PRESIDENT KRUGER
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, or Uncle Paul, the Lion of Rustenberg,
is a man of most remarkable characteristics. A man of absolutely no
education, as we understand the word, he has, during the long years of a
notable career, so applied his inherent abilities, his natural
astuteness, the cunning acquired by constant battling with the wiles of
native enemies, as to be able to acquit himself of his high office in a
manner to be envied by many who have enjoyed a hundred times as many
advantages. Although he is almost seventy-five years old, the
President's mind has not become dimmed, but, if anything, has grown
keener of perception and wider in its scope during the last ten years.
Since his youth Mr. Kruger has been a leader among his countrymen. When
a boy he had pronounced ability as a deer-stalker, and it is related of
him that before he had reached manhood he had killed more lions than any
other man in the colony. He was absolutely fearless, and could endure
any amount of bodily pain and discomfort. As an example of this, I
repeat his explanation of the accident that caused him to lose his left
thumb:
"We were shooting rhinoceros one day," said he, "when an old gun
exploded in my hands. It cut my thumb so badly that I saw it could not
be saved. I borrowed a dull knife and cut the thumb off, because it
prevented me from holding the gun properly."
President Kruger's personality is most unique. He impresses one as
being a king in the garb of a farmer, a genius in a dunce's cap. At
first sight he would be mistaken for an awkward countryman, with "store
clothes" and a silk hat intended for some one else. His frock coat is
far too small to reach around his corpulent body, and his trousers seem
to have a natural antipathy for his shoes.
He wears no cuffs, and the presence of a collar and tie may be
determined only by drawing aside the natural curtain formed by his
whiskers. He is uncouth in his manner, but he has great natural
attractiveness gained by a long life among hunters in the wilds. He is
suspicious of everything and every one, but that quality is easily
accounted for by his early dealings with negro chiefs, whose treacherous
habits caused him to become wary in all his transactions with them. In
later days this has stood him in good stead. He is slow to make
friends, but once he trusts a person voluminous proof is necessary
before he alters his opinion of the man. He never forgets a good deed,
and never pardons the man who does a bad one.
President Kruger is short in stature, measuring less than five feet
seven inches. His head and body are large and fat, but his legs are
thin and short. His head is just a trifle longer than broad, and almost
fits the English definition of "square head." The small eyes are
surmounted by bushy, white eyebrows, which extend half an inch beyond
his forehead.
When he is not sitting for a photograph his hair is not so neatly
arranged as it appears in the well-known pictures, but hangs loosely
down over his wide forehead, except when, with a hasty swish of the
hand, he brushes it aside. The hair is nearly white, and hangs over the
sides of his head in long tresses, which cover both his ears.
When he smiles the big fat circles above his cheeks are pushed upward,
and shut his small gray eyes from view. But when pleased the President
generally laughs hilariously, and then his eyes remain closed for the
greater part of a minute. Mr. Kruger's nose and mouth are the chief
features of his face. Both are more extensive than his large face
demands, but they are such marvels in their own peculiar way as to be
distinguishing marks. The bridge of the nose grows wide as it goes
outward from the point between the eyes, and before it reaches the tip
it has a gentle upheaval. Then it spreads out on either side, and
covers fully two inches of area above his upper lip. It is not
attractive, but in that it follows the general condition of his facial
landscape.
The mouth is wide and ungainly. The constant use of a heavy pipe has
caused a deep depression on the left side of his lower lip, and this
gives the whole mouth the appearance of being unbalanced. His chin is
large and prominent, and his ears correspond relatively in size and
symmetry with his face. When in repose his features are not pleasant to
look upon, but when lighted up by a smile they become rather attractive,
and generally cause his laughter to become contagious among his hearers.
The thin line of beard which runs from ear to ear combines with the hair
on his head in forming what is not unlike a white halo around the
President's face. The lines in the man's face are deep, irregular, and
very numerous. They indicate more than anything the ceaseless worry and
troubles to which the President has been subjected while directing the
affairs of his countrymen of the Transvaal.
The physical description of the Kruger of to-day is one that suggests
sluggishness and idleness rather than alertness and ceaseless activity.
The appearance of the man certainly does not conform with his record of
marvellous performances, unflagging endeavour, and superior mental
attainments. The well-preserved Kruger at seventy-five years bears no
deep marks of the busy and eventful life he has led, nor are there any
visible indications that the end of his usefulness to his people is
close at hand.
The fragmentary history of Mr. Kruger's life, as related by himself,
gives an insight into his remarkably varied experiences. He modestly
refrains from allowing any one, even those who know him best, to obtain
from him enough of his own history to incorporate in a biography, and it
is likely, unless in his later years he changes his mind, that no
detailed narrative can ever be written.
Although the majority of his countrymen are of Dutch or Huguenot
ancestry, Mr. Kruger is of German descent. Jacob Kruger, his paternal
ancestor, emigrated to South Africa, in 1713, from the Potsdam district
of Germany, and married a young woman who was born in Cape Colony. He
was born October 10, 1825, in Colesburg, Cape Colony, whither his
parents had "trekked" from Cape Town a quarter of a century before. The
first Krugers whose names appear in the Dutch East India Company's
records arrived in the settlement at the Cape in 1712, and thereafter
became leaders in enterprise among the settlers. While Mr. Kruger was
yet in his infancy the Boers' troubles with the Colonial Government
began, and when he was ten years old he migrated with the "Voortrekkers"
to the unknown regions in the interior.
The life in the open and the tropical temperature served to develop him
early, and at the age of fifteen we find him shooting his first lion, as
well as serving in the capacity of "field cornet," a minor official
position. As such he took part in the wars with the Zulu Dingaan and
the Matabele Moselekatse, and served with distinction. In 1842 he was
confirmed by the Rev. Daniel Lindley, the American missionary, and had
implanted more firmly in his heart the religious feeling which in later
years has proved to be his greatest solace in his troubles.
Next we hear of him standing by the side of his father while he fires
the first shot at the English soldiers in the battle of Boomplaats, in
1848. After doing valiant service in that battle, he became one of the
leaders of the "trekkers" who settled in the Transvaal country.
In 1856 young Kruger, then barely thirty-one years old, is elected
sub-commandant of the Transvaal army, a most responsible position in a
country where natives are as treacherous as they are innumerable. Five
years later he becomes commandant of the army, and leads a force of one
hundred and fifty men against Chief Sechele. He retains that office
until 1877, when England annexes the country to her domain. During the
war for independence which then ensues, Mr. Kruger is Vice-President of
the Triumvirate, which executes the government of the country, and after
peace is declared in 1883 he is elected to the presidency. He is thrice
re-elected, and is now serving his fourth term as head of the South
African Republic.
Into this skeleton of his life's story might be fitted innumerable
incidents and anecdotes that are related by his countrymen, who treasure
them greatly and repeat them at every opportunity. Many of these are
probably imaginary, while others have undoubtedly been retold so
frequently that they have lost all resemblance of the original form.
The majority of the stories refer to Mr. Kruger's prowess in dealing
with lions, tigers, and elephants, and many of these are probably true.
Several of those that he himself verifies are given merely to illustrate
the experiences that the Boers encountered in the early days of the
"trekkers."
When fifteen years old Kruger and one of his sisters, being left alone
on the veldt by their parents, were approached by a South African
panther, small but of ample enough proportions to frighten the two
children. Kruger, with only a knife for a weapon, boldly attacked the
panther, and after a severe struggle, during which he was sorely
injured, slew the beast. Another story, illustrative of his physical
strength, is that he contested with a native in a foot-race of twelve
hours' duration, and won by such a large margin that he was enabled to
stalk a buck on the veldt and carry it to his father's house before his
competitor reached the goal.
During the "trekking" trip from Cape Colony to the final settlement in
the Transvaal the Boer settlers shot no less than six thousand lions,
and of that number Kruger is credited with shooting more than two
hundred and fifty.
His personal bravery was never shown to better advantage than in 1857,
when he was sub-commandant of the Transvaal army. He had ordered
several of his burghers to go into the Orange Free State, with which
country there was a serious misunderstanding, and there they were
arrested. As soon as Mr. Kruger heard of the men's arrest he hastened
into the camp of the Free State forces and asked for the release of the
prisoners on the ground that they were innocent, and that if any one
were guilty he was that man, because he had ordered them to enter the
country. The commandant of the Free State forces was so greatly amazed
by Mr. Kruger's bravery that he allowed all the Boers to return to their
own camp.
Mr. Kruger's remarkable vitality and capacity for hard mental labour are
the results of the great care which he bestows upon himself and the
regular habits which he has followed for almost twenty years. He rises
at half past five o'clock every morning, and follows a daily programme,
from which he never deviates unless he is absent from home. After he
leaves his bedroom he proceeds to his library and drinks several cups of
intensely black coffee, and smokes several pipefuls of strong Boer
tobacco. Then he spends the greater part of an hour in family devotions
and the perusal of the Bible. After breakfast, at half past seven
o'clock, he receives the members of the Volksraad, and then transacts
the heaviest business of the day. After all the Volksraad members have
departed, he steps out on the piazza of his little whitewashed cottage
and joins the burghers, or citizens, who every morning congregate there
and discuss state affairs while they sip the coffee and smoke the
tobacco which the President furnishes to all visitors.
At ten o'clock the state carriage and its escort of eight gaudily
apparelled troopers await him at the gate, and he is conveyed to the
Government House, several blocks distant. As soon as he arrives there
he is to be found either in one legislative chamber or the other,
directing the affairs of the two bodies, making addresses or quietly
watching the progress of legislative matters. At noon he returns to his
home for luncheon, but is back at his duties in the Government House at
two o'clock, and remains there three hours in the afternoon. Thereafter
he receives burghers at his home until seven o'clock, and retires every
evening at precisely eight o'clock.
The power which Mr. Kruger has over the majority of his countrymen is
due in no small measure to his fondness for conversing with them and his
treatment of them when they visit his cottage. As soon as the sun has
risen, a small stream of Boers wends its way toward the President's
cottage and awaits his appearance on the piazza. When Mr. Kruger comes
among them he loses his identity as President, and merges his
personality into that of an ordinary burgher. This custom has endeared
him in the affections of his people, and, as a result, whenever he makes
a stand on any question it may be taken for granted that he has
thoroughly discussed the subject beforehand with his burghers, and that
he can depend upon the majority of them for their support.
Mr. Kruger is a speech-maker of no mean ability. His addresses in the
Volksraad are filled with good reasoning, homely similes, biblical
quotations, and convincing argument. He speaks without preparation,
indulges in no flights of oratory, but uses the simple, plain language
that is easily understood by the burgher as well as the statesman. All
his speeches are delivered in the Boer "taal," a dialect which bears the
same relation to the Dutch language as "low" German does to "high"
German. Generally the dialect is used by the Boers in speaking only,
the pure Dutch being used in correspondence and official state papers.
The President may be able to speak the English language, but if such is
the case he succeeds admirably in allowing no one except his most
trusted friends to hear him. Much investigation has failed to reveal
any one in Pretoria who has ever heard him speak the English language,
although reports have it that he speaks it fluently. He understands the
language well, and any one who has ever held a conversation with him
through an interpreter will recall that he occasionally forgets his
assumed inability to understand English, and replies to a question
before the interpreter has commenced to translate it.
Mr. Kruger has been twice married. His first wife, a Miss Du Plessis,
was the daughter of one of the early voortrekkers, and with the other
women took part in many of the Boer wars against the natives. She died
shortly after the founding of the republic, and left one son, who lived
only a short time. Mr. Kruger several years afterward married his first
wife's niece, who is now the first lady of the land. Like almost all
Boer women, she has a retiring disposition, and very rarely appears in
public except at religious gatherings. The President rarely introduces
her to his visitors, probably in obedience to her own desires, but she
constantly entertains the wives and daughters of burghers who call on
her husband.
President and Madame Kruger have had sixteen children, seven of whom
still live. One of his sons is the President's private secretary, and a
youth of decidedly modern ideas and tendencies. Another son is a
private in the Pretoria police, a state military organization in which
he takes great pride. A third occupies his father's farm near
Rustenberg. The other children are daughters, who are married to Boer
farmers and business men. One of Kruger's sons-in-law is Captain F. C.
Eloff, who was taken prisoner by the Uitlanders during the raid, and who
has since aroused the enmity of the English residents by freely
expressing his opinion of them in public speeches. Captain Eloff is
several times a millionaire, and lives in a
two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar mansion.
Popular report in Pretoria has it that the President's wealth amounts to
a million dollars, but his mode of living certainly does not betray it.
His salary as President is thirty-five thousand dollars, in addition to
which he is annually allowed fifteen hundred dollars for house-rent, or
"huishuur." He has long since purchased the house in which he lives,
but, as the allowance of fifteen hundred dollars is annually paid to
him, the English residents aver that the amount is intended as a slight
reimbursement to him for the money he spends for the coffee and tobacco
used by the burgher callers at his cottage. During the later years of
his life Barney Barnato, the wizard of South African finance, supplied
to the President all the tobacco he used, and consequently Mr. Kruger
was able to save the Government tobacco allowance. Barnato also
presented to Mr. Kruger two handsome marble statues of lions which now
adorn the lawn of the presidential residence. A photograph which is
greatly admired by the patriotic Boers represents Mr. Kruger
appropriately resting his hand on the head of one of the recumbent lions
in a manner which to them suggests the physical superiority of the Boers
over the British.
Mr. Kruger has always been a man of deep and earnest religious
convictions. In his youth he was taught the virtues of a Christian
life, and it is not recorded that he ever did anything which was
inconsistent with his training. An old Zulu headman who lives near the
Vaal River, in the Orange Free State, relates that Mr. Kruger yoked him
beside an ox in a transport wagon when the trekkers departed from Natal
in the early '40s, and compelled him to do the work of a beast; but he
has no good reason for declaring that his bondsman was Mr. Kruger rather
than any one of the other Boers in the party.
When Mr. Kruger was about thirty-five years old his religious enthusiasm
led him into an experience which almost resulted in his death. He had
met with some reverses, which caused him to doubt the genuineness of
religious assistance. He endeavoured to find comfort and consolation in
his Bible, but failed, and he became sorely troubled. One night, after
bidding farewell to his wife, he disappeared into the wilderness of the
Magalies Hills, a short distance west of Pretoria. After he had been
absent from his home for several days, a number of men went to the hills
to search for him, and found him on his knees engaged in singing and
praying. He had been so many days without food and water that he was
too weak to rise from the ground, and it was necessary for the men to
carry him to his home. Since that experience he has believed himself to
be a special instrument of a divine power, and by his deeds has given
the impression that he is a leader chosen to defend the liberties and
homes of his people.
He never speaks of his experience in the hills, but those who have been
his friends for many years say that it marked an epoch in his life. The
Boers, who have none of the modern cynicism and scepticism, regard him
as the wielder of divine power, while those who admire nothing which he
is capable of doing scoff and jeer at him as a religious fanatic, and
even call him a hypocrite. Any one who has observed Mr. Kruger in his
daily habits, or has heard him in the pulpit of the church opposite the
cottage where he lives, will bear witness to the intensity and
earnestness of his genuine religious feeling. The lessons of life which
he draws from his own personal experiences, and expounds to his
congregation with no little degree of earnestness, are of such a
character as to remove all doubts which the mind may have concerning his
purity of purpose.
Mr. Kruger's style of writing is unique, but thoroughly characteristic
of himself. The many references to the Deity, the oftentimes pompous
style, the words which breathe of the intense interest in and loyalty to
his countrymen, all combine to make his state communications and
proclamations most interesting reading. The following proclamation, made
to the citizens of Johannesburg several days after the Jameson raid, is
typical:
"_To all the Residents of Johannesburg_.
"I, S. J. P. Kruger, State President of the South African Republic, with
the advice and consent of the Executive Council, by virtue of Article VI
of the Minutes of the Council, dated January 10, 1896, do hereby make
known to all the residents of Johannesburg and neighbourhood that I am
inexpressibly thankful to God that the despicable and treacherous
incursion into my country has been prevented, and the independence of
the republic saved, through the courage and bravery of my burghers.
"The persons who have been guilty of this crime must naturally be
punished according to law--that is to say, they must stand their trial
before the high court and a jury--but there are thousands who have been
misled and deceived, and it has clearly appeared to me that even among
the so-called leaders of the movement there are many who have been
deceived.
"A small number of intriguers in and outside of the country ingeniously
incited a number of the residents of Johannesburg and surroundings to
struggle, under the guise of standing up for political rights, and day
by day, as it were, urged them on; and when in their stupidity they
thought that the moment had arrived, they (the intriguers) caused one
Dr. Jameson to cross the boundary of the republic.
"Did they ever ask themselves to what they were exposing you?
"I shudder when I think what bloodshed could have resulted had a
merciful Providence not saved you and my burghers.
"I will not refer to the financial damage.
"Now I approach you with full confidence. Work together with the
Government of this republic, and strengthen their hands to make this
country a land wherein people of all nationalities may reside in common
brotherhood.
"For months and months I have planned what changes and reforms could
have been considered desirable in the Government and the state, but the
loathsome agitation, especially of the press, has restrained me.
"The same men who have publicly come forward as leaders have demanded
reforms from me, and in a tone and a manner which they would not have
ventured to have done in their own country, owing to fear for the
criminal law. For that cause it was made impossible for me and my
burghers, the founders of this republic, to take their preposterous
proposals in consideration.
"It is my intention to submit a draft law at the first ordinary session
of the Raad, whereby a municipality, with a mayor at the head, would be
granted to Johannesburg, to whom the control of the city will be
intrusted. According to all constitutional principles, the Municipal
Board will be elected by the people of the town.
"I earnestly request you, laying your hands on your hearts, to answer me
this question: After what has happened, can and may I submit this to the
representatives of the people? My reply is, I know there are thousands
in Johannesburg and the suburbs to whom I can intrust such elective
powers. Inhabitants of Johannesburg, render it possible for the
Government to go before the Volksraad with the motto, 'Forgotten and
Forgiven.'"
Mr. Kruger's political platform is based on one of the paragraphs of a
manifesto which he, as Vice-President of the Triumvirate, sent to Sir
Owen Lanyon, the British Resident Commissioner, on Dingaan's Day, 1880,
when the Boers were engaged in their second struggle for independence.
The paragraph, which was apparently written by Mr. Kruger, reads:
"We declare before God, who knows the heart, and before the world: Any
one speaking of us as rebels is a slanderer! The people of the South
African Republic have never been subjects of Her Majesty, and never will
be."
The President's hatred of the English was bred in the bone, and it will
never be eradicated. To see his country free from every English tie is
the aim of his existence, and every act of his political career has been
born with that thought. His own political aggrandizement has always
been a secondary thought. He himself has declared that there is no one
in the republic who is able or willing to complete the independence of
the republic with such little friction as he, and that, such being the
case, he would be a traitor to desert the cause in the hours of its
gravest peril. He considers personal victories at the polls of his own
country as mere stepping-stones toward that greater victory which he
hopes to secure over the English colonial secretary, and the day that
England renounces all claim to suzerainty over the Transvaal Mr. Kruger
will consider his duty done, and will go into the retirement which his
great work and the fulness of his years owe him.
For a man whose education has been of the scantiest, and whose people
were practically unheard of until he brought them into prominence, Paul
Kruger has received from foreign sources many remarkable tributes to the
wisdom with which he has conducted the affairs of the country under
circumstances of more than ordinary difficulty.
That which he received from Emperor William, of Germany, several days
after the repulse of the Jameson raiders, was perhaps the finest tribute
that Mr. Kruger has ever received, and one that created a greater
sensation throughout the world than any peaceful message that ever
passed between the heads of two governments. The cablegram, of which
the text follows, is one of the most priceless treasures in Mr. Kruger's
collection:
"_Received January 3d, 1896_.
"_From Wilhelm I. R., Berlin_.
"_To_ PRESIDENT KRUGER, _Pretoria_.
"I tender you my sincere congratulations that, without appealing to the
help of friendly powers, you and your people have been successful in
opposing with your own forces the armed bands that have broken into your
country to disturb the peace, in restoring order, and in maintaining the
independence of your country against attacks from without.
"WILHELM I. R."
Prince Bismarck declared that Kruger was the greatest natural-born
statesman of the time. William E. Gladstone, who had many opportunities
to gauge Kruger's skill in diplomacy, referred to him as the shrewdest
politician on the continent of Africa, and not a mean competitor of
those of Europe. Among the titles which have been bestowed upon him by
European rulers are Knight of the First Class of the Red Eagle of
Prussia, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, Grand Knight of the
Leopold Order of Belgium, Grand Knight of the Netherland Lion, and Grand
Knight of the Portuguese Order of Distinguished Foreigners.
If a detailed history of Mr. Kruger's life could be obtained from his
own lips, it would compare favourably with those of the notable
characters of modern times. The victories he has gained in the field of
diplomacy may not have affected as many people as those of Bismarck; the
defeats administered in battle may not have been as crushing as those of
Napoleon, but to his weakling country they were equally as decisive and
valuable.
The great pyramid in the valley of the Nile is seen to best advantage as
far away as Cairo. Observed close at hand, it serves only to disturb the
spectator's mind with an indefinable sense of vastness, crudity, and
weight; from a distance the relative proportions of all things are
clearly discerned. So it is with the career of Mr. Kruger. Historic
perspective is necessary to determine the value of the man to the
country. Fifty or a hundred years hence, when the Transvaal has safely
emerged from its period of danger, there will be a true sense of
proportion, so that his labours in behalf of his country may be judged
aright.
At this time the critical faculty is lacking because his life work is
not ended, and its entire success is not assured. He has earned for
himself, however, the distinction of being the greatest diplomatist that
South Africa has ever produced. Whether the fruits of his diplomacy
will avail to keep his country intact is a question that will find its
answer in the results of future years. He has succeeded in doing that
which no man has ever done. As the head of the earth's weakest nation
he has for more than a decade defied its strongest power to take his
country from him. That should be sufficient honour for any man.