The War in South Africa, Its Cause and Conduct

were destroyed under the circumstances already mentioned, it became evident that it was the duty of the British, as a civilised people, to form camps of

when the Boer army broke into scattered bands and had no longer any definite lines; the second was to

large Kaffir population. Even Mr. Stead could hardly have ruined such a case by exaggeration. On some rumour that it would be so, he drew harrowing pictures of the moral and physical degradation of the Boer women in the vicinity of the British camps. No words can be too strong to stigmatise such assertions unless the proof of them is overwh

e had the means of procuring food. Then, again, we had learned our lesson as regards the men who had given their parole. They should not again be offered the alternative of breaking their oaths or being punished by their own people. The case for the formation of the camps must be admitted to be complete and overwhe

es. As no political capital and no international sentiment could be extracted from their sufferings, and as they have borne their troubles w

. Great strain had been placed upon our Commissariat by the large army, over 200,000 men, who had to be supplied by three tiny railways, which were continually cut. In January 1901 De Wet made his invasion of Cape Colony, and the demand upon the lines

impression was created in England by the report of Miss Hobhouse, an English lady, who had visited the camps and criticised them unfavourably. The value of her report was discounted, however, by the fact that her political prejudices were known to be against the Government. Mr. Charles Hobhouse, a relation of hers, and a R

ding, that the water-supply was short, that the sanitation was bad, that there was ov

that which is officially quoted as the daily allowance

t ?

ee 2

ur

ar

t ?

under six, a

onsiderable outside fund, largely subscribed by British people, which is used to make the scale more liberal. A slight difference was made at first between the diet of a family which had surrende

s from having too much water and too little. With artesian wells and better arrangements this difficul

ants and doctors are perpetually fighting. Camp life without cleanliness must become unhygienic. The medical reports are filled with instances of the

. The evil has been remedied since the time of Miss Hobhouse's report. It is well known that the Boers in their normal life have no objection to crowded rooms, and that the inmates of a farmhouse are accustom

more can be said? The only alternative is the breaking up of the camps and the dispersal of the women. But in that case Mr. Stead is waiting for us with some 'Blood and Hell' broadsheet to tell us of the terrible fate of those women upon the veldt. It must be one or the other. Of the two I prefer Miss Hobhouse and the d

m of measles that the high mortality is due. Apart from that the record of the camps would have been a very fair one. Now measles when once introduced among children runs through a community without any regard to diet or conditions of life. The only possible hope is the segregation of the sufferer. To obtain this early quarantine the co-operation of the parent is needed: but in the case in point the Boer mothers, with a natural instinct, preferred to cling to the children and to make it difficult for the medical men to remove them in the first stages of the disease. The result was a rapid spread of the epidemic, which was the more fatal as many of the sufferers were in low health owing to the privations unavoidably endured in the journey from their own homes to the camps. Not only was the spread of the disease assisted by the mother, but in

t. And why could they not be left on the veldt? Because we had destroyed the means of subsistence. And why had we destroyed the means of subsistence? To limit the operations of the mobile bands of guerillas. At the end of eve

that their condition is a worse one than that of our enemies. At East London, for example, there are two refugee camps, Boer and British. The former has 350, the latter 420 inhabitants. The former are by far the better fed, clad, and housed, with a hospital, a school, and a washhouse, all of which are wanting in the British camp. At Port Elizabeth the

nd that is a lady (name not mentioned) who is quoted in the appendix of Mr. Methuen's 'Peace or War.' She takes much the same view, insisting mainly upon the i

reports you send make our blood boil. They are frightfully exaggerated, and in many instances not only

anitary conveniences, and the officials had the greatest difficulty in enforcing the most ordinary rules of cleanliness. Another difficulty we had was to get them to bring their children when sick into the hospital, where there is every convenience. They prefer to disobey the doctor and try the old women's remedies, which, as you know, are very plentiful among such people. The doctor has had a most trying position, and has worked like a slave. Nearly all the deaths

ers (Wesleyan m

these burgher camps? I have seen, and do not hesitate to say, that most of them are better hou

e Camp Soldier

judgment; we o

that the officers in charge of the several camps known to us were only too anxious to make the helpless people as comfortable as possible. We have seen the huge

glas (Presbyterian

eatment between families of those on commando and others. I am in a position to state that the whole difference made amounted to two ounces of coffee and four ounces of sugar per week, and that even this distinction totally disappeared by the middle of March. As a set-off to this,

t, of Johanne

those who believe them. The opinion of Germans, French, Americans, and even many Dutch, here on the spot, is that the leniency and amazing liberality of the Government to their foe

tary of the Preto

such as beef-tea, extracts of meat, jellies, brandy and wine, and the advantage of fully qualified at

tor of Camps for th

upplied by the military, preferred to give them home remedies. The mothers would not sponge the children, and the greatest difficulty was experienced in inducing them to send the patients to hospital. The cause of the high death-rate among children from measles is due to the fact that the women let their children out as soon as the measles rash has subsid

t on the Kru

ish forces at Krugersdorp, stating that as he has with him on commando several families whose male relatives have recently surrendered, he wishes to know if he will

e no longer any objection to the Refugee Camps, where everything is done to promote

s agent at S

and well laid out. I spoke to several refugees, and met with no complaint, all being satisfied with the t

om Aberdeen, Cape Colony, sent to in

t grateful. He wished the people to understand that he was at liberty to speak to them privately, and that he had a fair opportunity to hear any complaints, if there were any to be made. Mr. Hess allowed him to go round, placing full confidence in him, and he felt satisfied that if there had been

2nd Dragoons) evidence

picable concoctions. Both women and children were better off, the great bulk of them, than ever they were in their lives. The only thing approaching cruelty to them was at the authorities insisted upon cleanliness and proper attention to sanitary regulatio

, an officer of the K

all jolly well treated. Besides other amusements, they have a

omen and children whom we have penned behind the barbed wire of our pr

some Boe

nt Alber

Boksburg my heartfelt thanks for the great kindness shown towards my wife, and at the s

spared to have a

our to be your

. Alberts,

y the Committee of the Dutch Reformed Churches here to convey to you the appreciation of the Commi

rs in the camp at Kroonstad

generation will be taught to be God-fearing, honest, and loyal citizens under the British flag. We regret, however, to state that, notwithstanding the highly appreciated efforts of our worth

mstances will be appreciated by Your Excellency. We are happy to state that the spirit of loyalty is dai

urrendered burgher,

utch Republican when you take into consideration that all of us who have surrendered are fully aware of the fact that we were the aggressors, and that our statesmen are to blame for our present predicament. A large number of Boers, of course, will never come to view the matter in this light. That, of course, is not the result of thought and reflection, but utter and total ignorance. When Miss Hobhouse was here I frequently saw her priming herself or being primed. Some of our wome

a

us expenditure you will see by the statistics frequently published in the English papers. When I hear our people grumble, I often wonder how they would hav

iting from Piete

ything must lie, for we a

nd letter

no complai

from the Port Elizabe

untrue as far as I can find out.' Among the women cared for in this camp was one from Jagersfo

to criticism than others, and that (as we should expect) they became more perfect with time. But I cannot believe that any impartial mind can read the evidence without seeing that the British

and had come in upon a promise that they would not be asked to do so. Those who would were moved down, and the camps at East London, Port Elizabeth, and Merebank, near Durban, largely increased. 'No expense must be allowed to stand

ere are many emaciated children in the camps, for they usually arrive in that condition. This particular portrait however was, as I am credibly informed, taken by the British authorities on the occasion of the cr