HOWARD C.H I LLEGAS J LIBJWRY^} f*AI UnftAWihJh vvw-\mi^n SANDII@ ' OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE President Kruger on the piazza, of the Executive Mansion, Pretoria. OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE A NARRATIVE OF THE BRITISH-BOER TROUBLES IN SOUTH AFRICA, WITH A HISTORY OF THE BOERS, THE COUNTRY, AND ITS INSTITUTIONS BY HOWARD C. HTLLEGAS ILLUSTRATED WITH EIGHT PHOTOGRAPHS AND A MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1899 COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. PREFACE AMERICAN enterprises in South Africa, and especially in the Transvaal, have assumed such large proportions in the last five years that the affairs of the country and the people are steadily gaining in interest the land over. As almost all the interest is centred in the Transvaal and the Boers, an unprejudiced opinion of the country and its people may serve to correct some of the many popular misconceptions concerning them. The Boers constitute a nation, and are deserving of the consideration which many writings con- cerning them fail to display. They have their failings, as many a more powerful nation has, but they also have noble traits. In these pages an effort has been made to describe the Boers as they impressed themselves upon my mind while I associated with them in the farmhouses on the veldt, in the drawing-rooms in the cities, v i OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE in the chambers of the Government House, and in the mansion of the Executive. The alleged grievances of the Uitlanders are so complex and multitudinous that a mere enu- meration of them would necessitate a separate volume, and consequently they are not touched upon except collectively. As a layman, it is not within my province to discuss the diplomatic features of South African affairs, and I have shown only the moral aspect a's it was unfolded to an American whose pride in the Anglo-Saxon race causes him to wish that there were more justice and less venom in the grievances. To the many South Africans with whose hos- pitable treatment I was favoured I am deeply and sincerely grateful. Englishmen, Afrikanders, Dutchmen, Boers, and Uitlanders were excep- tionally gracious in many ways, and, however they may have differed on local topics, were unanimously courteous in their entertainment of a citizen of the country for which they frequently expressed such great admiration. I am especially indebted to Sir Alfred Milner, the Queen's High Commissioner to South Africa and Governor of Cape Colony, and Sir James Sivewright, the Act- PREFACE vii ing Premier of Cape Colony, for many courtesies and much information; to President S. J. P. Kruger for many kindnesses and a greatly treas- ured Transvaal flag; to Postmaster-General Van Alphen, Mr. Peter Dillingham, Commissioner of War Smidt, and many other Government offi- cials, for valuable assistance given to me in Pre- toria. To those stanch Americans, Mr. Gardner F. Williams, of Kimberley, and Dr. J. Perrott Prince, of Durban, I am indebted for many pleas- ant excursions and experiences, and finally to my friend Mr. W. M. B. Tuttle, of New York city, for valuable assistance in this work. HOWARD C. HILLEGAS. NEW YORK CITY, September 4, 1899. CONTENTS I. SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME . . i Its physical and political divisions Relations of the races Progress of the natives Transvaal's relative position. II. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE . . 2$ Early settlement of the Cape Troubles of the im- migrants with the East India Company and the English The Great Trek Battles with the natives and the English Founding of the republic. III. THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS ... 64 Discovery of gold Early days of the field and the influx of foreigners The origin of the enmity be- tween, the Boers and the newcomers The Jameson raid and its results. IV. THE BOER OF TO-DAY 88 His habits and modes of living His love of family His religion and patriotism. V. PRESIDENT KRUGER no Personal description His long and active career His public services Anecdotes of his life His home life. VI. INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER . . 136 His democracy Hatred of Mr. Rhodes Discussion of the Transvaal's position His opinion of Americans Why he hates the English A message to America. OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE VII. CECIL JOHN RHODES ...... 159 The ambition of the man Story of his youth His many enterprises Political career Personality An- ecdotes and incidents of his life Groote Schuur His home. VIII. THE BOER GOVERNMENT CIVIL AND MILITARY . 191 The executive and legislative branches of the Gov- ernment The Raads in session The state military organization Mobilizing the army Commandant- General P. J. Joubert His services to the republic. IX. CAUSES OF PRESENT DISSENSIONS . . . .215 British contempt of the Boers The suzerainty dis- puteThe question of the franchise Campaign of slander. X. PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE ..... 236 Boers' strong defences Attitude of the races The Afrikander Bond Armed strength of races Eng- land's preparation Importance of Delagoa Bay. XL AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA . . 259 American influence Exports and imports Leaders of the American colony American machinery Prominent part Americans have taken in the devel- opment of the country. XII. JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY ..... 283 Approach to the city Description of the city Its characteristics Its inhabitants. BE C II U A N A L A W D M A T A <. L E L A N D Bulawayo N,Victoria (BRITISH PROTECTORATE); O W KALAHARI DESERT Shoshongo jPietereburg V")Le ^/4 JG R E v *- * , oT^ 1 .-;-! ij-dsrtor ^^S^ rswAzi Ockiep Map of South Africa. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE President Kruger on the piazza of the Executive Mansion, Pretoria ' . . . . Frontispiece A band of Zulu warriors in war costume ... 42 Majuba Hill, where one hundred and fifty Boer volun- teers defeated six hundred British soldiers . . 58 Kirk Street, Pretoria, with the State Church in the distance 98 The Rt. Hon. Cecil J. Rhodes on the piazza of his residence, Groote Schuur, at Rondebosch, near Cape Town ........ 159 Cape Colony Government House, at Cape Town . 218 Cape Town and Table Mountain ..... 259 Zulu maidens shaking hands 284 Map of South Africa x OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE CHAPTER I SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME THE population of South Africa may be di- vided into three great classes of individuals: First, those who are only waiting for the time when they will be able to leave the country the Uitlanders; second, those who hope that that time may speedily come the native-born whites; and, third, those who have no hope at all the negroes. The white population, south of the Zam- bezi River, is almost as large as the population of the city of Philadelphia. Half of the popu- lation is Boer, or of Dutch ' extraction, while the remainder consists of the other Afrikanders and the Uitlanders. The Afrikander class com- prises those persons who were born in the country but of European descent, while the 2 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE Uitlanders are the foreigners who are, for the most part, only temporary residents. The negro population is estimated at five millions, divided into many tribes and scattered over many thousand miles of territory, but united in the common cause of subdued hostility to- ward the whites. The discovery and first settlement of South Africa were made about the same time that America was being won from the Indians; but, instead of having a people that united in the one object of making a great and influential nation, South Africa is rent asunder by political intrigue, racial antagonism, and internal jeal- ousies and strife. The Dutch and Boers have their mutual enemies, the Uitlanders; the Cape Colonists are unfriendly with the Natalians, yet unite to a great extent in opposing the Dutch and Boers; while all are the common enemy of the black race. Strife is incessant in the country, and a uni- fication of interests is impossible so long as the enmity continues. Meanwhile the natural growth and development of the country are retarded, and all classes suffer like consequences. SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME 3 A man who is capable of healing all the differ- ences and uniting all the classes in a common bond of patriotism will be the saviour of the country, and far greater than Kruger or Rhodes. A fugitive bit of verse that is heard in all parts of South Africa affords a clearer idea of the country than can be given in pages of detailed description. With a few expurgations, the verse is: " The rivers of South Africa have no waters, The birds no song, the flowers no scent ; The child you see has no father, The whites go free, while the negroes pay the rent." A person who has derived his impressions of the physical features of the continent of Africa from books generally concludes that it is either a desert or a tropical wilderness throughout. South Africa combines these two features in such a way that the impression need not be entirely shattered, and yet it is not a truthful one. South Africa is at once a tropical garden, a waterless desert, a fertile plain, and a moun- tainous wilderness. It has all the distinctions of soil, climate, and physical features that are 4 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE to be found anywhere in the world, and yet in three hundred years less than half a million persons have found its variety agreeable enough to become permanent residents. Along the coast country, for one hundred miles inland, the territory is as fertile as any in the world, the climate salubrious, and the conditions for settlement most agreeable. Beyond that line is another area of several hundred miles which consists chiefly of lofty tablelike plateaus and forest-covered mountains. Farther inland is the Great Karroo, a desert of sombre renown, and beyond that the great rolling plains of the Kimberley region, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal. Here, during the dry season, the earth is covered with brown, lifeless grass, the rays of the sun beat down perpendicularly, and great clouds of yellow dust obscure the horizon. No trees or bushes are seen in a half-thousand-mile journey, the great broad rivers are waterless, and the only live objects are the lone Boer herders and their thirsty flocks. A month later the rainy season may com- mence, and then the landscape becomes more SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME 5 animated. Rains, compared with which the heaviest precipitations of the north temperate zone are mere drizzles, continue almost inces- santly for weeks; the plain becomes a tropical garden, and the traveller sees some reasons for that part of the earth's creation. In the midst of these plains, and a thousand miles from the Cape of Good Hope, are the gold mines of the Randt, richer than California and more valuable than the Klondike. The wonder is that they were ever discovered, and almost as marvellous is it that any one should remain there sufficiently long to dig a thou- sand feet below the surface to secure the hid- den wealth. Farther north are the undevel- oped countries, Mashonaland and Matabeleland, the great lakes, and the relics of the civiliza- tion that is a thousand years older than ours. According to the American standard, the most uninhabitable part of South Africa is the Transvaal, that inland territory of sun and plain, which has its only redeeming feature in its un- derground wealth. Had Nature placed her golden treasure in the worthless Kalahari Desert, it would have been of easier access than 6 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE in the Transvaal, and worthy of a plausible ex- cuse. But, excluding the question of gold, no one except the oppressed Boers ever had the weakest reason for settling in countries so un- natural, unattractive, and generally unproduc- tive as the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Cape Colony and Natal, the two British colonies on the coast, are the direct opposites of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State in physical and climatic conditions. The colo- nies are comfortably settled, the soil is marvel- lously productive, negro labour is cheap, and everything combines to form the foundation for a great nation. Cape Town, the city where every one is continually awaiting the arrival of the next mail steamer from England, and the capital of Cape Colony, is a modern city of fifty thousand in- habitants, mostly English. It was the metrop- olis of the country until Johannesburg was born in a day, and caused it to become a mere point in transit. The city has electric lights, electric street railways, fine docks, excellent railways into the interior, and all the other attributes SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME 7 of an English city, with the possible exception that it requires a four-weeks' passage to reach London. It is a city of which Englishmen are proud, for its statue of Queen Victoria is beautiful, the Government society is exclusive, " Tommy Atkins " is there in regiments, and the British flag floats on every staff. Cape Town, too, is the home of the politicians who manage the Colonial Office, which in turn has charge of the South African colonial affairs. Two cable lines lead from South Africa to London, and both dive into the ocean at Cape Town, where live Cecil J. Rhodes, Sir Alfred Milner, and the other politicians who furnish the cablegrams and receive the replies. Farther north on the east coast, about three days' sail around the Cape, is the colony of Natal, peaceful, para- disaical, and proud. Taken by conquest from the Zulus a half century ago, it has already distanced its four-times-older competitor, Cape Colony, in almost all things that pertain to the development of a country. Being fif- teen hundred miles farther from London than Cape Town, it has escaped the political g OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE swash of that city, and has been able to plough its own path in the sea of colonial settle- ment. Almost all of Natal is included in the fer- tile coast territory, and consequently has been able to offer excellent inducements to intend- ing settlers. The majority of these have been Scotchmen of sturdy stock, and these have established a diminutive Scotland in South Africa, and one that is a model for the entire continent. Within the last year the colony has annexed the adjoining country of the Zulus, which, even if it accomplishes nothing more practical, increases the size of the colony. Dur- ban, the entry port of the colony, is the New- port of South Africa, as well as its Colorado Springs. Its wide, palm-and-flower-fringed streets, its 'ricksha Zulus, its magnificent sub- urbs, and its healthful climate combine to make Durban the finest residence city on the Dark Continent. Pietermaritzburg, the capital of the colony, on the other hand, has nothing but its age to commend it. The colony produces vast quantities of coffee, tea, sugar, and fruits, al- most all of which is marketed in Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME g in the Transvaal, which is productive of noth- ing but gold and strife. The Orange Free State, which, with the Transvaal, form the only non-English states in South Africa, also lies in the plain or veldt district, and is of hardly any commercial impor- tance. Three decades ago it found itself in al- most the same situation with England as the Transvaal is to-day, but, unlike the South Afri- can republic, feared to demand its rights from the British Government. At that time the Kim- berley diamond mines w T ere discovered on ac- knowledged Free State soil. England pur- chased an old native chief's claims, which had been disallowed by a court of arbitration, and pushed them as its own. The Free State was weak, and agreed to forfeit its claim in return for a sum of four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The mines, now owned by a syndi- cate, of which Cecil J. Rhodes is the head, have yielded more than four hundred million dollars' worth of diamonds since the Free State ceded them to England for less than half a million dollars. The natives, who less than one hundred I0 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE years ago ruled the whole of South Africa with the exception of a small fraction of Cape Col- ony and several square miles on the east coast, have been relegated by the advances of civiliza- tion, until now they hold only small territories, or reservations, in the different colonies and republics. They are making slow progress in the arts of civilization, except in Cape Colony, where, under certain conditions, they are al- lowed to exercise the franchise, and on the whole have profited but little by the advent of the whites, notwithstanding the efforts of mis- sionaries and governments. They smart under the treatment of the whites, who, having forci- bly taken their country from them, now compel them to pay rental for the worst parts of the country, to which they are circumscribed, and to wear brass tags, with numbers, like so many cattle. Comparatively few natives work longer than three months of the year, and would not do that except for the fear of punishment for non-pay- ment of hut taxes. With the exception of those who are employed in the towns and cities, the negroes wear the same scanty costumes of their forefathers, and follow the same customs and practices. Witchcraft and superstition still rule the minds of the majority, and the former is practised in all its cruel hideousness in many parts of the country, although prohibited by law. The sale of rum, the great American " civi- lizer " of the Indians, is also prohibited in all the states and colonies, but it frequently is the cause of rebellious and intertribal wars. Not- withstanding the generous use of " dum-dum " bullets in the recent campaigns against the negroes, and the score of other agents of civi- lization which carry death to the natives, the black population has increased greatly since the control of the country has been taken from them. In Natal, particularly, the increase in the Zulu population has been most threaten- ing to the continued safety of that energetic colony. The Colonial Office, through gener- ous and humanitarian motives, has fostered the development of the native by every means pos- sible. No rabbit warren or pheasant hatchery was ever conducted on a more modern basis. Everything that the most enthusiastic found- er of a new colony could do to increase the 12 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE population of his dominion is in practice in Natal. Polygamy is not prohibited, and is in- dulged in to the full extent of the natives' pur- chasing ability. Innumerable magistrates and police are scattered throughout the country to prevent internecine warfare and petty quarrels. The Government protects the Zulu from ex- ternal war, pestilence, and famine. King Tsha- ka's drastic method of recurring to war in order to keep down the surplus population has been succeeded by the Natal incubation scheme, which has proved so successful that the colony's native population is fourfold greater than it was when Tshaka ruled the country. The situa- tion is a grave one for the colony, whose fifty thousand whites would be like so many reeds in a storm if the half million Zulus should break the bonds in which they have been held since the destruction of Cetewayo's army in the re- cent Zulu war. The only tribe of natives that has made any progress as a body is that which is under the leadership of King Khama, the most intelligent negro in South Africa. Before his conversion to Christianity, Khama was at the head of one SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME 13 of the most bloodthirsty, polygamous, and ig- norant tribes in the country. Since that event he has been the means of converting his entire tribe of wild and treacherous negroes to Chris- tianity, has abandoned polygamy and tribal war- fare, and has established a government, schools, churches, and commercial enterprises. In ad- dition to all his other good works, he has as- sisted Great Britain in pacifying many bel- ligerent tribes, and has become England's greatest friend in South Africa. Khama is the paramount chief of the Ba- wangwato tribe, whose territory is included in the British Bechuanaland protectorate, situated about one thousand miles due north from Cape Town. There are about fifteen thousand men, women, and children in the kingdom, and every one of that number tries to emulate the noble examples set by their king, whom all adore. The country and climate of Khama's Kingdom, as it is officially called, are magnificent, and so harmless and inoffensive are the people that the traveller is less exposed to attacks by ma- rauders than he is in the streets along New York's water front. 14 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE Many Europeans have settled in Khama's Kingdom for the purpose of mining and trad- ing, and these have assisted in placing the Bawangwatos on a plane of civilization far above and beyond that attained by any other negro nation or tribe in tne country. A form of gov- ernment has been adopted, and is carried out with excellent results. The laws, which must be sanctioned by the British Government be- fore they can be put in force, are transgressed with an infrequency that puts to shame many a country of boasted ancient civilization. Theft is unknown and murders are unheard of, while drunkenness is to be seen only when a white man smuggles liquor into the country. A pub- lic-school system has been introduced, and has resulted in giving a fairly good education to all the youth. Even music is taught, and several of the brass bands that have been organized compare favourably with such as are found in many rural communities in America. Well-regulated farms and cattle ranches are located in all parts of the territory, and in most instances are profitably and wisely conducted. The negroes have abandoned the use of beads SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME jj and skins almost entirely, and now pattern after Europeans in the matter of clothing. Witch- craft and kindred vices have not been practised for fifty years, and only the older members of the tribe know that such practices existed. The remarkable man to whom is due the honour of having civilized an entire nation of heathen is now about eighty years old. He speaks the English language fluently, and writes it much more legibly than his distinguished friend Cecil Rhodes. Khama is about six feet in height, well pro- portioned, and remarkably strong despite his great age. His skin is not black, but of that dark copper colour borne by negro chiefs of the royal line. He has the bearing of a noble- man, and is extremely polite and affable in his treatment of visitors. He is well informed on all current topics, and his 'knowledge of South African men and affairs is wonderful. In his residence, which is constructed of stone and on English lines, Khama has all the acces- sories necessary for a civilized man's comfort. He has a library of no small size, a piano for his grandchildren, a folding bed for him- 1 6 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE self, and, not least of all, an American carriage of state. It is a strange anomaly that the Boers, a pastoral people exclusively, should have settled in a section of the earth where Nature has two of her richest storehouses. Both the Kimber- ley diamond mines and the Witwatersrandt gold mines, each the richest deposit of its kind dis- covered thus far, were found where the Boers were accustomed to graze their herds and flocks. It would seem as if Nature had influenced the Boers to settle above her treasures, and pro- tect them from the attacks of nations and men who are not satisfied with the products of the earth's surface, but must delve below. This circumstance has been both fortunate and unfortunate for the Boer people. It has laid them open to the attacks of covetous na- tions, which have not been conducive to a rest- ful existence, but it has made their country what it is to-day the source from which all the other South African states draw their means of support. The Transvaal is the main wheel in the South African machinery. Whenever the Transvaal is disturbed, Cape Colony, Natal, SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME 17 and the Orange Free State are similarly af- fected, because they are dependent upon the Boer country for almost their breath of life. When the Transvaal flourishes, South Africa flourishes, and when the Transvaal suffers, then the rest of the country is in dire straits. Before the diamond and gold mines were discovered, South Africa was practically a cipher in the commercial world. The country ex- ported nothing, because it produced no more than was needed for home consumption, and it could import nothing because it was too poor to pay for imported goods. The discovery of the diamond mines twenty-five years ago caused the country to be in a flourishing condition for several years, but the formation of the De Beers syndicate ended it by monopolizing the industry, and consequently starving the indi- vidual miners. The country was about to re- lapse into its former condition when the Trans- vaal mines were unearthed. No syndicate hav- ing been strong enough to consolidate all the mines and monopolize the industry, as was done at Kimberley, and the Boers having resisted all efforts to defraud them out of the valuable jg OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE part of their country, as had happened to the Orange Free State Boers, the Transvaal soon attained the paramount position in the coun- try, and has retained it since. Until Lobengula, the mighty native chief of the regions west of the Transvaal, was sub- dued and his country taken from him, the Brit- ish empire builders were limited in their field of endeavour, because the Transvaal was the only pass through which an entry could be made into the vast Central African region. When Lobengula's power yielded to British arms, the Transvaal became useless as the key to Central Africa, but, by means of its great mineral wealth, became of so much greater and more practical importance that it really was the entire South Africa. The Witwatersrandt,* the narrow strip of gold-bearing soil which extends for almost one hundred miles east and west through the Trans- vaal, is the lever which moves the entire coun- * Witwatersrandt is the name given to the high ridge in the southern part of the Transvaal, which is the watershed between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The word means "whitewater ridge," and is commonly abridged to "The Randt." SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PBESENT TIME ig try. In the twelve years since its discovery it has been transformed from a grass-covered plain into a territory that is filled with cities, towns, and villages. Where the Boer farmer was ac- customed to graze his cattle are hundreds of shafts that lead to the golden caverns below, and the trail of the ox-team is now the track of the locomotive and the electric cars. The farmer's cottage has developed into the city of Johannesburg, the home of more than one hundred thousand persons and the metropolis of a continent. All the roads in South Africa lead to Johannesburg, and over them travels every one who enters the country either for pleasure or business. The Trans- vaal is the only great producer of money, as well as the only great consumer, and conse- quently all other communities in the country are dependent upon it for whatever money it chooses to yield to them. The natural condi- tions are such, however, that, while the Trans- vaal has almost all the money in South Africa, it is compelled to support Cape Colony, Natal, and the Orange Free State like so many poor relations. 2o OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE The Transvaal, being an inland state, is the feeding ground of those states which are lo- cated between it and the sea. Every ton of foreign freight that enters the Transvaal through Cape Colony is subject to high customs duties and abnormal freight rates. The railway and the customs house being under the same juris- diction, it will readily be seen to what extent Cape Colony derives its revenues from the Transvaal commerce. The Orange Free State again taxes the freight before allowing it to pass through its territory. The third tax, which makes the total far greater than the original cost of the freight, is added by the Transvaal Government. Certain classes of freight shipped from Europe are taxed by the steamship line, the Cape Colony Railroad, the Transvaal Rail- road, and with Cape Colony, Orange Free State, and Transvaal customs duties. This vast expenditure is borne by the con- sumers in the Transvaal, who are compelled to pay from three to five times as much for rent and food as is paid in England or America. Cape Colony, in particular, has been fattening upon the Transvaal. The Government rail- SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME 21 roads in one year showed a profit of more than eight per cent, upon the capital invested, after accounting for the great losses incurred with unprofitable branch lines, showing that the main line to the Transvaal must have produced a profit of from fifteen to twenty per cent. The customs duties collected by Cape Colony on almost all freight in transit is five per cent, of its value. The inhabitants of the Transvaal are obliged to pay these large amounts, and are so much poorer while the Cape Colony Gov- ernment preys upon them. The Transvaal Government receives none of this revenue ex- cept that from its customs, which is insufficient for its expenses. After having grown wealthy in this man- ner, the colony of Natal has recently become conscience-smitten, and allows freight to pass in transit without taxing it with customs duties. The Government owns the railroad, and is con- tent with the revenue it secures from the Trans- vaal freight without twice preying upon the republic. Not only have the colonial governments profited by the existence of the gold mines in 22 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE the Transvaal, but the cities, towns, and indi- viduals of Cape Colony, Natal, and the Orange Free State have also had a period of unpar- alleled prosperity. Although the natural re- sources of the Transvaal are very great, they have not been developed, and the other colo- nies which have been developed along those lines are supplying the deficit. Almost every ounce of food consumed in the Transvaal ar- rives from over the border. Natal and Cape Colony supply the corn, wheat, cattle, and sugar, and, having a monopoly of the supply close at hand, can command any price for their commodities. Industries have grown up in Natal and Cape Colony that are entirely dependent upon the Transvaal for their existence, and their establishment has been responsible for much of the recent growth of the population of the colonies. The large sugar factories and fruit farms in Natal have the only market for their products in the Transvaal, and the large farms and vineyards in Cape Colony supply the same demand. The ports of Durban, Port Eliza- beth, and East London, as well as Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA OF THE PRESENT TIME 23 are important only as forwarding stations for goods going or coming from the Transvaal, and but for that Godsend they would still be the listless cities that they were before the dis- covery of gold on the Randt. Owing to the lack of raw material, the cities have no large factories and industries such as are found even in small American towns, and consequently the inhabitants are obliged to depend upon the traf- fic with the interior. Notwithstanding this condition of affairs, which causes Natal and Cape Colony to be commercial weaklings, swayed by the Transvaal tide, the colonists are continually harassing the Government of the republic by laws and suggestions. The repub- lic's mote is always bigger than the colonies' own, and the strife is never-ending. The Transvaal is a country of such enor- mous value that it has attracted, and will con- tinue to attract, investors from all parts of the earth. The gold production, in the opinion of the first experts on the Randt, will rapidly reach one hundred and twenty-five million dol- lars a year. It already yields one hundred million a year, or more than a third of the 24 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE world's production, of which the United States is credited with less than seventy-five million. The very fact of that production, and the world being enriched to that extent, will provide the money for further enterprises. So long as the gold supply continues to appear inex- haustible, and mines continue to pay divi- dends ranging from one to one hundred and fifty per cent., so long will the Transvaal re- main supreme in the commerce and finance of South Africa. CHAPTER II THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE THE early history of the Boers is contem- poraneous with that of the progress of white man's civilization at the Cape of Good Hope. The two are interwoven to such an extent and for so long a time that it is well-nigh impossible to separate them. In order to give an unwearisome history of the modern Boer's ancestors, a general outline of the settlement of the Cape will suffice. The history of the Boers of South Africa has its parallel in that of the early Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock and their de- scendants. The comparison favours the lat- ter, it is true, but the conditions which con- fronted the early Boers were so much less favourable that their lack of realization may easily be accounted for. In the early part of the seventeenth century the progenitors of the 25 2 6 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE Boers and the Pilgrims left their continental homes to seek freedom from religious tyranny on foreign shores. The boat load of Pilgrims left England to come to America and found the freedom they sought. About the same time a small num- ber of Dutch and Huguenot refugees from France departed from Holland for similar rea- sons, and decided to seek their fortunes and religious freedom at the Cape of Good Hope. There they found the liberty they desired, and, like the Pilgrims, assiduously set to work to clear the land and institute the works of a civilized community. The experiences of the two widely sepa- rated colonists appear painfully similar, al- though to them they were undoubtedly pref- erable to the persecutions inflicted upon them in their native countries. The Pilgrims were constantly harassed by the savage Indians; the Dutch and Huguenots at the Cape had treacherous Hottentots and Bushmen to con- tend against. Although probably ignorant of each other's existence, the two parties con- ducted their affairs on similar lines and reached THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 27 a common result a good local government and a reasonable state of material prosperity. The little South African settlement be- came of recognised importance in the later years of the century, when it was made the halfway station of all ships going to and re- turning from the East Indies. The neces- sity for such a station was the foundation of the growth of the settlement at Table Bay, which is only a short distance from the south- ernmost extremity of the continent, and the increase in population came as a natural se- quence. The Dutch East India Settlement, as it was officially called, attracted hundreds of im- migrants. The reports of a salubrious climate, good soil, and, more than all, the promised religious toleration, were the allurements that brought more immigrants from Holland, Ger- many, and France. Cape Town even then was one of the most important ports in the world, owing to its great strategic value and to the fact that it was about the only port where vessels making the long trip to the East In- dies could secure even the scantiest supplies. 28 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE The provisioning of ships was responsible, in no small degree, for the growth of Cape Town and the coincident increase in immigration. When all the available land between Table Mountain and Table Bay was settled, the new arrivals naturally took up the land to the northward, and drove the bellicose natives be- fore them. Like their Pilgrim prototypes, they instituted military organizations to cope with the natives, and they were not infrequent- ly called upon for active duty against them. It was owing to this savage disposition of the natives that the settlers confined their endeavours to the vicinity of Table Bay. When immigrants became more numerous and land increased in value, the pilgrims of more daring disposition proceeded inland, and soon carried the northeastern boundary of the settlement close to the Orange River. The soil around Table Bay was extremely rich, but farther inland it became barren and, by reason of the many lofty table-lands, almost uninhabitable. The Bushmen, too, were con- stantly attacking the encroaching settlers, whose lives were filled with anything but THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 29 thoughts of safety, and high in the northern side of Table Mountain is to be seen to-day an old-time fort that was erected by the set- tlers to ward off natives' attacks upon Cape Town. The Dutch East India Company, which controlled the settlement, looked with disfa- vour upon the enlargement of the original boundary of the colony, and attempted to en- force laws preventing such action. The settlers in the outlying district felt that they owed no allegiance to the laws of the colony in which they did not live, and refused to obey the company's mandates. Then followed a long- drawn-out controversy between the settlers and the East India Company, which resembled in many respects the differences between Eng- land and her American colony. It was during this period of oppression that the settlers of the Cape of Good Hope first exhibited the betokening signs of a nation. The communities of Hollanders, Germans, and French were constantly in such close communi- cation with one another that each lost its dis- tinguishing marks and adopted the new man- 30 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ners and customs which were their collective coinage. They suffered the same indignities at the hands of the East India Company, and naturally their sympathies drew them into a closer bond of fellowship, so that almost all national and racial differences were wiped out. Never in the history of South Africa were all things so favourable for the establishment of a truly Afrikander nation and government. A leader was all that was necessary to throw off the yoke of continental control, but none was forthcoming. At this propitious time the Napoleonic wars in Europe resulted so disastrously for France that she was compelled to cede to England the South African settlement, which had been acquired with the annexation of Holland, and the settlers believed their hour of deliverance from tyranny had arrived. They hailed the coming of the British forces with hopes for the improvement of their conditions, fondly believing that the British could treat them with no greater severity than that which they had suffered under the rule of the Dutch Company. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 31 But their hopes were short-lived after the British garrison occupied Cape Town, and they soon learned that they had escaped from one kind of torment and oppression only to be burdened with another more harassing. The British administrators found a friendly people, eager to become British subjects, and, by ex- ercise of undue authority, quickly transformed them into desperate enemies of British rule. The American colonies had but a short time before taught British colonial statesmen a dire lesson, but it was not applied to the South African colony, and the mistake has never been remedied. Had the lesson learned in America been applied at that time, British rule would now be supreme in South Africa, and the two re- publics which are the eyesore of every Eng- lishman in the country would probably never have come into existence. The British ad- ministrators ruled the colony as they had been taught in London, and allowed no local im- pediments to swerve them. The result of this method of government was that the Boer set- tlers, who had opinions of their own, became .32 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE bitterly opposed to the British rule. The ad- ministrators attempted to coerce the Boers, and formulated laws which were meat to the newly arrived English immigrants and poison to the old settlers. One of the indirect causes of the first Boer uprising against the British Government at the Cape was the slavery question. In the Transvaal there is a national holiday March 6th to commemorate the uprising of 1816, and it is known throughout the country as "Slagter's Nek Day." To the Boers it is a day of sad memory, and the recurrence of it does not soften their enmity of the English nation. In October, 1815, a Boer farmer named Frederick Bezuidenhout was summoned to ap- pear in a local court to answer a charge of maltreating a native. The Boer refused to obey the summons, and, with a sturdy native, awaited the arrival of the Government authori- ties in a cave near his home. A lieutenant named Rousseau and twenty soldiers found the Boer and the native in the cave, and de- manded their surrender. Bezuidenhout refused THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 33 to surrender, and he was almost instantly killed. When the news of his death reached his friends they became greatly aroused, and, arm- ing themselves, vowed to expel the English " tyrants " from the country. The English soldiers captured five of the leaders, and on March 6, 1816, hanged them on the same scaffold at Slagter's Nek, a name afterward given to the locality because of the bungling work of the hangmen and the ghastly scenes presented when the scaffold fell to the ground, bearing with it the half-dead prisoners. The story of this event in the Boer history is as familiar to the Dutch schoolboy as that of the Boston Tea-Party is to the American lad, and its repetition never fails to arouse a Boer audience to the highest degree of anger. The primal cause of the departure of the Boers from Cape Colony, or the " Great Trek," * as it is popularly known, was the ill treatment which they received from the Brit- * To trek is to travel from place to place in ox-wagons. A trek generally refers to an organized migration of settlers to another part of the country. 34 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ish administration in connection with the emancipation of their slaves and the depreda- tions of hordes of thieving native tribes. The Boers had agreed about 1830 to emancipate all their slaves, and they had received from the British Government promises of, ample compensation. After the slaves had been freed, and the majority of the Boer farmers had become bank- rupt by the proceeding, the Government of- fered less than half the promised compensa- tion. The Boers naturally and indignantly refused to accept less than the amounts Eng- land had promised of her own free will. The Boers felt sorely aggrieved, but, being in the minority in the colony, could secure no redress. Several years after the slaves had been freed great hordes of thieving natives swept across the frontiers, and in several months inflicted these losses upon the farmers: 706 farmhouses partially or totally destroyed by fire; 60 farm wagons destroyed; 5,713 horses, 112,000 head of cattle, and 162,000 sheep stolen. The value of the property destroyed and stolen by the blacks amounted to almost two THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 35 million dollars. Much of the live stock was recovered by the Boer farmers, who had the boldness to pursue the robbers into their mountain fastnesses, but the Government did not allow them to hold even such cattle as they identified as having been driven away by the natives, but compelled them to yield all to the Government. When they asked for compensation for restoring ,the property to the Government, the Boers received such a promise from the governor, D'Urban; but Lord Glenelg, the British colonial secretary, vetoed the suggestion, and informed the Boers that their conduct in recovering the stolen prop- erty was outrageous and unworthy of English subjects. Even Boer disposition, inured as it was to all kinds of unrighteousness, could not fail to take notice of this crowning insult. They con- sulted among themselves, and it was decided to leave the colony where they had suffered so many wrongs. Accordingly, in the spring of 1835 they sacrificed their farms at what- ever prices they could secure for them, and an- nounced to Lieutenant-Governor Stockenstrom 36 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE their intention of departing to another sec- tion of the country. To be certain that they would be free from British interference, the Boer leaders applied to the lieutenant-governor for his opinion on the subject, and he informed them that they were free to leave the colony, and that as soon as they stepped across the border Eng- land ceased to be their master. Later, Eng- lishmen have sagely declared that the Boers having once been British subjects always re- mained such, whether they lived on British or Transvaal soil. The objects of the expedition were set forth in a document published in 1837 by Piet Retief, its leader. It reads, in part, as follows: " We despair of saving the colony from those evils which threaten it by the turbulent and dishonest conduct of native vagrants who are allowed to infest the country in every part; nor do we see any prospect of peace or hap- piness for our children in a country thus dis- tracted by internal commotions. " We complain of the continual system of plunder which we have for years endured from THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 37 the Kaffirs and other coloured classes, and particularly by the last invasion of the colony, which has desolated the frontier districts and ruined most of the inhabitants. " We complain of the unjustifiable odium which has been cast upon us by interested and dishonest persons under the name of religion, whose testimony is believed in England, to the exclusion of all evidence in our favour, and we can foresee as a result of this preju- dice nothing but the total ruin of the country. " We are now leaving the fruitful land of our birth, in which we have suffered enor- mous losses and continual vexations, and are about to enter a strange and dangerous terri- tory; but we go with a firm reliance on an all-seeing, just, and merciful God, whom we shall always fear and humbly endeavour to obey." The first " trekking " party, or the " Voor- trekkers," consisted of about two hundred per- sons under the leadership of Andries Hendrik Potgieter. These crossed the Orange River and settled in that part of the country now known as the Orange Free State. This party 38 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE had many battles with the natives, but suc- ceeded in securing a level although not par- ticularly arable stretch of land near Thaba'nt- shu for settlement. In August, 1836, after remaining a short time in the neighbourhood of Thaba'ntshu, a number of the settlers became dissatisfied with their location and " trekked " farther north toward the Vaal River, which is the present northern boundary of the Orange Free State. Before they had proceeded a great dis- tance they were attacked by the Matabele natives under Chief Moselekatse, and fifty of their number were slain. When the news of the slaughter reached the main body of the settlers a " laager," or improvised fort, was formed by locking to- gether the fifty big transport wagons that had been brought from Cape Colony. Behind these the men, women, and children fought side by side against the innumerable Mata- beles, and after a desperate battle succeeded in defeating them. The natives captured and drove away about ten thousand head of cattle and sheep almost the entire wealth of the settlers. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 39 The settlement, however, increased rapidly in population, and, several years after the first Boers arrived there, application was made for English protection. It was granted to them, but was withdrawn again in 1854, when the British colonial secretary decided that Eng- land had more African land than was desirable. The Boers begged to be retained as an Eng- lish colony, but in vain, and the fifteen thou- sand inhabitants were compelled to establish a government of their own, which is to-day embodied in that of the Orange Free State. Since that memorable day in 1854, when the British flag was hauled down from the flagstaff at the Bloemfontein fort, both the British and the Boers have had revulsions of feeling. The British regret that their flag is absent from the fort, and the Boers will yield their lives before they ever allow it to be raised again. The second expedition, and the one which comprised the founders of the South African Republic, departed from Cape Colony in the fall of 1835, with no fixed destination in view, but with a general idea to settle somewhere 40 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE outside the realm of British influence. The " trekkers " were under the leadership of Piet Retief, a man of considerable wealth and exec- utive ability, who determined to lead them across the untravelled Dragon Mountain, in the east of the colony. In this party were three families of Krugers, and among them the present President of the South African Republic, then a boy of ten years. After many skirmishes with the na- tives, Retief and his followers reached Port Natal, the site of the present beautiful city of Durban, where they were welcomed by the members of the English settlement who had established themselves on the edge of Zululand as an independent organization. The handful of British immigrants were overjoyed to have this addition to the forces which were neces- sary to hold the natives in subjection, and they induced the majority of the Boers to set- tle in the vicinity of Port Natal. Retief and his leaders were pleased with the location and the richness of the soil, and finally determined to remain there if the na- tive chiefs could be induced to enter into THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 41 treaties transferring all rights to the soil. Din- gaan, a warlike native, was the chief of the tribes surrounding Port Natal, and to him Retief applied for the grant of territory which was to be the future home of the several thou- sand " trekkers " who had by that time jour- neyed over Dragon Mountain. Retief and his party of seventy, and thirty native servants, reached Dingaan's capital in January, 1838, and took with them as a peace-offering several hundred head of cattle which had been stolen from Dingaan by another tribe and recovered by Retief. Dingaan treated the Boers with great cour- tesy, and profusely thanked them for recover- ing his stolen cattle. After several interviews he ceded to the Boers the large territory from the Tugela to the Umzimvubu River, from the Dragon Mountain to the sea. This territory included almost the entire colony of Natal, as now constituted, and was one of the richest parts of South Africa. On February 4, 1838, when the treaty had been signed and the Boer leaders were being entertained by the chief in his hut, a typical 42 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE massacre by the natives was enacted. At a signal from Dingaan, which is recorded as hav- ing been " Bulala abatagati " (" Slay the white devils!"), the Zulus sprang upon the unarmed Boers and massacred the seventy men with assegais and clubs before they could make the slightest resistance. Frenzied by the sight of the white men's blood, the Zulu chieftain gathered his hordes in warlike preparation, and determined to drive all the white settlers out of the country. A large " impi," or war party, was despatched to attack and exterminate the remaining whites in their camps on the Tugela and Bushmans Rivers. These latter, while anxiously await- ing Retief s return, were in no fear of hostili- ties, and the men for the most part were ab- sent from their camps on hunting trips. The " impi " swept down upon the camps by night, and murder of the foulest descrip- tion prevailed. The Zulus spared none; men, women, and children, cattle, goats, sheep, and dogs all fell under the ruthless assegais in the hands of the treacherous savages. In the con- fusion and darkness a few of the Boers escaped, THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 43 among them having been the Pretorius and Rensburg families, which have since been high in the councils of the Boer nation. Four- teen men and boys took refuge on a hill now called Rensburg Kop, and held their as- sailants at bay while they improvised a " laager." When their ammunition was almost ex- pended and their spirit exhausted, a white man on horseback was observed in the rear of the Zulu warriors. The hard-pressed emi- grants signalled to him, and his ready mind, strained to the utmost tension, grasped the situation at a glance. He fearlessly turned his horse and rode to the abandoned wagons, al- most a mile away, to secure some of the am- munition that had been left behind by the Boers when they were attacked by the Zulus. He loaded himself and his horse with powder and ball from the wagons, and with a courage that has never been surpassed rode headlong through the Zulu battle lines and bore to the beleaguered Boers the means of their subse- quent salvation. That night the fearless rider assisted the fourteen Boers in routing the 44 COM PAUL'S PEOPLE Zulus, and when morning dawned not a sin- gle living Zulu was to be seen. The hero of that ride was Marthinus Oos- thuyse, and his fame in South Africa rivals that of Paul Revere in American history. With the coming of the day the scattered emigrants congregated in a large " laager," and for several days were engaged in beating off the attacks of the unsatiated Zulus. Wives, daughters, and sweethearts served the ammu- nition to the men, and with hatchets and clubs aided them in the uneven struggle. After the Zulus' spirit had been broken and they commenced to retreat, the gallant pioneers, their strength now increased by the addition of many stragglers, pursued their late assailants and killed hundreds of them. The town of Weenen, in Natal, takes its name from the weeping of the Boers for their dead. Rightly was it named, for no less than six hundred of the emigrants were massacred by the Zulus in the neighbourhood of the present site of the town. While this massacre was in progress Din- gaan and another part of his vast and well- THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 45 trained army set out to wreak destruction upon the main body of the Boers which was still encamped upon the Dragon Mountain waiting for the return of Retief and his party. When the news of the massacre reached the main body, Pieter Uys and Potgieter hastened to re-enforce their distressed countrymen. They were not molested on the way, and had am- ple time to marshal all the Boer forces in the country and make preparations for venge- ance upon the savages. A force of three hundred and fifty men was raised, and this set out in 'the month of April, 1838, to attack Dingaan in his strong- hold. The Zulu army was encountered near the King's " Great Place." The small army of Boers rode to within twenty yards of the van of the Zulus and then opened a steady and deadly fire. The savage weapons were no match for the poor yet superior firearms of the Boers, and in a short time Dingaan's army was in full retreat. In pursuing them the Boers became separated and had great difficulty in fighting their way back to the main camp. 46 COM PAUL'S PEOPLE The story of how Pieter Uys was wounded by an assegai, and how his son, in endeavour- ing to save him, was pierced by a spear, is one of the noblest examples of heroism in the annals of South Africa. There were several more skirmishes with the Zulus, but the battle that broke the strength of the tribe was fought on December 16, 1838. There were but four hundred and sixty Boers in the army that attacked Dingaan's army of twelve thousand, but the attack was so minutely planned and so admirably executed that the smaller force overwhelmed the greater and won the victory, which is annually observed on " Dingaan's Day." The Boers lay fortified in a " laager," and with unusual fortitude withstood the terrific onslaughts of the thousands of Zulus. Finally a cavalry charge of two hundred Boers cre- ated a panic in the Zulu army, and they re- treated precipitously toward the Blood River, which was so named because its waters liter- ally ran red with the life fluid of four hundred warriors who were shot on its banks or while attempting to ford it. On that day three THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 47 thousand Zulus perished, and Dingaan made his ruin still more complete by burning his capital and hiding with his straggling army in the wilderness beyond the Tugela River. After these grave experiences the Boer settlers believed themselves to be the rightful owners of the country which they had first sought to obtain by peaceful methods and afterward been compelled to take by sterner ones. But when they reached Port Natal they found that the British Government had taken possession of the country, and had issued a manifesto that the immigrant Boers were to be treated as a conquered race, and that their arms and ammunition should be confiscated. To the Boers, who had just made the country valuable by clearing it of the Zulus, this high-handed action of the British Govern- ment had the appearance of persecution, and they naturally resented it, although they were almost powerless to oppose it by force of arms. The Boer leader, Commandant-General Pre- torius, who had been chosen by the first " Volksraad " a governing body elected while the journey from Cape Colony to Natal was 48 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE being made led a number of his countrymen to the outskirts of Durban and formed a camp near that of the British garrison. He sent a message to Captain Smith, the commander of the British force of several hundred soldiers, and demanded the surrender of his position. In reply Smith led one hundred and fifty of his soldiers in a moonlight attack on the Boer forces and was completely routed. The Boers then besieged Durban for twen- ty-six days and killed many of the English soldiers, but on the twenty-seventh day a schooner load of soldiers from Cape Colony augmented the forces of Captain Smith, and Pretorius was compelled to relinquish his ef- forts to secure control of the territory that his countrymen had a short time previously won from the Zulus. Disheartened by their successive failures to secure a desirable part of the country wherein they might settle, the Boers again " trekked " northward over the Dragon Mountain. There they occupied the territory south of the Vaal River which had a short time previously been deserted by Potgieter and his party, who had THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 49 journeyed northward with the intention of joining the Portuguese colony at Delagoa Bay, on the Indian Ocean. These pilgrims were attacked by the dead- ly fever of the Portuguese country, and after remaining a short time in that region moved again and settled in different localities in the northern part of the territory now included in the South African Republic. Moselekatse and his Matabele warriors having been driven out of the country by the other " trekking " par- ties, the extensive region north of the Vaal River was then in undisputed possession of the Boers. The farmers who left Cape Colony in 1835 and 1836 in different parties and after various vicissitudes settled across the Vaal were less than sixteen thousand in number, and were scattered over a large area of territory. The nature of the country and the enmity of the leaders of the parties prevented a close union among them, although a legislative assembly, called a " Volksraad," was established after much disorder. The four principal " trek- king " parties had sought four of the most 50 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE fertile spots in the newly discovered territo- ry, and established the villages of Utrecht, Lydenburg, Potchefstrom, and Zoutpans- berg. When the Volksraad was found to be in- adequate to meet the requirements of the situa- tion these villages were transformed into re- publics, each with a government independent of the others. The government of the limited areas of land occupied by the four republics was fairly successful, but the surrounding ter- ritory became a practical no-man's-land, where roamed the worst criminals of the country and hundreds of detached bands of marauding natives. The Boers imposed a labour tax upon all the natives who lived in the territory claimed by the four republics, and for a period of ten years the taxes were paid without a murmur. About that time, however, the native tribes had recovered from the great losses inflicted upon them by the emigrant farmers, and they were numerous enough to make an armed re- sistance to the demands of the governments. White women and children were massacred THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 5! and property was destroyed at every oppor- tunity. For purposes of self-preservation the four republics decided to unite the governments under one head, and, after many disputes and disorders, succeeded, in May, 1864, in form- ing a single republic, with Marthinus Wessel Pretorius as President, and Paul Kruger as commandant-general of the army. Ten months after the organization of the republic the Barampula tribe and a number of lawless Europeans rebelled against the au- thority of the Government, and Kruger was obliged to attempt their subjugation. Owing to a lack of ammunition and funds, he failed to end the rebellion, and as a result the Boers were compelled to withdraw from a large part of the territory they had occupied. Up to this time the Boers had not been in- terfered with by the Government of Cape Colony, but another tribal rebellion that fol- lowed the Barampula disturbance led to the establishment of a court of arbitration, in which the English governor of Natal figured as umpire. 52 COM PAUL'S PEOPLE The result of the arbitration was that the rebellious tribes were awarded their independ- ence, and that a large part of the Boers' ter- ritory was taken from them. The emigrant farmers who had settled the country main- tained that President Pretorius was respon- sible for the loss of territory and compelled him to resign, after which the Rev. Thomas Francois Burgers, a shrewd but just clergy- man-lawyer, was elected head of the republic. Burgers believed that the republic was destined to become a power of world-wide magnitude, and instantly used his position to attain that object. He went to Holland to secure money, immigrants, and teachers for the state schools. He secured half a million dollars with which to build a railroad from his seat of govern- ment to Delagoa Bay, and sent the railway material to Lourenzo Marques, where the rust is eating it to-day. When Burgers returned to Pretoria, the capital of the republic, he found that Chief Secoceni, of the big Bapedi tribe, had defied the power of his Government, and was mur- dering the white immigrants in cold blood. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 53 Burgers led his army in person to punish Seco- ceni, and captured one of the native strong- holds, but was so badly defeated afterward that his soldiers became disheartened and de- cided to return to their homes. Heavy war taxes were levied, and when the farmers were unable to pay them the Gov- ernment was impotent to conduct its ordinary affairs, much less quell the rebellion of the natives. The Boers were divided among them- selves on the subject of further procedure, and a civil war was imminent. The British Government, hearing of the condition of the republic's affairs, sent Sir Theophilus Shep- stone, who had held a minor office at Natal, to Pretoria with almost limitless powers. He called upon President Burgers and stated to him that his mission was to annex the country to England, and gave as his reasons for such a proceeding the excuse that the unsettled condition of the native races demanded it. Burgers pointed out to Shepstone that the native races had not harmed the English colo- nies, and that a new constitution, modelled after that of America, with a standing police 5 54 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE force of two hundred mounted men, would put an end to all the republic's troubles with the natives. Shepstone, however, had the moral support of a small party of Boers who were dissatisfied with Burgers' administration, and on April 12, 1877, declared the republic a possession of the British Empire. Burgers retired from the presidency under protest, and Shepstone established a form of government that for a short time proved acceptable to many of the Boers. He renamed the country Transvaal, and added a considerable military force. But the Boers were not accustomed to foreign interference in their affairs, and twice sent deputations to England to have the gov- ernment of the country returned to their own hands. Paul Kruger was a member of both deputations, which showed ample proof that the annexation was made without the consent of the majority of the Boers, but the English Colonial Office refused to withdraw the Brit- ish flag from the Transvaal. Sir Owen Lanyon, a man of no tact and an inordinate hater of the Boers, succeeded THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 55 Shepstone as administrator of the Transvaal in 1879, and in a short time aroused the anger of his subjects to such an extent that an armed resistance to the British Government was decided upon. The open rebellion was delayed a short time by the election of Mr. Gladstone as Prime Minister of England, and, as he had publicly declared the righteousness of the Boer cause, the people of the Transvaal looked to him for their independence. When Mr. Gladstone refused to interfere in the Trans- vaal affairs the Boers held a meeting on the present site of Krugersdorp, and elected Paul Kruger, M. W. Pretorius, and Pieter J. Joubert a triumvirate to conduct the government. At this meeting each Boer, holding a stone in his hand, took an oath before the Almighty that he would shed the last drop of blood, if need were, for his beloved country. The stones were cast into one great heap, over which a tall monu- ment was erected several years afterward. The monument is annually made the rendezvous of large numbers of Boers, who there renew the solemn pledges to protect their country from aggressors. 56 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE On the national holiday, Dingaan's Day, December 16, 1880, the four-colour flag of the republic was again raised at the temporary capital at Heidelberg. The triumvirate sent a manifesto to Sir Owen Lanyon explaining the causes of discontent, and ending with this sig- nificant sentence, which has ever remained a motto of the individual Boers: " We declare before God, who knows the heart, and before the world, that the people of the South African Republic have never been subjects of Her Majesty, and never will be." Lanyon cursed the men who brought the manifesto to him, and straightway proceeded to execute the authority he possessed. His soldiers fired on a party of Boers proceeding toward Potchefstrom, where they intended to have the proclamation of independence printed. The Boers defeated the soldiers the same day the Transvaal flag was hoisted at Heidelberg, and the war, which had been impending for several months, was suddenly precipitated be- fore either of the contestants was prepared. Lanyon ordered the garrison of two hun- dred and sixty-four men at Leydenburg, under THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 57 Colonel Anstruther, to proceed to Pretoria, the English capital. At Bronkhorst Spruit, Colo- nel Anstruther's force was met by an equal number of Boers, who immediately attacked him. The engagement was brief but terrible, and the English forces were compelled to sur- render. Lanyon then sent to Natal for assistance, and Sir George Colley and a body of more than a thousand trained soldiers and volun- teers set out to assist the English in the Trans- vaal, who for the most part were besieged in the different towns. Commandant-General Pieter Joubert, with a force of about fifteen hundred Boers, went forward into Natal for the purpose of meeting Colley, and occupied a narrow passage in the mountains known as Laing's Nek. Colley attempted to force the pass on January 28, 1881, but the Boers in- flicted such a heavy loss upon his forces that he was compelled to retreat to Mount Pros- pect and await the arrival of fresh troops from England. Eleven days after the battle of Laing's Nek, General Colley and three hundred men, 58 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE while patrolling the road near the Ingogo River, were attacked by a body of Boers un- der Commandant Nicholaas Smit. The Boers killed and wounded two thirds of the English force engaged, and compelled the others to re- treat in disorder. Up to this time the Boers had lost seventeen men killed and twenty- eight wounded, while the British loss was two hundred and fifty killed and three hundred and fifty wounded. During the night of February 26th Gen- eral Colley made a move which was responsible for one of the greatest displays of bravery the world has ever seen. The fight at Majuba Hill was won by the Boers against greater odds than have been encountered by any vol- unteer force in modern times, and is an ex- ample of the courage, bravery, and absolute confidence of the Boers when they believe they are divinely guided. Between the camps of General Colley and Commandant-General Joubert lay Majuba Hill, a plateau with precipitous sides and a per- fectly level top about twenty-five hundred feet above the camps. In point of resemblance CQ THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 59 the hill was a huge inverted tub whose sum- mit could only be reached by a narrow path. General Colley and six hundred men, almost all of whom were trained soldiers fresh from England, ascended the narrow path by moon- light, and when the sun rose in the morning were able to look from the summit of the hill and see the Boer camp in the valley. The plan of campaign was that the regi- ments that had been left behind in camp should attempt to force the pass through Laing's Nek, and that the force on Majuba Hill should make a new attack on the Boers and in that manner crush the enemy in the pass. So positive were the soldiers of the suc- cess that awaited their plans that they looked down from their lofty position into the ene- my's lines and speculated on the number of Boers that would live to tell the story of the battle. It was Sunday morning, and had the dis- tance between the two armies been less, the soldiers on the hill might have heard the sound of many voices singing hymns of praise and the prayers that were being offered by 60 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE the Boers kneeling in the valley. The Eng- lish held their enemies in the palm of their hand, it seemed, and with a few heavy guns they could have killed them by the score. The sides of the hill were so steep that it did not enter the minds of the English that the Boers would attempt to ascend except by the same path which they had traversed, and that was impossible, because the path leading from the base was occupied by the remaining Eng- lish forces. The idea that the Boers would climb from terrace to terrace, from one bush to another, and gain the summit in that manner, occurred to no one. Before there was any stir in the Boers' camp the English soldiers stood on the edge of the summit and, shaking their fists in exultation, challenged the enemy: " Come up here, you beggars!" The Boers soon discovered the presence of the English on the hill, and the camp pre- sented such an animated scene that the Eng- lish soldiers were led to imagine that con- sternation had seized the Boers, and that they were preparing for a retreat. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 6l A short time afterward, when the Boers marched toward the base of the hill, the illu- sion was dispelled; and still later, when one hundred and fifty volunteers from the .Boer army commenced to ascend the sides of the hill, the former spirit of braggadocio which characterized the British soldier resolved itself into a feeling of nervousness. During the forenoon the British soldiers fired at such of the climbing Boers as they could see, but the Boers succeeded in dodging from one stone to another, so that only one of their number was killed in the ascent. When the one hundred and fifty Boers reached the summit of the hill, after an ardu- ous climb of more than five hours, they lay behind rocks at the edge and commenced a hot fire at the English soldiers, who had re- treated into the centre of the plateau, thirty , yards distant. The English soldiers had been ordered to fix their bayonets and were pre- pared to charge, but the order was never given. A fresh party of Boers had reached the summit and threatened to flank the Eng- lish, who, having lost many of their offi- 62 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE cers and scores of men, became wildly panic- stricken. Several minutes after General Colley was killed, the British soldiers who had escaped from the storm of bullets broke for the edge of the summit and allowed themselves to drop and roll down the sides of the hill. When the list of casualties was completed it was found that the Boers had killed ninety-two, wounded one hundred and thirty-four, and taken prisoners fifty-nine soldiers of the six hundred who ascended the hill. The loss on the Boers' side was one killed and five wounded. A short time after the fight at Majuba Hill an armistice was arranged between Sir Evelyn Wood, the successor of General Col- ley, and the Triumvirate, and this led to the partial restoration of the independence of the South African Republic. By the terms of peace concluded between the two Gov- ernments, the suzerainty of Great Britain was imposed as one of the conditions, but this was afterward modified so that the Transvaal became absolutely independent in THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE BOER RACE 63 everything relating to its internal affairs. Great Britain, however, retained the right to veto treaties which the Transvaal Government might make with foreign coun- tries. CHAPTER III THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS SOUTH AFRICA has many stories concern- ing the early history of the Witwatersrandt gold district, so that it is well-nigh impossible to discriminate between the fiction and the truth. One of the most probable stories has it that the former owner of the Randt region died re- cently in an almshouse in Surrey, England. He had a marvellous war record, having fought with the British army in the Crimea, at Sebasto- pol, in the Indian Mutiny, Zululand, and at Ma- juba Hill. With his savings of four thousand dollars he is said to have purchased fifteen thou- sand acres of land in the southern part of the Transvaal. He was obliged to forfeit his prop- erty to the Boer Government in 1882, because he had taken up arms against the Boers when they were fighting for their independence. The actual discovery of gold in the Trans- 6 4 THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 65 vaal territory is credited to a German named Mauch, who travelled through that part of the country early in the century. He returned to Berlin with wonderful reports of the gold he had found, and attempted to enlist capital to work the mines. Whether his reports were not credited, or whether the Germans feared the natives, is not recorded, but Mauch is not heard of again in connection with the later history of the country. In 1854 a Dutchman named Jan Marais, who had a short time before re- turned from the Australian gold fields, pros- pected in the Transvaal, and found many evi- dences of gold. The Boers, fearing that their land would be overrun with gold-seekers, paid five hundred pounds to Marais, and sent him home after extracting a promise that he would not reveal his secret to any one. It was not until 1884 that England heard of the presence of gold in South Africa. A man named Fred Stuben, who had spent sev- eral years in the country, spread such marvel- lous reports of the underground wealth of the Transvaal that only a short time elapsed be- fore hundreds of prospectors and miners left 66 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE England for South Africa. When the first prospectors discovered auriferous veins of won- derful quality on a farm called Sterkfontein, the gold boom had its birth. It required the lapse of only a short time for the news to reach Europe, America, and Australia, and immedi- ately thereafter that vast and widely scattered army of men and women which constantly awaits the announcement of new discoveries of gold was set in motion toward the Randt. The Indian, Russian, American, and Aus- tralian gold fields were deserted, and the steam- ships and sailing vessels to South Africa were overladen with men and women of all degrees and nationalities. The journey to the Randt was expensive, dangerous, and comfortless, but be- fore a year had passed almost twenty thousand persons had crossed the deserts and the plains and had settled on claims purchased from the Boers. In December, 1885, the first stamp mill was erected for the purpose of crushing the gneiss rock in which the gold lay hidden. This enterprise marks the real beginning of the gold fields of the Randt, which now yield one third of the world's total product of the THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 67 precious metal.' The advent of thousands of foreigners was a boon to the Boers, who owned the large farms on which the auriferous veins were located. Options on farms that were of little value a short time before were sold at in- credible figures, and the prices paid for small claims would have purchased farms of thou- sands of acres two years before. In July, 1886, the Government opened nine farms to the miners, and all have since become the best properties on the Randt. The names by which the farms were known were retained by the mines which were located upon them afterward, and, as they give an idea of the no- menclature of the country, are worth repeti- tion : Langlaagte, Dreifontein, Rantjeslaagte, Doornfontein, Vogelstruitsfontein, Paardeplaats, Turffontein, Elandsfontein, and Roodepoort. The railroad from Cape Town extended only as far north as the diamond mines at Kimber- ley, and the remainder of the distance, about five hundred miles, had to be traversed with ox-teams or on foot; but the gold-seekers yielded to no impediments, and marched in bodies of hundreds to the new fields. The ma- 68 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE chinery necessary to operate the mines and ex- tract the gold from the rocks, as well as every ounce of food and every inch of lumber, was dragged overland by ox-teams, and the vast plains that had seen naught but the herds of Boer farmers and the wandering tribes of na- tives were quickly transformed into scenes of unparalleled activity. On the Randt the California scenes of '49 were being re-enacted. Tents and houses of sheet iron were erected with picturesque lack of beauty and uniformity, and during the latter part of 1886 the community had reached such proportions that the Government marked off a township and called it Johannesburg. The Government, which owned the greater part of the land, held three sales of building lots, or " stands," as they are called in the Transvaal, and realized more than three hundred thousand dollars from the sales. The prices of stands measuring fifty by one hundred feet ranged from one dollar to one thousand dollars. Mil- lions were secured in England and Europe for the development of the mines, and the individ- ual miner sold his claims to companies with un- THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 69 limited capital. The incredibly large dividends that were realized by some of the investors led to too heavy investments in the Stock Exchange in 1889, and a panic resulted. Investors lost thousands of pounds, and for several months the future of the gold fields appeared to be most gloomy. The opening of the railway to Johannesburg and the re-establishment of stock values caused a renewal of confidence, and the growth and development of the Randt was im- bued with renewed vigour. Owing to the Boers' lack of training and consequent inability to share in the develop- ment of the gold fields, the new industry re- mained almost entirely in the hands of the new- comers, the Uitlanders, and two totally differ- ent communities were created in the republic. The Uitlanders, who, in 1890, numbered about one hundred thousand, lived almost exclusive- ly in Johannesburg and the suburbs along the Randt. The Boers, having disposed of their farms and lands on the Randt, were obliged to occupy the other parts of the republic, where they could follow their pastoral and agricultural pursuits. 70 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE The natural contempt which the English- men, who composed the majority of the Uit- lander population, always have for persons and races not their intellectual or social equals, soon created a gulf between the Boers and the newcomers. This line of cleavage was ex- tended when the newcomers attempted to ob- tain a foothold in the politics of the country. The Boers, who had been suddenly outnum- bered three to one, naturally resented the in- terference, especially as it came from persons who had no desire to become permanent resi- dents of the country, and who wanted a voice in the conduct of the national affairs only as a means to attain their own ends, without car- ing about the welfare of the entire republic. The Uitlanders had many good and hon- est men among them, but the majority consisted of speculators, cutthroats, " I. D. B.," * and such others as were exiled from their native * Illicit Diamond Buyers. Every diamond mined in the country must be registered with the Government, and may not be sold except by a licensed broker. Transgression of this law is called illicit diamond buyirtjf or selling, and is punishable with long imprisonment Ofl the Breakwater at Cape Town. THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 71 lands by reason of crimes they had committed. Their cry was "Gold!" and honour and jus- tice were cast to the winds. The Boer Govern- ment was blamed for famine, drought, and the locusts, and everything was done to embarrass those who were trying to administer justice to Boer and Uitlander alike. One example is sufficient to show the con- duct of the Uitlanders toward the Boers, but thousands could be given. President Kruger journeyed to Johannesburg in order to learn from the newcomers what his government might do to improve the industry. A crowd met Mr. Kruger, and, after rude remarks on his personal appearance, sang " God save the Queen." Later the Transvaal flag was torn down from a staff in front of the house in which the President was conferring with leading resi- dents of the city. The Transvaal Government, on the other hand, sought by all means in its power to secure the good-will of the newcomers, and frequent conferences between leading men of the Randt and the officials of the Govern- ment were held with that object in view. The Second Volksraad was created, so that the Uit- 72 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE landers might have a voice in the Government, and many reforms, which at the time were warmly approved by the Johannesburg Cham- ber of Mines, representing the mining popula- tion, were instituted, and would have been completed, satisfactory to all, had the Uitland- ers waited, instead of plotting for the over- throw of the Government. When the disturbing element of the Uit- lander population found that their efforts to govern the Randt according to their own de- sires were fruitless, Cecil J. Rhodes, then Pre- mier of Cape Colony and at the height of his influence, began his campaign for the control of the Boer territory. He brought to bear all the power at his command to harass the Pre- torian Government, and tried in a score of ways to induce the colonial secretary to interfere in behalf of the Uitlanders, even going to the extent of offering to Secretary for the Colonies Chamberlain the payment of an equal share in the cost of a war with the Transvaal. Whether Mr. Rhodes's real object in at- tempting to secure possession of the Trans- vaal was that he and other capitalists might THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 73 consolidate the mines and limit the output, as he had done at Kimberley, or whether his earth-hunger impelled him, is known only to himself. Whatever the reason, he planned like a professional South American revolutionist, and by his boldness caused the amateur revo- lutionists of the Randt to gasp. The opening prelude of the Jameson raid was a mass meeting held in November, 1895, by the Johannesburg Chamber of Mines, which had always shown marked friendliness to the Pretorian Government. The president of the organization, Lionel Phillips, created a sensa- tion by reading a mass of alleged grievances against the Government, as formulated by an organization called the " Transvaal National Union," and threatening that, unless the Gov- ernment gave immediate remedy, revolutionary methods would be adopted in order to obtain redress. The plot had begun its evolution, and its success was to be attained in a certain well-defined way. The speech of Mr. Phillips was to serve as Johannesburg's ultimatum to the Boers. If the Government gave no heed, the revolution^ 74 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ary party was to seize Johannesburg by force of arms, declare a provisional government of the country, and march against Pretoria. Once in possession of the seat of government, it was planned to lay their grievances before the world, and ask that the future government of the country be placed in the hands of the majority of the white population. It was be- lieved that if the plans were thoroughly per- fected the plot could be carried to a success- ful conclusion without the firing of a single shot. In order to be amply prepared in case the Boers should make an unexpected resist- ance to the revolutionists, it had been arranged with Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, who was then in charge of the troops of Mr. Rhodes's Brit- ish South Africa Company, to ride across the border to Johannesburg, a journey of several days, and assist in the engagement. The revo- lution was perfectly planned, and it would have required only half an effort on the part of a Haytien revolutionist to carry it out success- fully; but Mr. Rhodes, the brains of the move- ment, was in Cape Town, and unable to do any- thing more practical than imagine that his THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 75 plans were being followed. By common agree- ment among the revolutionists, Dr. Jameson and Mr. Rhodes, it was decided to have the uprising in Johannesburg about the 28th of December, and everything had been planned accordingly. From Kimberley Mr. Rhodes's De Beers Company had sent two thousand rifles the Boers say twenty thousand one hundred and twenty-five cases of ammunition, and three Maxims in oil casks across the bor- der into Johannesburg, where the Uitlanders were secretly organizing and drilling military companies. In the British territory Dr. Jame- son and his six hundred troopers were polish- ing their rifles and Maxims, and waiting for the day when they should march toward Johan- nesburg. Under pretence that they were to be used in connection with a new stage line ta be opened, " canteens," or feeding places, had been established several miles apart on the road over which the troopers were supposed to enter Johannesburg, and all had been bounti- fully stocked with provisions for soldier and horse. The Government at Pretoria had been 76 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE led to believe that Johannesburg was armed to the teeth, and that nothing could prevent the dissolution of the republic. When the 28th day of December arrived, the well-advertised revolution had not mate- rialized, and nothing more martial was to be seen than several regiments of civilians drill- ing in the streets. Thousands of men, women, and children, fearing that the Boers might at- tack the city at any moment, besieged the rail- way station, and fought like so many uncivi- lized beings to board the trains leaving for Natal and Cape Colony. Among those who displayed the greatest eagerness to escape from the city were many wealthy Englishmen, who several days before had been the most rabid sympathizers of the revolutionary movement. The city was in the hands of the Uitlanders, because the handful of Transvaal police, com- monly called " Zarps," had been withdrawn by the Boer authorities, who depended on the power of the guns in the fort on the outskirts of the town to quell any disturbance that might be made. There was no actual revolu- tion, because the Uitlanders were divided among THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 77 themselves as to the course to be pursued. The Englishmen, as soon as the success of the movement seemed so close at hand, aroused the enmity of the other Uitlanders by asking them to consent to the raising of the^British flag as soon as the Boer Republic had been ob- literated. This campaign placed the revolution in an entirely different light to those of the Uitlanders who had no particular liking for England, and the result was that the revolution- ary party was divided into two camps. On the side of the Englishmen were the Uitlanders from British colonies Scotchmen, Irishmen, Welshmen, Canadians, Australians, and all the Americans who were employed by British mines. In the other camp were the Germans, French- men, Scandinavians, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, and Finlanders. The majority of the Americans felt that a revolution was unjustifiable, although some of the grievances complained of were undoubt- edly just, and ranged themselves on the anti- English side. Another reason for the Ameri- cans' attitude at that time was President Cleve- land's warlike message to England on the Vene- 78 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE zuelan boundary dispute. The real American patriot is found ten thousand miles from home, and those in America who were excited when they heard of England's attempt to grasp a swamp in far-away Venezuela can readily im- agine the spirit of the Americans in the Trans- vaal who saw England attempting to steal a valuable country without the shadow of an excuse. The following day, the 2Qth of December, Dr. Jameson and his troopers, believing that the revolutionists at Johannesburg had seized the city, as it had been planned they should do, crossed the border into the Transvaal. Mes- sages had been sent to Mr. Rhodes and others of the leaders, stating the time of the departure from British territory and the time set for their arrival in Johannesburg. Several troopers were sent ahead to cut the telegraph wires, so that no news of the expedition should reach the outside world; but the anticipated joy of reach- ing Johannesburg and assisting in raising the " Union Jack " intoxicated the men, and they succeeded in cutting only the wire which led to Cape Town. The wire to Pretoria remained THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 79 untouched, and before the troopers had pro- ceeded fifty miles into Transvaal territory the Pretorian Government was aware of their ap- proach, and made preparations to meet them. The Uitlanders in Johannesburg had been led to believe by their dilettante leaders that Dr. Jameson's incursion had been postponed, and they were ignorant of his whereabouts until the following day, when a member of the Pretorian Government kind-heartedly gave the informa- tion to several of the Uitlander leaders, who had journeyed .to Pretoria with rifles in one hand and demands in the other. When the news of the invasion reached Johannesburg the excitement became intensified. A reform committee of about one hundred persons was quickly formed, and into their hands was given the conduct of the revolution. Speeches were made from the balcony of the Stock Exchange, until some practical speaker suggested that it would be proper to unpack the rifles and am- munition from the oil casks if the revolution was to be undertaken. The suggestion was acted upon, and late that night five hundred of the rifles to be used 8o OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE in the overthrow of a republic were being car- ried to and fro in the streets of Johannesburg on the shoulders of men who were willing to do the work for ten dollars a night. The fol- lowing day, while Dr. Jameson and his troop- ers were marching over the veldt toward Jo- hannesburg, the leaders of the movement made more speeches to the crowd at the Stock Ex- change, and waited for news from Pretoria in- stead of making news for Pretoria. The first part of the plot the capture of Johannesburg had been successful without the discharge of a rifle, because the Boers had with- drawn their police, and there remained no one at which the opera-bouffe revolutionists might fire. The next step was the capture of Pretoria, and for this purpose a small expedition started for the capital city; but returned hastily and without their rifles and ammunition when they saw a thousand Boers, each with the usual ac- companiment of a rifle, attending the annual " Nachtmaal," or communion, in the city. The last day of the year saw the Uitland- ers undecided as to what action to take. On THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 8l the one hand was Dr. Jameson coming to their relief, while on the other was the Pretorian Government preparing to quell an insurrection which had not even started. The Reform Com- mittee, whose members a few weeks before had made arrangements for Dr. Jameson's coming, denied that they had any connection with the invasion. Dr. Jameson having been repudi- ated, the committee debated for many hours on the subject of which flag should be hoisted in the event that the revolution was successful, and finally sent John Hays Hammond, an American member of the committee, to secure the four-colour of the Transvaal. Then and there the most ludicrous incident of the Uitlander rising took place. With up- lifted hands the members of the committee, who were the leaders of the revolution, swore allegiance to the red, white, green, and blue flag of the Transvaal, which for days and months before they had reviled and insulted. After having vowed loyalty to the Transvaal flag, the committee continued the preparations for the defence of the city and the drilling of the volunteers who were enrolled at a score of 82 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE different shops in the city. A rumour that Dr. Jameson had been attacked by the Boer forces, but had repulsed them, gave additional zest to the military preparations, and the ad- visability of sending some of the mounted troops to meet him was discussed but not acted upon. The reported victory of Dr. Jameson's troopers, coupled with a request from the Pretorian Government for a confer- ence to discuss methods of ending the trou- bles, caused the Reform Committee to repent their hasty action in swearing allegiance to the Transvaal flag, and they \vere on the point of breaking their obligation, and send- ing aid to the invading troopers, when, dur- ing the last hour of the year, they learned that the secretary for the colonies, Mr. Cham- berlain, had repudiated and recalled Dr. Jame- son. The first day of the new year the spirit of the Uitlanders was dampened by the informa- tion that the Boers were massing troops on the outskirts of the town; and, fearing that the town might be attacked at any moment, the Reform Committee, which had been spending THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 83 much energy in informing the Pretorian Gov- ernment of the city's great military preparation, telegraphed pathetic appeals for assistance to the British High Commissioner at Cape Town. Couriers arrived from the outskirts of the city and reported that Dr. Jameson and his troop- ers were within fifteen miles of Johannesburg, and plans were made to receive him. One small regiment left the city to meet the troop- ers and escort them into the city, while the remainder of the revolutionary forces held ju- bilation festivities in honour of Dr. Jameson's anticipated arrival. While Johannesburg, which had promised to do the righting, was in the midst of its festi- val joys, Dr. Jameson and those of his six hun- dred troopers who were not dead on the fields of battle were waving a Hottentot woman's white apron in token of their surrender to the Boer forces at Doornkop, eighteen miles away. The Johannesburg revolt, initiated by magnifi- cent promises, ended with an inglorious display of that quality which the British have been wont to attribute to Boers" funk." The British have their Balaclava and Sebastopol, but they 84 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE also have their Majuba Hill and the Johannes- burg revolt. The final scenes of the Jameson raid, which might more fittingly be called " the Johannes- burg funk," were enacted in Pretoria, where Dr. Jameson and the other prisoners were taken, and in London, where the officers of the expe- dition were tried and virtually acquitted. The revolutionists in Johannesburg yielded all their arms and ammunition to the Boer Govern- ment, which in turn made every possible effort to effect an amicable settlement of the griev- ances of the Uitlanders. But the raid left a deeper impress upon Johannesburg and its in- terests than any of its organizers or supporters had ever dreamed of. Almost one fifth of the inhabitants of the city left the country for more peaceable localities in the three months follow- ing the disturbance, and business became stag- nant. Capitalists declined to invest more money in the gold mines while the unsettled condi- tion of the political affairs continued, and scores of mines were compelled to abandon operations. Stocks fell in value, and thousands of pounds were lost by innocent shareholders THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 85 in Europe, who were ignorant of the political affairs of the country. For two years the de- pression continued, and so acute were its re- sults that hundreds of respectable miners and business men, who had been accustomed to live in luxury, became bankrupt, and were obliged to beg for their food. Those who were able to do so sold their interests in the city and left the country, while hundreds of others would have been happy to leave had they been able to secure passage to their native countries. During the last year the effects of the raid have been disappearing and the commercial interests of the Randt have been improving, but the political atmosphere has been kept vibrating at a continuous loss to the indus- tries that are represented in the country. All South Africa was similarly affected by the depression, which naturally cut off the rev- enue from the gold fields and that derived from passengers and freight coming into the country from foreign shores. To add to the general dismay, the entire country was scourged with the rinderpest, a disease which 86 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE killed more than a million and a half cattle; clouds of locusts, that destroyed all vegeta- tion and made life miserable; and a long drought. After the scourges had passed, and the po- litical atmosphere had become somewhat clari- fied, the industries of Johannesburg and the Randt returned to their normal condition, and the development of the natural resources of the territory was resumed. Many of those per- sons who deserted the city during its period of depression returned with renewed ener- gy, and those who had successfully combated the storm joined with the newcomers in wel- coming the return of prosperous times. Confidence was restored among the Euro- pean capitalists, and money was again freely invested and trade relations firmly re-estab- lished. Johannesburg after the Jameson raid was a distressing scene; the Johannesburg of to- day is a wondrous testimonial to the energy and progress of mankind. If there were no other remarkable features to mark the last decade of the twentieth cen- THE JOHANNESBURG GOLD FIELDS 8/ tury, the marvellous city which has been built near the heart of the Dark Continent would alone be a fitting monument to the enterprise and achievements of the white race during that period of time. CHAPTER IV THE BOER OF TO-DAY THE wholesale slander and misrepresenta- tion with which the Boers of South Africa have been pursued can not be outlived by them in a hundred years. It originated when the British forces took possession of the Cape of Good Hope, and it has continued with un- abated vigour ever since. Recently the chief writers of fiction have been prominent Eng- lishmen, who, on hunting expeditions or rapid tours through the country, saw the object of their venom from car windows or in the less favourable environments of a trackless veldt. In earlier days the outside world gleaned its knowledge of the Boers from certain British statesmen, who, by grace of Downing Street, controlled the country's colonial policy, and consequently felt obliged to conjure up weird descriptions of their far-distant subjects in order THE BOER OF TO-DAY 89 to make the application of certain harsh poli- cies appear more applicable and necessary. Missionaries to South Africa, traders, and, not least of all, speculators, all found it convenient to traduce the Boers to the people in England, and the object in almost every case was the attainment of some personal end. Had there been any variety in the complaints, there might have been reason to suppose they were justi- fiable, but the similarity of the reports led to the conclusion that the British in South Africa were conducting the campaign of misrepresen- tation for the single purpose of arousing the enmity of the home people against the Boers. The unbiased reports were generally of such a nature that they were drowned by the roar of the malicious ones, and, instead of creating a better popular opinion of the race, only as- sisted in stirring the opposition to greater flights of fancy. American interests in South Africa having been so infinitesimal until the last decade, our own knowledge of the country and its people naturally was of the same proportions. When Americans learned anything concerning South S PEOPLE Pretoria police, a state military organization in which he takes great pride. A third occu- pies 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 man- sion. Popular report in Pretoria has it that the President's wealth amounts to a million dollars, but his mode of living certainly does not be- tray 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 an- nually paid to him, the English residents aver that the amount is intended as a slight reim- bursement to him for the money he spends for PRESIDENT KRUGER 125 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 to- bacco allowance. Barnato also presented to Mr. Kruger two handsome marble statues of lions which now adorn the lawn of the presi- dential residence. A photograph which is greatly admired by the patriotic Boers repre- sents 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 w y as taught the virtues of a Christian life, and it is not recorded that he ever did any- thing 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 trans- port wagon when the trekkers departed from Natal in the early '403, and compelled him to 126 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE 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 re- ligious 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 neces- sary 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 PRESIDENT KRUGER 127 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 mod- ern cynicism and scepticism, regard him as the wielder of divine power, while those who ad- mire 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 op- posite the cottage where he lives, will bear wit- ness to the intensity and earnestness of his genuine religious feeling. The lessons of life which he draws from his own personal experi- ences, 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 pur- pose. Mr. Kruger's style of writing is unique, but thoroughly characteristic of himself. The many references to the Deity, the oftentimes pomp- !28 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ous style, the words which breathe of the in- tense 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 citi- zens 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 neigh- bourhood that I am inexpressibly thankful to God that the despicable and treacherous incur- sion 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 PRESIDENT KRUGER 129 deceived, and it has clearly appeared to me that even among the so-called leaders of the move- ment there are many who have been deceived. " A small number of intriguers in and out- side of the country ingeniously incited a num- ber of the residents of Johannesburg and sur- roundings 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 na- tionalities may reside in common brotherhood. " For months and months I have planned what changes and reforms could have been OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE 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 im- possible for me and my burghers, the found- ers 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, where- by a municipality, with a mayor at the head, would be granted to Johannesburg, to whom the control of the city will be intrusted. Ac- cording 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 sub- mit this to the representatives of the people? My reply is, I know there are thousands in PRESIDENT KRUGER I3 r Johannesburg and the suburbs to whom I can intrust such elective powers. Inhabitants of Johannesburg, render it possible for the Gov- ernment 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 Com- missioner, 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 132 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE thought. His own political aggrandizement has always been a secondary thought. He him- self has declared that there is no one in the re- public 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 per- sonal 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 practical- ly 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. PRESIDENT KRUGER 133 That which he received from Emperor Wil- liam, of Germany, several days after the re- pulse of the Jameson raiders, was perhaps the finest tribute that Mr. Kruger has ever re- ceived, and one that created a greater sensa- tion 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 jd, i8g6. " From Wilhelm 7. J?., 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 suc- cessful in opposing with your own forces the armed bands that have broken into your coun- try 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. 134 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE William E. Gladstone, who had many oppor- tunities to gauge Kruger's skill in diplomacy, referred to him as the shrewdest politician on the continent of Africa, and not a mean com- petitor of those of Europe. Among the titles which have been bestowed upon him by Eu- ropean rulers are Knight of the First Class of the Red Eagle of Prussia, Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, Grand Knight of the Leo- pold 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 Bis- marck; the defeats administered in battle may not have been as crushing as' those of Napo- leon, 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 dis- PRESIDENT KRUGER 135 turb 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 neces- sary to determine the value of the man to the country. Fifty or a hundred years hence, when the Transvaal has safely emerged from its pe- riod 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 en- tire 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 ques- tion 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. CHAPTER VI INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER As is the rule with them everywhere, Eng- lishmen in South Africa speak of Mr. Kruger with contempt and derision. Unprejudiced Americans and other foreigners in South Africa admire him for his patriotism, his courage in opposing the dictatorial policy of England's Colonial Office, and his efforts to establish a republic as nearly like that of the United States of America as possible. My desire to see Mr. Kruger was almost obliterated a week after my arrival in the country by the words of condemnation which were heaped upon him by Englishmen whenever his name was men- tioned. In nearly every Englishman's mind the name of " Oom Paul " was a synonym for all that was corrupt and vile; few gave him a word of commendation. When I came into the pretty little town 136 INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 137 of Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, where the President lives and where he mingles daily with the populace with as much freedom and informality as a country squire, there was a rapid transformation in my opinion of the man. The Boers worship their leader; to them he is a second George Washington, and even a few Englishmen there speak with ad- miration of him. The day before my arrival in the town John McCann, of Johannesburg, who is a former New-Yorker and a friend of the Presi- dent, informed Mr. Kruger of my intention to visit Pretoria. The President had refused in- terviews to three representatives of influential London newspapers who had been in the town three months waiting for the opportunity, but he expressed a desire to see an American. " The Americans won't lie about me," he said to Mr. McCann. " I want America to learn our side of the story from me. They have had only the English point of view." I had scarcely reached my hotel when an emis- sary from the President called and made an appointment for me to meet him in the after- 138 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE noon. The emissary conducted me to the Government Building, where the Volksraad was in session, and it required only a short time for it to become known that a representative from the great sister republic across the At- lantic desired to learn the truth about the Boers. I was overwhelmed with information. Cabi- net members, Raad members, the Commissioner of War, the Postmaster General, the most honoured and influential men of the republic men who had more than once risked their lives in fighting for their country's preserva- tion gathered around me and were so eager to have me tell America of the wrongs they had suffered at the hands of the British that the scene was highly pathetic. One after another spoke of the severe trials through which their young republic had passed, the efforts that had been made to disrupt it, and the constant harassment to which they had been subjected by enemies working un- der the cloak of friendship. The majority spoke English, but such as knew only the Boer taal were given an opportunity by their INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER more fortunate friends to add to the testimony, and spoke through an interpreter. Such ear- nest, such honest conversation it had never been my lot to hear before. It was a memo- rable hour that I spent listening to the plaints of those plain, good-hearted Boers in the heart of South Africa. It was the voice of the downtrodden, the weak crying out against the strong. When the hour of my appointment with the President arrived there was a unanimous desire among the Boers gathered around to accompany me. It was finally decided by them that six would be a sufficient number, and among those chosen were Postmaster- General Van Alpen, who was a representative at the Postal Congress in Washington several years ago; Commissioner of Mines P. Kroeb- ler, Commissioner pf War J. J. Smidt, Justice of the Peace Dillingham, and former Com- mandant-General Stephanne Schoeman. When our party reached the little white- washed cottage in which the President lives a score or more of tall and soil-stained farmers were standing in a circular group on the low 140 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE piazza. They were laughing hilariously at something that had been said by a shorter, fat man who was nearly hidden from view by the surrounding circle of patriarchs. A breach in the circle disclosed the President of the republic with his left arm on the shoulder of a long-whiskered Boer, and his right hand swinging lightly in the hand of another of his countrymen. It was democracy in its highest exemplification. Catching a glimpse of us as we were en- tering on the lawn, the President hastily with- drew into the cottage. The Boers he de- serted seated themselves on benches and chairs on the piazza, relighted their pipes, and puffed contentedly, without paying more attention to us than to nod to several of my compan- ions as we passed them. The front door of the gottage, or " White House," as they call it, was wide open. There was no flunkey in livery to take our cards, no white-aproned servant girls to tra-la-la our names. The executive mansion of the Presi- dent was as free and open to visitors as the farmhouse of the humblest burgher of the re- INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 141 public. In their efforts to display their quali- ties of politeness my companions urged me into the President's private reception room, while they lingered for a short time at the threshold. The President rose from his chair in the opposite end, met me in the centre of the room, and had grasped my hand before my companions had an opportunity of going through the process of an intro- duction. There was less formality and red tape in meeting " Oom Paul " than would be required to have a word with Queen Victoria's butcher or President McKinley's office-boy. While Mr. Kruger's small fat hand was hold- ing mine in its grasp and shaking it vehemently, he spoke something in Boer, to which I re- plied, " Heel goed, danke," meaning " Very well, I thank you." Some one had told me that he would first ask concerning my health, and also gave me the formula for an answer. The President laughed heartily at my reply, and made a remark in Boer " taal." The in- terpreter came up in the meantime and straightened out the tangle by telling me 142 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE that the President's first question had been " Have you any English blood in your veins? " The President, still laughing at my reply, seated himself in a big armchair at the head of a table on which was a heavy pipe and a large tobacco box. He filled the pipe, lighted the tobacco, and blew great clouds of smoke toward the ceiling. My companions took turns in filling their pipes from the President's tobacco box, and in a few minutes the smoke was so dense as nearly to obscure my view of the persons in front of me. The President crossed his short, thin legs and blew quick, spirited puffs of smoke while an interpreter translated to him my expres- sion of the admiration which the American people had for him, and how well known the title " Oom Paul " was in America. This de- lighted the old man immeasurably. His big, fat body seemed to resolve itself into waves which started in his shoes and gradually worked upward until the fat rings under his eyes hid the little black orbits from view. Then he slapped his knees with his hands, opened his large mouth, and roared with laughter. INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 143 It was almost a minute before he regained his composure sufficiently to take another puff at the pipe which is his constant companion. During the old man's fit of laughter one of my companions nudged me and advised me: " Now ask him anything you wish. He is in better humour than I have ever seen him before." The President checked a second outburst of laughter rather suddenly and asked, " Are you a friend of Cecil Rhodes? " If there is any one whom " Oom Paul " detests it is the great colonizer. The Presi- dent invariably asks this question of stran- gers, and if the answer is an affirmative one he refuses to continue the conversa- tion. Being assured that such was not the case, Mr. Kruger's mind appeared to be greatly relieved as he is very suspicious of all strangers and he asked .another question which is in- dicative of the religious side of his nature: " To what Church do you belong? " A speak- ing acquaintanceship was claimed with the Dutch Reformed Church, of which the Presi- dent is a most devout member, and this served OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE to dissipate all suspicions he might have had concerning me. The interpreter was repeating a question to him when the President suddenly interrupted, as is frequently his custom during a conver- sation, and asked: " Do the American people know the history of our people? I will tell you truthfully and briefly. You have heard the English version always; now I will give you ours." The President proceeded slowly and, be- tween puffs at his great pipe, spoke deter- minedly: " When I was a child we were so mal- treated by the English in Cape Colony that we could no longer bear the abuses to which we were subjected. In 1835 we migrated northward with our cattle and possessions and settled in Natal, just south of Zululand, where by unavoidable fighting we acquired territory from the Zulus. We had hardly settled that country and established ourselves and a local form of government when our old enemies followed, and by various high-handed methods made life so unendurable that we were again compelled to move our families and posses- INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 145 sions. This time we travelled, five hundred miles inland over the trackless veldt and across the Vaal River, and after many hard- ships and trials settled in the Transvaal. The country was so poor, so uninviting, that the English colonists did not think it worth their while to settle in the land which we had chosen for our abiding-place. " Our people increased in number, and, as the years passed, established a form of govern- ment such as yours in America. The British thought they were better able to govern us than we were ourselves, and once took our country from us. Their defeats at Laing's Nek and Majuba Hill taught them that we were fighters, and they gave us our independ- ence and allowed us to live peaceably for a number of years. They did not think the country valuable enough to warrant the repe- tition of the fighting for it. When it became known all over the world twelve years ago that the most extensive gold fields on the globe had been discovered in our apparently worth- less country, England became envious and laid plans to annex such a valuable prize. Thou- 146 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE sands of people were attracted hither by our wonderful gold mines at Johannesburg, and the English statesmen renewed their attacks on us. They made all sorts of pretexts to rob us of our country, and when they could not do it in a way that was honest and would be commended by other nations, they planned the Jameson raid, which was merely a bold attempt to steal our country." At this point Kruger paused for a moment and then added, " You Americans know how well they succeeded." This sally amused him and my companions hugely, and they all joined in hearty laughter. The President declared that England's at- titude toward them had changed completely since the discovery of the gold fields. " Up to that time we had been living in harmony with every one. We always tried to be peace- able and to prevent strife between our neigh- bours, but we have been continually harassed since the natural wealth of our land has been uncovered." Here he relighted his pipe, which had grown cold while he was detailing the history INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 147 of the Transvaal Boers, and then drew a par- able, which is one of his distinguishing traits: " The gold fields may be compared to a pretty girl who is young and wealthy. You all ad- mire her and want her to be yours, but when she rejects you your anger rises and you want to destroy her." By implication England is the rejected suitor, and the Transvaal the rich young girl. Comparing the Boers' conduct in South Africa with that of the English, the President said: " Ever since we left Cape Colony in 1835 we have not taken any territory from the natives by conquest except that of one chief whose murderous maraudings compelled us to drive him away from his country. We bartered and bought every inch of land we now have. England has taken all the land she has in South Africa at the muzzles of re- peating rifles and machine guns. That is the civilized method of extending the bounds of the empire they talk about so much." The Englishmen's plaint is that the re- public will tax them, but allow them no repre- sentation in the affairs of government. The I4 8 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE President explained his side in this manner: " Every man, be he Englishman, Chinaman, or Eskimo, can become a naturalized citizen of our country and have all the privileges of a burgher in nine years. If we should have a war, a foreigner can become a citizen in a minute if he will fight with our army. The difficulty with the Englishmen here is that they want to be burghers and at the same time retain their English citizenship. "A man can not serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or hold to the one and despise the other. We have a law for bigamy in our country, and it is necessary to dispose of an old love before it is possible to marry a new." " Oom Paul " is very bitter in his feeling against the English, whom he calls his natural enemies, but it is seldom that he says anything against them except in private to his most inti- mate friends. The present great distress in the Johannesburg gold fields is attributed by the English residents to the high protective duties imposed by .the Government and the high freight charges for the transmission of ma- INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER \^ chinery and coal. Mr. Kruger explained that those taxes were less than in the other colonies in the country. " We are high protectionists because ours is a young country. These new mines have cost the Government great amounts of money, and it is necessary for us to raise as much as we expend. They want us to give them every- thing gratuitously, so that we may become bankrupt and they can take our country for the debt. If they don't like our laws, why don't they stay away? " Nowhere in the world is the American Re- public admired as much outside of its own territory as in South Africa. Both the Trans- vaal and the Orange Free State Constitutions are patterned after that of the United States, and there is a desire lurking in the breasts of thousands of South Africans to convert the whole of the country south of the Zambezi into one grand United States of South Africa. Sir Alfred Milner, the Queen's Commis- sioner to South Africa, said to me several days before I saw Mr. Kruger that such a thing might come to pass within the next ISO OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE twenty years. The President hesitated when I asked him if he favoured such a proposition to unite all the colonies and republics in the country. " If I should say ' Yes/ the Eng- lish would declare war on us to-morrow." He appeared to be very cautious on this subject for a few minutes, but after a consultation with my companions, he spoke more freely. " We admire your Government very much," he said, " and think there is none better in the world. At the present time there are so many conflicting affairs in this country as to make the discussion of an amalgamation in- advisable. A republic formed on the principle of the United States would be most advan- tageous to all concerned, but South Africa is not yet ripe for such a government. I shall not live to see it." According to those around him, the Presi- dent had not been in such a talkative mood for a long time, and, acting upon that informa- tion, I asked him to tell me concerning the Boers' ability to defend themselves in case of war with England. Many successes against British arms have caused the Boers to regard INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 151 their prowess very highly, and they generally speak of themselves as well able to protect their country. The two countries have been on the very verge of war several times during the last three years, and it was only through the greatest diplomacy that the thousands of English soldiers were not sent over the bor- der of the Transvaal, near which they have been stationed ever since the memorable raid of Jameson's troopers. The President's reply was guarded: "The English say they can starve us out of our country by placing barriers of soldiers along the borders. Starve us they can, if it is the will of God that such should be our fate. If God is on our side they can build a big wall around us and we can still live and flourish. We don't want war. My wish is to live in peace with everybody." It was evident that the subject was not pleasant to him, and he requested me to ask Commissioner of War Smidt, a war-scarred hero of Majuba Hill, to speak to me on the ability of the Boers to take care of themselves in case of a conflict. 152 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE Commissioner Smidt became very enthusi- astic as he progressed with the expression of his opinion, and the President frequently nodded assent to what the head of the War Department said. " It is contrary to our national feeling to engage in war," said Mr. Smidt, " and we will do all in our power to avert strife. If, how- ever, we are forced into fighting, we must de- fend ourselves as best we are able. There is not one Boer in the Transvaal who will not fight until death for his country. We have demonstrated our ability several times, and we shall try to retain our reputation. The English must fight us in our own country, where we know every rock, every valley, and every hill. They fight at a disadvantage in a country which they do not know and in a climate to which they are strangers. " The Boers are born sharpshooters, and from infancy are taught to put a bullet in a buzzard's skull at a hundred yards. One Boer is equal in a war in our own country to five Englishmen, and that has been proved a num- ber of times. We have rugged constitutions, INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 153 are accustomed to an outdoor life, and can live on a piece of biltong for days, while the Queen's soldiers have none of these advantages. " They can not starve us out in fifty years, for we have sources of provender of which they can not deprive us. We have fortifica- tions around Pretoria that make it an impos- sibility for any army of less than fifty thou- sand men to take, and the ammunition we have on hand is sufficient for a three years' war. We are not afraid of the English in Africa, and not until every Boer in the Transvaal is killed will we stop fighting if they ever begin. Should war come, and I pray that it will not, the Boers will march through English terri- tory to the Cape of Good Hope, or be erased from the face of the earth." Never was a man more sincere in his statements than the commissioner, and his companions supported his every sentence by look and gesture. Even the President gave silent approval to the sentiments expressed. " Have you ever had any intention 6f se- curing Delagoa Bay from the Portuguese, in order that you might have a seacoast, as has !54 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE been rumoured many times? " I asked the President. Delagoa Bay, the finest harbour in Africa, is within a few miles of the Transvaal, and might be of great service to it in the event of war. " ' Cursed be he who removes the landmarks of his neighbour,' " quoted he. " I never want to do anything that would bring the venge- ance of God on me. We want our country, nothing more, nothing less." Asked to give an explanation of the causes of the troubles between England and the Transvaal, he said: " Mr. Rhodes is the cause of all the troubles between our country and England. He de- sires to form all the country south of the Zam- bezi River into a United States of South Africa, and before he can do this he must have possession of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. His aim in life is to be President of the United States of South Africa. He initiated the Jameson raid, and he has stirred up the spirit of discontent which is be- ing shown by the Englishmen in the Trans- vaal. Our Government endeavours to treat INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 155 every one with like favour, but these English- men are never satisfied with anything we do. They want the English flag to wave over the Transvaal territory, and nothing less. Rhodes spent millions of pounds in efforts to steal our country, and will probably spend millions more. But we will never leave this land, which we found, settled, and protected." Then, rising from his chair and raising his voice, he continued slowly and deliberately: " We will fight until not one Boer remains to defend our flag and country; our women and children will fight for their liberties; and even I, an old man, will take the gun which I have used against them twice before and use it again to defend the country I love. But I hope there will be no war. I want none and the Boers want none. If war comes, we shall not be to blame. I have done all in my power for peace, and have taken many in- sults from Englishmen merely that my people might not be plunged into war. I want no war. I hope that I may spend the rest of my days in peace." The President's carriage had arrived in 156 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE front of the cottage to convey him to the Government Building, and the time had ar- rived for him to appear before one of the Volks- raads. He displayed no eagerness to end the interview, and continued it by asking me to describe the personality and ability of Presi- dent McKinley. He expressed his admiration of former President Cleveland, with whose De- partment of State he had some dealings while John Hays Hammond was confined in the Pretoria prison for complicity in the Jameson raid. His opinion of the Americans in South Africa was characteristic of the man. " I like and trust true Americans. They are a mag- nificent people, because they favour justice. When those in our country are untainted with English ideas I trust them implicitly, but there were a number of them here in Jame- son's time who were Americans in name only." He hesitated to send any message to the sister republic in America, lest his English ene- mies might construe it to mean that he cur- ried America's favour. His friends finally per- INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT KRUGER 157 suaded him to make a statement, and he dic- tated this expression of good fellowship and respect : " So long as the different sections of the United States live in peace and harmony, so long will they be happy and prosperous. My wish is that the great republic in America may become the greatest nation on earth, and that she may continue to act as the great peace nation. I wish that prosperity may be hers and her people's, and in my daily prayers I ask that God may protect her and bless her bounteously." It being far past the time for his appear- ance at the Government Building, the Presi- dent ended the interview abruptly. He re- filled his pipe, bade farewell to us, and bustled from the room with all the vigour of a young man. On the piazza he met his little, silver- haired wife, who, with a half-knit stocking pendant from her fingers, was conversing with the countrymen sitting on the benches. The President bent down and kissed her affec- tionately, then jumped into the carriage and was rapidly conveyed to the Govern- 158 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ment Building. When the dust obscured the carriage and the cavalrymen attending it, one of my companions turned to me and re- marked : "Ah! there goes a great man!" (J CHAPTER VII CECIL JOHN RHODES SIXTEEN years ago Cecil J. Rhodes, then a man of small means and no political record, stood in a small Kimberley shop and looked for a long time at a map of Africa which hung on the wall. An acquaintance who had watched him for several minutes stepped up to Rhodes and asked whether he was attempting to find the location of Kimberley. Mr. Rhodes made no reply for several seconds, then placed his right hand over the map, and covered a large part of South and Central Africa from the At- lantic to the Indian Ocean. " All that Brit- ish! " he said. " That is my dream." " I will give you ten years to realize it," replied the friend. " Give me ten more," said Rhodes, " and then we'll have a new map." Three fourths of the required time has 159 l6o OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE elapsed, and the full realization of Rhodes's dream must take place within the next four years. There remain only two small spaces on that part of the map which was covered by Rhodes's hand that are not British, and those are the Orange Free State and the South African Republic. Mr. Rhodes's success will come hand-in-hand with the death of the two republics. The life of the republics hinges on his failure, and good fortune has rarely de- serted him. Twenty-seven years ago Cecil Rhodes, then a tall, thin college lad, was directed by his phy- sician to go to South Africa if he wished to live more than three years. He and his brother Herbert, the sons of the poor rector of Bishop Stortford, sailed for Durban, Natal, and reached that port while the diamond fever was at its height at Kimberley. The two boys, each less than nineteen years old, joined a party of ad- venturers and prospectors, and, after many vicissitudes, reached the Kimberley fields safely, but with little or no money. The boys were energetic, and found opportunities for making money where others could see none. CECIL JOHN RHODES ifa The camp was composed of the roughest characters in South Africa, all of whom had flocked thither when the discovery of diamonds was first announced. Illicit diamond buying was the easiest path to wealth, and was trav- elled by almost every millionaire whose name has been connected with recent South African affairs. Mr. Rhodes is one of the few excep- tions, and even his enemies corroborate the statement. " You don't steal diamonds," said Barney Barnato to Mr. Rhodes fifteen years ago, " but you must prove it when accused. I steal them, but my enemies must prove it. That's the dif- ference between us." The youthful Rhodes engaged in many legitimate schemes for making money, and saved almost all that he secured. For a short time he pumped water out of mines, using an abandoned engine for the purpose, and then embarked in commercial enterprises. After spending two or three years in the fields, he returned to England and resumed his course at Oxford. In connection with this visit to England, Mr. Rhodes relates the story of the 1 62 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE meeting with the physician who several years before had placed the limit of his existence at three years. " You the same Rhodes? " asked the dis- comfited doctor when he saw the healthy young man. " According to my books, you have been in your grave some time. Here is the entry: 'Tuberculosis; recovery impossible.' You can't be the same Rhodes, sir. Impos- sible!" At the end of each term at Oxford Mr. Rhodes returned to Kimberley, and, by judi- ciously investing his savings in mining claims, soon became a power in the affairs of the dia- mond fields. When the diamond fever was followed by the usual reaction, and evil days fell upon the industry, Mr. Rhodes secured all the shares, claims, and lands that his thousands would buy. Then he conceived the idea of making a monopoly of the diamond industry by consolidating all the mines and limiting the output. Lacking the money wherewith to buy the valuable properties necessary for his plans, he went to the Rothschilds and asked for finan- CECIL JOHN RHODES 163 cial assistance. The scheme was extraordinary, and required such a large amount of money that the request, coming from such a young man as Mr. Rhodes was then, staggered the Rothschilds, and they asked him to call several days later for an answer. " My time is valuable," remarked Mr. Rhodes, rather haughtily. " I will come again in an hour for your answer. If you have not decided by that time, I shall seek assistance elsewhere." The Rothschilds sent Mr. Rhodes back to Africa with the necessary amount of money to purchase the other claims and property in the Kimberley district, and, after he had formed the great De Beers Company, appointed him managing director for life at a salary of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year. Under Mr. Rhodes's management the De Beers consolidated mines have been earning annual dividends of almost fifty per cent., and more than four hundred million dollars' worth of diamonds have been placed on the market. With the exception of the Suez Canal, the mines are the best paying property in the world, and OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE much of their success is due to the personal efforts of Mr. Rhodes. It was while he was engineering the con- solidation of the diamond mines that Mr. Rhodes began his political career. He realized that his political success was founded on per- sonal popularity, and more firmly so in a new country, where the political elements were of such a diversified character as are usually pres- ent in a mining community. In the early days of the Kimberley fields the extent of a man's popularity depended upon the amount of money he spent in wining those around him. Mr. Rhodes was astute enough to ap- preciate the secret of popularity, and, having gained it, allowed himself to be named as can- didate for the Cape Colony Parliament from the Kimberley district. By carefully currying the favour of the Dutch inhabitants, who were not on the friend- liest political terms with the English colonists, he was elected. Thereafter Mr. Rhodes's po- litical star was in the ascendant, and he was elected successively to the highest office in the colony's government. CECIL JOHN RHODES 165 At the age of twenty-eight he was Treas- urer-General of Cape Colony, and it was while he filled that office that Chinese Gordon ap- peared at the Cape and appealed to Mr. Rhodes to join the expedition to Khartoum. Mr. Rhodes was undecided whether to resign the treasurer-generalship and accompany Gordon or to remain in South Africa, but finally deter- mined to stay in the colony. Gordon, who had taken a great fancy to the young and en- ergetic colonist, was sorely disappointed, and went to Khartoum, where he was killed. During the years he held minor Govern- ment offices Mr. Rhodes formed the alliances which were the foundation of his later politi- cal success. He was a friend at the same time of the Englishman, the Afrikander, the Dutch- man, and the Boer, and he was always in a position where he could reciprocate the favours of one class without incurring the enmity of another. He worked with the Dutchmen when protection was the political cry, and with the Englishmen when subjects dear to them were in the foreground. He never abused his op- ponents in political arguments, as the major- 12 1 66 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ity of Cape politicians do, but he pleaded with them on the veldt and at their firesides. When he was unable to swerve a man's opinions by words, he has frequently been charged with having applied the more seduc- tive method of using money. Mr. Rhodes is said to be a firm believer in money as a force superior to all others, and he does not hesitate to acknowledge his belief that every man's opinions can be shaped by the application of a necessary amount of money. This belief he formed in the early days of the diamond fields, and it has remained with him ever since. " Find the man's price " was Mr. Rhodes's formula for success before he reached the age of thirty, and his political enemies declare it has given him the power he desired. In a country which had such a large roving and reckless population as South Africa it was not difficult for a politician with a motto similar to that of Mr. Rhodes's to become influential at election periods, nor did it require many years to establish a party that would support him on whatever grounds he chose to take. It was with such a following that Mr. CECIL JOHN RHODES 167 Rhodes commenced his higher political career 'in Cape Colony. When, in 1884, he became Commissioner of Bechuanaland, the vast and then undeveloped country adjoining the colony on the north, and made his first plans for the annexation of that territory to the British Em- pire, he received the support of the majority of the voters of the colony. His first plan of securing control of the territory was not fa- vourably received by the Colonial Office in Lon- don, and no sooner was it pronounced vision- ary than he suggested another more feasible. Bechuanaland was then ruled by a mighty native chief, Lobengula, whose vast armies roved over the country and prevented white travellers and prospectors from crossing the bounds of his territory. In the minds of the white people of South Africa, Bechuanaland figured as a veritable Golconda a land where precious stones and minerals could be secured without any attendant labour, where the soil was so rich as to yield four bounteous harvests every year. Mr. Rhodes determined to break the bar- riers which excluded white men from the na- 1 68 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE tive chief's domain, and sent three agents to treat with Lobengula. The agents made many valuable presents to the old chief, and in 1888, after much engineering, secured from him an exclusive concession to search for and extract minerals in Bechuanaland. The payment for the concession included five hundred dollars a month, a thousand rifles and ammunition, and a small gunboat on the Zambezi. After Mr. Rhodes discovered the real value of the concession, he and a number of his friends formed the British South Africa Com- pany, popularly known as the Chartered Com- pany, and received a charter from the British Government, which gave to them the exclusive right of governing, developing, and trading in Lobengula's country. Several years after- ward the white man's government became irk- some to Lobengula and his tribes, as well as to the Mashonas, who occupied the immense territory adjoining Bechuanaland on the east, and all rebelled. The result was not unlike those of native rebellions in other countries. The natives were shot down by trained English soldiers, their country was taken from them, CECIL JOHN RHODES 169 and those who escaped death or captivity were compelled to fly for safety to the new countries of the north. The British South Africa Company in 1895 practically became the sole owner of Rhodesia, the great territory taken from Lobengula and the Mashonas; and Mr. Rhodes, having realized part of his dream, began casting about for other opportunities whereby he might extend the empire. Mr. Rhodes was then in the zenith of his glory. He was many times a millionaire, the head of one of the greatest capitalistic enter- prises in the world, the director of the affairs of a dominion occupying one tenth of a con- tinent, and the Premier of Cape Colony. His power was almost absolute over a territory that stretches from the Cape of Good Hope into Central Africa, and then eastward to within a ' few miles of the Indian Ocean. He had armies under his command, and two governments were at his beck and call. But Mr. Rhodes was not satisfied. He looked again at the map of Africa, already greatly changed since he placed his hand over OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE it in the Kimberley shop, but the dream was not realized. He saw the Transvaal and the Orange Free State flags still occupying the positions he had marked for the British em- blem, and he plotted for their acquisition. The strife between the Boers and the Uit- landers in the Transvaal was then at its height, and Mr. Rhodes recognised the opportunity for the intervention of England that it afforded. Mr. Rhodes did not consider it of sufficient im- portance to inquire concerning the justice of the Uitlanders' claims, nor did he express any sympathy for their cause. In fact, if anything, he felt that if the Uitlanders were unjustly treated by the Boers their remedy was simple. Once he blandly told a complaining Uitlander that no Chinese wall surrounded the Trans- vaal, and that to escape from the alleged injus- tice was comparatively easy. To Mr. Rhodes the end was sufficient ex- cuse for the means, and, if the acquisition of the two republics carried with it the loss of his Boer friends, he was willing to accept the situ- ation. The fall of the Transvaal Republic car- ried with it the subsequent fall of the Orange CECIL JOHN RHODES 171 Free State, and, in order that he might strike at the head, he determined to commence his campaign of exterminating republics by first attacking the Transvaal. Whether he had the promise of assistance from the Colonial Office in London is a sub- ject upon which even the principals differ. Mr. Rhodes felt that his power in the country was great enough to make the attack upon the Transvaal without assistance from the home Government, and the plot of the Jameson raid was formed. He retired to Groote Schuur, his home at Cape Town, and awaited the fruition of the plans he had so carefully made and explained. His lieutenants might have been overhasty, or perhaps the Uitlanders in Johannesburg might have feared the Boer guns too much; what- ever the reason, the plans miscarried, and Mr. Rhodes experienced the first and greatest re- verse in his brilliant public career. The dream which appeared so near realiza- tion one day was dissolved the next, and with it the reputation of the dreamer. He was obliged to resign the premiership of Cape Col- 172 COM PAUL'S PEOPLE ony, many of his best and oldest supporters in England deserted him, and he lost the respect and esteem of the Dutch inhabitants of South Africa, who had always been among his stanch- est allies. The heroic Rhodes, the idol of Cape Colony, found himself the object of attack and ridicule of the majority of the voters of the colony. The parliamentary inquiry acquitted him of all complicity in the Jameson raid, it is true, but the Dutch people of South Africa never have and never will. The Jameson raid was a mere incident in Mr. Rhodes's career; he would probably call it an accident. Having failed to overthrow the Transvaal Republic by means of an armed revolution, he attempted to accomplish the same object by means of a commercial revo- lution. Rhodesia, the new country which had a short time previously been taken from the Matabeles and the Mashonas, was proclaimed by Mr. Rhodes to be a paradise for settlers and an Ophir for prospectors. He personally con- ducted the campaign to rob the Transvaal of its inhabitants and its commerce; but the golden promises, the magnificent farms, the Solomon's CECIL JOHN RHODES ^3 mines, the new railways, and the new telegraph lines all failed to attract the coveted prizes to the land which, after all, was found to be void of real merit except as a hunting ground where the so-called British poor-house, the army, might pot negroes. Mr. Rhodes spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in developing the country which bears his name, and the British South Africa Company added thousands more, but the hand which was wont to turn into gold all that it touched had lost its cunning. To add to Mr. Rhodes's perplexities, the natives who had been conquered by Dr. Jameson learned that their conqueror had been taken prisoner by the Boers, and rose in another rebellion against English authority. Mr. Rhodes and one of his sisters journeyed alone into the enemy's stronghold and made terms with Lobengu- la, whereby the revolution was practically ended. After the Rhodesian country had been paci- fied, and he had placed the routine work of the campaign to secure settlers for the country in the hands of his lieutenants, Mr. Rhodes bent PAUL'S PEOPLE all his energies toward the completion of the transcontinental railway and telegraph lines which had been started under his auspices sev- eral years before, but had been allowed to lag on account of the pressure of weightier mat- ters. The Cape Town to Cairo railroad and tele- graph are undertakings of such vast propor- tions and importance that Mr. Rhodes's fame might easily have been secured through them alone had he never been heard of in connec- tion with other great enterprises. He himself originated the plans by which the Mediterranean and Table Bay will eventual- ly be united by bands of steel and strands of copper, and it is through his own personal ef- forts that the English financiers are being in- duced to subscribe the money with which his plans are being carried out. The marvellous faith which the English people have in Mr. Rhodes has been illustrated on several occa- sions when he was called to London to meet storms of protests from shareholders, who feared that the two great enterprises were gigantic fiascos. He has invariably returned to South Africa with the renewed confidence of CECIL JOHN RHODES 175 the timid ones and many millions of additional capital. Mr. Rhodes has tasted of the power which is absolute, and he will brook no earthly inter- ference with his plans. The natives may de- stroy hundreds of miles of the telegraph lines, as they have done on several occasions. He teaches them a lesson by means of the quick- firing gun, and rebuilds the line. White men may fear the deadly fever of Central Africa, but princely salaries and life-insurance policies for a host of relatives will always attract men to take the risk. Shareholders may rebel at the expenditures, but Mr. Rhodes will indicate to them that their other properties will be ruined if they withdraw their support from the railway and telegraph. A strip of territory belonging to another nation may be an impediment to the line, but an interview with the Emperor of Germany or the King of Portugal will be all-sufficient for the accomplishment of Mr. Rhodes's purpose. Providence may swerve him in his purpose many times, but nations and individuals rarely. All South Africans agree that Mr. Rhodes i;6 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE is the most remarkable Englishman that ever figured in the history of the African continent. Some will go further and declare that he has done more for the British Empire than any one man in history. No two South Africans will agree on the methods by which Mr. Rhodes attained his position in the affairs of the coun- try. Some say that he owes his success to his great wealth; others declare that his personal magnetism is responsible for all that he ever attained. His enemies intimate that political chicanery is the foundation of his progress, while his friends resent the intimation and laud his sterling honesty as the basis of his successful career. No one has ever accused him of being the fortunate victim of circumstances which car- ried him to the pre-eminent rank he occupies among Englishmen, although such an opinion might readily be formed from a personal study of the man. South Africa is the indolent man's paradise, and of that garden of physi- cal inactivity Mr. Rhodes, by virtue of his pre-eminent qualifications, is king. " Almost as lazy as Rhodes " is a South Africanism CECIL JOHN RHODES 177 that has caused lifelong enmities and rivers of blood. He takes pride in his indolence, and de- clares that the man who performs more labour than his physical needs demand is a fool. He says he never makes a long speech because he is too lazy to expend the energy necessary for its delivery. He declines to walk more than an eighth of a mile unless it is impossible to secure a vehicle or native hammock-bearers to convey him, and then he proceeds so slowly that his progress is almost imperceptible. His indolence may be the result of the same line of reasoning as that indulged in by the cau- tious man who carries an umbrella when the sun shines, in which case every one who has travelled in the tropics will agree that Mr. Rhodes is a modern Solomon. The only ex- ercise he indulges in is an hour's canter on horseback in the early morning, before the gen- erous rays of the African sun appear. Notwithstanding his antipathy to physical exertion, Mr. Rhodes is a great traveller, and is constantly moving from one place to an- other. One week may find him at Groote 178 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE Schuur, his Cape Town residence, while the following week he may be planning a new farm in far-away Mashonaland. The third week may have him in the Portuguese possessions on the east coast, and at the end of the month he may be back in Cape Town, prepared for a voyage to England and a fortnight's stay in Paris. He will charter a bullock team or a steamship with like disregard of expense in order that he may reach his destination at a specified time, and in like manner he will be watchful of his com- fort by causing houses to be built in unfre- quented territory which he may wish to inves- tigate. So wealthy that he could almost double his fortune in the time it would require to count it, Mr. Rhodes is a firm believer in the doctrine that money was created for the purpose of being spent, and never hesitates to put it into prac- tice. He does not assist beggars, nor does he squander sixpence in a year, but he will pay the expenses of a trip to Europe for a man whom he wishes to reconcile, and will donate the value of a thousand-acre farm to a tribe of natives which has pleased him by its actions. CECIL JOHN RHODES 179 His generosity is best illustrated by a story told by one of his most intimate friends in Kimberley. Several years before Barney Bar- nato's death, that not-too-honest speculator in- duced almost all of the employees of the dia- mond mines to invest their savings in the stock of the Pleiades gold mine in Johannesburg, which Barnato and his friends were attempting to manipulate. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the diamond miners lost all the money they had invested. Mr. Rhodes heard of Barnato's deceit, and asked him to refund the money, but was laughed at. Mr. Rhodes learned the total amount of the losses about twenty-five thousand dollars and paid the money out of his own pocket. Although he has more financial patronage at his command than almost any banking house in existence, Mr. Rhodes rarely has sufficient money in his purse to buy lunch. His valet, a half-breed Malay named Tony, is his banker, and from him he is continually borrowing money. It is related that on a voyage to Eng- land he offered to make a wager of money, but found that he had nothing less valuable l8o OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE than a handful of loose rough diamonds in his trousers pocket. Mr. Rhodes is an eloquently silent man. He talks little, but his paucity of words is no criterion of their weight. He can condense a chapter into a word, and a book into a sen- tence. The man whose hobby is to run an empire is almost as silent as the Sphinx in the land toward which that empire is being elon- gated. His sentences are short and curt. " I want a railroad here," or " We want this mine," or " We must have this strip of land," are common examples of his style of speech and the expression of his dominant spirit. He has the faculty of leading people to believe that they want the exact opposite of what they really want, and he does it in such a polished manner that they give their con- sent before they realize what he has asked them. His personal charm, which in itself is almost irresistible, is fortified with a straight- forward, breezy heartiness, that carries with it respect, admiration, confidence, and, finally, conviction. He has argued and treated with persons ranging in intelligence and station from a native chief to the most learned diplomats and rulers in the world, and his experience has taught him that argument will win any case. Lobengula called him " the brother who eats a whole country for his dinner." To this title might be added " the debater who swal- lows up the opposition in one breath." Mr. Rhodes never asks exactly what he wants. He will ask the shareholders of a company for ten million, when he really needs only five million, but in that manner he is almost certain of sat- isfying his needs. In the same way when he pleads with an opponent he makes the demands so great that he can afford to yield half and still attain his object. Twelve years ago Mr. Rhodes demanded the appointment of Prime Minister of the Colony, but he was satisfied with the Commissionership of Crown Lands and Works, the real object of his aim. If Mr. Rhodes had cast his lines in America instead of South Africa, he would be called a political boss. He would be the dominant fac- tor of one of the parties, and he would be able to secure delegates with as much ease as he does in Cape Colony, where the population is 13 1 82 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE less mixed than in our country. His political lieutenants act with the same vigour and on the same general lines as those in our coun- try, and if a close examination of their work could be made, many political tricks that the American campaigner never heard of would probably be disclosed. One of the mildest accusations against him is that he paid fifty thousand dollars for the support that first secured for him a seat in the Cape Colony Parliament, but he has never con- sidered it worth the time to deny the report. His political success depends in no little meas- ure upon his personal acquaintanceship with the small men of his party, and his method of treat- ing them with as much consideration and re- spect as those who have greater influence. He is in constant communication with the leaders of the rural communities, and misses no op- portunity to show his appreciation of their sup- port. Mr. Rhodes may be kingly when he is among kings, but he is also a farmer among farmers, and among the Cape Dutch and Boers such a metamorphosis is the necessary stepping- stone to the hearts and votes of that numerous CECIL JOHN RHODES 183 people. It is not uncommon to find Mr. Rhodes among a party of farmers or transport riders each one of whom has better clothing than the multimillionaire. When he was in the Cape Parliament Mr. Rhodes wore a hat which was so shabby that it became the subject of newspaper importance. When he is in Rhodesia he dons the oldest suit of clothing in his wardrobe, and follows the habits of the pioneers who are settling the coun- try. He sleeps in a native kraal when he is not near a town, and eats of the same canned beef and crackers that his Chartered Company serves to its mounted police. When he is in that primeval country he despises ostentation and displays in his honour, and will travel fifty miles on horseback in an opposite direction in order to avoid a formal proceeding of any na- ture. Two years ago, when the railroad to Buluwayo, the capital of Rhodesia, was for- mally opened, Mr. Rhodes telegraphed his re- grets, and intimated that he was ill. As a mat- ter of fact he travelled night and day in order to escape to a place where telegrams and mes- sages could not reach him. When his host 1 84 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE suggested that he was missing many entertain- ments and the society of the most distinguished men of South Africa, Mr. Rhodes smiled and said: " For that reason I escaped." Formality bores him, and he would rather live a month coatless and collarless in a native kraal with an old colony story-teller than spend half an hour at a state dinner in the governor's mansion. It is related in this con- nection that Mr. Rhodes was one of a distin- guished party who attended the opening of a railroad extension near Cape Town. While the speeches were being made, and the chair- man was trying to find him, Mr. Rhodes slipped quietly away, and was discovered discarding his clothing preparatory to enjoying a bath in a near-by creek. Mr. Rhodes is unmarried, and throughout the country has the reputation of being an avowed hater of women. He believes that a woman is an impediment to a man's existence until he has attained the object and aim of his life, and has become deserving of luxuries. He not only believes in that himself, but takes ad- vantage of every opportunity to impress the CECIL JOHN RHODES 185 belief upon the minds of those around him. In the summer of 1897 a captain in the volun- teer army, and one of his most faithful lieuten- ants in Mashonaland, asked Mr. Rhodes for a three months' leave of absence to go to Cape Colony. The captain had been through many native campaigns, and richly deserved a vaca- tion, although that was not the real object of his request for leave. The man wanted to go to Cape Colony to marry, and by severe cross- examination Mr. Rhodes learned that such was the case. " I can not let you go to Cape Colony; I want you to start for London to-morrow. I'll cable instructions when you arrive there," said Mr. Rhodes, and the wedding was postponed. When the captain reached London, a cable- gram from Mr. Rhodes said simply, " Study London for three months." Nowhere in South Africa is there anything more interesting than Groote Schuur, the coun- try residence of Mr. Rhodes, at Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town. He has found time amid his momentous public duties to make his estate the most magnificent on the continent 1 86 COM PAUL'S PEOPLE of Africa. Besides a mansion which is a relic of the first settlers of the peninsula, and now a palace worthy of a king's occupancy, there is an estate which consists of hundreds of acres of land overlooking both the Atlantic and In- dian Oceans, and under the walls of Table Mountain, the curio of a country. In addition to this, there are a zoological collection, which comprises almost every specimen of African fauna that will thrive in captivity, and hundreds of flowering trees and plants brought from great distances to enrich the beauty of the landscape. The estate, which comprises almost twelve hundred acres, is situated about five miles to the north of Cape Town, on the narrowest part of the peninsula, through which the waters of the two oceans seem ever anxious to rush and clasp hands. It lies along the northwestern base of Table Mountain, and stretches down toward the waters of Table Bay and northward toward the death-dealing desert known as the Great Karroo. From one of the shady streets winding toward Cape Town there stretches a fine avenue of lofty pines and oaks to the man- CECIL JOHN RHODES 187 sion of Groote Schuur, which, as its name in- dicates, was originally a granary, where two hundred years ago the Dutch colonizers hoarded their stores of grain and guarded them against the attacks of thieving natives. Although many changes have been made in the structure since it was secured by Mr. Rhodes, it still preserves the quaint architec- tural characteristics of Holland. The scrolled gables, moulded chimney pots, and wide veran- das, or " stoeps," are none the less indicative of the tendencies of the old settlers than the Dutch cabinets, bureaus, and other household furniture that still remains in the mansion from those early days. The entire estate breathes of the old Dutch era. Everything has the ancient setting, al- though not at the expense of modern con- venience. While the buildings and grounds are arranged in the picturesque style of Holland, the furnishings and comforts are the most mod- ern that the countries of Europe afford. The library contains, besides such classics as a gradu- ate of Oxford would have, one of the largest collections of books and manuscripts bearing X 88 OOM "PAUL'S PEOPLE on Africa in existence. In the same room is a museum of souvenirs connected with Mr. Rhodes's work of extending English empire toward the heart of the continent. There are flags captured in wars with the Portuguese, Union Jacks riddled with shot and cut by as- segai, and hundreds of curiosities gathered in Rhodesia after the conquest of the natives. In this building have gathered for conference the men who laid the foundations for all the great enterprises of South Africa. There the Jame- son raid was planned, it is said, and there, the Boers say, the directors of the British South Africa Chartered Company were drinking cham- pagne while the forces of Dr. Jameson were engaged in mortal combat with those of Kruger near Johannesburg. Surrounding the mansion are most beauti- ful gardens, such as can be found only in semi- tropical climates. In the foreground of the view from the back part of the house is a Dutch garden, rising in three terraces from the mar- ble-paved courtyard to a grassy knoll, fringed with tall pines, and dotted here and there with graves of former dwellers at Groote Schuur. CECIL JOHN RHODES 189 Behind the pine fringe, but only at intervals obscured by it, is the background of the pic- ture the bush-clad slopes of Table Mountain and the Devil's Peak, near enough for every detail of their strange formations and innumer- able attractions to be observed. Art and Na- ture have joined hands everywhere to make lovely landscapes, in which the colour effects are produced by hydrangeas, azaleas, and scores of other flowers, growing in the utmost profu- sion. Besides the mimosa, palms, firs, and other tropical trees that add beauty to the grounds, there is a low tree which is found no- where else on earth. Its leaves are like the purest silver, and form a charming contrast to the deep green of the firs and the vivid bright- ness of the flowers that are everywhere around. Undoubtedly, however, the most interest- ing feature of the estate is the natural zoologi- cal garden. It is quite unique to have in this immense park, with drives six miles in length and ornamentations brought thousands of miles, wild animals of every variety wandering about with as much freedom as if they were in their native haunts. In this collection are repre- 190 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE sented every kind of African deer and antelope. Zebra, kangaroo, giraffe, emu, pheasant, and ostrich seem to be perfectly contented with their adopted home, and have become so tame that the presence of human beings has no ter- rors for them. This vast estate, which cost Mr. Rhodes several million dollars to bring to its present condition, sees but little of the former Premier of Cape Colony. His vast enterprises in the diamond fields of Kimberley and in the new country which bears his name require so much of his time that he but seldom visits it. But his inability to enjoy the product of his brain and labour does not cause the estate to be un- appreciated, for he has thrown this unique and charming pleasure resort open to the public, and by them it is regarded as a national pos- session. CHAPTER VIII THE BOER GOVERNMENT CIVIL AND MILITARY THE Constitution, or Grondwet, of the South African Republic is a modified counter- part of that of the United States. It differs in some salient features, but in its entirety it has the same general foundation and the same objects. The executive head of the Govern- ment is the President, who is elected for a term of five years. He directs the policy of the Government, suggests the trend of the laws, and oversees the conduct of the Execu- tive Council, which constitutes the real Gov- ernment. The Executive Council consists of three heads of departments and six unofficial members of the First Raad. These nine officials are the authors of all laws, treaties, and poli- cies that are proposed to the Volksraads, which constitute the third part of the Gov- ernment. There are two Volksraads, one simi- 191 I9 2 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE lar in purpose to our Senate, and the other, the second Volksraad, not unlike our House of Representatives, but with far less power. The first Volksraad consists of twenty- seven members elected from and by the burgh- ers, or voters, who were born in the country. A naturalized burgher is ineligible to the up- per House. The twenty-seven members of the Second Raad are naturalized burghers, and are voted for only by men who have received the franchise. The second House has control of the management of the Government works, telephones, mails, and mines, and has but little voice in the real government of the country. Its members are undoubtedly more progressive and have more modern ideas than those of the First Raad, and introduce many bills which would be of undoubted benefit to the country, but the upper House invariably vetoes all bills that reach them from that Raad. The First Raad receives bills and suggestions from the Executive Council or from the President him- self, but refers them to a commission for in- vestigation before any action is taken upon them. The evidence in support of proposed THE BOER GOVERNMENT ^3 measures does not reach the Raad, which only concerns itself with the report of the com- mission. The Raad can, by motion, make a suggestion to the Executive Council that a certain measure should be formulated, but the Executive Council and the President have the authority to ignore the suggestion, leaving the First Raad without a vestige of authority. The upper House concerns itself chiefly with the questions of finance, changes in the Con- stitution, and the care of the natives. As the question of finance is so closely connected with almost every subject that comes before the Government, it follows that the First Raad concerns itself with practically the entire busi- ness of the Government. The popular con- ception is that the Second Raad, being com- posed of naturalized citizens, takes less inter- est in the affairs of the country, and can there- fore be less safely trusted with their conduct than the old burghers and Voortrekkers of the upper House, who would rather declare war against a foreign power than pass a law in the least unfavourable to their own country's interests. In consequence of the Second Raad's 194 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE infinitesimal powers, almost the entire law- making power of the Government is vested in the Executive Council and the First Raad. The First Raad of the Transvaal Republic is the direct successor of the democratic form of government that was established by the Voortrekkers of 1835 when they were journey- ing from Cape Colony to the northern lands. The Second Raad was established in 1890, in order that the Uitlanders might have repre- sentation in the government of the country. It was believed that the newly arrived popu- lation would take advantage of the opportu- nities thus offered to take part in the legisla- tion of the republic, and in that way bridge over the gulf which had been formed between the two races. The Uitlanders cared little for the privilege offered to them, and so far in the history of the Second Raad less than half a score of its members have been elected by the new population. The annual sessions of the Volksraads com- mence on the first Monday in May, and con- tinue until all the business of the republic has been transacted. The members of the two THE BOER GOVERNMENT ig$ Houses receive fifteen dollars a day, and sev- enty-five cents an hour for services extending over more than the five hours a day required by the law. The chairmen, or voorzitters, of the Raads receive seventeen dollars and fifty cents a day, and one dollar an hour for extra time. The sessions of the Raad are held in the new million-dollar Government House in the central part of the town of Pretoria, and are open to the public except when executive business is being transacted. The Raad cham- bers are exquisitely fitted out with rich furni- ture and tapestries, the windows are of costly stained glass, and the walls lavishly decorated with carved wood and fine paintings of the country's notable men. On a lofty elevation facing the entrance to the First Raad chamber is a heavily carved mahogany desk, behind which is seated the chairman. On his right is a seat for the President, while on the right side of that are the nine chairs for the Ex- ecutive Council. Directly in front and beneath the chairman's desk are the desks of the three official secretaries, and in front of these, in 196 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE semicircular form, the two rows of seats and desks of the Raad members. In the rear of the chamber on either side of the entrance are chairs for visitors, while high in the left side of the lofty chamber is a small balcony for the newspaper men. All the members of the Raad are obliged by law to wear black clothing and white neck- ties. This law was framed to prevent some of the rural members from appearing in their burgher costumes, and has had the effect of making of the Boer Raads a most sombre- looking body of lawmakers. Almost all mem- bers wear long frock-coats, silk hats, and heavy black boots, and when, during the recesses, they appear on the piazza of the Government Building with huge pipes in their mouths, the wisdom of the black-clothing law is not ap- parent. There is little formality in the pro- ceedings of the Raads. Certain rules are ne- cessarily followed, but the members attack a bill in much the same vehement manner as they would a lion or a panther. There is little eloquence in the taal, or dialect, that is spoken in the Raads, and the similes and metaphors THE BOER GOVERNMENT I 9 7 bespeak the open veldt and the transport path rather than the council chamber of a nation. The black-garbed legislators make no pre- tensions to dignified procedure, and when a playful member trips another so that he falls to the floor, or pelts him with paper balls, the whole Raad joins in laughter. The gaud- ily dressed pages one of them is sixty-five years old and wears a long beard are on terms of great familiarity with the members, and have become mildly famous throughout the country on account of some practical jokes they have perpetrated upon the members. It is only justice to say that these light pro- ceedings take place only when the President is not present. When he arrives in the cham- ber every one rises and remains standing until the President has seated himself. He gener- ally takes a deep interest in the subjects be- fore the House, and not infrequently speaks at length upon measures for which he desires a certain line of action. Many of President Kruger's most important speeches have been delivered to the Raads, and so great is his in- fluence over the members that his wishes are 14 PAUL'S PEOPLE rarely disregarded. When he meets with op- position to his views he quickly loses his tem- per, and upon one occasion called a certain member who opposed him a traitor, and an- grily left the chamber. A short time after- ward he returned and apologized to the mem- ber and to the Raad for having in his anger used unseemly language. One of the most disappointing scenes to be observed in Pretoria is the horde of Uit- lander politicians and speculators who are constantly besieging the Raad members and the Government officials. At probably no other national capital are the legislators tempted to such a great extent as are the Boers, who, for the most part, are ignorant of the ways of the world and unfamiliar with great amounts of money. Every train from Johannesburg, the Uitlander capital, takes to Pretoria scores of lobbyists, who use all their powers, both of persuasion and finance, to influence the minds of the legislators, either in the way of grant- ing valuable concessions for small considerations or of securing the passage of bills favourable to the lobbyists. It is no wonder that the THE BOER GOVERNMENT 199 Uitlanders declare that less than one fourth of the Raad members are unassailably honest and that all the others can be bribed. The Boer alone is not blameworthy who, having never possessed more than one hundred dol- lars at one time, yields to the constant im- portunities of the lobbyist and sells his vot.e for several thousand dollars. Beset by such influences, the Raad mem- bers are naturally suspicious of every bill that is brought before them for consideration. Their deliberations are marked by a feeling of inse- curity akin to that displayed by the inhabit- ants of a sheep-pen surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. They fear to make a move in any direction lest their motives be misunder- stood, or they play into the hands of the Uit- landers. As a consequence of this external pressure, progress in the improvement of the methods of governing the country has been slow. One of the results of the Volksraad's fearfulness is the absence of local governments throughout the republic. There are no mu- nicipalities, counties, or townships which can formulate and execute local laws. Even Jo- 200 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE hannesburg, a city of one hundred thousand population, has no municipal government, al- though several attempts have been made to establish one. The Raads are burdened with the necessity of attending to all the details which govern the administration of every city, village, ham- let, and district in the entire country, and the time consumed in doing all this leaves little for the weightier affairs of state. If a five- dollar road bridge is required in an out-of-the- way place in the northern part of the repub- lic, the Raad is obliged to discuss the mat- ter. If an application for a liquor license comes from a distant point in the interior, the Raad is compelled to investigate its character before it can be voted upon. The disadvan- tages of this system are so evident that it is hardly conceivable that no remedy has been applied long ago, but the fear of local misman- agement has prevented the Raad from ridding itself of this encumbrance upon its time and patience. Every legislature of whatever country has its idiosyncracies, and the Raad is no excep- THE BOER GOVERNMENT 2 OI tion. Laws are upon the statute books of some of the American States that are quite as remarkable as some of those made by the Boer legislators. Bills quite as marvellous have been introduced and defeated in the legisla- tures of all countries. The Boer Volksraad has no monopoly of men with quaint ideas. The examples of Raad workmanship here given are rare, but true nevertheless: A man named Dums, whose big farm on the border became British territory through a treaty, sued the Transvaal Government for damages, whereupon the Raad passed a law that Dums could never sue the Government for anything. The High Court sustained the law, and Dums is now a poor cab-driver in Pretoria. Another man sued the Government for damages for injuries resulting from a fall in the street. He was successful in his suit, but the Raad immediately thereafter passed a law making it impossible for any person to sue the Government for injuries received on public property. During a severe drought in the Transvaal an American professional rain-maker asked the 202 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE Raad for a concession allowing him the exclu- sive privilege to precipitate rain by means of explosives in the air. The Raad had a long and animated discussion on the subject, owing to the opposition of several of the less en- lightened members, who declared that the project was sacrilegious. " It is a sin," they declared, " to poke your fingers in the Lord's eye to make him weep." The abiding faith which some of the Raad members have in divine guidance is illustrated by a discussion that took place in the body shortly after the Jameson raid. One member declared that " the Lord will assist us in this matter if we will only bide our time," whereupon another member rose and said, " If we do not soon get down to business and do something with- out the Lord's assistance, the Lord will take a holiday and let the Transvaal go to hell." A law which was in effect for almost two years made it a misdemeanour for any one to sing " God save the Queen " or " Rule Bri- tannia " in the country. Mass meetings are prohibited in the Transvaal, but Germany and other countries with less political foment have THE BOER GOVERNMENT 203 equally stringent regulations on the same sub- ject, so the Uitlanders' grievance on that ac- count is nullified. Second to that of the Volksraad, the high- est power in the Government of the country is the High Court, which is composed of some of the ablest jurists in South Africa. From a constitutional standpoint the High Court has no right or power to review the acts of the Volksraad. The Constitution of the coun- try gives supreme power to the Volksraad in all legislative matters, and when a chief jus- tice of the High Court recently attempted to extend his jurisdiction over the acts of the Volksraad that body unceremoniously dismissed him. The purpose of that part of the Consti- tution which relates to the subjugation of the High Court is to prevent some influential ene- my of the republic from debauching the High Court and in that way defying the authority of the Volksraad. In a country which has so many peculiar conditions and circumstances to contend with, the safety of its institutions de- pends upon the centralization of its legislative and administrative branches, and the wisdom 204 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE of the early burghers who framed the Consti- tution so that the entire governing power lay in the hands of the country's real patriots has been amply demonstrated upon several occa- sions. The civil and criminal laws of the country are administered throughout the different po- litical divisions by local magistrates, called land-drosts, who also collect the revenues of the district and inform the Volksraad of the needs of the people under their jurisdiction. The land-drost is the prototype of the old-time American country squire, in that he settles disputes, awards damages, and conducts offi- cial business generally. In the majority of cases the land-drosts are aged persons who have the respect and esteem of the members of the community in which they dwell and to whom they bear the relation of fatherly ad- visers in all things. In Johannesburg and Pre- toria the land-drosts are men of eminent sta- tion in the legal profession of South Africa, and are drawn from all parts of the country, regardless of their political or racial qualifica- tions. All the court proceedings are conducted THE BOER GOVERNMENT 205 in the Dutch language, and none but Dutch- speaking lawyers are admitted to practise be- fore the bar. The law of the land is Holland- Roman. The military branch of the Government is undoubtedly the best and most effective be- cause it is the simplest. It is almost primitive in its simplicity, yet for effectiveness its supe- rior is not easily found. The Transvaal glories in its army, and, as every man between the ages of sixteen and sixty is a nominal member of the army, nothing is left undone to make it worthy of its glory. The standing army of the republic numbers less than two hundred men, and these are not always actively engaged. A detachment of about twenty soldiers is gen- erally on duty in the vicinity of the Govern- ment House at Pretoria, and the others are stationed at the different forts throughout the republic. The real army of the Transvaal, however, is composed of the volunteer sol- diers, who can be mobilized with remarkable facility. The head of the army is the commandant- general, who has his headquarters in Pretoria, 2o6 COM PAUL'S PEOPLE He is under the immediate jurisdiction of the Volksraad and the President, who have the power to declare war and direct its conduct. Second in authority to the commandant-gen- eral are the commandants, permanent officials who have charge of the military affairs of the seventeen districts of the republic. Under the old South African burgher law each com- mandant in any emergency " commandeers " a certain portion of men from his district. The various districts are subdivided into divisions' in charge of field-cornets and assist- ant field-cornets. As soon as the comman- dant-general issues an order for the mobiliza- tion of the volunteer army the commandants and their assistants, the field-cornets, speedily go from one house to another in their dis- tricts and summon the burghers from their homes. When the burgher receives the call, he provides his own gun, horse, and for- age, and hastens to the district rendezvous, where he places himself under the orders of the field-cornet. After all the burghers of the district have gathered together, the body proceeds into an adjoining district, where it THE BOER GOVERNMENT 207 joins the forces that have been similarly mo- bilized there. As a certain number of districts are obliged to join their forces at a defined locality, the forces of the republic are conse- quently divided into different army divisions under the supervisions of the commandants. In the event that Pretoria were threatened with attack, the order would be given to move all the forces to that city. The districts on the border would gather their men and march toward Pretoria, carrying with them all the forces of the districts through which they were obliged to pass. So simple and perfect is the system that within forty-eight hours after the call is issued by the commandant-general four army divisions, representing the districts in the four quarters of the republic and consist- ing of all the able-bodied men in the country, can be mobilized on the outskirts of Pretoria. It is doubtful whether there is another nation on earth that can gather its entire fighting strength at its seat of government in such a brief time. The Transvaal Boer is constantly prepared for the call to arms. He has his own rifle 208 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE and ammunition at his home, and when the call comes he need only bridle his horse if he is so fortunate as to possess an animal so rare in the Transvaal stuff several pounds of bil- tong, or dried beef, in his pockets, and com- mence the march over the veldt to the district rendezvous. He can depend upon his wife and children to care for the flocks and herds; but if the impending danger appears to be great, the cattle are deserted and the women and children are taken to a rendezvous spe- cially planned for such an emergency. If there is a need, the Boer woman will stand side by side with her husband or her brother or her sweetheart, and will allow no one to surpass her in repelling the attacks of the enemy. Joan of Arcs have been as numerous in the Boer armies as they have been unheralded. The head of the military branch of the Transvaal Government for many years has been Commandant-General P. J. Joubert, who, fol- lowing President Kruger, is the ablest as well as the most popular Boer in South Africa. General Joubert is the best type of the Boer fighter in the country, and as he represents THE BOER GOVERNMENT 209 the army, he has always been a favourite with the class which would rather decide a disputed point by means of the rifle than by diplomacy, as practised by President Kruger. General Joubert, although the head of the army, is not of a quarrelsome disposition, and he too believes in the peaceful arbitration of differ- ences rather than a resort to arms. By the Uitlanders he is considered to be the most liberal Boer in the republic, and he has upon numerous occasions shown that he would treat the newcomers in the country with more leni- ency than the Kruger Government if he were in power. In his capacity of Vice-President of the re- public he has been as impotent as the Vice- President is in the United States, but his in- fluence has always been wielded with a view of harmonizing the differences of the native and alien populations. Twice the- more liberal and progressive party of the Boers has put him forward as a candidate for the presidency in opposition to Mr. Kruger, and each time he has been defeated by only a small majority. The younger Boers who have come in touch 2io OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE with the more modern civilization have stead- fastly supported General Joubert, while the older Boers, who are ever fearful that any one but Mr. Kruger would grant too many con- cessions to the Uitlanders, have wielded their influence against him. Concerning the fran- chise for Uitlanders, General Joubert is more liberal than President Kruger, who holds that the stability of the Government depends upon the exclusiveness of the franchise privilege. General Joubert believes that there are many persons among the Uitlanders who have a real desire to become citizens of the republic and to take part in the government. He believes that an intending burgher should take an oath of fidelity, and afterward be prepared to do what he can for the country, either in peace or war. If after three or four years the appli- cant for the franchise has shown that he worked in the interests of the country and obeyed its laws, General Joubert believes that the Uitlander should enjoy all the privileges that a native burgher enjoys namely, voting for the candidates for the presidency and the First Volksraad. THE BOER GOVERNMENT 211 General Joubert's name has been connected with Transvaal history almost as long and as prominently as that of President Kruger. The two men are virtually the fathers of the Boer republic. General Joubert has always been the man who fought the battles with armies, while Mr. Kruger conducted the diplomatic battles, and both were equally successful in their parts. General Joubert, as a youth among the early trekkers from Natal, was reared amid warfare. During the Transvaal's early battles with the natives he was a volunteer soldier under the then Commandant-General Kruger, and later, when the war of independence was fought, he became General Joubert. He com- manded the forces which fought the battles of Laing's Nek, Bronkhorst Spruit, and Ma- juba Hill, and he was one of the triumvirate that conducted the affairs of the Government during that crucial time. He has been Vice- President of the republic since the independ- ence of the country has been re-established, and conducted the affairs of the army during the time when Jameson's troopers threatened the safety of the country. He has had a not- 212 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE able career in the service of his country, and as a reward for his services he is deserving of nothing less than the presidency of the repub- lic after Mr. Kruger's life-work is ended. General Joubert is no less distinguished as a diplomatist among his countrymen than President Kruger, and many stories are cur- rent in Pretoria showing that he has been able to accomplish many things wherein Mr. Kru- ger failed. An incident which occurred imme- diately after the Jameson raid, and which is repeated here exactly as related by one of the participants of the affair, is illustrative of Gen- eral Joubert and his methods of dealing with his own people. The story is given in almost the exact language of the narrator who was the eyewitness: " Shortly after Jameson and his officers were brought to Pretoria, President Kruger called about twenty of the Boer commanders to his house for a consultation. The towns- people were highly excited, and the presence of the men who had tried to destroy the re- public aggravated their condition so that there were few calm minds in the capital. President THE BOER GOVERNMENT 213 Kruger was deeply affected by the seriousness of the events of the days before, but coun- selled all those present to be calm. There were some in the gathering who advised that Jameson and his men should be shot imme- diately, while one man jocosely remarked that they should not be treated so leniently, and suggested that a way to make them suffer would be to cut off their ears. " One of the men who was obliged to leave the meeting gave this account to the waiting throngs in the street, and a few hours afterward the cable had carried the news to Europe and America, with the result that the Boers were called brutal and inhuman. Presi- dent Kruger used all his influence and elo- quence to save the lives of the prisoners, and for a long time he was unsuccessful in secur- ing the smallest amount of sympathy for Jameson and his men. It was dawn when General Joubert was won to the President's way of thinking, and he continued the argu- ment in behalf of the prisoners. " ' My friends, I will ask you to listen pa- tiently to me for several minutes,' he corn- is 214 OOM PAUL>S PEOPLE menced. * I will tell you the story of the farmer and the neighbour's dog. Suppose that near your farm lives a man whose valuable dogs attack your sheep and kill many. Will you shoot the dogs as soon as you see them, and in that way make yourself liable for dam- ages greater than the value of the sheep that were destroyed? Or will you catch the dogs when you are able to do so and, carrying them to your neighbour, say to him: " I have caught your dogs; now pay me for the damage they have done me, and they shall be returned to you." ' " After a moment's silence General Jou- bert's face lighted up joyfully, and he ex- claimed: " ' We have the neighbour's dogs in the jail. What shall we do with them? ' " The parable was effective, and the coun- cil of war decided almost instantly to deliver the prisoners to the British Government." CHAPTER IX CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS THE politicians and the speculators have been the bane of South Africa. Ill-informed secretaries of the British Colonial Office might augment the list, but their stupidity in treating with colonial grievances is so proverbial as to admit them to the rank of natural or provi- dential causes of dissension. Until the Boer Government came into the foreground, the poli- ticians and speculators used South Africa as a huge chessboard, whereon they could manipu- late the political and commercial affairs of hundreds of thousands of persons to suit their own fancies and convenience. It was a dilettante politician who operated in South Africa and could not make a cat's-paw of the colonial secretary in Downing Street, and it was a stupid speculator who was un- able to be the power behind the enthroned poli- 215 2i6 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE tician. And South Africa has been the victim. Hundreds of men have gone to South Africa and have become millionaires, but thousands re- main in the country praying for money where- with to return home. The former are the poli- ticians and the speculators; the latter are the miners, the workingmen, and the tradespeople. It is a country where the man with a mil- lion becomes a multimillionaire, and the man with hundreds becomes penniless. It is the wealthy man's footstool and the poor man's cemetery. Men go there to acquire riches; few go there to assist in making it tenable for white men. Thousands go there with the avowed intention of making their fortunes and then to return. Those who go there as came the im- migrants to America -to settle and develop the new country can be counted only by the score. Of the million white people south of the Zambezi, probably one half are mere for- tune-seekers, who would leave the country the very instant they secured a moderate fortune. These have the welfare of the country at heart only in so far as it interferes or assists them in attaining their desired goal. They CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 217 would ask that Portugal be allowed to rule all of South Africa if they received the assurance that the much-sought-after fortune could be secured six months sooner. They have no con- science other than that which prevents them from stabbing a man to relieve him of his money. They go to the gold and diamond fields to secure wealth, and not to assist in de- veloping law and order, good government, or good institutions. The other half of the white population is composed of men and women who were born in the country Afrikanders, Dutch, Boers, and other racial representatives, and others who have emigrated thither from the densely populated countries of Europe, with the inten- tion of remaining in the country and taking part in its government and institutions. These classes comprise the South Africans, who love their country and take a real interest in its de- velopment and progress. They know its needs and prospects, and are abundantly able to con- duct its government so that it will benefit Boer, Englishman, Dutchman, Natalian, and native. The defects in the Government of Cape Col- 2i8 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ony and Natal are the natural results of the handicaps that have been placed on the local legislation by the Colonial Office in London, who are as ignorant of the real conditions of their colonies as a Zulu chieftain is of the political situation in England. The colonial papers teem with letters from residents who express their indignation at the methods em- ployed by the Colonial Office in dealing with colonial affairs. Especially is this the case in Natal, the Eden of South Africa, where the deal- ings of the Colonial Office with regard to the Zulus have been stupidly carried on. South African men of affairs who are not bigoted do not hesitate to express their opinion that Cape Colony and Natal have been retarded a quar- ter of a century in their natural growth by the handicap of the Colonial Office. Their opin- ion is based upon the fact that every war, with the exception of several native outbreaks, has been caused by blundering in the Colonial Office, and that all the wars have retarded the natural growth and development of the colo- nies to an aggregate of twenty-five years. In this estimate is not included the great harm CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 219 to industries that has been caused by the score or more of heavy war clouds with which the country has been darkened during the last half century. These being some of the difficulties with which the two British colonies in South Africa are beset, it can be readily inferred to what extent the Boers of the Transvaal have had cause for grievance. In their dealings with the Boers the British have invariably assumed the role of aristocrats, and have looked upon and treated the " trekkers " as sans-culottes. This natural antipathy of one race for an- other has given glorious opportunities for strife, and neither one nor the other has ever failed to take quick advantage. The struggle be- tween the Boers and the British began in Cape Colony almost one hundred years ago, and it . has continued, with varying degrees of bitter- ness, until the present day. The recent dis- turbances in the Transvaal affairs date from the conclusion of the war of independence in 1 88 1. When the Peace Commissioners met there was inserted in the treaty one small clause which gave to England her only right to in- terfere in the political affairs of the Transvaal. 220 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE The Boer country at that time was consid- ered of such little worth that Gladstone de- clared it was not of sufficient value to be hon- oured with a place under the British flag. To the vast majority of the British people it was a matter of indifference whether the Transvaal was an independent country or a dependency of their own Government. The clause which was allowed to enter the treaty unnoticed, and which during recent years has figured so promi- nently in the discussions of South African af- fairs, reads: " The South African Republic will con- clude no treaty or engagement with any state or nation other than the Orange Free State, nor with any native tribe to the eastward or the westward of the republic, until the same has been approved by her Majesty the Queen. Such approval shall be considered to have been granted if her Majesty's Government shall not, within six months after receiving a copy of such treaty (which shall be delivered to them immediately upon its completion), have noti- fied that the conclusion of the treaty 'is in con- flict with the interests of Great Britain, or of CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 221 any of her Majesty's possessions in South Africa." When the contents of the treaty were pub- lished to the Boer people, many of them ob- jected strongly to this clause, and insisted that it gave the British too great power in the af- fairs of the republic, and a strenuous effort was made to have the offending clause eliminated. In the year 1883 a deputation, which included Paul Kruger, was sent to London, with a view of obtaining the abolition of the suzerainty. This deputation negotiated a new convention the following year, from which the word " suzerainty " and the stipulations in regard thereto were removed. In their report to the Volksraad, made in 1884, the deputation stated that the new convention put an end to the British suzerainty. February 4, 1884, in a letter to Lord Derby, then in charge of British affairs, the deputa- tion announced to him that they expected an agreement to be contained in the treaty rela- tive to the abolition of the suzerainty. In his reply of a week later, Lord Derby made a state- ment upon which the Boers base their strong- 222 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE est claim that the suzerainty was abolished. He said: " By the omission of those articles of the convention of Pretoria which assigned to her Majesty and to the British resident certain spe- cific powers and functions connected with the internal government and the foreign relations of the Transvaal state, your Government will be left free to govern the country without in- terference, and to conduct its diplomatic inter- course and shape its foreign policy, subject only to the requirement embodied in the fourth arti- cle of the new draft, that any treaty with a foreign state shall not have effect without the approval of the Queen." For a period of almost ten years the suze- rainty of England over the Transvaal was an unknown quantity. With the exception of sev- 'eral Government officials, there were hardly any Englishmen in the country, and no one had the slightest interest in the affairs of the Transvaal Government. When gold was dis- covered in the Randt in quantities that equalled those of the early days of the California gold fields, an unparalleled influx of Englishmen and CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 223 foreigners followed, and in several years the city of Johannesburg had sprung up in the veldt. The opening of hundreds of mines, and the consequent increase in expenditures, made it necessary for the Transvaal Government to in- crease its revenues. Mining laws had to be formulated, new offices had to be created, hun- dreds of new officials had to be appointed, and all this required the expenditure of more money in one year than the Government had spent in a decade before the opening of the mines. The Government found itself in a quandary, and it solved the problem of finances as many a stronger and wealthier government has done. Concessions were granted to dynamite, railway, electric light, electric railway, water, and many other companies, and these furnished to the Government the nucleus upon which depended its financial existence. Few of the concessions w r ere obtained by British subjects, and when the monopolies took advantage of their opportunities, and raised the price of dynamite and the rates for carrying freight, the Englishmen, who owned all the mines, natu- 224 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE rally objected. The Boer Government, having bound itself hand and foot when hard pressed for money, was unable to compel the conces- sionaries to reduce their rates. At that period of the Randt's existence the speculators appeared, and soon thereafter the London Stock Exchange became a factor in the affairs of the Randt. Where the Stock Exchange leads, the politicians follow, and they too soon became interested in South African affairs. Then the treaty of 1883 was found in the Colonial Office archives, and next appears a demand to the Boer Government that all British residents of the Transvaal be allowed to vote. The Boers refused to give the franchise to any applicant unless he first renounced his allegiance to other countries, and, as the Brit- ish subjects declined to accede to the request, the politicians became busily engaged in formu- lating other plans whereby England might ob- tain control of the country. . At that inopportune time Jameson's troop- ers entered the Transvaal territory and at- tempted to take forcible possession of the country; but they were unsuccessful, and only CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 225 succeeded in directing the world's sympathy to the Boers. The Jameson raid was practi- cally Cecil J. Rhodes's first important attempt to add the Transvaal to the list of South Afri- can additions he has made to the British Em- pire. The result was especially galling to him, as it was the first time his great political schemes failed of success. But Rhodes is not the man to weep over disasters. Before the excitement over the raid had subsided, Rhodes had concocted a plan to inflict a commercial death upon the Transvaal, and in that manner force it to beg for the pro- tection of the English flag. He opened Rho- desia, an adjoining country, for settlement, and by glorifying the country, its mineral and agri- cultural wealth, and by offering golden induce- ments to Transvaal tradespeople, miners, and even Transvaal subjects, he hoped to cause such an efflux from the Transvaal that the Govern- ment would be embarrassed in less than two years. The country which bears his name was found to be amazingly free from mountains of gold and rivers of honey, and the several thou- sand persons who had faith in his alluring prom- 226 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ises remained in Rhodesia less than a year, and then returned to the Transvaal. The reports of the Rhodesian country that were brought back by the disappointed miners and settlers were not flattering to the condition of the country or the justice of the Govern- ment. Of two evils, they chose the lesser, and again placed themselves under the Kruger Government. When revolution and entice- ment failed to bring the Transvaal under the British flag, Rhodes inaugurated a political propaganda. His last resort was the Colonial Office in London, and in that alone lay the only course by which he could attain his object. Again the franchise question was resorted to as the ground of the contention, the dyna- mite and railway subjects having been so thor- oughly debated as to be as void of ground for further contention as they had always been foreign to British control or interference. The question of granting the right of voting to the Uitlanders in the Transvaal is one which so vitally affects the future life of the Government that the Boers' concession of that right would CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 227 be tantamount to presenting the country to the British Government. Ninety-nine per cent, of the Uitlanders of the Transvaal are no more than transient citi- zens. They were attracted thither by the gold mines and the attendant industries, and they have no thought of staying in the Transvaal a minute after they have amassed a fortune or a competency. Under no consideration would they remain in the country for the rest of their lives, because the climate and nature of the country are not conducive to a desire for long residence. It has been demonstrated that less than one per cent, of the Uitlanders had sufficient interest in the country to pass through the formality of securing naturalization papers preparatory to becoming eligible for the fran- chise. The Boer Government has offered that all Uitlanders of nine years' residence, having cer- tain unimportant qualifications, should be en- franchised in two years, and that others should be enfranchised in seven years two years for naturalization and five more years' resident before acquiring the right to vote. 228 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE There is a provision for a property qualifi- cation, which makes it necessary for the natu- ralized citizen to own a house of no less value than two hundred and fifty dollars in renting value, or an income of one thousand dollars. The residence clause in the Transvaal qualifica- tions compares favourably with those of Lon- don, where an Englishman from any part of the country and settling in the municipality is obliged to live two years and have certain prop- erty qualifications before acquiring the right of franchise. In full knowledge of these conditions the Uitlanders insist upon having an unconditional franchise one that will require nothing more than a two-years' residence in the country. The Boers are well aware of the results that would follow the granting of the concessions demanded, but not better so than the Uitland- ers who make the demands. The latest Trans- vaal statistics place the number of Boer burgh- ers in the country at less than thirty thousand. At the lowest estimate there are in the Trans- vaal fifty thousand Uitlanders having the re- quired qualifications, and all of these would be- CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 229 come voters in two years. At the first election held after the two years had elapsed the Uit- landers would be victorious, and those whom they elected would control the machinery of the Government. The Uitlanders' plan is as transparent as air, yet it has the approval and sanction of the English politicians, press, and public. The propaganda which Rhodes and other politicians and stock brokers interested in the Transvaal gold mines inaugurated a short time after the Jameson raid has been successful in arousing the people in England to what they have been led to believe is a situation unequalled in the history of the empire-building. But there is- a parallel case. At the same time the Brit- ish Parliament was discussing the subject of the alleged injustice under which the English residents of the Transvaal were suffering, the colonial secretary was engaged in disposing of grievances which reached him from the Dutch residents of British Guiana, in South America, and which recited conditions parallel to those complained of by the Uitlanders. The griev- ances were made by foreign residents of Eng- 16 230 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE lish territory, instead of by English subjects in a foreign country, and consequently demanded less serious attention, but their justice was none the less patent. The three thousand native Dutch voters in British Guiana have no voice in the legislative or administrative branches of the colonial government, owing to the pecul- iar laws which give to the three thousand Brit- ish-born citizens the complete control of the franchise. The population of the colony is three hundred thousand, yet the three thou- sand British subjects make and administer the laws for the other two hundred and ninety- seven thousand inhabitants, who compose the mining and agricultural communities and are treated with the same British contempt as the Boers. The Dutch residents have made many appeals for a fuller representation in the Gov- ernment, but no reforms have been inaugu- rated or promised. The few grievances which the Uitlanders had before the Jameson raid have been multi- plied a hundredfold and no epithet is too ven- omous for them to apply to the Boers. The letters in the home newspapers have allied the CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 231 name of the Boers with every vilifying adjec- tive in the English dictionary, and returning politicians have never failed to supply the others that do not appear in the book. Petitions with thousands of names, some real, but many non-existent, have been for- warded to the Colonial Office and to every other office in London where they would be received, and these have recited grievances that even the patient Boer Volksraad had never heard about. It has been a propaganda of petitions and let- ters the like of which has no parallel in the history of politics. It has been successful in arousing sentiment favourable to the Uitland- ers, and at this time there is hardly a handful of persons in England who are not willing to testify to the utter degradation of the Boers. Another branch of the propaganda operated through the Stock Exchange, and its results were probably more practical than those of the literary branch. It is easier to reach the Eng- lish masses through the Stock Exchange than by any other means. Whenever one of the " Kaffir " or Transvaal companies failed to make both ends meet in a manner which pleased the 232 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE stockholders, it was only necessary to blame the Boer Government for having impeded the digging of gold, and the stockholders prompt- ly outlined to the Colonial Office the policy it should pursue toward the Boers. The impressions that are formed in watch- ing the tide of events in the Transvaal are that the Boer Government is not greatly inferior to the Government of Lord Salisbury and Secretary Chamberlain. The only appreciable difference between the two is that the Boers are fighting the cause of the masses against the classes, while the English are fighting that of the classes against the masses. In England, where the rich have the power, the poor pay the taxes, while in the Transvaal the poor have the power and compel the rich to pay the taxes. If the Transvaal taxes were of such serious proportions as to be almost unbearable, there might be a cause for interference by the Uit- lander capitalists who own the mines, but there no injustice is shown to any one. The only taxes that the Uitlanders are compelled to pay are the annual poll tax of less than four dollars and a half, mining taxes of a dollar and a quar- CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 233 ter a month for each claim for prospecting licenses, and five dollars a claim for diggers' licenses. Boer and Uitlander are compelled to pay these taxes without distinction. The Boers, in this contention, must win or die. In earlier days, before every inch of Afri- can soil was under the flag of one country or another, they were able to escape from Eng- lish injustice by loading their few possessions on wagons and " trekking " into new and un- explored lands. If they yield their country to the English without a struggle, they will be forced to live under a future Stock Exchange Government, which has been described by a member of the British Parliament as likely to be " the vilest, the most corrupt, and the most pernicious known to man." * The Boers have no better argument to ad- vance in support of their claim than that which is contained in the Transvaal national hymn. It at once gives a history of their country, its many struggles and disappointments, and its hopes. It is written in the " taal " of the coun- * The Hon. Henry Labouchere, in London Truth. 234 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE try, and when sung by the patriotic, deep-voiced Boers is one of the most impressive hymns that ever inspired a nation. THE TRANSVAAL VOLKSLIED. The four-colours of our dear old land k Again float o'er Transvaal, And woe the God-forgetting hand That down our flag would haul ! Wave higher now in clearer sky Our Transvaal freedom's stay ! (Lit., freedom's flag.) Our enemies with fright did fly ; Now dawns a glorious day. Through many a storm ye bravely stood, And we stood likewise true ; Now, that the storm is o'er, we would Leave nevermore from you Bestormed by Kaffir, Lion, Brit, Wave ever o'er their head ; And then to spite we hoist thee yet Up to the topmost stead ! Four long years did we beg aye, pray To keep our lands clear, free, We asked you, Brit, we loath the fray : " Go hence, and let us be ! We've waited, Brit, we love you not, To arms we call the Boer ; " (Lit., Now take we to our guns.) " You've teased us long enough, we troth, Now wait we nevermore." CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS 235 And with God's help we cast the yoke Of England from our knee ; Our country safe behold and look Once more our flag waves free ! Though many a hero's blood it cost, May all the nations see (Lit., Though England ever so much more.) That God the Lord redeemed our hosts ; The glory his shall be. Wave high now o'er our dear old land, Wave four-colours of Transvaal ! And woe the God-forgetting hand That dares you down to haul ! Wave higher now in clearer sky Our Transvaal freedom's stay ! Our enemies with fright did fly ; Now dawns a glorious day. CHAPTER X PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE EVER since the Jameson raid both the Boers and the Uitlanders have realized that a peaceful solution of the differences between the two is possible but highly improbable. The Uitlanders refused to concede anything to the Boer, and asked for concessions that implied a virtual abandonment of their coun- try to the English, whom they have always de- tested. The Boers themselves have not been unmindful of the inevitable war with their powerful antagonist, and, not unlike the tiny ant of the African desert, which fortifies its abode against the anticipated attack of wild beasts, have made of their country a veritable arsenal. Probably no inland country in the world is half so well prepared for war at any time as that little Government, which can boast of 236 PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 237 having less than thirty thousand voters. The military preparation has been so enormous that Great Britain has been compelled, according to the colonial secretary's statement to the British Parliament, to expend two and a half million dollars annually in South Africa in order to keep pace with the Boers. Four years ago, when the Transvaal Government learned that the Uitlanders of Johannesburg were planning a revolution, it commenced the military preparations which have ever since continued with unabating vigour. German ex- perts were employed to formulate plans for the defence of the country, and European artiller- ists were secured to teach the arts of modern warfare to the men at the head of the Boer army. Several Americans of military train- ing became the instructors in the national mili- tary school at Pretoria; and even the women and children became imbued with the neces- sity of warlike preparation, and learned the use of arms. Several million pounds were an- nually spent in Europe in the purchase of the armament required by the plans formulated by the experts, and the whole country was placed 238 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE on a war footing. Every important strategic position was made as impregnable as modern skill and arms could make it, and every farm- er's cottage was supplied with arms and am- munition, so that the volunteer army might be mobilized in a day. In order to demonstrate the extent to which the military preparation has been car- ried, it is only necessary to give an account of the defences of Pretoria and Johannesburg, the two principal cities of the country. Pre- toria, being the capital, and naturally the chief point of attack by the enemy, has been pre- pared to resist the onslaught of any number of men, and is in a condition to withstand a siege of three years. The city lies in the cen- tre of a square, at each corner of which is a lofty hill surmounted by a strong fort, which commands the valleys and the surrounding country. Each of the four forts has four heavy cannon, four French guns of fifteen miles range, and thirty heavy Catling guns. Besides this extraordinary projection, the city has fifty light Catling guns which can be drawn by mules to any point on the hills PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 239 where an attack may be made. Three large warehouses are rilled with ammunition, and the large armory is packed to the eaves with Mauser, Martini-Henry, and Wesley-Richards rifles. Two extensive refrigerators, with a ca- pacity of two thousand oxen each, are ample provision against a siege of many months. It is difficult to compute the total expenditures for war material by the Boer Government dur- ing the last four years, but the following offi- cial announcement of expenses for one year will serve to give an idea of the vastness of the preparations that the Government has been compelled to make in order to guard the safety of the country: War-Office salaries $262,310 War purposes 4>7 1 7>55o Johannesburg revolt 800,000 Public works 3,650,000 $9,429,860 Johannesburg has extensive fortifications around it, but the Boers will use them for other purposes than those of self-protection. The forts at the Golden City were erected for the purpose of quelling any revolution of the 240 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE Uitlanders, who constitute almost entirely the population of the city. One of the forts is situated on a small eminence about half a mile north of the busi- ness part, and commands the entire city with its guns. Two years were consumed in build- ing the fortification and in placing the arma- ment in position. Its guns can rake not only every street of the city, but ten of the prin- cipal mine works as well, and the damage that their fire could cause is incalculable. Another fort, almost as strong as the one in Jo- hannesburg, is situated a mile east of the city, and overshadows the railway and the principal highway to Johannesburg. The residents of the city are greatly in fear of underground works, which they have been led to believe were constructed since the raid. Vast quan- tities of earth were taken out of the Johan- nesburg fort, and for such a length of time did the work continue that the Uitlanders decided that the Boers were undermining the city, and protested to the Government against such a course. As soon as war is declared and the women and children have been removed PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 2 4 I from the city, Johannesburg will be rent with shot and shell. The Boers have announced their intention of doing this, and the Uit- landers, anticipating it, seek safety in flight whenever there are rumours of war, as thou- sands did immediately before and after the Jameson affair. The approaches to the mountain passes on the border have been fortified with vast quantities of German and French ordnance, and equipped with garrisons of men born or trained in Europe. The approaches to Laing's Nek, near the Natal border, which have sev- eral times been the battle ground of the Eng- lish and Boer forces, have been prepared to resist an invading army from Natal. Much attention has been directed to the preparations in that part of the republic, because the British commanders will find it easier to transfer forces from the port of Durban, which is three hun- dred and six miles from the Transvaal border, while Cape Town is almost a thousand miles distant. But the Pretorian Government has made many provisions for war other than those enu- 242 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE merated. It has made alliances and friends that will be of equal worth in the event of an attack by England. The Orange Free State, whose existence is as gravely imperilled as that of the Transvaal, will fight hand-in- hand with its neighbour, just as it was pre- pared to do at the time of the Jameson raid, when almost every Free State burgher lay armed on the south bank of the Vaal River, awaiting the summons for assistance from the Kruger Government. In the event of war the two Governments will be as one, and, in anticipation of the struggle of the Boers against the British, the Free State Gov- ernment has been expending vast sums of money every year in strengthening the coun- try's defences. At the same time that the Free State is being prepared for war, its Govern- ment officials are striving hard to prevent a conflict, and are attempting to conciliate the two principals in the strife by suggesting that concessions be made by both. The Free State is not so populous as the Transvaal, and con- sequently can not place as many men in the field, but the ten thousand burghers who will PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 243 answer the call to arms will be an acceptable addition to the Boer forces. The element of doubt enters into the ques- tion of what the Boers and their co-religion- ists of Cape Colony and Natal will do in the event of war. The Dutch of Cape Colony are the majority of the population, and, al- though loyal British subjects under ordinary circumstances, are opposed to English inter- ference in the Transvaal's affairs. Those of Natal, while not so great in numbers, are equally friendly with the Transvaal Boers, and would undoubtedly recall some of their old grievances against the British Government as sufficient reason to join the Boers in war. In Cape Colony there is an organization called the Afrikander Bond which recently has gained control of the politics of the colony, and which will undoubtedly be supreme for many years to come. The motto of the or- ganization is " South Africa for South Afri- cans," and its doctrine is that South Africa shall be served first and Great Britain after- ward. Its members, who are chiefly Dutch, be- lieve their first duty is to assist the develop- 244 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ment of the resources of their own country by proper protective tariffs and stringent legis- lation in native affairs, and they regard legis- lation with a view to British interests as of secondary importance. The Bond has been very amicably inclined toward its Afrikander kinsmen in the Transvaal, especially since the Jameson raid, and every sign of impending trouble between England and the Boers widens the chasm between the English and Afrikan- ders of South Africa. The Dutch approve of President Kruger's course in dealing with the franchise problems, and if hostilities break out it would be not the least incompatible with their natures to assist their Transvaal and Free State kinsmen even at the risk of plung- ing the whole of South Africa into a civil war. W. P. Schreiner, the Premier of Cape Colony, is the leading member of the Bond, and with him he has associated the major- ity of the leading men in the colony. Un- der ordinary conditions their loyalty to Great Britain is undoubted, but whether they could resist the influence of their friends in the Bond if it should decide to cast its fortunes PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 245 with the Boers in case of war is another matter. Of such vast importance is the continued loyalty of the Dutch of the two colonies that upon it depends practically the future control of the Cape by the British Government. Be- ing in the majority as three to two, and al- most in supreme control of the local govern- ment, the Dutch of Cape Colony are in an excellent position to secede from the empire, as they have already threatened to do, in which event England would be obliged to fight almost the united population of the whites if she desired to retain control of the country. With this in mind, it is no wonder that Mr. Chamberlain declared that England had reached a critical turning point in the history of the empire. The uncertainty of the situation is in- creased by the doubtful stand which the native races are taking in the dispute. Neither Eng- land nor the Boers has the positive assurance of support from any of the tribes, which out- number the whites as ten to one; but it will not be an unwarranted opinion to place the 17 246 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE majority of the native tribes on the side of the Boers. The native races are always eager to be the friends of the paramount power, and England's many defeats in South Africa during recent years have not assisted in gain- ing for it that prestige. When England enters upon a war with the Transvaal the natives will probably follow the example of the Matabele natives, who rebelled against the English im- mediately after Jameson and his men were de- feated by the Boers, because they believed a conquered nation could offer no resistance. The Boers, having won the last battle, are considered by the natives to be the paramount power, and it is always an easy matter to in- duce a subjected people to ally itself with a supposedly powerful one. The Zulus, still stinging under the defeat which they received from the British less than twenty years ago, might gather their war parties and, with the thousands of guns they have been allowed to buy, attempt to secure revenge. The Basutos, east of the Orange Free State, now the most powerful and the only undefeated nation in the country, would PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 247 hardly allow a war to be fought unless they participated in it, even if only to demonstrate to the white man that they still retain their old-time courage and ability. The million and a half natives in Cape Colony, and the equal number in the Transvaal, have complained of so many alleged grievances at the hands of their respective governments that they might be presumed to rise against them, though it is never possible to determine the trend of the African negro's mind. What the various tribes would do in such an emergency can be answered only by the chiefs themselves, and they will not speak until the time for action is at hand. Perhaps when that time does arrive there may be a realization of the na- tives' dream that a great leader will, come from the north who will organize all the various tribes into one grand army and with it drive the hated white men into the sea. It is impossible to secure accurate statis- tics in regard to the military strength of the vari- ous colonies, states, and tribes in the country, but the following table gives a fair idea of 248 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE the number of men who are liable to military duty: Dutch. English. Native. Cape Colony 2O,OOO IOOOO I7^,OOO Natal : 7.OOO <;,ooo lOOjOOO Orange Free State IO,OOO 30 ooo Transvaal 3O,OOO 20 ooo 140,000 2,000 25,000 Swaziland and Basutoland 30,000 Total 67 ooo 57 OOO C7O OOO To him who delights in forming possible coalitions and war situations this table offers vast opportunities. Probably no other coun- try can offer such a vast number of possibili- ties for compacts between nations, races, and tribes as is presented in South Africa. There all the natives may unite against the whites, or a part of them against a part of the whites, while whites and natives may unite against a similar combination. The possibilities are boundless; the probabilities are uncertain. The Pretorian Government has had an ex- tensive secret service for several years, and this has been of inestimable value in securing the support of the natives as well as the friendship of many whites, both in South Af- PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 249 rica and abroad. The several thousand Irish- men in South Africa have been organized into a secret compact, and have been and will con- tinue to be of great value to the Boers. The head of the organization is a man who is one of President Kruger's best friends, and his lieutenants are working even as far away as America. The sympathy of the majority of the Americans in the Transvaal is with the Boer cause, and, although the American con- sul-general at Cape Town has cautioned them to remain neutral, they will not stand idly by and watch the defeat of a cause which they believe to be as just as that for which their forefathers fought at Bunker Hill and Lex- ington. But the Boers do not rely upon external assistance to win their battles for them. When it becomes necessary to defend their liberty and their country they reverently place their trust in Providence and their rifles. Their forefathers' battles were won with such con- fidence, and the later generations have been similarly successful under like conditions. The rifle is the young Boer's primer and the grand- 250 O M PAUL'S PEOPLE father's testament. It is the Boers' avenger of wrong and the upholder of right. That their confidence in their rifles has not been misap- plied has been demonstrated at Laing's Nek, Majuba Hill, Doornkop, and in battles with natives. The natural opportunities provided by Na- ture which in former years were responsible for the confidence which the Boers reposed in their rifles may have disappeared with the ap- proach of advancing civilization, but the Boer of to-day is as dangerous an adversary with a gun as his father was in the wars with the Zulus and the Matabeles half a century ago. The buck, rhinoceros, elephant, and hippo- potamus are not as numerous now as then, but the Boer has devised other means by which he may perfect himself in marksman- ship. Shooting is one of the main diversions of the Boer, and prizes are offered for the best results in contests. It is customary to mark out a ring, about two hundred and fifty feet in diameter, in the centre of which a small stuffed figure resembling a bird is at- tached to a pole. The marksmen stand on PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 251 the outside of the circle and fire in turn at the target. A more curious target, and one that taxes the ability of the marksman, is in more general use throughout the country. A hole sufficiently deep to retain a turkey-cock is dug in a level plot of ground, and over this is placed a piece of canvas which contains a small hole through which the bird can ex- tend and withdraw its hea^. At a distance of three hundred feet the bird's head is a target by no means easily hit. Military men are accustomed to sneer at the lack of generalship of the Boer forces, but in only one of the battles in which they have engaged the British forces have the trained military men and leaders been able to cope with them. In the battle of Boomplaats, fought in 1848, the English officers can claim their only victory over the Boers, who were armed with flintlocks, while the British forces had heavy artillery. In almost all the encoun- ters that have taken place the Boer forces were not as large as those of the enemy, yet the rec- ords show that many more casualties were in- flicted than received by them. In the chief en- OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE gagements the appended statistics show that the Boers had only a small percentage of their men in the casualty list, while the British losses were much greater. BATTLES. MEN ENGAGED. CASUALTIES. British. Boer. British. Boer. Laing's Nek 400 300 600 250 600 550 250 150 300 400 190 142 280 1 2O IOO 24 17 5 I 5 Ingogo Majuba Hill Jameson raid It is hardly fair to assume that the Boers' advantages in these battles were gained without the assistance of capable generals when it is taken into consideration that there is a military axiom which places the value of an army rela- tively with the ability of its commanders. The Boers may exaggerate when they assert that one of their soldiers is the equal in righting ability of five British soldiers, but the results of the various battles show that they have some slight foundation for their theory. The regular British force in South Africa is comparatively small, but it would require less than a month to transport one hundred PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 253 thousand trained soldiers from India and Eng- land and place them on the scene of action. Several regiments of trained soldiers are al- ways stationed in different parts of the coun- try near the Transvaal border, and at brief no- tice they could be placed on Boer territory. Charlestown, Ladysmith, and Pietermaritzburg, in Natal, have been British military headquar- ters for many years, and during the last three years they have been strengthened by the ad- dition of several regular regiments. The Brit- ish Colonial Office has been making prepara- tions for several years for a conflict. Every point in the country has been strengthened, and all the foreign powers whose interests in the country might lead them to interfere in behalf of the Boers have been placated. Ger- many has been taken from the British zone of danger by favourable treaties; France is fear- ful to try interference alone; and Portugal, the only other nation interested, is too weak and too deeply in England's debt to raise her voice against anything that may be done. By leasing the town of Lorenzo Marques from the Portuguese Government, Great Brit- 254 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ain has acquired one of the best strategic points in South Africa. The lease, the terms of which are unannounced, was the culmina- tion of much diplomatic dickering, in which the interests of Germany and the South Afri- can Republic were arrayed against those of England and Portugal. There is no doubt that England made the lease only in order to gain an advantage over President Kruger, and to prevent him from further fortifying his country with munitions of war imported by way of Lorenzo Marques and Delagoa Bay. England gains a commercial advantage too, but it is hardly likely that she would care to add the worst fever-hole in Africa to her ter- ritory simply to please the few of her mer- chants who have business interests in the town. Since the Jameson raid the Boers have been purchasing vast quantities of guns and ammunition in Europe for the purpose of pre- paring themselves for any similar emergency. Delagoa Bay alone was an open port to the Transvaal, every other port in South Africa being under English dominion and conse- quently closed to the importation of war ma- PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 255 terial. Lorenzo Marques, the natural port of the Transvaal, is only a short distance from the eastern border of that country, and is con- nected with Pretoria and Johannesburg by a railway. It was over this railway that the Boers were able to carry the guns and ammu- nition with which to fortify their country, and England could not raise a finger to pre- vent the little republic from doing as it pleased. Hardly a month has passed since the raid that the Transvaal authorities did not receive a large consignment of guns and powder from Germany and France by way of Lorenzo Mar- ques. England could do nothing more than have several detectives at the docks to take an inventory of the munitions as they passed in transit. The transfer of Lorenzo Marques to the British will put an effectual bar to any fur- ther importation of guns into the Transvaal, and will practically prevent any foreign assist- ance from reaching the Boers in the event of another war. Both Germany and England tried for many years to induce Portugal to sell Delagoa Bay, but being the debtor of 256 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE both to a great extent, the sale could not be made to one without arousing the enmity of the other. Eighteen or twenty years ago Por- tugal would have sold her sovereign right over the port to Mr. Gladstone's Govern- ment for sixty thousand dollars, but that was before Delagoa Bay had any commercial or political importance. Since then Germany be- came the political champion of the Transvaal, and blocked all the schemes of England to isolate the inland country by cutting off its only neutral connection with the sea. Re- cently, however, Germany has been disappointed by the Transvaal Republic, and one of the re- sults is the present cordial relations between the Teutons and the Anglo-Saxons in South African affairs. The English press and people in South Africa have always asserted that by isolating the Transvaal from the sea the Boers could be starved into submission in case of a war. As soon as the lease becomes effective, Mr. Kruger's country will be completely surrounded by English territory, at least in such a way that nothing can be taken into the Transvaal PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE 257 without first passing through an English port, and no foreign power will be able to send forces to the aid of the Boers unless they are first landed on British soil. It is doubtful whether any nation would incur such a grave responsibility for the sake of securing Boer favour. Both the Transvaal and England are fully prepared for war, and diplomacy only can postpone its coming. The Uitlanders' present demands may be conceded, but others that will follow may not fare so well. A coveted country will always be the object of attacks by a stronger power, and the aggressor gen- erally succeeds in securing from the weaker victim whatever he desires. Whether British soldiers will be obliged to fight the Boers alone in order to gratify the wishes of their Government, or whether the enemy will be almost the entire white and black population of South Africa, will not be definitely known until the British troop ships start for Cape Town and Durban. Whichever enemy it will be, the British Government will attack, and will pursue in no 258 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE half-hearted or half-prepared manner, as it has done in previous campaigns in the country. The Boers will be able to resist and to pro- long the campaign to perhaps eight months or a year, but they will finally be obliterated from among the nations of the earth. It will cost the British Empire much treasure and many lives, but it will satisfy those who caused it the politicians and speculators. CHAPTER XI AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA AN idea of the nature and extent of Ameri- can enterprise in South Africa might be de- duced from the one example of a Boston book agent, who made a competency by sell- ing albums of United States scenery to the negroes along the shores of the Umkomaas River, near Zululand. The book agent is not an incongruity of the activity of Americans in that part of the continent, but an example rather of the diversified nature of the influ- ences which owe their origin to the nation of Yankees ten thousand miles distant. The Unitdd States of America have had a deeper influence upon South Africa than that which pertains to commerce and trade. The progress, growth, and prosperity of the American States have instilled in the minds of the majority of South Africans a desire to be free from Euro- 259 2 60 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE pean control, and to be united under a single banner, which is to bear the insignia of the United States of South Africa. In public, editors and speechmakers in Cape Colony, Natal, and the Transvaal spend hours in deploring the progress of American- isms in South Africa, but in their clubs and libraries they study and discuss the causes which led to America's progress and pre-eminence, and form plans by which they may be able to attain the same desirable ends. The influence and example of the United States are not theo- retical; they are political factors which are felt in the discussion of every public question and in the results of every election. The practical results of American influence in South Africa may now be observed only in the increasing exports to that country, but perhaps in an- other generation a greater and better demon- stration will be found in a constitution which unites all the South African states under one independent government. If any corrobora- tion of this sentiment were necessary, a state- ment made by the man who is leader of the ruling party in Cape Colony would be ample. AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 261 " If we want an example of the highest type of freedom," said W. P. Schreiner, the present Premier of Cape Colony, " we must look to the United States of America." * American influences are felt in all phases of South African life, be they social, commercial, religious, political, or retrogressive. Whether it be the American book agent on the banks of the Umkomaas, or the American consul-gen- eral in the governor's mansion at Cape Town, his indomitable energy, his breezy indiffer- ence to apparently insurmountable difficulties, and his boundless resources will always secure for him those material benefits for which men of other nationalities can do no more than hope. Some of his rivals call it perverseness, callous- ness, trickery, treachery, and what not; his ad- mirers might ascribe his success to energy, pluck, modern methods, or to that quality best described by that Americanism " hustling." American commercial interests in South Africa are of such recent growth, and already of such great proportions, that the other na- * Americans' Fourth of July Banquet, Cape Town, 1897. IS 262 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE tions who have been interested in the trade for many years are not only astounded, but are fearful that the United States will soon be the controlling spirit in the country's commercial affairs. The enterprise of American business firms, and their ability to undersell almost all the other firms represented in the country, have given an enormous impetus to the export trade with South African countries. Systematic ef- forts have been made by American firms to work the South African markets on an ex- tensive scale, and so successful have the efforts been that the value of exports to that country has several times been more than doubled in a single year. Five years ago America's share of the busi- ness of South Africa was practically infinitesi- mal; to-day the United States hold second place in the list of nations which have trade relations with that country, having outranked Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy. In several branches of trade America surpasses even England, which has always had all the trade advantages owing to the supremacy of her flag over the greater part of the country. AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 263 That the British merchants are keenly alive to the situation which threatens to transfer the trade supremacy into American hands has been amply demonstrated by the efforts which they have made to check the inroads the Americans are making on their field, and by the appoint- ment of committees to investigate the causes of the decline of British commerce. American enterprise shows itself by the scores of representatives of American business houses who are constantly travelling through the country, either to secure orders or to in- vestigate the field with a view of entering into competition with the firms of other nations. Fifteen American commercial travellers, repre- senting as many different firms, were regis- tered at the Grand Hotel, Cape Town, at one time a year ago, and that all had secured ex- ceptionally heavy orders indicated that the in- novation in the method of working trade was successful. The laws of the country are unfavourable in no slight degree to the foreign commercial travellers, who are obliged to pay heavy licenses before they are permitted to enter upon any 264 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE business negotiations. The tax in the Trans- vaal and Natal is $48.66, and in the Orange Free State and Cape Colony it amounts to $121.66. If an American agent wishes to make a tour of all the states and colonies of the coun- try, he is obliged to pay almost three hundred and fifty dollars in license fees. The great superiority of certain American manufactured products is such that other na- tions are unable to compete in those lines after the American products have been introduced. Especially is this true of American machinery, which can not be equalled by that of any other country. Almost every one of the hundreds of extensive gold mines on the Randt is fitted out wholly or in part with American machinery, and, at the present rate of increase in the use of it, it will be less than ten years when none other than United States machinery will be sent to that district. In visiting the great mines the uninitiated American is astonished to find that engines, crushing machinery, and even the electric lights which illuminate them, bear the name plates of New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago firms. AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 265 The Kimberley diamond mines, which are among the most extensive and most elaborate underground works in the world, use Ameri- can-made machinery almost exclusively, not only because it is much less costly, but be- cause no other country can furnish apparatus that will give as good results. Almost every pound of electrical machinery in use in the country was made in America and was insti- tuted by American workmen. Instances of successful American electrical enterprises are afforded by the Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria street railways, almost every rail, wire, and car of which bears the marks of American manufacture. It is a marvellous revelation to find Philadelphia-made electric cars in the streets of Cape Town, con- densing engines from New York State in Port Elizabeth, and Pittsburg generators and switch- boards in the capital of the Transvaal, which less than fifty years ago w r as under the domin- ion of savages. Not only did Americans in- stall the street railways, but they also secured the desirable concessions for operating the lines for a stated period. American electricians op- 2 66 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE erate the plants, and in not a few instances have financially embarrassed Americans received a new financial impetus by acting in the capacities of motormen and conductors. One street car in Cape Town was for a long time distinguished because of its many American features. The Philadelphia-made car was propelled over Pittsburg tracks by means of the power passing through Wilkesbarre wires, and the human agencies that controlled it were a Boston motorman and a San Francisco con- ductor. It might not be pursuing the subject too far to add that of the twelve passengers in the car on a certain journey ten were Americans, representing eight different States. One of the first railroads in South Africa that which leads from Lorenzo Marques to the Transvaal border was built by an American, a Mr. Murdock, while American material en- tered largely into the construction of the more extensive roads from the coast to the interior. American rails are more quickly and more cheaply * obtainable in South Africa than those * " But the other day we gave an order for two hundred and fifty miles of rails. We had a large number of tenders, AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 2 6/ of English make, but the influence which is exerted against the use of other than British rails prevents their universal adoption. Not- withstanding the efforts of the influential Eng- lishmen to secure British manufactures wherever and whenever possible, American firms have re- cently secured the contracts for forty thousand tons of steel rails for the Cape Colony Railway system, and the prospects are that more orders of a similar nature will be forthcoming. It is not in the sale of steel rails alone that the American manufacturer is forging ahead of his competitors in South Africa. American manufactured wares of all kinds are in de- mand, and in many instances they are leaders in the market. Especially true is this of Ameri- can agricultural implements, which are so much more adaptable to the soil and much cheaper than any other make. Small stores in the and the lowest tender, you may be sorry to hear, was sent by an American, Mr. Carnegie. Fortunately, however, the tender was not in order, and we were therefore able to give the work to our own people. It may be said that this American tender was a question of workmen and strikes." Cecil J. Rhodes, at a meeting of the stockholders of the Cape-Cairo Railway, London, May 2, 1899. 2 68 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE farming communities of Natal and Cape Col- ony sell American ploughshares, spades, forks, rakes, and hoes almost exclusively, and it amazes the traveller to find that almost every plough and reaper used by the more progres- sive agriculturists bears the imprint " Made in the United States." It is a strange fact that, although South Africa has vast areas covered with heavy tim- ber, almost all the lumber used in the mining districts is transported thither from Puget Sound. The native timber being unsuited for underground purposes and difficult of access, all the mine owners are obliged to import every foot of wood used in constructing surface and underground works of their mines, and at great expense, for to the original cost of the timber is added the charges arising from the sea and land transportation, import duties, and handling. The docks at Cape Town almost all the year round contain one or more lumber vessels from Puget Sound, and upon several occasions five such vessels were being unloaded at the same time. American coal, too, has secured a foothold in South Africa, a sample cargo of three thou- AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 269 sand tons having been despatched thither at the beginning of the year. Coal of good qual- ity is found in several parts of the Transvaal and Natal, but progress in the development of the mines has been so slow that almost the total demand is supplied by Wales. Cape Col- ony has an extensive petroleum field, but it is in the hands of concessionaires, who, for rea- sons of their own, refuse to develop it. Ameri- can and Russian petroleums are used exclu- sively, but the former is preferred, and is rapidly crowding the other out of the market. Among the many other articles of export to South Africa are flour, corn, butter, pota- toes, canned meats, and vegetables all of which might be produced in the country if South Africans took advantage of the opportunities offered by soil and Nature. American live stock has been introduced into the country since the rinderpest disease destroyed almost all of the native cattle, and with such success- ful results that several Western firms have es- tablished branches in Cape Town, and are sending thither large cargoes of mules, horses, cattle, and sheep. Cecil J. Rhodes has re- 270 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE cently stocked his immense Rhodesian farm with American live stock, and, as his example is generally followed throughout the country, a decided increase in the live-stock export trade is anticipated. Statistics only can give an adequate idea of American trade with South Africa; but even these are not reliable, for the reason that a large percentage of the exports sent to the country are ordered through London firms, and consequently do not appear in the official figures. As a criterion of what the trade amounts to, it will only be necessary to quote a few statistics, which, however, do not repre- sent the true totals for the reason given. The estimated value of the exports and the percent- age increase of each year's business over that of the preceding year is given, in order that a true idea of the growth of American trade with South Africa may be formed: YEAR. Value. Per cent in- crease. 1801;.. . $5,000,000 1896 12,000,000 140 1807. . 16,000,000 33i 1898 (estimated) 20,000,000 25 AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 271 A fact that is deplored by Americans who are eager to see their country in the van in all things pertaining to trade is that almost every dollar's worth of this vast amount of material is carried to South Africa in ships sailing under foreign colours. Three lines of steamships, hav- ing weekly sailings, ply between the two coun- tries, and are always laden to the rails with American goods, but the American flag is car- ried by none of them. A fourth line of steam- ships, to ply between Philadelphia and Cape Town, is about to be established under Ameri- can auspices, and is to carry the American flag. A number of small American sailing vessels trade between the two countries, but their total capacity is so small as to be almost insignifi- cant when compared with the great volume carried in foreign bottoms. The American imports from South Africa are of far less value than the exports, for the reason that the country produces only a few articles that are not consumed where they originate. America is the best market in the world for diamonds, and about one fourth of the annual output of the Kimberley mines 2/2 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE reaches the United States. Hides and tallow constitute the leading exportations to Amer- ica, while aloes and ostrich feathers are chief among the few other products sent here. Owing to this lack of exports, ships going to South Africa are obliged to proceed to India or Australia for return cargoes in order to re- duce the expenses of the voyage. However great the commercial interests of the United States in South Africa, they are small in comparison with the work of indi- vidual Americans, who have been active in the development of that country during the last quarter of a century. Wherever great enter- prises have been inaugurated, Americans have been prominently identified with their growth and development, and in not a few instances has the success of the ventures been wholly due to American leadership. European capi- tal is the foundation of all the great South Afri- can institutions, but it is to American skill that almost all of them owe the success which they have attained. British and continental capitalists have rec- ognised the superiority of American methods AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 273 by intrusting the management of almost every large mine and industry to men who were born and received their training in the United States. It is an expression not infrequently heard when the success of a South African enterprise is being discussed, " Who is the Yankee? " The reason of this is involved in the fact that al- most all the Americans who went to South Africa after the discovery of gold had been well fitted by their experiences in the California and Colorado mining fields for the work which they were called upon to do on the Randt, and, owing to their ability, were able to compete successfully with the men from other countries who were not so skilled. Unfortunately, not all the Americans in South Africa have been a credit to their na- tive country, and there is a considerable class which has created for itself an unenviable repu- tation. The component parts of this class are men who, by reason of criminal acts, were obliged to leave America for new fields of en- deavour, and non-professional men who follow gold booms in all parts of the world and trust to circumstances for a livelihood. In the early 274 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE days of the Johannesburg gold fields these men oftentimes resorted to desperate means, with the result that almost every criminal act of an unusually daring description is now credited against them by the orderly inhabitants. High- waymen, pickpockets, illicit gold buyers, con- fidence men, and even train-robbers were active, and for several years served to discredit the entire American colony. Since the first gold excitement has subsided, this class of Ameri- cans, in which was also included by the resi- dents all the other criminal characters of what- ever nationality, has been compelled to leave the country, and to-day the American colony in Johannesburg numbers about three thousand of the most respected citizens of the city. The American who has been most promi- nent in South African affairs, and the stanchest supporter of American interests in that coun- try, is Gardner F. Williams, the general man- ager and one of the alternate life governors of the De Beers Consolidated Diamond Mines at Kimberley. A native of Michigan, Mr. Williams gained his mining experience in the mining dis- tricts of California and other Western States, and AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 275 went to South Africa in 1887 to take charge of the Kimberley mines, which were then in an al- most chaotic condition. By the application of American ideas, Mr. Williams succeeded in mak- ing of the mines a property which yields an an- nual profit of about ten million dollars on a nominal capital of twice that amount. He has introduced American machinery into the mines, and has been instrumental in many other ways in advancing the interests of his native country. Although Mr. Williams receives a salary twice as great as that of the President of the United States, he is proud to be the American con- sular agent at Kimberley an office which does not carry with it sufficient revenue to provide the star-spangled banner which constantly floats from a staff in front of his residence. Dr. J. Perrott Prince is another American who has assisted materially in extending Ameri- can interests in South Africa, and it is due to his own unselfish efforts that the commerce of the United States with the port of Durban has risen from insignificant volume to its pres- ent size. Dr. Prince was a surgeon in the Union army during the civil war, and after- 276 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ward was one of the first Americans to go to the Kimberley diamond fields. He it was who later induced Dr. Leander Starr Jameson to accompany him to Kimberley in the capacity of assistant surgeon a service which he per- formed with great distinction until Mr. Rhodes sent him into Matabeleland to take charge of the military forces, which later he led into the Transvaal. Dr. Prince's renown as a physician was responsible for a call to Madagascar, whither he was summoned by Queen Ranavalo. He remained in Madagascar as the queen's physi- cian until the French took forcible possession of the island and sent the queen into exile on the Reunion Islands. Dr. Prince has lived in Durban, Natal, for several years, and during the greater part of that time conducted the of- fice of American consular agent at a financial loss to himself. Unfortunately, Dr. Prince was obliged to end his connection with the consu- lar service, and the United States are now rep- resented in Durban by a foreigner, who on the last Fourth of July inquired why all the Americans in the city were making such elab- AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 277 orate displays of bunting and the Stars and Stripes. The consular agent at Johannesburg is John C. Manion, of Herkimer, N. Y., who represents a large American machinery company. Mr. Manion, in 1896, carried on the negotiations with the Transvaal Government by which John Hays Hammond, an American mining engineer, was released from the Pretoria prison, where he had been confined for complicity in the up- rising at Johannesburg. American machinery valued at several million dollars has been sent to South Africa as the result of Mr. Manion's efforts. In the gold industry on the Randt, Ameri- cans have been specially active, and it is due to one of them, J. S. Curtis, that the deep- level mines were discovered. In South Africa a mining claim extends only a specified dis- tance below the surface of the earth, and the Governments do not allow claim-owners to dig beyond that depth. Mr. Curtis found that paying reefs existed below the specified depth, and the result was that the Government sold the underground or deep-level claims with 19 2/8 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE great profit to itself and the mining com- munity. The consulting engineers of almost all the mines of any importance in the country are Americans, and their salaries range from ten thousand to one hundred thousand dollars a year. John Hays Hammond, who was one of the first American engineers to reach the gold fields, was official mining engineer for the Transvaal Government, and received a year- ly salary of twenty-five thousand dollars for formulating the mining laws of the country. He resigned that office, and is now the con- sulting engineer for the British South Africa Company in Rhodesia and several gold mines on the Randt, at salaries which aggregate al- most one hundred thousand dollars a year. Among the scores of other American engineers on the Randt are L. I. Seymour, who has con- trol of the thirty-six shafts of the Randt Mines; Captain Malan, of the Robinson mines; and H. S. Watson, of the Simmer en Jack mines, in developing which more than ten million dol- lars have been spent. Another American introduced the system of AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 279 treating the abandoned tailings of the mines by the cyanide process, whereby thousands of ounces of gold have been abstracted from the offal of the mills, which had formerly been con- sidered valueless. Others have revolutionized different parts of the management of the mines, and in many instances have taken abandoned properties and placed them on a paying basis. It would not be fair to claim that American ingenuity and skill are responsible for the en- tire success of the Randt gold mines, but it is indisputable that Americans have done more toward it than the combined representatives of all other nations. Every line of business on the Randt has its American representatives, and almost with- out exception the firms who sent them thither chose able men. W. E. Parks, of Chicago, represents Frazer & Chalmers, whose machin- ery is in scores of the mines. His assistant is W. H. Haig, of New York city. The American Trading and Importing Com- pany, with its headquarters in Johannesburg, and branches in every city and town in the country, deals exclusively in American manu- 2go OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE factured products, and annually sells immense quantities of bicycles, stoves, beer, carriages, and other goods, ranging from pins to pianos. Americans do not confine their endeavours to commercial enterprises, and they may be found conducting missionary work among the Matabeles and Mashonas, as well as building dams in Rhodesia. American missionaries are very active in all parts of South Africa, and because of the practical methods by which they endeavour to civilize and Christianize the na- tives they have the reputation throughout the country of being more successful than those who go there from any other country. In the Rhodesian country Mr. Rhodes has given many contributions of land and money to the American missionaries, and has on several oc- casions complimented them by pronouncing their achievements unparalleled. A practical illustration will demonstrate the causes of the success of the American mission- ary. An English missionary spent the first two years after his arrival in the country in studying the natives' language and in building a house for himself. In that time he had made AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA 281 no converts. An American missionary arrived at almost the same time, rented a hut, and hired interpreters. At the end of two years he had one hundred and fifty converts, many more natives who were learning useful occupations and trades, and had sent home a request for more missionaries with which to extend his field. It is rather remarkable that the scouts who assisted in subduing the American Indians should later be found on the African continent to assist in the extermination of the blacks. In the Matabele and Mashona campaigns of three years ago, Americans who scouted for Custer and Miles on the Western plains were invaluable adjuncts to the British forces, and in many instances did heroic work in finding the location of the enemy and in making way for the American Maxim guns that were used in the campaigns. The Americans in South Africa, although only about ten thousand in number, have been of invaluable service to the land. They have taught the farmers to farm, the miners to dig gold, and the statesmen to govern. 282 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE Their work has been a credit to the country which they continue to revere, and whose flag they raise upon every proper occasion. They have taken little part in the political disturb- ances of the Transvaal, because they believe that the citizens of a republic should be allowed to conduct its government according to their own idea of right and justice, independently of the demands of those who are not citizens. CHAPTER XII JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY THE palms and bamboos of Durban, the Zulu policemen and 'ricksha boys, and the hospitable citizens have been left behind, and the little train of English compartment cars, each with its destination " Johannesburg " la- belled conspicuously on its sides, is winding away through cane fields and banana groves, past groups of open-eyed natives and solemn, thin-faced Indian coolies. Pretty little farmers' cottages in settings of palms, mimosas, and tropical plants are dotted in the green valleys winding around the innumerable small hills that look for all the world like so many inverted moss-covered china cups. Lumbering transport wagons be- hind a score of sleek oxen, wincing under the fire of the far-reaching rawhide in the hands of a sparsely clad Zulu driver, are met and 283 284 OOM PAUL>S PEOPLE passed in a twinkling. Neatly thatched huts with natives lazily lolling in the sun become more frequent as the train rolls on toward the interior, and the greenness of the land- scape is changing into the brown of dead ver- dure, for it is the dry season the South Afri- can winter. The hills become more frequent, and the little locomotive goes more slowly, while the train twists and writhes along its path like a huge python. Now it is on the hilltop from which the distant sea and its coast fringe of green are visible on the one side, and nothing but tree- less brown mountain tops on the other. A minute later it plunges down the hillside, along rocky precipices, over deep chasms, and then wearily plods up the zigzag course of another hillside. For five hours or more the monot- ony of miniature mountains continues, relieved by nothing more interesting than the noise of the train and the hilarious laughter and weird songs of a car load of Zulus bound for the gold fields. After this comes an undulat- ing plain and towns with far less interest in their appearance than in their names. The Zulu maidens shaking hands. JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 285 traveller surfeited with Natal scenery finds amusement and diversion in the conductor's call of Umbilo, Umkomaas, Umgeni, Amanzimtoti, Isipingo, Mooi River, Zwartkop, or Pieter- maritzburg, but will not attempt to learn the proper pronunciation of the names unless he has weeks at his command. Farther on in the journey an ostrich, escaped from a farm, stalks over the plain, and, ap- proaching to within several yards of the train, jogs along for many miles, and perchance wheedles the engineer into impromptu races. Hardly has the bird disappeared when on the wide veldt a herd of buck galloping with their long heads down, or a large number of wilde- beest, plunging and jumping like animated hobby-horses, raise clouds of dust as they dash away from the monster of iron and steam. Shortly afterward the train passes a waterfall almost thrice as lofty as Niagara, but located in the middle of the plain, into whose surface the water has riven a deep and narrow chasm. Since the balmy Indian Ocean has been left behind, the train has been rising steadily, sometimes an inch in a mile but oftener a 286 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE hundred feet, and the air has grown cooler. The thousands of British soldiers at Ladysmith are wearing heavy clothing; their horses, teth- ered in the open air, are shivering, and far to the westward is the cause of it all the lofty, snow-covered peaks of the Dragon Mountain. Night comes on and clothes the craggy mountains and broken valleys with varying shades of sombreness. The moon out-- lines the snow far above, and with its rays marks the lofty line where sky and mountain crest seem to join. Morning light greets the train as it dashes down the mountain side, through the passes that connect Natal with the Transvaal and out upon the withered grass of the flat, uninteresting veldt of the Boer country. The South African veldt in all its winter hideousness lies before you. It stretches out in all directions to the north and south, to the east and west and seems to have no bound- aries. Its yellowish brownness eats into the brain, and the eyes grow weary from the mo- notony of the scene. Hour after hour the train bears onward in a straight line, but the JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 287 landscape remains the same. But for noises and motions of the cars you would imagine that the train was stationary, so far as change of scenery is concerned. Occasionally a colony of huge ant-heaps or a few buck or deer may be passed, but for hours it is veldt, veldt, veldt! An entire day's journey, unrelieved except toward the end by a few straggling towns of Boer farmhouses or the sheet-iron cabins of prospectors, bring it to Heidelberg, once the metropolis as well as the capital of the republic, but now pining because the for- mer distinguishing mark has been yielded to its neighbour, Johannesburg. As the shades of another night commence to fall, the veldt suddenly assumes a new coun- tenance. Lights begin to sparkle, buildings close together appear, and scores of tall smoke- ' stacks tower against the background of the sky. The presence of the smoke-stacks denote the arrival at the Randt, and for twenty miles the train rushes along this well-defined gold- yielding strip of land. Buildings, lights, stacks, and people become more numerous as the train progresses into the city limits of Johannes- 288 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE burg, and the traveller soon finds himself in the middle of a crowd of enthusiastic welcom- ing and welcomed persons on the platform of the station of the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afri- kaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij, and in the Golden City. The sudden change from the dreary life- lessness of the veldt to the exciting crush and bustle of the station platform crowd is almost bewildering, because it is so different from what is expected in interior Africa. The sta- tion, a magnificent structure of stone and iron, presents more animated scenes whenever trains arrive than the Grand Central in New York or the Victoria in London, because every passenger is invariably met at the train by all his friends and as many of their friends as the station platform will accommodate. The crowd which surges around this centre of the city's life is of a more cosmopolitan character than that which can be found in any other city in the world with the exceptions of Zanzibar and Port Said. Almost every race is represented in the gathering, which is sug- gestive of a mass meeting of the villagers of JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 289 the Midway Plaisance at the Columbian Ex- position. In the crowd are stolid Anglo- Saxons shaking hands effusively; enthusiastic Latins embracing each other; negroes rubbing noses and cheeks; smiling Japanese; cold, stern Chinese; Cingalese, Russians, Malays, and Egyptians all in their national costumes, and all welcoming friends in their native manner and language. Meandering through the crowd are several keen-eyed Boer policemen, com- monly called " Zarps," politely directing the attention of innocent-looking newcomers to placards bearing the inscription " Pas op Zak- kenrollers," which is the Boer warning of pickpockets. After the traveller has forced a way through the crowd he is attacked by a horde of cab- men who can teach tricks of the trade to the London and New York night-hawks. Their equipages range from dilapidated broughams to antique 'rickshas, but their charges are the same " a quid," or five dol- lars, either for a mile or a minute's ride. After the insults which follow a refusal to enter one of their conveyances have subsided, the 290 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE agents of the hotels commence a vociferous campaign against the newcomers, and very clever it is in its way. They are able to dis- tinguish a foreigner at one glance, and will change the name of the hotel which they rep- resent a score of times in as many seconds in order to bag their quarry. For the patriotic American they have the New York Hotel, the Denver House, the Hotel California, and many other hostelries named after American cities. " Hey, Yank! " they will salute an American, " Come up to the New York Hotel and patron- ize American enterprise." If the traveller will accompany one of these agents he will find that all the names apply to one hotel, which has an American name but is conducted and patronized by a low class of foreigners. The victim of mis- representation will seek another hotel, and will be fortunate if he finds comfortable quar- ters for less than ten dollars a day, or three times the amount he would be called upon to pay at a far better hotel in any American city of equal size. The privilege of fasting, or of awakening in the morning with a layer of dust an eighth of an inch deep on the coun- JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 29! terpane and on the face may be ample return for the extraordinary charges, but the stranger in the city is not apt to adopt that view of the situation until he is acclimated. The person who has spent several days in crossing the veldt and enters Johannesburg by night has a strange revelation before him when he is awakened the following morning. He has been led to believe that the city is a motley collection of corrugated-iron hovels, hastily constructed cabins, and cheap public buildings. Instead he finds a beautiful city, with well-paved streets, magnificent buildings of stone and brick, expensive public buildings, and scores of palatial residences. Many Ameri- can cities of the same size and many times older can not show as costly buildings or as fine public works. Hotels of five and six stories, and occupying, in several instances, al- most entire blocks, are numerous; of office buildings costing a quarter of a million dol- lars each there are half a score; banks, shops, and newspapers have three- and four-story buildings of brick and stone, while there are hundreds of other buildings that would be 2 9 2 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE creditable to any large city in America or* Europe. The Government Building in the centre of the city is a five-story granite struc- ture of no mean architectural beauty. In the suburbs are many magnificent private resi- dences of mine owners and managers who, although not permanent residents of the city, have invested large amounts of money, so that the short time they spend in the country may be amid luxurious and comfortable surround- ings. One of the disagreeable features of living in Johannesburg is the dust which is present everywhere during the dry season. It rises in great, thick clouds on the surrounding veldt, and, obscuring the sun, wholly envelops the city in semi-darkness. One minute the air is clear and there is not a breath of wind; sev- eral minutes later a hurricane is blowing and blankets of dust are falling. The dust clouds generally rise west of the city, and almost to- tally eclipse the sun during their progress over the plain. Sometimes the dust storms continue only a few minutes, but very fre- quently the citizens are made uncomfortable JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 293 by them for days at a time. Whenever they arrive, the doors and windows of buildings are tightly closed, ' business is practically at a standstill, and every one is miserable. There is no escape from it. It penetrates every building, however well protected, and it lodges in the food as well as in the drink. Pedestrians on the street are unable to see ten feet ahead, and are compelled to walk with head bowed and with handkerchief over the mouth and nos- trils. Umbrellas and parasols are but slight protection against it. Only the miners, a thousand feet below the surface, escape it. When the storm has subsided the entire city is covered with a blanket of dust ranging in thickness from an inch on the sidewalks to an eighth of an inch on the store counters, fur- niture, and in pantries. It has never been com- puted how great a quantity of the dust enters a man's lungs, but the feeling that it engen- ders is one of colossal magnitude. Second to the dust, the main characteris- tic of Johannesburg is the inhabitants' great struggle for sudden wealth. It is doubtful whether there is one person in the city whose 20 294 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE ambition is less than to become wealthy in five years at least, and then to return to his native country. It is not a chase after afflu- ence; it is a stampede in which every soul in the city endeavours to be in the van. In the city and in the mines there are hundreds of honourable ways of becoming rich, but there are thousands of dishonourable ones; and the morals of a mining city are not always on the highest plane. There are business men of the strictest probity and honesty, and men whose word is as good as their bond, but there are many more who will allow their conscience to lie dormant so long as they remain in the country. With them the passion is to secure money, and whether they secure it by over- charging a regular customer, selling illicit gold, or gambling at the stock exchanges is a mat- ter of small moment. Tradesmen and shop- keepers will charge according to the apparel of the patron, and will brazenly acknowledge doing so if reminded by the one who has paid two prices for like articles the same day. Hotels charge according to the quantity of the traveller carries, and boarding- JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 295 houses compute your wealth before presenting their bills. Street-car fares and postage stamps alone do not fluctuate in value, but the wise man counts his change. The experiences of an American with one large business house in the city will serve as an example of the methods of some of those who are eager to realize their ambitions. The American spent many weeks and much patience and money in securing photographs through- out the country, and took the plates to a large firm in Johannesburg for development and printing. When he returned two weeks later he was informed that the plates and prints had been delivered a week before, and neither prayers nor threats secured a different answer. Justice in the courts is slow and costly, and the American was obliged to leave the country without his property. Shortly after his departure the firm of photographers commenced selling a choice collection of new South African photographs which, curiously, were of the same scenes and persons photo- graphed by the American. Gambling may be more general in some 296 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE other cities, but it can not be more public. The more refined gamblers patronize the two stock exchanges, and there are but few too poor to indulge in that form of dissipation. Probably nine tenths of the inhabitants of the city travel the stock-exchange bypath to wealth or poverty. Women and boys are as much infected by the fever as mine owners and managers, and it would not be slandering the citizens to say that one fourth of the conver- sation heard on the streets refers to the rise and fall of stocks. The popular gathering place in the city is the street in front of one of the stock ex- changes known as " The Chains." During the session of the exchange the street is crowded with an excited throng of men, boys, and even women, all flushed with the excite- ment of betting on the rise and fall of mining stocks in the building. Clerks, office boys, and miners spend the lunch hour at " The Chains," either to invest their wages or to watch the market if their money is already invested. A fall in the value of stocks is of far greater mo- ment to them than war, famine, or pestilence. JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 297 The passion for gambling is also satisfied by a giant lottery scheme known as " Sweep- stakes," which has the sanction of the Gov- ernment. Thousands of pounds are offered as prizes at the periodical drawings, and no true Johannesburger ever fails to secure at least one ticket for the drawing. When there are no sessions of the stock exchanges, no sweep- stakes, horse races, ball games, or other usual opportunities for gambling, they will bet on the arrival of the Cape train, the length of a sermon, or the number of lashes a negro criminal can endure before fainting. Drinking is a second diversion which oc- cupies much of the time of the average citizen, because of the great heat and the lack of amusement. The liquor that is drunk in Jo- hannesburg in one year would make a stream o( larger proportions and far more healthier contents than the Vaal River in the dry sea- son. It is a rare occurrence to see a man drink water unless it is concealed in brandy, and at night it is even rarer that one is seen who is not drinking. Cape Smoke, the name given to a liquor made in Cape Colony, is 298 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE credited with the ability to kill a man before he has taken the glass from his lips, but the popular Uitlander beverage, brandy and soda, is even more fatal in its effects. Pure liquor is almost unobtainable, and death-dealing coun- terfeits from Delagoa Bay are the substitutes. Twenty-five cents for a glass of beer and fifty cents for brandy and soda are not deterrent prices where ordinary mine workers receive ten dollars a day and mine managers fifty thou- sand dollars a year. Of social life there is little except such as is afforded by the clubs, of which there are several of high standing. The majority of the men left their families in their native countries on account of the severe climate, and that fact, combined with the prevalent idea that the weather is too torrid to do anything unneces- sary, is responsible for Johannesburg's lack of social amenity. There are occasional dances and receptions, but they are participated in only by newcomers who have not yet fallen under the spell of the South African sun. The Sunday night's musical entertainments at the Wanderer's Club are practically the only affairs JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 299 to which the average Uitlander cares to go, because he can clothe himself for comfort and be as dignified or as undignified as he pleases. The true Johannesburger is the most in- dependent man in the world. When he meets a native on the sidewalk he promptly kicks him into the street, and if the action is re- sented, bullies a Boer policeman into arresting the offender. The policeman may demur and call the Johannesburger a " Verdomde rooinek," but he will make the arrest or receive a drub- bing. He may be arrested in turn, but he is ever willing and anxious to pay a fine for the privilege of beating a " dumb Dutchman," as he calls him. He pays little attention to the laws of the country, because he has not had the patience to learn what they consist of, and he rests content in knowing that his home government will rescue him through diplo- matic channels if he should run counter to the laws. He cares nothing concerning the gov- ernment of the city except as it interferes with or assists his own private interests, but he will take advantage of every opportunity to defy the authority of the administrators of the laws. 300 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE He despises the Boers, and continually and maliciously ridicules them on the slightest pre- texts. Specially true is this of those news- papers which are the representatives of the Uit- lander population. Venomous editorials against the Boer Government and people appear al- most daily, and serve to widen the breach be- tween the two classes of inhabitants. The Boer newspapers for a long time ignored the assaults of the Uitlander press, but recently they have commenced to retaliate, and the editorial war is a bitter one. An extract from the Randt Post will show the nature and depth of bitterness displayed by the two classes of newspapers: " Though Dr. Leyds may be right, and the Johannesburg population safe in case of war, we advise that, at the first act of war on the English side, the women and children, and well-disposed persons of this town, be given twenty-four hours to leave, and then the whole place be shot down; in the event, we re- peat which God forbid! of war coming. " If, indeed, there must be shooting, then it will be on account of seditious words and JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 301 deeds of Johannesburg agitators and the co- shareholders in Cape Town and London, and the struggle will be promoted for no other object than the possession of the gold. Well, then, let such action be taken that the per- petrators of these turbulent proceedings shall, if caught, be thrown into the deep shafts of their mines, with the debris of the batteries for a costly shroud, and that the whole of Johannesburg, with the exception of the Afri- kander wards, be converted into a gigantic rub- bish heap to serve as a mighty tombstone for the shot-down authors of a monstrous deed. " If it be known that these valuable buildings and the lives of the wire-pullers are the price of the mines, then people will take good heed before the torch of war is set alight. Friendly talks and protests are no use with England. Let force and rough violence be opposed to the intrigues and plots of Old England, and only then will the Boer remain master." It is on Saturday nights that the bitterness of the Uitlander population is most noticeable, since then the workers from the mines along the Randt gather in the city and discuss their 302 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE grievances, which then become magnified with every additional glass of liquor. It is then that the city streets and places of amusement and entertainment are crowded with a throng that finds relaxation by abusing the Boers. The theatre audiences laugh loudest at the coarsest jests made at the expense of the Boers, and the bar-room crowds talk loudest when the Boers are the subject of discussion. The abuse continues even when the not-too- sober Uitlander, wheeled homeward at day- break by his faithful Zulu 'ricksha boy, casts imprecations upon the Boer policeman who is guarding his property. Johannesburg is one of the most expensive places of residence in the world. Situated in the interior of the continent, thousands of miles distant from the sources of food and supplies, it is natural that commodities should be high in price. Almost all food stuffs are carried thither from America, Europe, and Australia, and consequently the original cost is trebled by the addition of carriage and customs duties. The most common articles of food are twice as costly as in America, JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 303 while such commodities as eggs, imported from Madeira, frequently are scarce at a dollar a dozen. Butter from America is fifty cents a pound, and fruits and vegetables from Cape Colony and Natal are equally high in price and frequently unobtainable. Good board can not be obtained anywhere for less than five dollars a day, while the best hotels and clubs charge thrice that amount. Rentals are exceptionally high owing to the extraordinary land values and the cost of erecting buildings. A small, brick- lined, corrugated-iron cottage of four rooms, such as a married mine-employee occupies, costs from fifty to seventy-five dollars a month, while a two-story brick house in a respectable quarter of the city rents for one hundred dol- lars a month. Every object in the city is mutely expres- sive of a vast expenditure of money. The idea that everything the buildings, food, horses, clothing, machinery, and all that is to be seen has been carried across oceans and conti- nents unconsciously associates itself with the cost that it has entailed. Four-story build- ings that in New York or London would be 304 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE passed without remark cause mental specula- tion concerning their cost, merely because it is so patent that every brick, nail, and board in them has been conveyed thousands of miles from foreign shores. Electric lights and street cars, so common in American towns, appear abnormal in the city in the veldt, and instantly suggest an outlay of great amounts of money even to the minds which are not accustomed to reducing everything to dollars and pounds. Leaving the densely settled centre of the city, where land is worth as much as choice plots on Broadway, and wandering into the sub- urbs where the great mines are, the idea of cost is more firmly implanted into the mind. The huge buildings, covering acres of ground and thousands of tons of the most costly ma- chinery, seem to be of natural origin rather than of human handiwork. It is almost be- yond belief that men should be daring enough to convey hundreds of steamer loads of lumber and machinery halfway around the world at in- estimable cost merely for the yellow metal that Nature has hidden so far distant from the great centres of population. JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 305 The cosmopolitanism of the city is a feature which impresses itself most indelibly upon the mind. In a half-day's stroll in the city repre- sentatives of all the peoples of the earth, with the possible exception of the American Indian, Eskimos, and South Sea islanders, will be seen variously engaged in the struggle for gold. On the floors of the stock exchanges are money barons or their agents, as energetic and sharp as their prototypes of Wall and Throckmor- ton Streets. These are chiefly British, French, and German. Outside, between " The Chains," are readily discernible the distinguishing fea- tures of the Americans, Afrikanders, Portu- guese, Russians, Spaniards, and Italians. A few steps distant is Commissioner Street, the principal thoroughfare, where the surging throng is composed of so many different racial representatives that an analysis of it is not an easy undertaking. He is considered an expert who can name the native country of every man on the street, and if he can distinguish between an American and a Canadian he is credited with being a wise man. In the throng is the tall, well-clothed Brit- 306 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE on, with silk hat and frock coat, closely fol- lowed by a sparsely clad Matabele, bearing his master's account books or golf-sticks. Near them a Chinaman, in circular red-topped hat and flowing silk robes, is having a heated ar- gument in broken English with an Irish han- som-driver. Crossing the street are two stately Arabs, in turbans and white robes, jostling easy- going Indian coolies with their canes. Bare- headed Cingalese, their long, shiny hair tied in knots and fastened down with circular combs, noiselessly gliding along, or stopping suddenly to trade Oriental jewelry for Christian's money; Malays, Turks, Egyptians, Persians, and New- Zealanders, each with his distinctive costume; Hottentots, Matabeles, Zulus, Mashonas, Basu- tos, and the representatives of hundreds of the other native races south of the Zambezi pass by in picturesque lack of bodily adornment. It is an imposing array, too, for the major- ity of the throng is composed of moderately wealthy persons, and even in the centre of Africa wealth carries with it opportunities for display. John Chinaman will ride in a 'ricksha to his joss-house with as much conscious pride JOHANNESBURG OF TO-DAY 307 as the European or American will sit in his brougham or automobile. Money is as easily spent as made in Johannesburg, and it is a cosmopolitan habit to spend it in a manner so that everybody will know it is being spent. To make a display of some sort is necessary to the citizen's happiness. If he is not of sufficient importance to have his name in the subsidized newspapers daily he will seek notoriety by wearing a thousand pounds' worth of diamonds on the street or making astonishing bets at the race-track. In that little universe on the veldt every man tries to be superior to his neighbour in some manner that may be patent to all the city. When it is taken into consid- eration that almost all the contestants were among the cleverest and shrewdest men in the countries whence they came to Johannesburg, and not among the riffraff and failures, then the intensity of the race for superiority can be imagined. Johannesburg might be named the City of Surprises. Its youthful existence has been fraught with astonishing works. It was born in a day, and one day's revolution almost ended' 308 OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE its existence. It grew from the desert veldt into a garden of gold. Its granite residences, brick buildings, and iron and steel mills sprang from blades of grass and sprigs of weeds. It has transformed the beggar into a millionaire, and it has seen starving men in its streets. It harbours men from every nation and climate, but it is a home for few. It is far from the centre of the earth's civilization, but it has often attracted the whole world's attention. It sup- ports its children, but by them it is cursed. Its god is in the earth upon which it rests, and its hope of future life in that which it brings forth. And all this because a man up- turned the soil and called it gold. THE END LL ,.!f4! ? EGIONAL LIBRARY FACILIT A 000 673 146 7