inspired, is equally impressed with reverence. Such strain as the
siege has put upon the loyalty of the colonists of Mafeking has been
welcomed by reason of the opportunity which it has given for the many
who have never seen the Queen to show, their honourable allegiance to
her Majesty.
From time to time Colonel Baden-Powell has issued orders
congratulating the townspeople upon their spirit, and commiserating
with them upon their unfortunate predicament. They are indeed
deserving of great sympathy, since the manly way in which they have
come forward in support of the situation has very materially aided the
successful resistance given by Mafeking. The forts upon the eastern
facing of the town are manned altogether by the Town Guard; these are
particularly warlike when beneath the protection of their bomb-proof
shelters, and it would be almost a pity should the siege close without
any opportunity arising of testing their efficiency. Throughout day
and night they are compelled to remain idle in their trenches, and
from 9 till 6, and again from 6 till 9, they are not permitted upon
any pretence whatever to leave their posts. The life they are leading
is of the roughest description, and it certainly appears that by far
the greatest proportion of the hardships of the siege has fallen to
the share of the Town Guard. At the beginning of the siege, when,
according to official reports, there was no ground to believe that it
would be of long duration, few people were animated by anything but
the plain determination to enjoy any actual hostilities which might
eventuate. Now, however, as the fifth week of the siege draws to an
end the rigours of the confinement to which the townspeople have been
subjected are beginning to tell. The work, the most laborious, the
least interesting, and totally without compensation, is that performed
by the Town Guard, and as a body this defence force presents strangely
contrasting features as the siege progresses. Their hours are early
and late, they stand to arms at 4.30 in the early morning, and at
intervals during the day the full strength of the fort is mustered.
There is nothing with which these men can occupy their minds, and if
their inactivity is beginning to irritate them, if the poorness of
their food is affecting them, it is to be hoped that the work which
they are doing now will receive full and satisfactory acknowledgment,
both at the hands of the staff, and of the Government. As a body, the
Town Guard is a medley of local salamanders, and if it be possible, by
the force of their surroundings, they should become inspired with
soldierly instincts, and although after their fashion they may be
expected to fight, their greatest wish at the present moment is to
obtain from the Government, imperial, colonial, and military, some
adequate explanation of the causes determining their present
situation. They feel that they have been neglected by Mr. Schreiner
and I am quite certain that if that political chameleon were here now,
he would suffer as much by reason of his own sins, as for the trouble
and worry he has caused the industrious, if benighted, citizens of
Mafeking. For the most part the Town Guard is a collection of
civilians, who are accustomed to the full enjoyment of comparative
affluence, and who, through the exigencies of the siege, are at
present living under conditions which would test the endurance of the
most experienced soldier. They are penned up within the limits of
Mafeking, unable to move with any degree of safety, and condemned to
an inactivity which is very irksome to those who have been pressed as
volunteers into the defences of the town. They did not expect, in the
early days of the crisis, to be actively engaged in defending their
town, since, with some hope of having their views adopted, they
repeatedly urged upon the general staff the fallacies which
distinguished the official forecast of the situation, but the staff
was incredulous and Colonel Baden-Powell was impressed with an
optimism which now seems strangely at fault. If one is to believe
important respected members of the community here, it would seem that
they made special and very urgent overtures to the colonel commanding
upon the defenceless condition of Mafeking, and now, as they stand to
their posts, throughout the heat of an African summer, beneath the
deluges of the rainy season, they cull but little satisfaction from
the Ministerial refusal adequately to protect their town by sending
troops and armaments to it. They say that they were derided, that no
notice was taken of their request, that their petition was overruled,
leaving to them the work of warding off from the town such a day of
bitterness, of exceeding danger, of very genuine disaster, as might
have been expected to result from the unprotected condition of the
place. The irregular soldiers of the Protectorate Regiment do not,
perhaps, deserve so much commiseration, since in all probability their
present circumstances are little worse than those which they
anticipated when they were enlisting. But there is some force in the
case which the inhabitants of Mafeking can bring against the Colonial
Government, and it is to be hoped that the work which they are now
doing will receive full and satisfactory compensation at the final
adjustment. But there exists little possibility that they will be
given any compensation which will be in any way commensurate, since to
those who have followed the history of such Ministerial compensation
as comes within the region of political economy it will be known that
the accidents of war put a somewhat close limit upon the accidence of
compensation. Their businesses have in many cases been absolutely
ruined, those who were farmers upon the outskirts of the town have had
the melancholy satisfaction of seeing their homesteads set fire to by
the enemy and their cattle raided. These facts are the simple home
truths that do not tend to make them appreciative of the honour and
glory which falls to them by playing so prominent a _role_ in the
defence of their town. They expect, however, to receive medals. Those
who were local merchants, men of peace for the most part, with no very
keen enthusiasm for martial glory, have seen the industry of a
lifetime completely wrecked by the diffidence of the general staff and
the unwillingness of the Government to take such precautions as would
have placed the town beyond the probability of attack; but, although
every one recognises the worthlessness of the material which was
placed at the disposal of Colonel Baden-Powell, there exists no reason
which can defend the absence of efficient military stores in the town.
Upon the termination of the war let us hope that Colonel Baden-Powell
will be asked to explain, but for the present the townspeople of
Mafeking are singularly unanimous in their desire to co-operate with
the military authorities.
Under their direction the Boers have been repulsed for seven weeks,
just as without the walls of Mafeking an almost impregnable defence
has been constructed. It is perhaps a detail if our defenders be armed
with Sniders, Enfields, a few Martinis, and a still less number of
Lee-Metfords. Moreover, we have none too much ammunition, our
seven-pounders are incapable of sustaining the brunt of an action
without being sent to the repairing shop upon its termination, and if
our Maxims be beyond reproach, our Hotchkiss and Nordenfeldt are both
obsolete and unreliable. These are the more material elements of our
defences, and to them may be added the strength of the Protectorate
Regiment, Cape Police, British South Africa Police, Railway Division,
the Bechuanaland Rifles, and the numerous native contingents
numbering, with the Town Guard, some fifteen hundred men. Against this
we must place an enemy whose tactics are surprising everybody, whose
artillery fire is admirable, whose guns are numerous and first class.
They stand off five miles and shell the town with perfect safety,
while under cover of their fire they project their advanced trenches
daily a few feet nearer the town. We have endeavoured with our
artillery and by night sorties to check their progress, but the
sapping of Mafeking continues, and is, at once, a very serious, if not
our sole, danger. Should their trenches advance much further it will
be impossible to move about during daytime at all, and, although we
have thrown up bales of compressed hay and sacks of oats to act as
shields against the enemy's bullets, and the flying splinters of
passing shells, there is no hour in the day in which the streets of
the town are not sprayed by Mauser bullets. It is not possible for us
to advance very far from our own lines, since, as eagles swoop down
upon their carrion, so would the Boers from other quarters attempt to
rush the town. Yet there is no doubt that such movement would be very
welcome, affording as much keen pleasure to the volunteers of the town
as to the newly-raised units of the garrison. We nurture a wild desire
to attempt to spike "Big Ben," and it may be that before long
Providence will turn from the side of the enemy by presenting us with
some such golden opportunity. The big gun is hedged around by barbed
wire, guarded in front by mines, flanked upon the one side by a
Nordenfeldt-Maxim and upon the other by a high-velocity Krupp. Truly,
they could deal out a very warm reception to those who chanced their
luck, but a little novelty these days atones for many hours of tiring
inactivity, and if the Colonel chose to put a price upon the task
there would be no trouble in enlisting for the venture some five
hundred volunteers. The siege, as it progresses, seems to give fewer
opportunities for coming into positive contact with the enemy; such
occasions as there have been are few and far between, and, although
Colonel Baden-Powell holds out the promise of such a venture, it has
been so constantly deferred that we are for the most part becoming
incredulous.