The Dutch being averse to having the capital near the sea coast, as
soon as they gained full control of United South Africa, on May 31,
1910, they decided on Pretoria as the capital, although Capetown was
well provided with good legislative buildings. Money was then
appropriated to erect government buildings in Pretoria, and a hill
east of the city was selected as a site for the Parliament buildings.
Following this, a large force of government employes were compelled to
leave Capetown for Pretoria, as government business was in future to
be transacted in the Transvaal instead of the Cape of Good Hope. At
present Pretoria, 45 miles from Johannesburg, is the capital of United
South Africa. Before the war the Boers exercised control over only the
Transvaal and Orange Free State, but 11 years later they also
exercised authority over the Provinces of the Cape of Good Hope and
Natal.
One who had imagined he would not find modern utilities and
attractiveness of a general nature in a place located 'way up on the
veld would be much taken aback upon entering Pretoria. Encircled by a
range of hills is this, the best-looking large town in the interior of
South Africa. The city being so far away from the busy centers of the
world, and over a thousand miles inland from Capetown, one would not
expect to find fine, clean streets, a good electric street railway
system, good parks, in some of which music is furnished; shade trees,
water fountains, and splendid buildings--residential, business,
municipal and governmental.
The Dutch Reformed Church, built in the center of the old market
square, around which long ox teams used to slowly worm their way and
seek shelter behind its stone walls from winds and shade from the sun;
where auctioneers, chattering like monkeys, sold produce of burghers,
brought from points a hundred miles in some instances, to the highest
bidder; where Boer met Boer and sympathized with each other during
lean years, discussed native wars, their troubles with England, and
the ravages of locusts and rinderpest; where the last President of the
Transvaal intermingled with his people, walking among the piles of
pumpkins, calabashes, tomatoes, guinea fowl, chickens, hares, and
buck; where, on holy days, Psalms were sung by these rough-looking
plainsmen--this historical assembling place of burghers, with its
old-time and latter-day memories, has been removed, and the
market-place converted into a public garden, surrounded at ends and
one side by imposing government buildings. On visiting the square
where the old church stood, the men of full beards and broad-brimmed
soft hats now look instead on beds of flowers in bloom and fountains
casting rainbow spray round a circular space.
One feels more comfortable in Pretoria after having spent some time in
the Gold City, for he has left the red dust behind, the unattractive
cyanide banks, the clouds of black smoke and the sooty buildings. The
air is free from smoke, from the dirt banks, and a healthier
atmosphere prevails. Pretoria is Dutch; Johannesburg cosmopolitan.
Some 40,000 people were living in this attractive place, and the
population is increasing. The government departments were removed from
Capetown, one after another, and with the reëstablishment of each
Pretoria's population naturally increased as the government employes
followed. "Civil servants" is the term used to denote government
employes. An increase in salaries was granted to employes when brought
from Capetown or Durban, as the salaries paid in the coast cities, on
which a frugal person could save money, provided little more than food
and clothing in the new capital. As in Johannesburg, house rent is
high, and board cannot be had at less than from $35 to $40 a month.
The cost of living here, as in Johannesburg, is from 15 to 20 per
cent. higher than the coast towns.
Away from mining towns smokestacks are few and far between. Pretoria
makes a better showing in this respect, as there are flour mills, an
ice plant, an electric power house, and small manufactures that give
the place a business appearance.
Walking a few blocks along West Kerk street, on the right hand side,
may be seen a one-story stone and cement house, roofed with corrugated
iron. This building is surrounded with an iron fence, built on a
cement foundation. On each side of the walk leading to the house are
two stone lions. In front is a veranda. In that modest house Paul
Kruger lived. Walking in the same direction a few squares a park is
reached. Entering by a gate, a short distance ahead is seen a large
cement foundation with steps leading up, and resting on the foundation
is a square granite base. The monument finishes there. Postcards bear
a picture of the completed monument to Paul Kruger, but it lacks the
bronze figure of the Boer President. "The monument that was to have
been erected to the memory of the late President Kruger" is the
wording under the picture of the "completed" monument. The bronze
figure of Paul Kruger reached Lourenzo Marques, Portuguese East
Africa, at the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, in 1899. Several lean
years followed the Boers' defeat, and the Transvaal was theirs no
longer. What stands of "the monument that was to have been" is well
looked after. Some day, however, the printing on a postcard of the
completed monument will read: "Paul Kruger's Monument."
"Dick" Seddon, of New Zealand, was a great man; Brazil, Argentine,
Chile and Australia have produced men they consider great, but their
fame is only local. Many in other countries tell one that the United
States has produced but two great men--Washington and Lincoln. Looking
at things from a world viewpoint, one cannot find a man born south of
the equator who measures up to Paul Kruger's fame. So, in fairness to
rugged genius, it would seem no overt act would be committed if the
completed monument did stand in that park in Pretoria--to the memory
of the greatest man born south of the equator.
"Have you been out to Wonderboom?" is a question visitors to Pretoria
will be asked. Six or seven miles from the capital is seen from a
distance what looks like a very large tree, located a mile from the
railroad station. Big trees with dark green leaves are rare on the
veld, which accounts for Wonderboom being such an attraction. In a
radius of 150 feet seven groups of trees are growing, and from each
grows half a dozen trees. The space taken up by some of these groups
measures from 20 to 30 feet, and the clumps grow from roots of what
appeared to have been large trees at one time. When vegetation of all
sorts is white from drought the Wonderboom is as green as if it had
been watered at frequent intervals. The trees grow 20 feet high, and
cover an area of half an acre. No one seemed to know the name of the
wood. "Vonderboom" seemed to be sufficient to cover all questions
asked about its specie.
English newspapers published in Pretoria could not be favorably
compared to the Johannesburg productions. This may be accounted for by
the existence of Dutch publications, which naturally have a larger
patronage than English newspapers, the population being in the main
Dutch. As a considerable amount of the government printing is now done
in Pretoria, this industry has improved. The pay is from $30 to $45 a
week, eight hours' work. Mechanics of all kinds receive $5 a day.
All government documents, bills, blanks, etc., are printed in two
languages--Dutch and English. As the government owns the railway,
telegraph, postoffice and telephone systems, any one can understand
what a big item the government's printing bill is. This was agreed to
by the British representatives who attended the convention at which
the consolidation of the four provinces was ratified. The Dutch adhere
strictly to this agreement affecting their language.
The Dutch are not a vindictive race. No tales of brutality are heard
of in connection with the Boer War. Men who fought on the British side
tell of having been taken prisoner and of being sent back to their
command. Sometimes the Boers would take the clothes off a captive, and
then direct him to where his fellow soldiers were camped. Paul Kruger
would have been justified in shooting the men who instigated and took
part in the Jameson Raid, on the grounds of treason, but he spared
their lives. They paid big sums of money in fines, though, for their
unsuccessful, treasonable offense.
The Dutch have their faults, like other races, but they seem the
better able to guide the destiny of their land of plagues.
The Boer War, in a sense, proved a blessing in disguise to the Dutch.
Previous to that time proper attention had not been given to educating
the young; precious few lawyers, doctors, educators and mining
engineers bore Dutch names. Look through the directories of South
Africa now and contrast the number of Dutch names that figure among
those of the professional class. The war woke up the Boers to a sense
of assuming a greater responsibility in the advancement of their
country. A great many Dutch young men are students in the leading
universities of the world.
Nothing feminine in sound is noticeable about the names of places in
Boerland. But one often feels at a loss to account for the general use
of the affix "fontein." Save for a narrow strip along the coast the
country is dry. The Orange and the Vaal rivers seem to be the only two
of consequence in the interior. The country is full of "spruits,"
"fonteins" and rivers which, when one reaches them, are dry as a bone.
The only things that seem to "spruit" in them are cobble-stones and
rattle-snakes.
"Assegaiboschfontein," "Jakhalskraalfontein," "Wildebeestespruitbult"
are a few names of towns that occur to one as being decidedly
masculine.
Boers, physically, are large men. Many of the older men wear full
beards, and invariably wear a broad-brimmed hat with cloth band of
several plies thick. They smoke calabash pipes, the weed being known
as Boer tobacco, which costs 50 cents a pound. They generally carry a
sjambok, a strip of rhinoceros hide about three feet long and an inch
thick. Meeting one alone, the questions he asks in quick
succession--"What's your name?" "Where do you come from?" "What's your
business?" "Have you been in South Africa long?" "How long are you
going to stay in the country?"--bring to mind this distinguishing
trait of a noted Chinese who made a visit to America some years ago.
Rum is the Boer's strong drink, but he is seldom seen under the
influence of liquor. In a sense, he is of a roaming disposition, for
some Boers are on the trek all the time. They seem to be better suited
when they have got beyond the outposts of civilization. Were it not
for the Boer's inclination to trek, however, it is possible there
would be no gold mines on the Rand or diamond fields in Kimberley. His
battles with the native tribes and his sufferings and hardships will
never be lost sight of as the factors through which the white man was
enabled to live in that section of "Darkest Africa."