THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS
When considerable districts of the country were cleared of food in order
to hamper the movements of the commandos, and when large numbers of
farmhouses were destroyed under the circumstances already mentioned, it
became evident that it was the duty of the British, as a civilised
people, to form camps of refuge for the women and children, where, out
of reach, as we hoped, of all harm, they could await the return of
peace. There were three courses open. The first was to send the Boer
women and children into the Boer lines--a course which became impossible
when the Boer army broke into scattered bands and had no longer any
definite lines; the second was to leave them where they were; the third
was to gather them together and care for them as best we could.
It is curious to observe that the very people who are most critical of
the line of policy actually adopted, were also most severe when it
appeared that the alternative might be chosen. The British nation would
have indeed remained under an ineffaceable stain had they left women and
children without shelter upon the veldt in the presence of a large
Kaffir population. Even Mr. Stead could hardly have ruined such a case
by exaggeration. On some rumour that it would be so, he drew harrowing
pictures of the moral and physical degradation of the Boer women in the
vicinity of the British camps. No words can be too strong to stigmatise
such assertions unless the proof of them is overwhelmingly strong--and
yet the only 'proof' adduced is the bare assertion of a partisan writer
in a partisan paper, who does not claim to have any personal knowledge
of the matter. It is impossible without indignation to know that a
Briton has written on such evidence of his own fellow-countrymen that
they have 'used famine as a pander to lust.'
Such language, absurd as it is, shows very clearly the attacks to which
the British Government would have been subjected had they _not_ formed
the camps of refuge. It was not merely that burned-out families must be
given a shelter, but it was that no woman on a lonely farm was safe amid
a black population, even if she had the means of procuring food. Then,
again, we had learned our lesson as regards the men who had given their
parole. They should not again be offered the alternative of breaking
their oaths or being punished by their own people. The case for the
formation of the camps must be admitted to be complete and overwhelming.
They were formed, therefore, by the Government at convenient centres,
chiefly at Pretoria, Johannesburg, Krugersdorp, Middelburg,
Potchefstroom, Rustenburg, Heidelburg, Standerton, Pietersburg,
Klerksdorp, and Volksrust in the Transvaal; Bloemfontein, Kroonstad,
Bethulie, and Edenburg in the Orange Free State.
Such camps as refuges were no new things, for the British refugees from
Johannesburg have been living for over a year in precisely such places.
As no political capital and no international sentiment could be
extracted from their sufferings, and as they have borne their troubles
with dignity and restraint, we have heard little of the condition of
their lives, which is in many ways more deplorable than that of the
Boers.
Having determined to form the camps, the authorities carried out the
plan with great thoroughness. The sites seem to have been well chosen,
and the arrangements in most cases all that could be wished. They were
formed, however, at an unfortunate moment. Great strain had been placed
upon our Commissariat by the large army, over 200,000 men, who had to be
supplied by three tiny railways, which were continually cut. In January
1901 De Wet made his invasion of Cape Colony, and the demand upon the
lines was excessive. The extraordinary spectacle was presented at that
time of the British straining every nerve to feed the women and children
of the enemy, while that enemy was sniping the engineers and derailing
the trains which were bringing up the food.
The numbers of the inmates of the refugee camps increased rapidly from
20,000 at the end of the year 1900, up to more than 100,000 at the end
of 1901. Great efforts were made by the military authorities to
accommodate the swelling tide of refugees, and no money was spared for
that purpose. Early in the year 1901 a painful impression was created in
England by the report of Miss Hobhouse, an English lady, who had
visited the camps and criticised them unfavourably. The value of her
report was discounted, however, by the fact that her political
prejudices were known to be against the Government. Mr. Charles
Hobhouse, a relation of hers, and a Radical member of Parliament, has
since then admitted that some of her statements will not bear
examination. With the best will in the world her conclusions would have
been untrustworthy, since she could speak no Dutch, had no experience of
the Boer character, and knew nothing of the normal conditions of South
African life.
Her main contentions were that the diet was not sufficient, that there
was little bedding, that the water-supply was short, that the sanitation
was bad, that there was overcrowding, and that there was an excessive
death-rate, especially among the children.
As to diet, the list which she gives agrees roughly with that which is
officially quoted as the daily allowance at Irene Camp, near Pretoria,
in July. It is as follows:
Meat 1/2 lb.
Coffee 2 oz.
Flour 3/4 lb.
Sugar 2 oz.
Salt 1/2 oz.
To every child under six, a bottle of milk
It must be confessed that the diet is a spare one, and that as supplies
become more plentiful it might well be increased. The allowance may,
however, be supplemented by purchase, and there is a considerable
outside fund, largely subscribed by British people, which is used to
make the scale more liberal. A slight difference was made at first
between the diet of a family which had surrendered and of that the head
of which was still in arms against us. A logical distinction may
certainly be made, but in practice it was felt to be unchivalrous and
harsh, so it was speedily abandoned.
As to the shortness of the water-supply, it is the curse of all South
Africa, which alternately suffers from having too much water and too
little. With artesian wells and better arrangements this difficulty is
being overcome, but it has applied as strongly to our own camps as to
those of the Boer refugees.
There seems to be a consensus of opinion from all the camps that the
defects in sanitation are due to the habits of the inmates, against
which commandants and doctors are perpetually fighting. Camp life
without cleanliness must become unhygienic. The medical reports are
filled with instances of the extreme difficulty which has been
experienced in enforcing discipline upon those who have been accustomed
to the absolute liberty of the lonely veldt.
On the question of overcrowding, the demand for tents in South Africa
has been excessive, and it may well have taxed all the power of the
authorities to find accommodation for the crowds of women and children.
The evil has been remedied since the time of Miss Hobhouse's report. It
is well known that the Boers in their normal life have no objection to
crowded rooms, and that the inmates of a farmhouse are accustomed to
conditions which would be unendurable to most. To overcrowd a tent is
hygienically almost impossible, for the atmosphere of a tent, however
crowded, will never become tainted in the same sense as a room.
All these things are of human contrivance, and the authorities were
doing their best to set them right, as Miss Hobhouse herself
acknowledged. 'They are, I believe, doing their best with very limited
means,' said she, and in so saying reduced her whole report to nothing.
For if they are really doing their best, then what more can be said? The
only alternative is the breaking up of the camps and the dispersal of
the women. But in that case Mr. Stead is waiting for us with some 'Blood
and Hell' broadsheet to tell us of the terrible fate of those women upon
the veldt. It must be one or the other. Of the two I prefer Miss
Hobhouse and the definite grievances which she reports, to the infinite
possibilities of Mr. Stead. As to the suggestion that this enormous
crowd of women and children should be quartered upon their kinsmen in
the Colony, it is beyond all argument. There has been no offer of such
wholesale hospitality nor have we any means for enforcing it.
But then we come to the great and piteous tragedy of the refugee camps,
the mortality, and especially the mortality among the children. That is
deplorable--more deplorable even than the infant mortality in Mafeking,
Ladysmith, and Kimberley. But is it avoidable? Or is it one of those
misfortunes, like that enteric outbreak which swept away so many British
soldiers, which is beyond our present sanitary science and can only be
endured with sad resignation? The nature of the disease which is mainly
responsible for the high mortality shows that it has no direct
connection with the sanitary conditions of the camps, or with anything
which it was in our power to alter. Had the deaths come from some
filth-disease, such as typhus fever, or even from enteric or diphtheria,
the sanitation of the camps might be held responsible. But it is to a
severe form of measles that the high mortality is due. Apart from that
the record of the camps would have been a very fair one. Now measles
when once introduced among children runs through a community without any
regard to diet or conditions of life. The only possible hope is the
segregation of the sufferer. To obtain this early quarantine the
co-operation of the parent is needed: but in the case in point the Boer
mothers, with a natural instinct, preferred to cling to the children and
to make it difficult for the medical men to remove them in the first
stages of the disease. The result was a rapid spread of the epidemic,
which was the more fatal as many of the sufferers were in low health
owing to the privations unavoidably endured in the journey from their
own homes to the camps. Not only was the spread of the disease assisted
by the mother, but in her mistaken zeal she frequently used remedies
which were as fatal as the disease. Children died of arsenical-poisoning,
having been covered from head to foot with green paint; and others of
opium-poisoning, having quack drugs which contain laudanum administered
to them. 'In Potchefstroom as at Irene,' says Dr. Kendal Franks, 'the
death-rate is attributable not so much to the severity of the epidemic
as to the ignorance, perverseness, and dirty habits of the parents
themselves.' But whatever the immediate cause the death of these
numerous children lies heavy, not upon the conscience, but upon the
heart of our nation. It is some mitigation to know that the death-rate
among children is normally quite remarkably high in South Africa, and
that the rate in the camps was frequently not higher than that of the
towns near which the camp was situated.
Be this as it may, we cannot deny that the cause of the outbreak of
measles was the collection of the women and children by us into the
camps. But why were they collected into camps? Because they could not be
left on the veldt. And why could they not be left on the veldt? Because
we had destroyed the means of subsistence. And why had we destroyed the
means of subsistence? To limit the operations of the mobile bands of
guerillas. At the end of every tragedy we are forced back to the common
origin of all of them, and made to understand that the nation which
obstinately perseveres in a useless guerilla war prepares much trouble
for its enemy, but absolute ruin for itself.
We have pushed our humanity in this matter of the refugees so far that
we have looked after our enemies far better than our friends. I
recognise that the two cases are not on all fours, since the Boers are
compelled to be in camps and the loyalist refugees are not. But the fact
remains that the loyalists _are_ in camps, through no fault of their
own, and that their condition is a worse one than that of our enemies.
At East London, for example, there are two refugee camps, Boer and
British. The former has 350, the latter 420 inhabitants. The former are
by far the better fed, clad, and housed, with a hospital, a school, and
a washhouse, all of which are wanting in the British camp. At Port
Elizabeth there is a Boer camp. A Dutch deputation came with 50_l._ to
expend in improving their condition, but returned without spending the
money as nothing was needed. The Boer refugees and the British are
catered for by the same man at Port Elizabeth. He is allowed 15_d._ per
head for the Boers per day, and 8_d._ for the British. These are the
'Methods of Barbarism.'
I shall now take a few opinions of the camps from British sources and
from Boer. I have only seen one British witness who was in sympathy with
Miss Hobhouse, and that is a lady (name not mentioned) who is quoted in
the appendix of Mr. Methuen's 'Peace or War.' She takes much the same
view, insisting mainly upon the insufficient diet, the want of fuel and
of bed-clothing. Against these two ladies I shall very shortly and in
condensed form cite a few witnesses from both sides.
Mr. Seaton, of Johannesburg (Secretary of the Congregational Church and
of the burgher camp), says: 'The reports you send make our blood boil.
They are frightfully exaggerated, and in many instances not only
misleading but untrue.... A more healthy spot it would be difficult to
find.... There is no overcrowding.
'Some weeks ago there was an epidemic of measles in camp of a very
severe type, and naturally there were many deaths among the children.
The doctor and nurses worked to the very utmost, and I am pleased to say
the epidemic is stamped out. No doubt this is what caused the talk by
the pro-Boers in the House of Commons and elsewhere, but it is one of
those epidemics which could not be prevented among the class of people
we have here. They had absolutely no regard for sanitary conveniences,
and the officials had the greatest difficulty in enforcing the most
ordinary rules of cleanliness. Another difficulty we had was to get them
to bring their children when sick into the hospital, where there is
every convenience. They prefer to disobey the doctor and try the old
women's remedies, which, as you know, are very plentiful among such
people. The doctor has had a most trying position, and has worked like a
slave. Nearly all the deaths have been from measles. We are having a
fairly mild winter. About three months ago it was bitterly cold, but
they are used to outdoor life, and this is no worse than they have
always been used to. The tents are all military tents, and there is no
sign of leakage. I know they all want tents when they come here, if it
is possible to get them. On the whole, the inmates are contented, and
the children are particularly happy. They skip and play about from morn
till eve.'
The Rev. R. Rogers (Wesleyan minister) writes:
'What is the use of persons ignorant of the life and customs of the
Boers coming to investigate these burgher camps? I have seen, and do not
hesitate to say, that most of them are better housed, better clothed,
and better fed than in their own homes of wattle and daub, and mud
floors.'
Mr. Howe of the Camp Soldiers' Homes says:
'We do not pass judgment; we only state facts.
'When the first concentration camp was formed we were on the spot, and
also saw others spring up. We admit that there has been suffering, but
we solemnly affirm that the officers in charge of the several camps
known to us were only too anxious to make the helpless people as
comfortable as possible. We have seen the huge cases and bales of
comforts for the inmates, and know that, in order to expedite the
despatch of these things, military stores and ordnance have been kept
back.'
The Rev. R. B. Douglas (Presbyterian minister) writes:
'I am glad to see that you are not giving credence to the tales of
brutality and cruelty which are being freely circulated by disloyal
agitators about the treatment of the Boer refugees. But one point on
which you ask for more information is worth being noticed--the
difference of treatment between families of those on commando and
others. I am in a position to state that the whole difference made
amounted to two ounces of coffee and four ounces of sugar per week, and
that even this distinction totally disappeared by the middle of March.
As a set-off to this, the local Dutch Committee, in distributing some
sixty cases of clothing, &c., sent out by the charitable, refused to
give any help to the families of some who were not on commando, on the
ground that these articles were for the benefit of those who were
fighting for their country.'
Mrs. Gauntlett, of Johannesburg, writes:
'I have read certain statements you sent me from English papers on
cruelty to Boer refugee families. I am amazed at the iniquity of men who
circulate such lies, and the credulity of those who believe them. The
opinion of Germans, French, Americans, and even many Dutch, here on the
spot, is that the leniency and amazing liberality of the Government to
their foes is prolonging the war. A Dutch girl in the Pretoria Camp
declared to the nurse that for seven months they had not been able to
get such good food as was given them by the British.'
Mr. Soutar, Secretary of the Pretoria Camp, writes:
'The Boer women and children get as much food as they require, and have
all sorts of medical comforts, such as beef-tea, extracts of meat,
jellies, brandy and wine, and the advantage of fully qualified
attendants. Not only are their absolute requirements provided for, but
even their "fads" are considered.'
Mr. Scholtz, Inspector of Camps for the Transvaal, reports:
'Many of the children, when they first arrived at the camp, were little
better than skin and bone, and, being in so emaciated a condition, it
was not surprising that, when they did catch measles, they could not
cope with the disease. Many of the women would not open their tents to
admit fresh air, and, instead of giving the children the proper
medicines supplied by the military, preferred to give them home
remedies. The mothers would not sponge the children, and the greatest
difficulty was experienced in inducing them to send the patients to
hospital. The cause of the high death-rate among children from measles
is due to the fact that the women let their children out as soon as the
measles rash has subsided. Pneumonia and bronchitis naturally supervene.
Another cause is that the mothers persist in giving their children meat
and other indigestible foods, even when the doctors strictly prohibit
it, dysentery resulting as a matter of course. In other respects the
health of the camp is good, there being only one case of typhoid out of
5,000 residents in camp.'
Here is light on the Krugersdorp Camp:
'JOHANNESBURG, July 31st.--(Reuter's Special Service.)--Commandant
Alberts, commanding the Boers near Krugersdorp, has sent a letter to the
officer commanding the British forces at Krugersdorp, stating that as he
has with him on commando several families whose male relatives have
recently surrendered, he wishes to know if he will receive these
families, as they would like to go to Krugersdorp. The officer replied
that he would be pleased to receive them, and they are expected to
arrive to-day.
'This action on the part of the Boers clearly shows that the families
themselves have no longer any objection to the Refugee Camps, where
everything is done to promote their comfort, or any disinclination to
being placed under our care and protection.'
From Reuter's agent at Springfontein:
'I to-day visited the Boer Refugee Camp here, containing 2,700 inmates.
The camp is splendidly situated, and well laid out. I spoke to several
refugees, and met with no complaint, all being satisfied with the
treatment received. The hospital arrangements are excellent, and there
is very little sickness in the camp.'
From Mr. Celliers, Dutch Minister from Aberdeen, Cape Colony, sent to
inspect the Port Elizabeth Refugee Camp:
'He was writing this to show that the British Government were doing
everything in their power to help the exiles, and to show that, although
these exiles' relatives and friends were still in the field, yet the
powers were merciful and kind to the exiles, showing them no enmity, for
which they felt grateful. He wished the people to understand that he was
at liberty to speak to them privately, and that he had a fair
opportunity to hear any complaints, if there were any to be made. Mr.
Hess allowed him to go round, placing full confidence in him, and he
felt satisfied that if there had been anything wrong he should have
heard of it. It had been his opinion all along that the Military, in
sending these exiles down there, had done so for their own safety and
advantage; and that it had preserved them, and been a blessing in
disguise, which would be acknowledged by all in time to come.'
Major Harold Sykes's (2nd Dragoons) evidence is reported as follows:
He arranged the first of the Refugee Concentrated Camps, and when he
left he had a camp of about six thousand women and children under his
care. All charges of cruelty and inhumanity were vile and calumnious
falsehoods. Nay, worse, they were miserable, despicable concoctions.
Both women and children were better off, the great bulk of them, than
ever they were in their lives. The only thing approaching cruelty to
them was at the authorities insisted upon cleanliness and proper
attention to sanitary regulations, which the average Boer, being a
stranger to, utterly disliked. He had seen all the workings of these
camps. He could give an unqualified denial to all the villainous
allegations that had recently been made in public meeting and in the
House of Commons.
Under date November 1, an officer of the Kroonstad Camp writes:
'We have cricket, tennis, and croquet for them, and they are all jolly
well treated. Besides other amusements, they have a band twice a week,
and the other day they got up a concert.'
This is what Mr. Stead calls 'doing to death by slow torture all the
women and children whom we have penned behind the barbed wire of our
prison camps.' Can a cause be a sound one which is pleaded in such
terms!
Now for some Boer voices.
Commandant Alberts writes:
'Major WALTER, Boksburg.--Honoured Sir,--I must express to you and the
other officers of Boksburg my heartfelt thanks for the great kindness
shown towards my wife, and at the same time for the message, and I hope
that this kindness may some time be repaid to you.
'May you and I be spared to have a personal meeting.
'I have the honour to be your honour's servant,
'(Signed) H. ALBERTS, Commandant.'
A Dutch minister writes to Captain SNOWDEN, O.C. of Boer Camp,
Johannesburg:--'Sir,--I am directed by the Committee of the Dutch
Reformed Churches here to convey to you the appreciation of the
Committee for the kindly interest and sympathy shown by you to the women
and children under your charge.'
One hundred male refugee Boers in the camp at Kroonstad sign the
following sentiment:
'We also wish to tender Your Excellency our heartiest thanks for the
interest you take in the education of our youth, and we trust you will
succeed in your endeavours, and that the growing-up generation will be
taught to be God-fearing, honest, and loyal citizens under the British
flag. We regret, however, to state that, notwithstanding the highly
appreciated efforts of our worthy superintendent and doctors, still so
many cases of sickness and deaths occur daily in this camp, still we
hope and trust Your Excellency will do all in your power for the health
in this camp.
'We trust that the efforts of our worthy superintendent towards
promoting our welfare under trying circumstances will be appreciated by
Your Excellency. We are happy to state that the spirit of loyalty is
daily increasing in this camp, and that the majority of the male
refugees have taken the oath of allegiance.'
Mr. Dudley Keys, a surrendered burgher, writes to his brother:
'I have been in camp now for more than seven months--a sufficient time,
you will allow, for reflection--and the immutability of the life
provides ample scope for indulgence in that direction. How we long for
the settlement you cannot imagine, nor can you imagine with what disgust
and impatience we regard every endeavour on the part of the pro-Boers,
as they are called, to divert the natural and inevitable course of
things. You will not be surprised at hearing this from a one-time Dutch
Republican when you take into consideration that all of us who have
surrendered are fully aware of the fact that we were the aggressors, and
that our statesmen are to blame for our present predicament. A large
number of Boers, of course, will never come to view the matter in this
light. That, of course, is not the result of thought and reflection, but
utter and total ignorance. When Miss Hobhouse was here I frequently saw
her priming herself or being primed. Some of our women would tell her
anything for a dress or a pair of boots. If she knew our countrymen and
women as well as we know them, her story would have been a short one.
Now the home Government are despatching this commission. Well, when they
see the women and children in camp they will naturally feel sorry for
them. Who would not? But if they only remember that this is war and not
a picnic, they will satisfy the people in England on their return that
all we want is peace, and plenty of it.'
He adds:
'In spite of the lack of gratitude shown by our people, the authorities
continue to make improvements and to lessen the hardships. That this
entails enormous expenditure you will see by the statistics frequently
published in the English papers. When I hear our people grumble, I often
wonder how they would have treated the Britishers if the positions were
reversed, and I am bound to acknowledge that it would not compare
favourably with the treatment we receive.'
A Boer woman, writing from Pietermaritzburg, says:
'Those who complain of anything must lie, for we are in good
circumstances.'
In a second letter she says:
'I can make no complaint at all.'
Mrs. Blignant, writing from the Port Elizabeth Refugee Camp, says:
'If we had to complain it would be false complaint, and all the stories
about ill-treatment are untrue as far as I can find out.' Among the
women cared for in this camp was one from Jagersfontein, who
boasted--and with truth--that she had shot two unarmed British soldiers
with a revolver.
Such is some of the evidence to be placed against Miss Hobhouse's
report, and that of the unnamed lady in Pretoria. In justice it must be
acknowledged that some camps may have been more open to criticism than
others, and that (as we should expect) they became more perfect with
time. But I cannot believe that any impartial mind can read the evidence
without seeing that the British Government was doing its best under
difficult circumstances to carry out the most humane plan possible, and
that any other must involve consequences from which a civilised nation
must shrink.
Towards the end of 1901 an attempt was made to lessen the mortality in
the camps by bringing them down to the sea-coast. The problem was
complicated by the fact that many of the refugees were averse from
leaving their own country, and had come in upon a promise that they
would not be asked to do so. Those who would were moved down, and the
camps at East London, Port Elizabeth, and Merebank, near Durban, largely
increased. 'No expense must be allowed to stand in the way,' said Mr.
Chamberlain in an official message. In Blue Book (Cd. 853) we find Lord
Milner and the Colonial Secretary discussing every means by which the
mortality might be lessened and the comfort of the camps increased.
It is worthy of record that the portrait of an emaciated child has been
circulated upon the Continent and in America as a proof positive of the
horrors of the concentration system. It is only too probable that there
are many emaciated children in the camps, for they usually arrive in
that condition. This particular portrait however was, as I am credibly
informed, taken by the British authorities on the occasion of the
criminal trial of the mother for the ill-usage of the child. The
incident is characteristic of the unscrupulous tactics which have been
used from the beginning to poison the mind of the world against Great
Britain.