THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE HISTORY OF THE ORANGE FREE STATE. MARTIN JAMES BOON, AnXHOE OF The Immortal History of South Africa,^' " Home Colonisation," " Jottings by the Way in /South Africa,^' " National Faper- Money and its Use"d:c., cCc, dc. LONDON : WiLiiUM Ekkte8, 185 Fleet Street ; Martin J. Boon, 170 Farringdon Road SOOTH AFRICA : Hay Bxos., Wholesale Agents, King William's Town. 1885. PRINTED BY LONGMAN & DAVIES, 3, Jerusalem Passage. London, E.G. DT PREFACE. O God ! for a man with a heart, head, hand Like some of the simple great ones gone For ever and ever bye : — One still strong man in a blatent laud ; Whatever they call him what care I ? Aristocrat, Democrat, Autocrat — One Who can rule and dare not lie. — Tennyson. These " Jottings " on the Orange Free State are but the utter- ings, voicings, and articulatings of one who has honestly attempted to pourtray that State as he found it. Many doubtless have experienced similar thoughts but lacked the energy and the heart to give them utterance. I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to others for their noble efforts in the past for the amelioration of man's condition, whilst contributing my humble quota on behalf of human-kmd. If I have succeeded in opening up any new train of thought that may have afforded pleasure or information to the readers, I shall be gratified ; and if the pecuniary results of this little ven- ture in the cause of human progress merely suffice to pay the printer, I shall be satisfied ; but as one does not live by paying printers only, my satisfaction will of course be enhanced should the harvest be more bountiful than would be required to cover typographical disbursements. I offer no apology for anything I have written. The questions herein mooted affect not only the Orange Free State but the whole of South Africa. The Author. 1333118 S;^e pi^targ 0f % §xm^t ixtt ^kit CONTENTS. Chapter I. Pp. 1 to 18. A glance at the early history ol the Free State — Traditions and speculations as to the Aborigines — The first definite records about the years 1816 to 1820 — The Griquas under Adam Kok settle at Griqua Town, and gradually spread them- selves along the Orange River, concentrating chiefly at Philippolis — The colonial Dutch farmers commence crossing the Orange River, and take up their abode in the new territory, whether they are soon followed by whole bodies of emigrants — The new comers purchase or lease lands from the Native Chiefs — The Emancipation of slaves in the Cape Colony caused large numbers to place themselves be- yond British control and take up their abode on the Orange River — The settlers form a government for them- selves after the model of the old Dutch Government of the Cape Colony — Matters go on quietly up till 1845 — After some fracas between the Emigrant Boers and the Griquas open hostilities break out — The British Government inter, venes, and assisting the Griquas with Her Majesty's troops- the Boers are defeated at Zwart Koppies— A British Resi- dent is established in the country, with a small force to support his authority — A treaty is concluded between the British Government and Adam Kok- The terms of the treaty cause great dissatisfaction amongst the Emigrant Boers — Their acknowledged chief Andries Pretorius, fails to obtain any amelioration of the conditions — In February, 1848, Sir Harry Smith jaoclaimed Her Majesty's Contents. V« sovereignty over tlie territory — Discontent now breaks out into hostilities, and in July the British Px,esident is driven back across the Orange River — Sir Harry Smith comes up in person with a stronger force, defeats the Boer Commando at Bloomplats and re-establishes British authority in the Orange River Sovereignty — The territory remains under the British Government represented by a Resident at Bloemfontein up to the year 1854 — Continual embroilments between the burghers and the Basutos — The cost of keeping up a large military force to preserve order induces the British Government to abandon the Orange River Sovereign- ty — On the 23rd February, 1854, a Convention is entered into between tne British Government and a body of dele- gates which forms the Charter of Independence of the Orange Free State — A Provincial Government formed un- der the presidency of Mr. Hoffman — A Volksraad, or assembly of the people elected, and a Republican Constitu- tion drawn up and adopted — The difhculties of the young Republic — President BoshofT— War with the Basutos from March till September, 1858 — The Convention of Aliwal North — President BoshofF resigned his office and is suc- ceeded by President Pretorius — Territorial annexations — Resignation of President Pretorius and election of Presi- dent Brand — Renewal of hostilities between the Orange Free State and the Basutos — A treaty of peace and a definite boundary line agreed upon — The diamond fields by the Vaal River — The British Government takes forcible possession of the disputed territory — The rascality of the Trek Boers — "Land and loot" the watchwords of the Dutch from the time they occupied the Cape — the Dutch only know one book, the Bible — From it they gather that they are the elect of God and the sons of Ham are to be their servants for ever — They start with the idea that they are of the House of the Lord and all others mere inter- lopers — What they call their " advanced mission " amongst the natives really means extermination — England's inter- position for the protection of the natives from Dutch vio- lence — History and facts give the lie to the pretensions of the Dutch — The Raad, the Executive, and the Sovereignty vi.'-'" Contents. of the people — " Commandeering " or *' requisitioning " neither more nor less than .spoliation or repudiation — The constitution, duties, payment, and conduct of the Raad or Parliament — The elements of sound political character not to be found either in the Free State or Transvaal Republics — Hollanders fand Germans thrive upon the credulity of the Dutch — The Free State governed by foreigners — Ex- posure of the many bad acts of omission and commission on the part of the Volksraad and the remedies for the same — Money agencies, or suckers and parasites — The Queen of Sheba and her treasures — South Sea Bubble-believers — Majuba, Sir G. P. Colley, and Sir Garnet Wolseley — The Dutch love of English sovereigns — The Free Staters very, very brave behind rocks and stones, but perfect cowards in the open — How the Basutos and the Transvaal Govern- ment were supplied with arms and ammunition — England's gold and Germany's poverty — The Moses of the Express — The best to command are they who know best how to obey, independently of consequences. Chapter II. Pp. 19 to 31. The Free State Express on the dismissal of Dr. Jorissen irom his position of State Attorney — The policy and cry of the Dutch party throughout South Africa " Africa for the Africanders " — The German-Hollander — Jewish faction — A magnified Cape Town dressmaker — The President of the Transvaal after conquering the natives, Shoots the leaders, appropriates their lands, cattle, &c., and enslaves eight thousand prisoners — " All shall right come " — Monarchical and Republican Governments contrasted — The Kind of Government wanted in the Free State — The presence of barristers and lawyers in Parliament inimical to the sim- plification of the laws — The election of medical men and scientists desirable — " Grand old men " — Napoleon the Third, but the Little, an ai'ch- traitor, perjurer, and bedizened villain — Sir John Brand and William the Silent of Orange Contents. viu —The Capital of the Free State described— The Public offices a disgrace to the architect— The Church-home and hospital the result of charity and debt— The chronic poverty of the " Sisters "—The holy, idiotic, itinerant bishop and his wretched acolytes so many walking im- posters— The Dutch Church the outcome of beef, mutton, and farming produce — Any literary man would feel ashamed to own the Public Library— The Building Society "a delusion and a snare " — Although a Dutch Capital with five thousand inhabitants not a tenth are Dutch — Its Eag Alley and Petticoat Lane— Its poverty disgusting, and its immorality and disease an eye-sore to decent people — Hot-beds of disease exposed in all their intensity and all their horrors — The prisons of South Africa including that of the Capital of the Free State— Their filthy and disgusting condition render them " living hells " — The Neapolitan dungeons of King Bomba would bear favourable compari- son with them — The dishonesty and corruption of the gaolers — The cruelty of long sentences of imprisonment and the physical and mental torture endured by the victims thereof — Judge or Jury, Chapter III. Pp. 32 to 44. The extortions of lawyers and agents — Political judges a nuisance in the Free State — They talk bunkum and spout treason —The Chief Justice of the Free State goes into the Cape Colony and takes an active part in setting up a " Bestuur " — Judge Reitz preferring the Presidency of the Free State to the " Judgemisfitship " sticks at no meanness to secure it — Mr. Hofmeyer and " Kitchen Dutch " — The Dutch Artillery manned by young men too lazy to work, and not fit for much better than targets to be shot at — The attack on Colonel Anstruther not fair fighting but simply sudden murder — Free State Doctors mostly quacks — Their ignorance and extortions — Twenty-five shillings for a visit, and seven and sixpence for a box of viii. Contents. pills — Their stock-in-trade for the most part consists of impudence and a few bottles with Latin inscriptions upon them — The officials as a rule are of German or Jewish nationality — The diamond mine swindle at Jagersfontein — A member of the Free State Eaad proposes to annex the Cape Colony — Free State official puppies snarling at John Bull's big dog — The Climate — The summer heat intolerable? and the winters cold and unbearable — Whatever grass or vegetation may be grown in the summer to fatten the cattle, the frost destroys in the winter, and the wind blows away for ever — German and Jewish hunger for John Bull's money — England and the Hanoverian connec- tion and German intermarriage combination — Downing Street a curse to all our Colonies — All mineral wealth must be public property — The Compulsory working of claims at the diamond mines. Chaptek IV. Pp. 45 to 49. An extraordinary piece of hasty legislation — The New Wine and Spirit Ordinance — Cutting off the patients head to cure the tooth-ache — Drunkenness amongst the natives, and the stringent enactment passed to suppress it — Contribu- tions by Plato, Pliny, Saint Chrysostom, Luther, Matthew Arnold, Maccall and Boon to the Temperance Question. Chapter V. Pp. 60 to 58. The Bill to punish the illegal possession of diamonds — Trap- stones sold in the dark by Kaffirs — Gross perjury and treachery resulting in cruel and unjust sentences — Free State lawyers — Their ability limited, their extortion unlimited — As a rule, like the Doctors, they are old mis- sionaries — The " black sheep " of the legal flock — Some of Contents. ix. the dodges resorted to by lawyers for levying black mail — A Ipersonal momento of the Free State lawyers way of making Englishmen pay for being fools enough to dwell there in opposition to Germans and Jews. — The members of the Free State Bar on strike— Mr. Sheriff Crosby as Taxing Master takes a very determined stand against the extortionate practices of the legal fraternity and gains the Jay — The Dutch are beginning to see that under the sneak- ing " ferneuking " Jew, German, and Hollander, they are in the hands of Shylocks— President Brand and his title, salary, and many public gifts— The Alsatia of Basutoland —The Dutch Thunderer or Express liar paper, edited by a Jew and owned by a German, secures by flattery and syco- phancy a contract for three years' printing— The old Free State notes and the French assignats—ll^Qix mode of issue, value, and the security upon which they were based ex- plained—Surreptitious issue into France by " the political vagabond " Pitt of assignats that were produced in Eng- land—Pitt sued in the King's Bench to recover the en- graver's charges for making the same — Gold owners and hard money supporters oppose some monetary arrange- ments—The solution of the financial problem means the redemption of farmers and manufacturers throughout the world. Chapter VI. Pp. 59 to 70. The Free State still a heathen country, a land still occupied with both white and black barbarians— The Free State Dutch- man dirty, mean and cruel — Many an Englishman has met foul play at their hands—They would feel no Com- punction in being the death of all the English but for the difficulty of burying them on the quiet— The Dutch meeting Houses are virtually courting houses where the young men look out for wives and the young women sigh for husbands —The opening of the New Town Hall and Public Library — Dutch gluttony and drunkenness at the banquet — The X. Contents. Englisli the salt of the Free State — A Presidential bereave- ment — One Cape Town dressmaker taken and the other left — Polygamy often practised in the Capital though not sanctioned by law and to have a plurality of wives is not considered a crime — The clergy are the public advocates of lying hypocrisy and stealing — Hollanders and Dutch- men repudiate their just debts and stink in the nostrils of the English — Debts and dishonour the constant companions of all the officials in the Free State from the President and his sons down to all his army of supporters. Chapter VII. Pp. 71 to 83. The inestimable value of Public Libraries and Homes of Painting, Sculpture and ail our Fine Arts — These repositories of imperishable things will form our future churches to the shame of the preachers of all denominations — Bible criti- cisms — A plea for the free discdssion of theological difficulties — The philosophy of secularism — Orthodoxy and Agnosticism — Revelation — Lucifer in the Confessional — "The Pirates of Penzance " — The House of Peers a house of hereditary vagabonds — The Queen only a figure-head and in no case useful. Chapter VIII. Pp. 84 to 99. The construction of j)ublic works of utility by means of national paper-money — The dangers of making acquaintances in Bloemfontein — Africa peculiarly a black man's playground and a place for no honest man — To cheat and be cheated is the system all round ; honesty is positively unknown — The Religious Orders and Churches in Bloemfontein are compounded of idiotcy, poverty and commercialism. The Theological College is a disgrace in every respect — The kiss of Sisterhood and after pleasures — Carnal pleasures CONSTENTS. ^1' increase spiritual delights— All the younger ones do it when the opportunity offers, although they may afterwards rue it— Dr. Twells, the young half-blood Beck and his companions— Edwin Heron on the Confessional-" Under which Lord ? ' — The decline of Orthodoxy— Protestants and the Bible— The triumph of truth— The Religion of the future — What we need— Press on. Chapter IX. Pp. 100 to 121. The uncertainty of the law ; unique and instructive personal ex- periences thereof— The Hollander and German arrange- ments to fleece all producers— A Maitland Street Post- cart-contractor-of-an-attorney— The faith of the Dutch Government in stamps— The advantages of the Code Napoleon— The white adult Africander population lazy, thriftless and roguish— The Cape no land for emigration, hut merely a half-way place to India— Oath or affirmation— The Guelphs and the Throne of England— The " jumping " proclivities of Free State born commercial assistants— The Free State, from the President, members of the Parliament, &c., downwards, a nest of polite and impolite robbers Boon re-chi-istened without godfather or godmother— Bloemfontein a most unhealthy spot and the " Queen City of Cesspools, Cow-Kaals and pigsties— Boon declared to be a Mormon in heart and a Turk in practice— Bloemfon- tein the home of the vilest and most contemptible of human wretches — " Trust none you know not, and trust none you "know"— Morality not Christianity— Self-improve- ment— The morality of the future— The coming man's religion— The animalism of the Free State burghers and women and its baneful results. xii. ' COKTENTS. Chapter X. Pp. 122 to 133. Drunken and idiotic judges — Victims of the Blasphemy Laws — The Dutch and English could live side by side happily, but the German, the Hollander, and the Jew cause strife — The Parliaments of the Cape Colony and the Orange Free State — Their manners, customs and attire — The alleged apathy and indifference of voters in the Cape Colony — More " legal " abuses and suggestions for their removal — Boon's political economy — The enormous increase in num- ber of lawyers in the United States, or an army of locusts forming a greater pest than the host of monks and friars that intested Europe on the Eve of the Reformation — M. J» Boon V. V. Van Reenen — The Press a power to harass and injure as will as to support. Chapter XL Pp. 134 to 146. A woman's description of the Free State lawyers — A black-blooded Dutch Sheriff — " Paradise " a hell to Boon and the finishing stroke to his patience — A Free State lawyer's bill of Costs in Extenso — Boon shows that private, legal, Parliamentary, and public robberies (in that of Paradise* Hell) cost him over £1500 in the course of a iew months — Boon's panacea or " perlect cure " for all legal, clericah commercial, agricultural, legislative and Presidential rascality in the Orange Free State. Chapter XII. Pp. 147 to 153. The President of the Free State as the lountain of c/zshonour meets the old Dutch-£2-per-day-men and Town Council — Boon proposes and describes an installation of the order oi Knight- hood with very i^uggestive titles — Bully swart Dutchmen, or^ half blacks with Dutch namee — their insolence to the English due to the (oily of a Colley and the weakness of a Contents. xiii. Gladstone — A modern Daniel — Idolatry — The policy of the Gladstone Administration and its results in South Africa. Chapter XIII. Pp. 154 to 167. Sepinare the Free State made Chief of the Barolongs not the rightful heir — The rivalry between Sepinare and Samuel Moroka — Sepinare giving farms to lawyers, missionaries, and the Bishop of Bloemfontein to ensure their support — The extortions practised upon the Barolongs to pay the Resident and the white forces under Commandant Raaff — The defeat and death of Sepinare by the followers of Samuel — The Friend of the Free State on the Barolong disturbances — The annexation of the Barolong Territory — Diplomatic Relations — The beginning of the end — Aiders and Abettors — Is it Peace ? — Proclamation by President Brand — A Treaty of amity ayid TreacJm'y . Chapter XIV. Pp. 168 to 188. The financial position of the Free State in 1884 — The failure to negotiate a loan in England and the causes thereof — Ex- traordinary Session of the Volksraad — " The way it should be done " — Patent Law — National paper-money and its use — A perfect buck animal or human monster — Express views on the Free State legal profession — The Free State Balance Sheet — Mr. Higgo and his day of prayer — Hard Times — More Swindling — Jewish Fire Kings and Fire Dragons defrauding their creditors and the insurance offices — The descendants of the Impenitent Thieves of the Roman Era deserve the liatred of m;>nkind. Chapter XV. Pp. 189. to 203. A lively and amusing " Skit " on the Bloemfontein Town Council by Blikoor — The Sanitary surroundings of Bloemfontein xiv. Contents. — Paying the piper — The water supply of Bloemfontein — How to construct public municipal water works by means of national paper- money — " Utopia is a pleasant place, but how shall I c;et there ? " Chapter XVI. Pp. 204 to 217. Preparations for a May day ' Festival' — Meeting of the Volksraad The Treasurer-General's balance Sheet — A Serious debit balance of £39,722 4s. 3jd — Trade influencing Revenue — Bad Times — Measures for peace in Basutoland — What a New Ministry means — The Natal Wityiess on Railways and the Rebate Customs — But for its connection with England the Free State would be an uninhabited wilderness — German and Hollander human asvogals — Boon has a holiday and goes sight- seeing — The Town Council votes £10 for a National day of rejoicing — The swearing-in of His Honour J. H. Brand as President — The procession amusements, and illuminations. Chapter XVII. Pp. 218 to 222. Banking] power a monopoly — " Blue-backs " issued on the public and their securities stolen, consequently their market value diminished — Interested parties oppose the issue of paper-money — Boon's opinion of a few of the " big ones " — A magistrate not knowing his duties — Commercial trickery. Chapter XVIII. Pp. 223 to 228. Settling with a Landlord — Roman-Dutch Law and E(|uity — Cause of hatred to a squint-eyed man — Information is vouchsafed that it is not legal to rob — The Africander Bond says that Contents. xv. lawyers are to be extirpated — Hostile feeling to the legal profession, why and wherefore — The remedy for reformation lies with the profession itself — The scarcity of " free men ' » in Bloemfontein, the remainder of business houses ex- pecting by every mail to receive their conge— K cry to John Bull. Chapter XIX. Pp. 229 to 246. Personal remarks on an unfortunate wretch — Threatened action for £500 for loss of character — " Fortune favours the Iji-ave" — Sharpers in Bloemfontein — The Keformer — System of Thieving Practised by the Medical profession — A good salary and an enormous fee for two days' visits — The Volksraad takes the medical faculty in hand — Sharp prac- tise, buying a farm of a dying man for a small sum — Medical Scandals — The memorial (translated into English) got up by the faculty to be presented to the Volksraad to reduce the tariff Ordinance — How to put down Quackery — District Surgeoncies — On putting up his shutters for the last time Boon is asked to deliver a parting lecture — The selected subject somewhat astonishes the Town Clerk — The Town Hall hired — A Hard-God, alarmed, summoned a full meeting of the Town Council — A Mayor believes in free speech but not in a speech of freedom — Good English sovereigns and the Town Hall refused ; consequently a " set to " prevented — A solemn warning to the Prussian thieves — " A crew to fly from " — St. Edmond-of-the- Council assures Boon that the refusal of the Hall was the saving of his (Boon's) life — Programme of entei'tainment and the laconic letter of refusal — The last Sunday in Bloem- fontein — No longer light and sunshine, a total eclipse ex- pected — " Away, away with him, he knows too mucii to leave us alone." xvi, Contents. Valedictory. Pp. 247 and 248. Boon does not wait for the day of judgement and of doom but mounts the Post-cart for his last ride in and out of the Orange Free State — The way to be an ever-living boon, not for the Free State only but to all States and for all time — Sad thoughts broke in upon and indignation aroused at the sight of the dry bed of the Modder-river — Boon begs to subscribe. THE OEANGE FREE STATE : A GLANCE AT ITS EARLY HISTORY. CnAriER I. HE earliest traditionary accounts concerning the territory now known as the Orange Free State con- vey the idea that it was not inhabited by any par- ticular race, but rather that marauding bands from various tribes, either Kaffirs, Bashmen, or Corannas, from time to time infested it with a view to secure pasture for their flocks, or to escape destruction at the hands of some stronger and "inimical races ; and it is only about the years from 18 IG to 1820 that the records become definite as determining the fact that a body of Griquas under Adam Kok settled at Griqua Town, and afterwards gradually spread themselves along the Orange River, concentrating their greatest number at what is now called Philippolis. About this time many colonial- Dutch farmers commenced crossing the Orange River with their flocks in search of pasturage during times of drought in the Colony, and took up their abode in the new territory, more especially in the vicinity of Riet River. These pioneers were afterwards followed up by whole bodies of emigrants, one of which settled in the district of Boshof, on lands purchased by them from the Coranna chiefs Dantzer and Bloem, while another located itself in what was afterwards termed Vaal E,iver district, on lands bought from the chief Mataquan, and many 2 The Orange Free State. more either leased or bouglit lands in the territory of the Griquas, between the Rietand Orange Rivers. The numbers of the emigrants were also greatly increased by the influx of those colonists who felt themselves aggrieved by the emancipation of slaves, and left the Colony in 1836 in large numbers in order to place themselves beyond British control. These settlers formed a government for themselves after the model of the old Dutch Government of the Cape Colony, and matters went on quietly up till 1845, when, in consequence of some fracas between the emigrant Boers and the Griquas which resulted in hostilities, the British Government intervened and, assisting tha Griquas with Her Majesty's troops, defeated the Boers at Zwart Koppies. To prevent a like occurence, a British Resident was established in the country, with a small force to support his authority. But a treaty had been entered into between the British Government and Adam Kok in 1845, in which certain terms affecting the Boer tenure of property in Griqualand were comprehended, which gave great dissatisfaction to the emigrantfj and their acknowledged chief Andries Pretorious used every endeavour to procure an amelioration of these terms, but without success. Accordingly, after the proclamation of Her Majesty's sovereignty over the territory by Sir Harry Smith, in February, 1848, discontent broke out into hostilities, and the British Resi- dent was driven back across the Orange River in July, 1848, until a stronger force could be brought up by Sir Harry Smith in person, which force met the Boer Commando at Boomplaats, and after a short but sharp encounter, defeated it, whereby British authority became re-established in the Orange River Sovereignty. This territory now remained under the Government, represented in the person of a British Resident at Bloemfontein, where a fort had been erected mounting three guns, and the Seat of Residency had been established up to the year 1854. During this period many Europeans and colonists of European descent also took up their abode m the Sovereignty. Owing, however, to the continued em- broilments of the burghers with the Basutos, under Moshesh and Moletsaine, not in their own quarrels, but in those of allies of the British Government, and the cost thereby occasioned of keeping up a considerable millitary force, the abandonment of the Orange River Sovereignty was recommended to the Home Government and The Orange Free State. 3 carried out under the special cDmmissionership of Sir George Clerk, who, notwithstanding the opposition of many of the inhabitants, especially of Bloemfontein, made over the government of the Orange River Sovereignty to a body of delegates representing the various districts, in terms of a convention entered into on the 23rd February 1854, — which convention is the Charter of Independence of the Orange Free State. Two articles of this convention are as follows : — " The British Government has no alliance whatever with any native chief or tribes to the northward of the Orange liiver, with the exception of the Griqua Chief, Kaptyn Adam Kok ; and Her Majesty's Government has no wish or intention to enter hereafter into any treaties that may be injurious or prejudicial to the interests of the Orange River Government ; and the Orange River Grovernment shall have free- dom to purchase their supplies of ammunition in any British colony or possession in South Africa, subject to the laws provided for the regulation of the sale and transit of ammunition in any such British colonies and possessions." And these articles were approved and confirmed by Her Majesty's Government. A Provisional Government was at once formed by the dele- gates, under the presidency of Mr. Hoffmann, and afterwards a Republican Constitution was drawn up and adopted by the Volksraad — the assembly of the people — the members of which had in the meantime been duly elected. For some time after its erection into a separate state, the Govern- ment of the Orange Free State was principally engaged in meeting the difficulties arising out of the many boundary questions with petty native chiefs in and bordering on the Free State, the princi- pal settlement arrived at being the definition of the Vetberg line between Adam Kok and Cornelis Kok and Waterboer, in 1855. And it was only during the able presidency of Mr. BoshofF, com- mencing in August, 1855, that attention could ilrst be given to the internal affairs of the country, and some order established by salutary local ordinances, which are in force at the present day, regulating, amongst other matters, the establishment of law courts, tariffs, sale of gunpowder, the liquor law, &c. But this dawn of order was soon to be clouded by territorial disputes with the Basutos, which assumed greater importance, and eventually, in March, 1858, culminated in war between the burghers of the new 4 The Orange Fbee State. Eepublic and their thievish neighbours. The hostilities lasted with varied fortune, and were finally brought to a close by the convention of Aliwal North, on the 29 th September, ]858. The following year, 1859, saw the Orange Free State deprived of the further services of President BoshofF by the resignation of his office, and although there are those who may have differed with him, still the almost universal voice was one of regret at the loss of the man who not only did so much for the internal regulation of the country, but also so ably conducted the State through its early difficulties with Witzie, the South African Eepublic, Scheel Cobus, and the Basutos. A successor to President Boshoflf was elected in the person of President Pretorius, the son of the well-known Commandant- General Andries Pretorius, of Boomplaats celebrity, who assumed the reins of office in 18C0. The two principal events during his term of oflice were — first, the annexation to the Orange Free State of the Bethulie lands by special treaty with the chief, Tephin ; and secondly, the purchase from the Griqua chief, Adam Kok, on his migration to the territory of Nomansland in 1861, of all his lands, and those he inherited from Oornelis Kok, of Campbell whereby the Vetberg line became part of the boundary of the Orancre Free State, and the Government of that State obtained right and title to the Campbell lands, situated to the north of Vaal River. On the resignation of President Pretorius in 1863, a new election was held, and President Brand, one of the leading barristers of the Supreme Court in the Cape Colony, assumed ofiice as the chosen of the people in February, 1864. The peace secured by the treaty of Aliwal proved a hollow one, and as the Basutos not only repudiated their treaty engagements, but continued their depredations and committed various outrages on the burghers inhabiting their frontier, President Brand's first endeavours were directed to the attainment of a satisfactory settlement of the boundary line, and he succeeded in getting this defined by the arbitration of Sir Philip Wodehouse, Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, in October, 18G4, whose award was entirely in favour of the Orange Free State. Notwithstanding this peaceful solution of the question, the attitude of the Basutos grew daily more and more threatening, and the Orange Free State saw itself forced to The Ora.nge Fkee State. 5 arms, and took the field in May, 1865. The struggle lasted eleven months, and then hostilities ceased, a treaty of peace, on very advantageous terms for the Orange Free State, being signed at Thaba Bosigo, Moshesh's stronghold on the 3rd April, 1S6G, by which, among other conditions, a large tract of country was ceded to this State. The new territory was inspected by commissioners, and divided into farms which were granted and sold on conditions of military tenure, and as Basuto squatters had here and there re-occupied portions of this tract, it became necessary to clear the country of them by a commando called out for that purpose on the i2th March, 1867. But this measure had not the desired effect, for in the months of June and July following, parties of Basutos re-entered the territory, and murdered two subjects of the Orange Free State named Bushe and Krynauw, and defiance was flung at its Govern- ment when it demanded the delivery to justice of the murderers. Consequently, in the month of August, 1867, the Commando of the Orange Free State burghers took the field afresh, and soon victory crowned the Free State cause, as stronghold after strong- hold was taken from the enemy, and there remained now only to Moshesh his own fortress of Thaba Bosigo, when hostilities were brought to a close by the intervention of the British Government, according to proclamation of His Excellency Sir Philip Wode- house, dated 12th March, 1868, whereby Moshesh and his subjects were declared to be British subjects. An armistice was agreed upon, during which this contravention of Article 2 of the Convention of the 23rd February, 1854, formed the topic of a lengthy correspondence, and it was only alter a deputation from the Orange Free State was sent to England that a satisfactory settlement of the question was arrived at, as defined in the Convention of Aliwal North, dated 12Lh March, 1869, whereby the terms of peace and a definite boundary line to the new territory were finally fixed, as agreed upon between Her Majesty's High Commissioner and the Orange Free State Government. Immediately after this settlement had been arrived at, negotia- tions were carried on with the Transvaal Fvcpublic which resulted in a Deed of Slibmission by which the definition of the boundary line between the two Republics was confided to the arbitration of 6 The Okaxge Fiiee Stape. Lieutenant-Governor Keate, of tlie Colony of Natal, and his decision was communicated to the respective Governments in February, 1870 ; and the award, although virtually at variance with the object for which the arbitration was agreed on, was never- theless, in the interests of peace and a good understanding with its sister Republic adopted by the Orange Free State. But another boundary question which had from time to tim3 engaged the attention of the Volksraad — viz. : that between the Orange Free State and Nicolas Waterboer — now assumed pro- minence owing to the discovery of diamonds on the Vaal Pv-iver, near Pniel, a mission station ot the Berlin Mission Society in the district of Jacobsdal. A Deed of Submission had been agreed upon between the Orange Free State Government and Captain Nicolas Waterboer, whereby the then Governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Philip Wodehouse, was appointed to arbitrate as to the claims set up on behalf of Waterboer to the Campbell Lands to the north of the Vaal River, which had been purchased from Captain Adam Kok by the Free State Government ; but the deed was rendered nugatory by the removal of Sir Philip Wodehouae to the Governorship of Bombay in British India. Under these circumstances every endeavour was made to bring the matter to a satisfactory solution, without further loss of time, but without avail ; and at last the Orcin^e Free State Government, after a meeting with Waterboer and his Council at Nooitgedacht, on the Vaal River, on the 18th August, 1870, from which meeting the latter unceremoniously withdrew, saw itself constrained to proclaim the territorial boundaries of the Campbell Lands to the north of Vaal River purchased by it from Adam Kok, as heir to Cornells Kok, in 1861. Meanwhile, a large influx of people from all parts of the Cape and Natal colonics and from foreign countries, to the Diamond- fields on the banks of the Vaal River, took place, and gradually spread itself to tlie dry diggings at Du Toit's Pan, Bultfontein, and Vooruitzigt, in the districts of Pniel, which had been newly created out of the districts of Jacobsdal and Boshof, in order to provide for the establishment of a more efficient control and special regulations for the moral and sanitary condition of the mining population ; and while the Orange Free State Government was engaged in the consideration of the required measures to The Orange Free Statn. 7 meet the altered circumstances of this portion of its territory, Waterboer, urged on by his agent, presented a petition to the British Government representing that a great portion of the territory had been encroached upon by the Orange Free State Governm-ent, and requesting its acceptance of himself and his people as subjects, and its intervention on his behalf. Lieutenant Governor Hay, then Acting High Commissioner of the British Government, thereupon identifying himself with Waterboer's representations, and without awaiting an answer to his ofEclal inquiries as to the right and title of the Orange Free State Government to the lands claimed by Waterboer, forthwith, in violation of the second and other articles of the Convention of 23rd February, 1854, appointed commissioners and empowered them with authority over the diggers, which authority was at first only exercised on the north side of the Vaal. On the arrival of Governor Barkly at the Cape in 1871, a pro- clamation was issued on the 27th October, 1871, declaring Water- boer and his people British subjects, and claiming as his territory not only the Campbell Lands, to the north of the Vaal, but also all the territory on the south side o€ that river up to a straight line from Platberg to David's Graf, at the junction of the Riet and Modder Rivers, and thence in a straight line to Ramah and the Orange River. This proclamation was followed up by forcible possession being taken of the lands in question, in a time of pro- found peace ; and in order to avoid a collision and the dire effects which a war with a consanguineous race in the Colony would inevitably entail, the Government of the Orange Free State with- drew its authority and officials from that portion of its territory by proclamation of President Brand, dated 8th November, 1871, under solemn protest against this invasion of its rights. It has since endeavoured to obtain justice for the violation of its territory in arbitration, and deeds of submission thereto, on the merits of this question, are still under discussion and correspondence between the Government of Her Majesty and that of the Orange Free State. Many events have occurred in conDection with this question, each in its turn threatening to disturb the peaceful relations between the parties concern'eH in it ; but sufficient proof has been given that the terms of the Conveutiou of 1854 have not received that 8 The Orange Fkee State. due regard which a weaker power may with the more justice expect from the stronger, and that the endeavours of the Govern- ment of the Orange Free State to secure the definition of the boundary line made over to them, with all its attendant difH- culties, by that Convention, have but too often been thwarted by those from whom it had a right to expect every possible co- operation. Such, then, are the principal events which have occupied the Orange Free State Government to such a degree that the internal affairs of the State have not received that attention which many important branches urgently demand ; and to this it is owing that the judicial, administrative, and educational departments still call forth the earnest study of every well-meaning citizen with a view to their establishment on the best possible footing. Being a Kepublican, I necessarily took a deep interest in the Orange Free State and Transvaal Republics. A system may be good in theory but very defective in practice, or in consequence of the imperfect way in which the system is carried out. The Trek Boers who had left the Colony in haste, as they said through fear of the English, in reality did so because they w^ere no longer allowed to do as they liked in stealing, first the cattle, then the land, and finally the persons of the natives to make them slaves under the guise of indentured servants, whom they agreed to pay wages either in money or in kind. It invariably happened however that the Boers, lacking common honesty, dismissed their victims without paying them ; and thus they goaded the unfor- tunate natives to help themselves, which resulted in their being called a band of thieves ; whereas, to speak truthfully, the Boers were the thieves in the first instance. I know there are some who will, upon reading this statement, indignantly challenge its truth ; to them I say, "reserve your judgment until you have followed me to the end of this chapter and book." " Land and loot" have been the watchwords of the Dutch from the time they occupied the Cape ; and Mr. Merriman, of the Cape Government, said as much in the House of Assembly in the Session of July, 1SS3, after the Dutch Emigrants had trekked into Tembuland, and were backed up by the Dutch Members of Parlia- ment, who advised them to resist lawful authority and defy the Government. The Orange Free State. 9 This was only on a par with the movement in Stellaland where a number of families moved " to fields afresh and pastures new," and without any definite idea of government, banded themselves into a sort of community, and for general practical purposes elected a Head ; and according as they prospered or otherwise, this man was remunerated or discarded — a mode of procedure that after all was but a repetition of the method in vogue in old times. I don't deny that many of the old leaders were brave men, who with full confidence in the rifles and powder supplied them by England, boldly went into the forests, risked their lives among the native tribes, and in many cases, as in Weenen in Natal, be- came the victims of treachery ; but still with marvellous pluck they continued to face their enemies, whom they relentlessly mowed down with their rilles and elephant guns until they ultimately attained their ends. There was nothing at all wonderful in this ; the Dutch only know one book — the Bible — from which they gather, and don't want to learn anything beyond what is to them the all-important fact, that they are the Elect of God, and that the sons of Ham are to be their servants for ever. In this they are in no way different from many who make use of that unfortunate book solely for the purpose of upholding their own special views and interests ; and who, without so much as having heard of Tamerlane or Suarrow of Catherine's time, would in imitation of them even " make a desert " of either of their so-called Republics if they thought it necessary to do so in order to put down opposition and remove all obstacles from their path. Now, starting with the idea that they are of the House of the Lord and all others are but interlopers, they take possession of the land for their daily sustenance ; then all they ask is to be left alone to carry out their •* advanced mission" or — as it really means — extermination in their own way. In the very Free State where I penned these words, the Dutch had to be restrained by the English, who refused to abandon that sterile mountain-top part of Africa until they had obtained from the Dutch a promise of protection for the natives. Notwithstand- ing their solemnly reiterated pledges, such were the encroachments of the Dutch upon the natives at Philippolis and in Griqualand West, that the English had again to step iu and protect the natives 10 The Orange Fkee State. once more from what would eventually have been extermination. That they are trying to repeat the process is to be seen by those who read in this year 1883 — 4, in Mackarani country on the other side of Kimberley, where they have attempted to set up a miniature Kepublic to the detriment of the natives and also of the white population. I know that the Dutch will swagger and maintain that they are the victims of England's greed ; but nothing of the kind. I, living on the spot, had good, full opportunities of finding out — and I took the trouble to ascertain — the truth ; and I fearlessly assert that history and all the facts of the case give the lie to the pretensions of the Dutch. The Free State, as a Republic, possessed the basis of the best possible form of government ; but all its real advantages were entirely ignored, both by the Raad and the Executive. The prin- ciple of the sovereignty of the people was tacitly understood, and by the people cherished in good faith. AVithin the last few years they had no standing army, every burgher being at all times liable to be called upon for service. What is known there as " commandeering " — a system somewhat similar to the " requisi- tioning " practised by the Germans in the war with France in 1880-81 — was carried on in the Free State; and in most cases was neither more nor less than spoliation or repudiation, unless the victims were prepared, by way of compensation, to occupy lands conquered, or to receive cattle that had been looted, with a certain quantity of " black ivory " thrown in as future slaves. The equality of man is at no time recognised, and to such a pitch of frenzy have they arrived, that they are now disposed to shout Africa for Africanders of European descent, totally ignoring the Africanders of the soil. As it is possible that the natives may determine to resist these raids upon their lands and cattle, the Republic now maintains a standing artillery force, and keeps on hand a supply of dynamite wherewith to attack the natives in their hills and strongholds if they object to give up their lands and cattle, or pay taxes as tributaries. The Raad, or Parliament, is constituted mainly of farmers, and they meet annually. Dignity and honour are to them words with- out meaning. In order to give no cause for complaint, they as- semble in the winter months, when pastoral and agricultural operations generally cannot be undertaken, receiving for their The Okaxge Free State. U services the sum of £2 per day ; and I fearlessly assert that but for this public bribe, not a tenth part of their number would leave their homes. I am a supporter of the principle of payment of Members of Parliament, but then I expect they will give an honourable return for their remuneration. The bulk of these men never understand the questions brought before them unless they relate to cattle or pounds, but are entirely guided by their Predi- kant and the few leaders, so that in reality they might as well vote by proxy ; and they would do so were it not that they must be present in order to secure the £2 per day. Such is their joy at getting the same to take back to their wives and children, and their greed to increase the amount, that they unnecessarily prolong every Session, and even have extraordinary Sessions so as to make it more ; whilst their travelling expenses are allowed them at all times. In almost all cases these men free the farming interest from taxation, and lay it heavily upon the commercial portion of the community, who generally are not of Dutch extraction, and they feel the burden most acutely. Once in every five years, the Kaad or Parliament nominate one of their body for election as their President, and he is ilnally chosen by the general population ; but such is the supineness of the rural inhabitants that they never question what is provided for them, thus opening the way for any unprincipled advsnturer who may be proposed as their President to assist in the nefarious designs of the Assembly. The Republican is the highest form of Government by virtue of the fact that it requires the highest form of intellect to understand and follow it up to its final conclusions. This truth should com- mend itself to the whole world ; a properly constituted Govern- ment can only exist where the people are thoughtful and honest, and where they manifest fidelity to the principles of honour and the service of public utility ; and I fearlessly say that these elements of sound political character are not to be found either in the Free State or Transvaal Republics. Attached to both Re- publics are a number of Hollanders and Germans, who thrive upon the credulity of the Dutch, so that you may say in reality of the Free State that it is governed by foreigners, who maintain their position by traducing the English and levying all the taxes upon imported goods ; and thus it will continue until they eat up the 12 The Orange Free State. native-born Dutch, wlio must continue to suffer unless they again ask and obtain protection from England. The Late Session of Volksraad. The various Acts ot Legislation recently passed tbrougb the Volksraad aie so entirely at variance with the best interests of the community at large, and so obviously caused by the utter ignorance of, or indifference to, the real condition under which alone a young Colonial State can prosper, that we cannot refrain from trying to point out where, in our opinion, the root of the evil lies, with a view of eliciting an exhaustive discussion of the whole matter ; which may eventually lead to the improvements in our general position — the imperative necessity of which everybody will admit. Amongst the many bad acts of commission and omis- sion lately passed of which we have great reason to complain, are : — 1. The refusal of admission to foreign Banks, excepting the Bank of Africa. 2. The refusal of the veto right to the President. 3. The bad principle of favouritism by giving out, contrary to law, important Government contracts without calling for tenders; which bad example is bound to act as a very bad pattern and precedent. oA. The neglect of suitable Postal arrangements. 4. The new liquor-law which aims at destroying the liberty of the subject, and inaugurates the antiquated and ridiculous attempt of improving morals by an act of law. 5. The highly important decision of the hon. Volksraad in the matter of compulsory working of claims in the Free State diamond mines, the consequence of which will be to destroy all faith in the validity of our titles or tenure of property under Free State laws. Our hon. Volksraad being chiefly composed of farmers without any experience of business, or any wide range of knowledge be- yond that of the immediate requirements of their own class, it cannot be wondered at that their deliberations on these important measures are so wide of the mark, as these matters would tax to the utmost the best powers of men who are endowed with the The Orange Feee State. 13 liigliest intellect, and alive to tlie interests of a progressive new country. At present the farming interest is the only one which can be said to receive any special attention at the hands of our Legislative Assembly. Whenever questions concerning any other class of burghers, be they business men or diggers, are to be regu- lated by law, experience has shown the majority of members of the Volksraad to be altogether ignorant of the simplest questions involved, and their interference has naturally had the effect of making a mess of these matters to the detriment of the best interests of the whole State. Now it is our opinion that this deplorable state of affairs is principally due to the great indifference shown to the political institutions by the more enlightened inhabitants of the State and to their political duties and rights. Up to within the last few years legislation in this country was carried on in a rather noise- le.ss way, without interfering much with the rights of those classes of the community who were not farmers ; but the result of the war in the Transvaal has entirely altered the aspect of affairs, and the formation of the Africander Bond has tended to bring to bear a very decided and strong influence on legislation, with the object of ruling all classes of the community, regardless of their legisla- tive needs, according to the ill-considered views of the more unen- lightened class of farmers. To put the case briefly, an intelligent minority and their interests — which are likewise very important interests, common to all burghers of the State — are at present not represented in the Volksraad at all ; and it is of the highest im- portance that they should exert whatever influence they may have to mend this great grievance. There is not, in our opinion, any complaint of malice or ill-will against the majority of the present legislators ; it is principally their want of knowledge of the real bearings of the cases not immediately connected with farming interests which leads so often to those bungles in law-making, and a remedy can only be effected by strenuous efforts which, however, may be easily made successful. It is suggested that the classes most interested, all over the State, should iorthwith be communicated with to send delegates to Bloemfontein with a view of discussing the above matters, and either of forming a separate association, for the protection of the injured vested interests by the aid of supporting a good newspaper 14 The Orange Free State. and au agitation for the purpose of returning more suitable mem- bers for the Volksraad at all future elections ; or of joining the Africander Bond in a body for the purpose of guiding its inlluence in the proper direction for the development of the best interests of all classes of the community. The necessary agitation to be decided upon by a Central Committee, the members of which to be resident at or near Bloemfontein, and immediate measures to be taken in order to bring the worst grievances before the impending extra Session of the Volksraad. While I write, these flattering foreigners, finding that the pro- spect is not so bright, have conceived anew idea ; and in conjunc- tion with the Dutchmen of the Colony hold it over the heads of the colonists in terrorevi. Having no money of their own, depending upon an English currency, not possessing too much natural wealth, and not knowing yet how to make or construct their own railways and other public works without bonds, loans or mortgages, as I have in my other works explained, they have conceived (more especially since the Majuba affair in the Trans- vaal, which I will discuss hereafter) the idea that the colonists ought to pay black- mail, on what they are pleased to call a rebate on Custom dues, which if they were such fools as to do, they say would enable them to pay interest for the money to build their railways ; and led on by the foreigners, I have named, cry out like spoilt children for English gold, irrespective of justice, or without giving any sound reason for the same. They ignore the fact, or rather choose to forget that it is the colonists that jiave incurred debts — over twelve millions — to make harbours and breakwaters, railroads, and main roads, to facilitate transit up and down, and that in reality it is but an insurance fund to guard the outside of the Colony, positively making it possible for the Dutchman to live on his farm, and these political impostors to fatten on the credulity of the farmers. Of course as might be expected, there is to be found all sorts of money agencies at work, to get enriched at the expense of the community ; and it may virtually be said that there is not one farmer out of ten who is not under some monetary obligation to these agencies, and simply because the foreign governors ask to share the plunder with their friends at home. It is not too much to sav that the?e suckers and parasites are beginning to think The Orange Free State. 15 that the Free State is played out, and I must admit they are not far wrong. The EngUsh market at Kimberley and the late wars have enriched all, but as these circumstances are not likely to last or occur again for some time to come, they are packing up their trunks and making their way to the Transvaal, to bamboozle and persuade the rotten G-overnment there to pass away in the form of Conventions, valuable tracts of land which they say are the exact spots where the Queen of Sheba got all her treasures. What wonderful faith some people have in these days. If I was disposed to give an opinion, I should say that in her wisdom Her Sheban Majesty took all away from that spot long long ago, but such is the simplicity of some people in haste to get rich, that they will give away, like the dog over the brook, the substance for the shadow ; and will only realise that they are dupes when they, like the South Sea Bubble-believers, find themselves deficient of all their means. The present leaders of the Transvaal are but the accidental out- come of the mistake made at Majuba by that unfortunate impul- sive man, Sir G. P. Colley, and afterwards overlooked and condoned by the weak and vacillating policy of a false, peace-at-any-price, paltry, party Government ; and which has had the result not only of making the very name of Englishmen a bye-word in both Re- publics, bnt has brought about the positive ruin of thousands through putting faith in the words of Sir Garnet Wolseley, that " as long as the sun shone, no alteration could take place or cause the removal of the British Flag;" and yet in the face of all these promises, a most unjustifiable peace was proclaimed. One could have tolerated much, if the Transvaal leaders had started with honour and dignity, and if, having been saved from bankruptcy and native devastation, they had oflPered to re-coup the outlay of the British Government. Such a course would have been decent and becoming, but to attempt to repudiate all the advantages given, was the act of blackguards and blacklegs ; and the sudden attack on the troops, while playing a parade tune, was an act of infamy that no future apology can wipe out. It was simply a wild-animal blood-seeking attack, which no Government ought to have over- looked, much less the English Government. The whole campaign including the conclusion of peace by telegraph was so disgraceful, that in very shame Englishmen try to forget the bitter humiliation IG The Orange Free State. they were subjected to, and sucli a wretched makeshift for right will yet necessitate the alteration of the whole of the conditions, if Englishmen are to be respected. This peace gave birth to a wretched compound called an Afri- cander Bond, ostensibly got up by the Germans in order to stir up the Dutchman to get rid of the English — and to make way for an offshoot of the German Empire. At the Congress at Richmond, a resolution was moved to encourage patriotism as a preparation for a United Flag of Africa. The States of Africa can never be independent while their natives increase and multiply as they do, any more than India could be governed by its white population. In India the experiment was tried and it failed, so that at last the whole had to be ruled as a conquered province. It is true that the Whig, to save expense desires the Colonies to take care of themselves ; but Africa is not like our other Colonies where the native population decreases, making it possible for white occupation. On the contrary, the Kaffir increases, notwithstanding the various epidemics and the many wars that have taken place time after time. It would be a sad day for all the Dutch, if ever the English Flag was lowered, for even now the Boers are regretting that the English are gone, and many would be glad if they would but return. The fact is only now and then let out, so don't tell it in Gath, or make it known in Ascalon — they do love the English golden sovereigns. But for the last few years Africa has stank in the nostrils of Great Britain. The English people have spent millions to assist in putting down native disturbances in the Colony, Zululand and the Transvaal, principally for the benefit of steam companies, controllers, tariffs, contractors, and officers ; and for all this outlay, they should have had peace and good- will among all the people. It is also my firm conviction notwith- standing all the past loss and mismanagement, England would spend millions more, if it ■« as needed, to prevent the overwhelming of the white population by the black ; but if she does, it will be in her own way, and for the benefit of the whole, not a part. Tlie wretched attempt of a Sprigg to control the Basutos by unjustifiable means, cost the Colony over three millions, and then such was the stand made by the Basutos, for what even the colonists (not Spriggites) considered they were not entitled to, that The Orange Free State. 17 the party of land and loot had at last to ask the English Govern- ment to take over a land that they could not control and govern. The acceptance of this duty by England is the one gleam of light through many a long day of gloom. Once let the English flag fly as representative of England's might, and all will be well from the Drakensberg to the Zambesi. This prospect has called forth a howl of fright, and even the gallant so-called reliant Free State* that prided itself upon beating what they are pleased to call a nation of thieves — after having robbed the Basutos of the land as well as the geese and cattle that were sustained upon it — shout out for mighty England to protect, not only the Colonial Border, but even their's, for fear it might cost them too much to do so themselves. Bah ! the Free Staters are like their Transvaal brethren, very, very brave behind rocks and stones — but perfect cowards in the open. This assumption of Basutoland may event- ually lead to the amalgamation of the Transkei, Nomansland, Natal and Zululand, as a whole Province to the advantage of all, if wisely carried out — after the style of the old Romans. Once let England plant her flag there should be no retreat, let the con- sequences or expense be what it might. For England there is no retreat, but after death ; let who may say to the contrary. This is a view by no means impossible, and even the Free State is alarmed, and in addition to asserting that they have paramount claims to be considered, they have the impudence to say it was Colonial mismanagement that brought the Free State into jeopardy, and that the taking over of the Basutos was a breaking of the Aliwal Treaty. The despatches, on the taking-over question prove nothing of the kind. They simply reminded the Orange Free State of certain conditions contained in the Convention which they would have to fulfil ; and one of these conditions was, that they should not invade Basutoland, or wink at its principals — German, Pinch-Us, Boo- Man, Green and traders in its Capital and elsewhere, supplying the Basutos with arms and ammunition, as the President had done for a long time, as well as al-cwirjs- his own sons — who rented or owned farms in the conquered terri- tory—to do the same for many years with impunity. Methinks, I see an attempt to deny all this ; but having lived in the Free State, when the Colonial Government stopped their ammunition supply, I can hurl the lie in their teeth. I boldly assert, and B 18 The Orange Free State. could prove that it was mainly due to the large supply of ammu- nition and the very best arms by the Free Staters, that the war was so prolonged, and which caused the Colonists to depart from Basotoland in disgrace. The Free State Government lent and sold ammunition to the Transvaal Government, to compel the Mapochs to surrender, and what with the help of the English volunteers and others — whom they had compelled to enter their ranks — notwithstanding that the Convention specified that British subjects should be exempt, they did at last make the poor wretches after many, many months of besieging, deliver themselves up — some to be shot, others to be transferred as servants among the farmers, to be articled, they say, for a number of years, to sow again dissention aud revolt among the native tribes. Although it may be a fact, that the natives will settle down where there is water and grass, still they remember the land of their birth and the mountain stad of their chief. The close proximity of the British flag seems to many to forebode the beginning of the end of Dutch rule in South Africa, with the top of the wedge at Masaru and Cape Town as the future New York of South Africa, with its railway right up to Kimberley — supplying from the Western Pro- vinces the whole of the interior trade, with the prospect of the Bechuanas, placing themselves under British protection, and after- wards the line of railway round on the Colonial side of the Trans- vaal to the Garden of Rustenburg, and finally on to Pretoria, will keep the Free State out in the cold, and without her railways, en- girdle her still more with British influence and might. The Natal and Zululand and Delogoa Bay or St. Lucia's Bay- Railway on the Eastern side will also encircle the whole ; and thus at last it will drop imperceptibly as it were into the hands of the Englishman. A gleam of this strikes the Dutch already, and they are even suspecting the Germans of being two-faced, watch- ing which pays the best, to take advantage of England's gold or ■Germany's poverty. To such a length has their fear gone that, a Moses — the leader of the Exjjress — feels somewhat astonished at such treatment. The best to command are they who know best how to obey, independent of consequences. Chapter II. PIE Fiee State Express is very indignant at Dr. Jorissen being dismissed from his position of State Attorney of the TransvaaL "Nothing short of high treason," it says, " could surely justify such treatment of a man who has so eminently served the Transvaal. Dr. Jorissen was the guiding mind in the war of liberty. It is all but impossible to believe that — in return for his zeal, devotion, and patriotism — he should have been treated so outrageously. In either case, it shows anything but a healthy state of political life, and it is most painful for a staunch friend of the Transvaal and its people to have to say this." Bat the Transvaalers are only true to the policy of the Dutch party throughout Soath Afriea. The cry of the party is " Africa for the Africanders." The leaders declare that the people born of the soil are quite able to goversi themselves, and they ask all other people to leave alone. Dr. Jorissen, is a foreigner ; he is a Doctor of Theology, brought to the Transvaal by President Burghers to be Superintendent of Education. The Volksraad do not want him, they feel strong in themselves ; and hence give him, as they gave other foreigners, notice to quit. Tliere are a few demented men who think differently ; as did the Boer on the Pre- toria Market, who when failing to get a bid for his produce, ex- claimed, — " Where are the English people ?" He was but a Boer, with a lamentable weakness for sterling money, and may be passed; but to find the B!oemfontein Exjiress holding up its hands in token of horror, is astonishing. The Editor called it " base ingratitude," but in so doing forgets his party, like the Boer farmer, perhaps because of personal interest. There may be base ingratitude ; there may be treason ; but the dismissal of Dr. Jorissen is only carrying out the policy of the self-styled Africander-party ; which is to get rid of everyone whose family is not of Dutch extraction b2 20 The Orange Feee State. •with, several generations buried in colonial soil. The indignation of the Express is amusing ; apparently it has not before under- stood the doctrines it has diligently proclaimed. When they are understood by others, a similar effect will be produced, and Free State farmers may give notice to a German Borckenhager to clear out immediately. The Transvaal have lost faith in Foreign Hollanders, and under the cover of needing a legal Attorney-General, have got rid of one of their ablest men, who acted so shamelessly against the English at the time of hostilities. All this indignation is truly laughable, «oming as it does from the German-Holland Jewish, faction, who doubtless see in this removal, notice to quit likewise, and perhaps they will feel some day like the engineer " hoist with his own petard." The President of the Free State has made his arrangements for future office; and longs for a trip, to Old England to recruit his health and air his new Sir-Ship in company with her who is now not only his wife but his " lady " also, and once a Cape Town dressmaker ; who after fluttering in England during their brief holiday will return once more to disgust the stout dames of South Africa, and when the services of her husband are no longer required, they can retire upon a pension to some more congenial clime. The President of the Transvaal having thanked God for victory over the black sons of Ham, shot the leaders, and taken possession of the land, cattle, &c., of the conquered, put their eight thousand prisoners all out to a life-long service. Then, being in need of a holiday, the President instead of going to Holland to be congratu- lated, or Germany to be tabooed, goes to England in the vain hope that he will there receive some honour and secure an alteration of the terms of the Convention. Whilst there he laid in a stock of bell-toppers, white ties, and black suits to strut about in during the remaining brief period of his authority in the Transvaal Pre- sidency ; for, according to Mr. Hofmeyr, the Republican President and members of Parliament are most particular about being dressed in English court-costume when performing their Senatorial duties. Truly this portion of the world, like many other parts is governed by precedent but with very little wisdom, and without going to the root of things. The Orange Free State. 21 These men — to keep up an appearance of decency, and to satisty the cant and humbug of those who in lawn- sleeves, with up- turned eyes, bless flags and arms — go to their places of worship and call upon the God of battles to help them to crush out their enemies. Acting in this contemptible spirit, Joubert, the Com- mander of the Transvaal, went to a spot where no white man had ever stood, and in full consciousness that the God of battles was on their side a volley was fired, and then in a stentorian voice he gave out the first verse of flie Psalm No. 134, after singing which they retired thinking they had done a noble work. The President of the Transvaal was but a successful farmer, and an accidental leader — the outcome of Boer savagery, in the war as they call it, of independence against the English. This war was undertaken to enable them to repudiate the debts they had con- tracted, and to take possession ot English spoil in the Free State in the shape of buildings and the portable wealth and the gold, the result of fancy and impartial prices, and which they secured during the English occupation, after the English had destroyed ecocone and paid off all their liabilities. It is said in private life, if you want to make a man your enemy — place him under a money obligation. This was their exact position — without means or credit— prior to the English going to the Transvaal. Directly the Boers waxed fat, through such occu- pation, they began to kick ; such is the usual way of men, especially where there is no sense of honour or dignity. The President of the Free State is a well-meaning gentleman, originally a practitioner in the Colonial courts, but not a prominent or successful one. He was requested to accept the Presidency, in the hope that his knowledge of English good-nature would enable him to secure from them English means, as John Bull was known, when in a good humour, to be rather soft and liberal. The President is a decent country gentleman, with ordinary lawyer-official-like ability, but possessed of no genius and without any special aptitude for governing. His special advantage over more intelligent men, is the silent unconcerned manner in which he takes all matters, and his undoubted faith in the pure simplicity of John Bull. The one grand speech of his life, which ought to be placed on his tomb when translated into English, was, " all shall right come ;" and I must admit his unbounded faith in his own words, forjudging by the 22 The Orange Free State. little improvements that have taken place, during the last twenty- years, no one will credit him with aiding in any way to produce two blades of grass, where one only grew before. To live, and be merry, and to secure the good thin gs of this life for hi mself and family, is a paramount desire on his part and as I shall have later on to show, in this, he has been exceptionally successful ; but even all this would have been impossible, if it had not been for the close proximity of the diamond-fields, enabling the Dutch to sell at very high prices, but alas ! for which they are not even thankful or grateful. " A President'^is not a necessary feature of Eepublicanism, but rather, an offshoot of Monarchical power reproduced in an elective form. In my opinion, a Republic would be better without a Pre- sident. As Goldwin Smith remarks ; ' A single head of the State is a fancied necessity.' The Swiss Constitution, which in- ' stead of a single man, has a Council with a President whose func- tion is only to preside, presents great advantages in this respect, and is the safest model for adoption. A single head is certainly not a universal necessity, since Switzerland does without one. An office such as the elective Presidency is at once the grand prizeand the most powerful stimulant of faction ; it keeps selfish ambition and intrigue constantly at work ; it breeds and advances to influence a crowd of men skilled in bad electioneering arts. Every four or live years it brings burning questions to a dangerous head The periodical revolution which it involves is fatal to anything like stability of policy or forecast on the part of the Government. Why should we not all do as Switzerland does, with an Executive Council elected by the national Legislature ? Harmony between the Executive and the Legislative might be preserved, and steadi- ness of policy secured at the same time, by having the Council elected — not all at once, but by periodical instalments. The first ol these two essential objects would, perhaps, be better secured by such a system than it is by the present." In recording thus of the political situation of Republics in the United States, it must not be supposed that any depreciation of Republicanism is intended. I regard Republican institution's, if wisely used and morally and intellectually enforced, as the model of all true government. But the ideal Republic should be [the outcome of the mental vigour and unfettered freedom of the[people The Orange Free State. 23 whose genius and honour should protect its purity and maintain, its strictest integrity. That such a Eepubiic will ultimately obtain recognition I firmly believe. All nations have the proper foundation, and are not deficient in the materials with which to construct a solid and harmonious edifice. All nations are but comparatively young. Increasing in age, they will also accumulate experience ; and disassociating themselves from Monarchical in- fluences inherited from their mother countries, they will flourish upon their own merits and be sustained upon their native re- sources, the catholicity of their institutions, the breadth of their political rights, and the discrimination, loyalty and infefelligenee of their liberty-loving people. The Kind of Government Wanted in the Free State. " Sir, — I have been wondering whether a few thoughts from an absent Englishman on the best kind of Government for any country generally, and England particularly, to have would be acceptable to you and your readers, and whether it would help to solve the problem before you as a country at no distant future. I presume, and take for granted, that the people are in favour of .a free government. They believe that a free government means a government by the jjeople for the people. I take it to be doubt- ful whether such a government in its purity can exist where there is any one man power, let the government be called a ' Republic' 'Limited Monarchy,' or by any other name whatever. " A single ruler, although elective by the people, is actually a monarch pro tern., and he is apt to become more or less a despot according to the measure of ambition and cupidity that reigns in his heart. " The people should be represented in the Executive branch as well as in the Legislative, and the best representation to meet such an end would be by an Executive Council of three, five, seven or nine. " This would liberalise the government effectively, make it truly representative, and do away with ' rings,' * cabals,' and ' back- stairs influences ' behind the throne, and greater than the throne itself. 24 The Orange Fkee State. " The members of the Executive Council should be equal ia authority and power, and decide all questions by vote, of which a public record should be kept. " The argument of the Monarchist is that one man must govern ex necesdtate. Two or more would differ, quarrel, and never agree about anything : therefore the Avorld must ever be governed by the one-man power. If this were true, then the Legislative branch, and also the judicial branch should be governed by one man. The principle is the same in either case. If a difference of opinion can be settled by a vote of the majority in the one branch, it can be equally so in either of the others. Parliament has its difier- ences, but readily settles all questions by a vote. The judges have their differences, but come to a decision with amity, dignity and decorum. And to say an Executive Council could not do the same would be absurd and wrong. The history of the world is against the argument of monarchists. All the Republics of the ancient world had plural executives. " Some had ten archons, and Rome had two Consuls to admin- ister the executive power ; and Switzerland — the model Republic — has a diief Executive Council of seven, which has successfully administered their executive power for over five hundred and seventy years. " The Executive power in Great Britain has been in reality administered, and most efficiently, by the Cabinet composed of twelve members of the Ministry. " The change could easily be made by substituting an Executive Council for the Crown, and making the Council elective by the people or Parliament. *' With the present system of government a great many reforms are impracticable, and the whole fabric will sooner or later topple over of its own weight of errors. " England, and all countries will have soon to consider the ques- tion seriously." With reference to the election of barristers or lawyers I am distinctly of opinion that their presence in the House is inimical to the simplification of the laws and I believe my views on this question are held by many of our leading politicians, their judg- ment being founded on past experience of the conduct of legal members of the Legislature. Nevertheless, I can admit that a The OpvA-Nge Frek State. 25 lawyer's genuine opinion may in some cases be of value, but the difficulty lies in the fact that one is so seldom sure of this genuine- ness. The people would do far better if they returned scientists and medical men. Questions of health, hygiene, the sexual relationships, and other cognate subjects, can only be perfectly- understood by these gentlemen. There are few questions com- paratively, which do not involve considerations of health, life, disease and death. In all these matters, tbe voice of the doctor must be above every other ; and the judgment of a lawyer, as such, would be of no more use or value than that of a bricklayer. A German Republican cannot swear allegiance to a King or Queen, and their heirs for ever ; and, if this is needed, he cannot sit among the Commons so-called. It is the duty of a Republican to serve to the best of his ability his constituency and country, and if he can sit among those who are elected to serve their country, all is well ; but if he cannot sit without giving or taking oaths, to some one on a throne, then let him like the "grand old men " in and out of France, who being elected to serve in the French Assembly, declined to sit, rather than swear allegiance to that arch-traitor, perjurer and bedizened villain, N^ipoleon the Third, but the Little. It must never be supposed that John Braiid, now Sir John Brand, can in any sense be likened to William the Sueuc oi Urange of the Old Dutch Republic. This giant's words were indeed silvern and his silence golden — just the thing at that time when a mighty work had to be done, and for anyone to criticise and make speech thereon was only to bring about their own discomfiture. I don't allow these men to misunderf^tand or judge me ; to allow them tc do so, would but admit that Lilliputians had the right to judge giants. What I have written is after due care and consideration, and for any to dispute the same would be the out- come of fear or ignorance. The Capital of this Republic has not too much to boast of. The Public Offices are a lasting monument of disgrace to the architect, and being built in the " West End " of the town, among the aris- tocratic houses, their appearance is anything but dignified. The church-home and hospital, close to the public buildings, were the result of charity and debt. The " sisters " admitted that they were always in a chronic state of poverty, so much so, that even 26 The Oeange Feee State. clothes, — sent out by the charitable from England for the poor blacks — were sold at a public church bazaar to assist in paying the interest on their accumulated liabilities, which, if not stealing, is certainly raising cash under false pretences. Getting into debt with the tradesmen and not paying twenty shillings in the pound if possible to avoid doing so is carried on here upon the principle of robbing mammon, and making friends with the child- ren of this world. But even this now has its limit, and the children of this world begin to look upon its holy, idiotic, itinerant bishop and his wretched acolytes, that officiate in white and black surplices, as so many walking impostors — youthful shams. Its cathedral is the outcome of the success of its Bishop and of the old ladies of England, and it would starve if it had to depend upon the contributions of its members. The church members amuse themselves, as elsewhere, in looking after each other's bonnets and making up general scandal of their neighbours, who don't go to church or subscribe to their follies, I myself came under the lash of their small talk, because I exposed their littleness and would not bow down to their little men nor attend their insane meetings. The Dutch-church, an imposing two-tower building, is the outcome of beef, mutton, and farming produce, begged out of the Dutchmen by their Pastors. The Dutchman does like to get hold of English gold, but he does not like to part with it, so he satisfies his conscience by giving a few heads of cattle and sheep, sending them on as his paying passport to Heaven, and the Pastor sells them on the public market, time after time, as he stands in need. The Pastors bless and curse in accordance with their needs or satisfaction. The city boasts, after twenty years of prosperity, of a Public Library, that any literary man would feel ashamed to own, and which is the result of weekly entertainments. The public Post «and Telegraph Office has yet to be built. Its Building Society is a delusion and a snare, a ricb investment for those who never buy out of the society, but for those who build, the old adage is well proved that " fools build houses, and wise men occupy and own them "for certainly, almost all — after miserable efforts to keep up subscription and house-payments and fines — have at last to sell out for the benefit of the money classes. But the time must come for the public building of houses,' as I_have_drawn' attention to in my The Orange Free State. 27 later chapters on house building. Strange to say, that although a Dutch Capital, out of five thousand inhabitant?, not a tenth are Dutch, the remainder are all of different nationalities. It boasts ol its Rag Alley — its Petticoat Lane ; its poverty, disgu.-ting, and its immorality and disease are simply an eyesore to decei.t people. Dr. Stollreither drew attention to ifc in its most glaring forms ; its sluits are hotbeds of all kinds of diseases, until its young victims in diptheria, scarlet fever and opthalmia reveal it in all its intensity and in all its horrors. I may say, about the same of all towns in the Free State and the Transvaal, with very few differences, let who may say to the contrary. I have written this true history without malice or prejudice, although I know some will say to the contrary : but all past historians have desired to flatter. I write as I found, and defy anyone truthfully to dispute all and everyone of my well- authenticated facts. Of course, where there are so many churches there must be a gaol ; but such was the condition of this building, that the most desperate characters made a boast, that directly they so desired, they could take off their irons and bolt, once more to prey upon Society. This was specially so with horse-stealers ; till, at last, those who had a steed — either for pleasure or every day work — never were certain of finding the same in their stable. And such was the care of the Government, that one well-known horse-stealer got his liberty because the gaoler could not produce the warrant authorising the detention of his person, revolver or clothes ; and such was the order in the Records of the Courts in this much be- lauded Republic, with the " all right shall come " man at its head, that even the officers could not produce the committal documents, so that there was no power to hold one of the most unprincipled men of his day — according to his own confession published, alter he was set at liberty, in the Laily News of iHSo. The bulk of the officers at the gaol are lazy brags and, in some cases, understood thieves. The following will so well illustrate the condition of the gaols in South Africa, that I feel it incumbent to print the Same, as it shows the illogical position taken up by the Judge — one of the attorneys pitchforked into a judgeship. " The prisons are filthy in the extreme. x\t night, for elevtn 28 The Orange Free State. hours, a tub is placed in the cell for all common purposes, where perhaps ten men are stowed in a space of about ei^^ht feet by sixteen. " A water tub in the centre of the yard, into which all filth can pour, and out of this tub the prisoners drink their water and wash their persons and clothes. Talk of the gaols of Bomba, in Naples; in comparison they were superior. At no time did the Gospel preachers think it their duty to call, unless some poor wretch had to be hung up, so that the prisoners had no opportunity to com- plain or get redress. The food was at times disgusting to look at, much less eat ; but this was nut to be wondered at, when gaolers so manipulated it that they fed their families out of the cost of the prisoners' rations, and then, like the gaoler of Fauresmith, re- tired upon the plunder. Doctors, with no bowels of compassion, gave no help or redress ; they were like so many hogs on a visit, when they had to call at the prison to entitle them to their fees. No division of prisoners ; so that murderers, thieves, perjurers, and unfortunate, accidental, or innocently suffering prisoners were all crowded together — the latter being in simple torture, and passed their time as if in a living hell." If Judges were capable of feeling, they would indeed hesitate in their sentences. What a year in prison, even to the guilty, must be, is horrible to contemplate ; but in the case of an innocent man, nothing can repay him for the constant physical and mental torture and insults heaped upon him. Could juries and judges think what a year in prison means, — the isolation from a man's family, that cuts out a year from a man's life, a year from a man's work, a year from a man's tongue, — is a penalty so terrible, that if madness or suicide ensues no one need wonder. When will it be understood, that half, if not more, ot our man-made laws are man-made crimes, that only indicate the savage nature of one portion of society to the other. May the time arrive, when Nature's laws being recognised and carried out, there will be no need for Judges or prisons; and then, no future Howard will find the work of visiting prisons needful. The Oeange Free State. 29 Judge or Jury. Mr. Justice Shippard has during the present Circuit started or re-started the question of Judge or Jury, by finding it to be his duty in more than one town to dissent from some verdicts returned by Juries. At Colesberg, Peter Albertus Hanekamp was charged with " assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm." The evidence was conflicting, and the Advertiser reports : "At about 1.30 the Court adjourned for luncheon, and the jury- were locked up and luncheon provided for them. On the Court resuming at 3 p.m. the jury had not agreed, and saw" no prospect of agi'eeing on a verdict. His Lordship in discharging them, re- marked somewhat severely on what he considered a failure of justice, owing to no verdict having been returned, and said this added another to a list of cases in which he considered that the ends of justice had been defeated owing to the defective working of the system of trial by jury in this colony." A good many persons who do not think, are too x'eady to pro- claim that the learned Judge would have done better ; but even so able a jurist as Mr. Justice Shippard is not beyond the liability to give a contradictory, and hence, unsatisfactory verdict. As some persons are aware, a Judge on Circuit visits the public prisons, and, on the 7th of March last, Judge Shippard visited the Fort Beaufort gaol, and gave the following document (which we hud printed in the Jouryial) to the gaoler : — [Copy.] " I have this day visited the Fort Beaufort gaol, and find every- thing remarkably clean. The prisoners have no complaints to make, and the general state of the prison does very great credit to the gaoler. " I would suggest that the ceilin^gs and roofs be looked to, especi- ally with a view to destroy the bugs that infest the ceilings, and drop on the prisoners at night. " (Signed) " S. G. A. Shippard, "Judge oa Circuit. " Fort Beaufort, March 7, 1S34. 30 The Orange Fbee State. " Certified a true copy." " B. W. Holland, Kesident Magistrate." Everything in the gaol was found " remarkably clean," but " bugs infest the ceilings and drop on the prisoners at night." No more contradictory verdict, no verdict more against the evi- dence, has ever been given by a colonial or any other jury ; and we fail to understand how the learned Judge could have written such a report, indeed we would not now believe that it was written Irom his pen, had we not the certificate of the Resident Magistrate; lor how can a place infested by bugs be clean — remarkably clean? And in truth, a Judge's verdict is not of necessity better than the verdict of a jury. We believe that some Judges now on the Bench would try crimiDal cases impartially ; but enough is known oi Judges to prove fhat there are among them men who could not he less impartial in some cases than juries are. While we say this we repeat what was written lately, that jwrors should be more carefully selected, and also be paid for their work. There is no reason in the world tor making some thirty men attend court, and there do the most important work of the court, without any re- muneration,' when every one else is handsomely paid for what he does. It is niiite a mistake to suppose that always, and everywhere, inrors are against the natives. At Uitenhage, last week, a labourer named Andries Booke was arranged and charged with stealing two head of cattle from Daniel Foxcrot't, a farmer, but the jury gave the man an acquittal ; and James Magoba, a native doctor, who (Mve a native woman a dose of medicine which killed her, was also lound " not guilty " of culpable homicide. There are many such verdicts given in this Colony. Whether they are, or are not, such as should be given is an open (piestion, ami when the Judge happens to endorse, or when he disapproves ot a verdict, there are some, who having heard the case, disagree with the Judge ; and facts so much depend upon the way they are looked at, and upon their surroundings that courts of law will not hear an appeal, if it uieans reconsidering anything but points of law. One reason for some verdicts may be ionnd in the practice of the Courts. WMien nine men are calleiats that were produced in England, and thus created panics in France in opposition to the genuine assignats that represented the public domain. For proof of all this, see Doubleday's history, which so fully describes the particulars of Pitt being sued in the King's Bench to recover the engraver's charges for making the same. No wonder that Pitt and the officials of his time got rich, when for engraved paper they secured the wealth of France to the loss of Frenchmen. No depreciation could finally be effected by the issue of a State's paper-money, if secured at all times upon positive property, and redeemable year after year out of the income of the farmers. Their Bank, called national, owes its existence to money given by England in a fit of generosity at the expense of the Colony — which by a system of double rates and extortion, secures them a considerable annual income. The financial problem solved, means the redemption of the farmers and manufacturers, not only in the Free State, but in the wide, wide world. It is to the interest of gold owners and hard money supporters to oppose sound monetary arrangements. A& gold monopolists they get rich, and nowhere so readily as in the Free State, where the normal condition is ten per cent., which means that any bank or individual bringing in £1,000,000, can in ten years take out in production the £1,000,000, and still have in their hands for future financial gold plunder their original £1,000,000. No wonder that bankers retire with colossal fortunes and build palatial residences ; but don't let it be forgotten, all at the expense of the labourers of all climes, and let it also be fur- ther remembered, that no alteration will take place until the workers understand the dodge, that while they are working and sleeping, the gold owners, — who neither toil nor spin, but simply look on, — are getting richer and richer, while they are getting 58 The Okange Free State. poorer and poorer, and work harder and harder than ever and fare worse. But once let them comprehend that money should be representative, that it should be created as fast as worked-up pro- ductions demand the medium of exchange, thus making it as easy to sell for money loJcens based on wealth, as it is n9w to buy with the money in existence — and labour becomes emancipated from all unrighteous demands. To prove their ignorance, at the very time that the discussion occurred in the House, the Report of tha National Bank was before them, and was afterwards printed in the papers of the town on June 24th, 1883. Therein is the distinct item of £55,000 as Notes which they have a Government right to use, and through which they exact from the borrowers a large interest when they lend. Now what are these but " blue-backs ?" They are not representing gold, but simply are issued as a credit capital upon which they secure an interest, that pays all their ofEcials, and leaves an interest of eight per cent, on the original capital given them by the Colony at the dictation of England, the interest of which again pays the salaries of the Executive servants ; so that in reality the people in direct taxation pay nothing for the Government ; it is really secured out of England's gift and their issue of " blue-backs." If this is not public robbery with a vengeance, we must invent a new name for it. Good heavens ! when will the eyes of the public be opened to such infamy ? Many, Sunday after Sunday, utter the words : " Thou shalt not steal," and implore the Lord to enable their hearts to keep this law, but never ask that their hearts should be kept from public money stealing. With such facts as these before us, can anyone wonder, that we write so strongly ? Don't let it be suppased that the Free State is the only place where such deeds are done ; in England and in all our Colonies the same system of robbery is going on, as I have and am showing in my past and present works on political, social and other kindred topics. Chapter V. HE first week in July, 18S3, was a red-letter week in the history of the inhabitants of Bloemfontein. After many efforts on the part of the foreigners, backed up at last by the English — who constituted the go-ahead portion of the community, and assisted by the high prices realised by the sale of Erven for building purposes in the town, the Town Council were enabled to build a very line Hall out of the proceeds of the money so raised. To give an idea of the anomalous position of this much vaunted Free Slate, it is a remarkable fact, that the capital of this Dutch State is principally peopled by English, Germans, and foreigners ; nine out of every ten are aliens. The town councillors are not Dutch, and in no way do the Dutch control the internal or exter- nal condition of the town. As a matter of fact it would have re- mained a dirty " dorp " had not the English had the go in them to give the Capital some dignity in its public and private buildings; for deny it who may, there is no onward tendency in the Dutch community. Even with an allowance of £2 a day, their Legislators will buy a tin of sardines and a sixpenny loaf, carry the same under their arms to some out-room attached to some friend's house, for which they pay no rent, and there regale themselves with the same in common with some other Legislators provided with some similar refreshment, supplemented perhaps with a bottle of two-shilling common Cape smoke. When these articles are purchased by them with English money, change must be secured with plenty of three-penny pieces amongst it for the religious service on the following Sunday. One could admire these men for their economy if they gave their services for their country free of charge. 60 The Orange Free State. No doubt many ^vill howl witli I'age when they read this state- ment, and inwardly wish the writer was in their hands, but the Free State is still a heathen country — a land still occupied with both white and black barbarians, and although some may call me an Anglo-maniac for uttering these things, the truth shall be spoken and made known. It is a common thing to speak kindly of the Free State Dutch- man ; but this is the courtesy of men at a distance, who would rather speak well of all than ill of any ; but lor one who has ridden with them, travelled through their land, eaten and talked with them, these kindly sentiments must be dispensed with. They only appear to be possessed of any sense of justice when they are near neighbours of the English, and cannot get outside their in- fluence or do without their assistaiice. Many an Englishman has met foul play at their hands, and at this they rather rejoice than otherwise ; and they would feel no compunction in bemg the death of all the English but for the difficulty of burying them on the quiet, which is all that troubles them. They would not consider it any crime to tree their land from the " intruders," as they describe and profess to conceive them, but they dread being lound out. This may seem too horrible for belief, but I speak without fear or favour, and tell the truth honestly. The Free State Dutchman is dirty, mean, and cruel ; he isolates himself as much as pos- sible, rarely goes now to " Nachtmaal," and when he does,^he thinks he does his part if he buys a tickey-worth of sweets to eat while at the Kirk, and a tickey for the plate on retiring from the place of conventual meeting, or house where young men may look out for wives and the young women sigh for husbands — i.. is virtually a courting-house. The modern Dutchman stands in no fear of his " Predikant " until on his death-bed, and then his only trouble is, who will get his land, flocks and herds after his decease. With the usual courtesy of the English, the President and the members of the Raad, the judges and other public officials were invited to take part in the opening ceremonies. The opening was a small matter, but my I the prospect of an after-meal of the most sumptuous kind, washed down at the expense of the rate- payers, principally English, with all kinds of delicate wines and The Orangje Free State. 61 champagne was a glorious opportunity, causing even the stohd Dutchmen to indulge in a hearty laugh at the folly and generosity of the councilmen, which they availed themselves of to the utmost to drink all they possibly could, even at the risk of a headache next morning, if the conduct of some of them at the evening concert, and their appearance on the following morning, afforded any indication as to their condition. Their gluttony and headache were compensated by the knowledge that these two festive days, at the expense of the public were in addition to the £2 per day they received out of the coffers of the State funds. Such was the well-known obstinacy and meanness of these members of the Raad, that an Act that can only be known as one of legislative public swindling, was allowed to pass without any public expression of indignation, or even protest, lest in their hatred, and passion they should pass a more stringent set of laws against the English trading classes. This small body of farmer- legislators, were under the impression that God had in some way or other fitted them to be the regulators of the children of Ham as their bondmen for all time. For proof of this assertion see their strong, earnest effort to annex the Barolongs, (since accomplished) an independent tribe at Thaba 'Nchu, whose independence was arranged for, when the English gave it over to these Dutchmen. Although this land is in winter one howling wilderness, it is coveted by the land-hungering Boer, who, if he dared, would smite hip and thigh the, to him, English Philistines, who oppose this tribal robbery — in the high veld near the Capital of the Free State. I have met many traders and merchants in the Colony, and I was commercially connected with a German who also was a Jew ; but owing to his talking, walking, eating, and living amono- -civilised English people he was a gentleman. The Free State from the beginning was the Alsatia of the Colony and Natal, and was free indeed to all the rascals of the neighbouring Colonies, who there had space to melt in their own fat, and thus in time cease to be an abomination to other people. The procession on the occasion of the opening of the Hall was headed by a band, the inhabitants all marching round the Market Square and finally mounting the steps leading into the Hall, the band, which was composed of the younger portion of the Grand 62 The Orange Free vState. Army of the Free State, with no musical taste whatever in them, meanwhile playing the Free State God /Save the President. Thus^ it can be fully imagined by those who have heard the German Bands that howl in every street in London that there was a general wish that the whole of them had been transported out of the Free State at their Country's expense, long ere the conclusion of their brass-mouthed discords. The President made an earnest appeal to Dutchmen, and a still stronger one to the English and foreign portion of the burghers, to amalgamate their interests a;:d feelings^ and create a nation of Dutchmen. This no doubt was highly flattering to the Dutchmen ; but what an invitation to the English to lower themselves by conforming to this " rest and be thankful " policy. The feeling on the part of the English go a-head burghers was " not if they knew it : " rather than sink into the narrow-minded Dutch element, they would abandon all they valued and betake themselves to some of the other Colonies of Greater Britain. As it is, they are as the salt of the Free State ; but only let them leave it in disgust, and the Boers will find themselves socially, commercially, and politically ruined. After sundry appeals to the egotism of the listeners, and the impatience of those who had free tickets to eat at the expense of the rate-payers, — and who had purposely refrained from several preceding meals in order that they might enjoy free gifts the better, — the President moved towards the tables groaning with the good things of life. Once more the band blew its brass-windy discord to the torture of all, and then with all haste the consump- tion of eatables took place, followed by the usual toasts. If, cm a certain memorable occasion, the ghost of Banquo gave trouble at the festive board, no less did the spirit of Bloemfontein's late Mayor, Dr. Exton, give torture to the councilmen over this prandial feast. The vast expenditure had been sanctioned, be- cause this man had pledged his honour that the money borrowed would be sufficient for all purposes ; but his honour was like his promises, of very little account, as was afterwards painfully ex- perienced by the soft confiding burgesses. " May his shadow- never be seen again," was the earnest prayer of many of the Councilmen, who had no funds even to pay for the feast, and who, in a perfect perspiration, contemplated the pay-day to come. The Orange Free State. 63 The proposer of the toast of " The hea'th of the President," had the ignorance and presumption to say that it was due to him (the President), that the Free State had prospered, and attained its high position ; his benign and wise rule had done it all. What a false and anti-historical statement ! The diamond fields alone- had been the source of its prosperity ; and as for wisdom, if speech is silvern and silence golden, and it is desirable to observe such rules as the rules " do nothing that you can get another to do for you, or put off to-day what can be done to-morrow," then indeed praise him for his wisdom, &c. Nothing was expected of the Presideut,. owing to his late bereavement. Fancy, what bun- kum ; as it is as certain we have all to die, as that we are born. Wisdom teaches us to look forward to expect this of all our friends, and our own future passing away. An elderly sister-in-law had died a few days before, and if there was anything to distress him upon this bereavement, it must have been the regretful thought that whilst he had chosen, out of many others, one dress-maker of Cape Town, all mankind had passed this other by, and in consequence thereof she had not had the opportunity of fulfilling legitimately woman's mission of adding to the world's numbers. It might have been different, in many parts of the Free State. To have a plurality of natural wives is not considered a crime, and although polygamy is not sanctioned by law in the Capital, it is often practised. The one thing that the President might feel bitterly and often grieved about, was the uselessness of his sons, who as farmers, traders and citizens caused him constant anxiety and expense ; compelling him to go hat in hand, after having had over £30,000, to his Parliament for a gift to pay their debts. It is truly disgusting, this apeing older countries in their follies and practices, and deserves — and so far as I am concerned shall have — denunciation at all times. The toast to the Judges was a capital joke, and must have been given ironically. To be told that the Bench possessed a number of men of unsullied integrity, and that the Bar was composed of men of erudition and honesty, was to most people a surprise ; and ii some of the more important cases of late years are considered, the statement was of somewhat more than doubtful accuracy. Judge Keitz — the chief Justice, as a private gentleman, is not to be reproached ; but as a judge and a candidate of the future for 64 The Orange Free State, Presidential honours, he has no special qualifications. His past work seemed principally to be to flatter the Dutch population, that they were the coming race, and like most insignificant politicians, he used the class prejndices of the Dutchman. His ideas and knowledge were so limited, as to lead him to advocate the Africander Bond, and say, that he believed it possible to create out of the mongrel white population of South Africa, a nation of men, who could defy the outer world and hold their own without external assistance. No such population could exist, for even if they killed all the natives off, and made tne land a perfect desolation and wilderness, the whites could not toil in an African sun for many generations to come. All this public bunkum proves the need to " tell the truth and shame the devil." This successful son of a Swede is a fortunate mechanical sitter on the Bench, but a man of no genius. The seconder of the toast, was the son of a quack-doctor, who for many years ate the bread of idleness and pleasure in London to give him dignity at our Inns of Court, and who on his return to his father's land of adoption — the native land of the black, to whom his father was sent out as a missionary, but Avho found it paid better to practice in physic than divinity — through his father's influence, was allowed to practise in the Free State, and act as its Solicitor-General, and with all the base insolence of his German fathers, he talks and uUcrs nothing but common-place O'emarks. " This is the crew I fly from — sliall I see Hybrids like these take precedence of ine ? Sliall these adveuturers strive, and take our place ? These men of guttural names and dubious race, Who a few years smcc made a noise — Went round the world with Hambro' Sherry, hemp and toys ; Is it no matter that such iOugiisli stock as ours, That have been the source of ail this country's power, Have laid the broad foundation of many a State, I'uilt up our nation, and made Kugland great : Tiiat now, like vultures scenting out a prey, These supj)le tradesmen hustle us away, (Jive them their way, in every Knglisii place Tiie rarest sight will be an Knglish face. (Jive them their way, and the oceans o'er — Self-banished — the knglsiiinan will seek another shore • Where for some time, until there's cream to skim. These keen-eyed cornuu-ants will not follow him." The Orange Free State. 65 Sucli is the class of men who hope to rule and control the Free- State when they gammon Dutchmen to give them lull power, and thus make way for the Hollander and German to be their future task-masters and regulators in all social, theological and political conditions. The toast to the clergy was replied to by the Revs. Messrs. Morgan and Oroghan. The proposer of the toast, Councillor Cheap Jack's-son, stated that the clergy of South Africa had always been a fighting clergy and remained so to-day ; a fine character of the followers of the lowly Jesus. Certainly brother is against brother, and a sword seems to be in the hands of those who differ in matters theological, and ignore the human brother- hood of man. But the insolence and lyiiig of those who replied to this toast was most bare-faced. Surely they could never have supposed that they would be reported, or their exuberance of ver- bosity would have been drowned in the champagne cup. These men maintained that the Church of Christ had always been aiding in the spread of civilisation, the arts and sciences, and social order. So utterly untrue is this, if history is to be relied upon — as in Mosheim's E cclcsiasticcd History fully shown, also in Buckle's Mistory of Civilisation, and Leeky's General Ivforniation jor the People. It is high time that any clergyman, so-called, of any denomination speaking in the name of the past or present, should cease lying ; but it seems as though they could not help it and that the father of lies-r-the devil — is their great god in this world; they are eaten up with the Mammon of unrighteousness — they are the public advocates of lying, hypocrisy and stealing. The time was, when " thou shalt not steal," or " bear false witness against thy neighbour," and " love your neighbour as yourself " was con- sidered the duty of men ; but since the teachers of Christianity as they teach it, and call it, strive after the good things and the portions of this world, they have converted themselves into liars and receivers of stolen property. To those who can see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, these things are not un- known ; and these reverend old fossils of the past hope I shall oo, and if they had the power they would send me, where the bad niggers go. They must teach this doctrine of eternal torture if they want to keep up their position, and continue to trade upon E <3-6 The Orakge Free State. the credulity of their worshippers ; but I have no fear of their thunderings, and am fully determined to expose them in all their deceit, seeing that they are becoming as leeches and consumers of the people. Truly they are the blind of this world ; but instead of making a happy despatch of themselves, before they lead other blind people into the ditches, they guard and truly make them- selves friends of the children of this world, condone their faults, enter into their houses, feast themselves to the full, and, in reality, let the more simple folk fall and obliterate themselves. My contention cannot be more forcibly illustrated than in the following lines : — If, as you brood upon the ills you see, The grip of greed, the wrath of misery : If, as you count the force on either side. The rage which frets against the hand of pride, And as you watch the mischief, it may seem Your Church can heal it, scout the idle dream. Time was, when they who preached could rouse the soul, And make the tide of misery backward roll ; Time was, when men were dough, and words were leaven, And the voice seemed to issue forth from heaven — When his strange message the bold preacher brought, And staked his life upon the truth he taught ; When, meditating on his sacred page. He woke the slumbering spirit of his age ; When, seeking anxious hearts and greedy ears. He stirred their anger or dispelled their fears ; Telling his moving tale to every sense — The tale of sorrow, wrong, and recompense — Of how God's arm was bared to ease their grief, Of how His Spirit aided their relief, Of how the enemy must turn and fly Before the strong right hand and kindling eye ; Of how men fought for God in ancient days. And having won their battle, sang His praise ; Or, if their sorrows found no mortal friend, God's self would give them vengeance in the end. Preachers like these have, in their darkest hour. Given men n^w hopes and made their Church a power. # * * » What is the union of your Church and State ? Your priests are merely lackeys of the great. Your bishop is a prince — a lord, a peer, — A man of several thousand i)ounds a year. The Oeange Fkee State. 67 "Whom kindly Providence permits to hive A copious family, and make it thrive. Ohosen to fill his see on no pretence Of courage, foresight, learning, or eloquence ; A scboolnnaster, an ignorant cadet, A priest with kinsfolk near the cabinet, A pompous don, of kindly, stupid face. These, Paul and Peter ! occupy your place. There, though we miss the groaning voice of Trench, One Irish howl still issues from the bench. * * * * To the dry bones of dogma can they give The prophet's power, be clothed with flesh and live ? Can they perform the work which has been done, Revive the nation's faith and make it one ? Can they do that which Knox anl Melville did, And make the people follow as they bid ; Lay down a policy, exact its laws. And win all hearts to struggle for the cause ? Of course not ; and they know it. Not a word For Justice, Right, and Truth is ever heard From that Right Reverend Bench, on whose soft perch Roosts the fine linen of the English Church. They know it ; grateful Ellicott displays The saintly gifts for which the nation pays, When, raising up his apostolic hand. He spoke in scorn of those who own no land. Blessed the good food, consigned the poor to God, And mindful of the child, spared not the rod ; Bade the bluff farmers try the good old rule And duck their critics in the nearest pool ; Those evil men, who seek to cut the knot Which ties the peasant to his wi'etched lot. Such speeches, if that peasant ever sees, How must he bless that prelate on his knees, And thank the destiny which lets him live Where farmers hear the advice which bishops give. — Edwin Heron, The other toasts were too commonplace to notice, and, as the •wine got in, there was no possibility of any display of wit or flow of soul from any of the revellers. Not a member of the Kaad uttered a word of wisdom, and at last the body being satisfied, and there being no food supplied for the mind, the party adjourned for the foot-ball match, and the coming concert in the evening. The balls, and other matters connected with this week's rejoicing, wero j:2 68 The Orange Free State. all of the usual kind, and need no telling, as they had no special feature in any case. The opening the day after of the new Public Libiary so-called was another effort on the part of the English and foreign portion of the inhabitants. To give it an appearance of magnitude, the President, his ofEcials, and members of the Raad were invited to take part in the ceremony. The President and a few of the officials assisted ; perhaps all would, but for the fact that, like many others, the members of the Kaad had not recovered from the effects of their indulgence the day before. They would have made a supreme effort to be there, if the opportunity had been given them to indulge in unlimited eating and drinking again at the expense of the ratepayers : for, deny it who may, the tradesman knows as a fact that the Dutchman dearly loves to eat, drink, and get into debt, but never makes much effort to get out of liability. " Opschrijven " is his motto and practice all the days of his life ; and when he has well-nigh overwhelmed himself in debt, and had the hint given him by his friend, a Dutch sheriff, that the indignant trader is about coming down upon him, he gathers together under cover of an ante-nuptial contract, with his wife, all his cattle and sheep, and places his household goods in his waggons, that are not paid for, and passes on to some lands that his less fortunate brethren have previously taken from the natives, squats himself, and builds a " Hartebeest " house, near good grass and water, and, with this stolen property, lives in a new Stellaland. As time passes on, and population increases, his wealth gives him a position that, to those who knew not of his previous move- ments, magnifies him into a wealthy man, and the original process is repeated, either by himself or his grown-up sons, who have, on the faith of their father's supposed wealth, got other cre'dulous men to "opschrijve," or give credit. Hard work and the Dutch- man fell out at the very beginning of his Cape career. If kind Nature in her grasses and water favours him, all may be well ; if not, a state of chronic starvation ensues, and contracting debts and repudiating the same is his constant practice. No one can deny that there are many rich Boer farmers ; but they are so more from good luck than good management, some of them by living near old markets, or where the English have created new ones, or being near the seat of war could not fail to amass wealth. The Orange Fkee State. 69 As a fact, such now is the well-known meanness, trickery, and bad settlements to be expected from the Dutch customers, that all honest traders try to get into a centre of natives, who, until they are impregnated with the practices of the Dutchman, are always ready to pay punctually in cash, cattle, grain, or some other com- modity. Their natural in-born sense does not allow them to stink in the nostrils of the white merchant, and, for fear that my readers might misunderstand me, this characteristic is not confined to the Boer farmer, but applies ec|ually to the white trash to be found in all the up-country divisions ; to suppose otherwise would be to know only half the facts. In the capital of their Free State the lucky men of land and houses and official position, if not worse, were as bad. I myself inspected school and other accounts that had been running for years, and which no amount of dunning had any effect in securing; and not even raising a blush of shame when repeatedly requested to pay up. One can pity and sympathise with men who have struggled for many years and cannot possibly pay, but only bitter contempt can be felt for those who will not, but who, if they would only cease from personal indulgence, could pay up honestly. One fool, with one-half of black blood in his veins, nearly related to the public sheriff-hangman, and who certainly would be more in his place as positive hangman, if such work was needed, month after month imposes upon the school authorities by taking un- limited credit, with the intention of finally repudiating the same. When requested to pay a private account of three years standing, and for a small acnount, this worthy lied repeatedly in saying that it had been paid, whereas it remains unpaid to this day. But what must we say of a man who, holding a near position to the Solicitor-General, owed over three hundred pounds for school fees and was deeply in debt all over the town, although in receipt of seven hundred a year, in addition to having the right of private practice and an income from house property '! This was the way with many officials in receipt of good positive pay in English sovereigns — men with large fixed incomes, and who, owing to the depreciation of all goods, could live for one-half less than in more prosperous times, and yet were unwilling to pay up ; thus it is that Hollanders and Dutchmen stink in the nostrils of the English. 70 The Orange Free State. It may be said truthfully that this represents the exact position- of hundreds of officials in the Free State. Debt and dishonour are constant companions to them all, from the President and his- sons down to all his army of supporters ; these are the ofhcials who believe in putting off till to-morrow what they ought to do to-day,, and never doing anything themselves that they could get another to do for them. How like the officials of other climes, and how catching in old and young communities is this man-made disease !' It but proves to what a low level these men have sunk, when they allow their flesh and blood, in the form of their own likenesses, to be in such a false position in these public schools, in one sense- almost eating the bread of charity! I know that many of these fathers and mothers, if allowed to give vent to their cruel tendencies, would willingly rend me limb from limb ; but they say there are devils to shame by speaking the truth. I dare do so, but with no hope that these well-dressed paupers will alter their ways, or cease to treat unkindly their neighbour, who acts honestly, though not so showily^ at the ex- pense of baker, butcher, bootmaker, dressmaker, tailor, linendraper,. greengrocer, etc. -^=^^^W^^ Chapter VII. HE speeches at the opening of the library were com- mon and untruthful on the part of the officials. The honesty of the Dutch borrowers was once more to be tested, but, as this was suggested by one of them- selves, we will pardon his mistake. The well-knowu trait of "jumping" in the Dutch settlement, dignified by the name of " kleptomania '' in other parts of the world, is so well known that it is well understood that it is the com- mon, every-day practice for storemen to watch their customers, and to charge them considerably over the original price, to make up for what they do not detect. The morality of the Dutch people in Africa is so low, that it is now understood to be the fashion to rob and steal from counters, and then laugh at the trader boldly in the face ; and this accounts for so many Public Library books being found on the market stalls, bought by Dutch and other travellers, when passing through the towns from whence the books have- been purloined, and afterwards sold for the benefit of the "jumpers." Nothing too earnest can be said in support of Public Libraries ; they are the future homes of all classes, who will be able to read the thoughts and emulate the actions of the Great Dead of the past — to follow whom would indeed be an honour. It should be the ambition of all towns and villages to have their sanctuary of books, where on all days, Sunday included, the old and young of both sexes could study the teachings of the illustrious dead, made imperishable by the printer's art, and, when means permitted, a home of painting, sculpture, and all our fine arts. These public repositories of imperishable things, and our museums will form our future churches, where all really divine things can be seen^ 72 The Orange Free State. marked, and inwardly digested, to the future sharae of the preachers of all denominations. The President congratulated the Town Council on their liberality in giving the old Town Hall for the use ot its Public Library, and lie drew their attention to the gift of that noble Englishman, Sir George Grey, who, with exemplary liberality, gave books of great value to Cape Town — a gilt unequalled, and which no Dutchman lias ever imitated, and, unless they graft or get grafted on some English stock, they never will. In the good old timee, men con- sidered it the greatest act ot their lives to give the greater portion of their individual wealth for public purposes, to be handed down for the benefit of future generations ; but it is not so now. In these degenerate days it is only in some fit of weakness or on a dying-bed. that men whose fears are moved by some witless clergyman to leave to their particular sects some means to ex'ect a home, not to the honour of the true living God of creation, but to the gratifying of their votaries, in perfumes and costumes and their own glorifi- cation. Good heavens! When shall we have more living for others, and the continuity of humanity ? Are we everlastingly to see such shams officiate in our public offices and protest not ? If it was necessary in the first century for a Christ to turn money- changers out of a building that was devoted to the Highest, as they then conceived it, the time has now come, if words will not do it, when a little compound out of an illicit chemi.st's shop might be used to advantage in the removal of houses dedicated to error and folly. The Chief Justice drew their attention to a gift, namely a Bible, that had been used in the Dutch Church for many years, and said it was the best book of all, which was another proof of his incapa- city and deficiency of good faith. No intelligent man in this age would, in the face of our scientific works, put the superlative to the Bible, a record of tyrannical and filthy acts committed by that unfortunate race, the barbarous Jews. Then again its ".science" and its " history " are totally unreliable. No one can consider it was an ordinary book, written in an age of manly effort to find out some of Nature's secrets, with merely a peculiar mode of explain- ing things in general, whilst lor truth, morality, or any high form of thought, no parent would place it in the hands of his boys, much less of his daughters, with any degree of confidence, without first The Orange Fkee State. 73 pasting together its objectionable pages, containing its false cos- mogony, history, science, so called, its account of many public prostitutions, its harlotry, its seductive but lascivious poetry, and its erroneous false teaching in general. I of course allude to that ■old Jewish compound, known as the Old Testament. I would it were unknown, and yet to know it is all that is really wanted now for it to be discarded. My space and time do not allow me to ■discuss this matter fully ; but my earnest desire is, if this book must be read at all, that all should read it carefully, and see if I have not truthfully depicted its salient features. In these remarks I do not include the New Testament. The supposed Founder of Christianity, who taught the Fatherhood of 'God to us all, and desired the human brotherhood of man, has my profound reverence ; but, through not being understood, He is worshipped like a fetish, by those who live upon a Church called Christian, but which, in reality, is Faulian, with this difference, that Paul lived by his hands, i?nd made it his boast while teaching, as he conceived, a higher ideal of life. His successors live without work, upon public gifts, and robberies of the past ; and by the aid of bayonet and staff, they are the recipients of public plunder, in face of their Sunday utterances, " Thou shalt not steal," &c. I can- not allow this opportunity to pass without protesting against the black-robed gentlemen, who ofliciate in the various places of public worship, and do their best to repudiate the giants of science, of history, and of travel — men who have even fallen martyrs to their endeavours to find out Nature's laws and ways ; while these pig- mies are incapable of so much as giving a lecture on astronomy, geology, history, or any other subject calculated to raise man's hopes, or give their Church a power. AVhy, even their best, the son of a nobleman — a little-town — can only give, as an evening's en- tertainment, for the elderly ladies of the gushing sisterhood, some of his college experiences, but only that portion thereof that grati- fies his vanity by enabling him to indulge in self-praise. Away, away with such things ; they constitute but our human lumber. Are such as these to be the teachers of our children, and our fellow- citizens' children ? Not if Ihnoxv or can prevent it, and in support of my views, I submit the subjoined testimony of recognised theo- logical disputants : — 74 The Orange Free State. A Plea for the Free Discussion of Theological Lifficuliies. At the beginning of the English Eeformation, when Protestant doctrine was struggling for reception, and the old belief was merg- ing in the new, the country was deliberately held in formal sus- pense. Protestants and Catholics were set to preach on alternate Sundays in the same pulpit ; subjects were discussed freely in the ears of the people ; and, at last, when all had been said on both sides, Convocation and Parliament embodied the result in formulas. Councils will no longer answer the purpose ; the clergy have no- longer a superiority of intellect or cultivation ; and a conference of prelates from all parts of Christendom, or even from all depart- ments of the English Church, would not present an edifying spectacle. Parliament may no longer meddle with opinions unless it be to untie the chains which it forged three centuries ago. But better than councils, better than sermons, better than Parliament, is that free discussion through a free Press, which is the fittest- instrument for the discovery ot truth, and the most effectual means for preserving it. — Iroude, irt. " Sliort Studies on Great Subjects. TJce Philosophy of Secidarism. Peal life — that is, an original relation to man and to the universe, worship of one's own ideal, consecration by one's own love — has for ages been postponed by despairing hearts to another world, and thither where their hearts were their treasures iollowed. But that waking dream grows dim. The future is all unsure. Lost oppor- tunities are lost for ever. He who throws away his life upon dogmas or dreams is as one who throws life away in dissipation. Let every heart arise and claim its lull measure of existence ! The weakest will is strong enough to select its right elements and. organise its fair life, if it be only free — free to concentrate itself each instant upon the nearest need of life — the essential condition, of every farther step. It is the single, simple will, intent each moment on its truest and best, which finds those moments ever weaving the general Hfe into beauty, and virtue into joy. — Moncure D. Oonway. Ortliodoxy and Agnosticism. " On my side,'' said the Rev. Mr. Lascelles, " I affirm a personal The OR.A.NGE Free State. 75 God, the inspiration of the Bible, and the truth of revealed re- ligion ; the separate and distinct acts of creation ; the miracle of the sacrifice and the atonement; an immortal soul, to be judged at the last day according to the deeds done in the body ; and a future life of bliss or woe." " On my part," responded Mr. Richard FuUerton, " I deny all these articles but one, and that I neither deny or affirm. It belongs to the domain of the unknowable ; and neither you nor I know what comes after the death of the body — if anything, or nothing but the disintegration of the forces which made what we call life. Scientific analogy is against you, universal belief is with you ; but in this, as in many other things, the confession of ignorance is the greater wisdom and the truer modesty. — Mrs. Linton, in " Under ivhiclt Lord ? " Revelation. Men admit that all knowledge of " philosophy, politics, medicine and the like," has been slowly gained by the experience of man and his own toilsome efforts, unaided by any supernatural power ; but they say religion has been revealed to man direct from a per- fect omniscient God. We find, however, that men are no more agreed about religion, which has been revealed, than about science — which has not been revealed. Of what advantage, then, is revelation ? And is it not derogatory to God to suppose he could reveal what men cannot understand ? The fact that men differ about religion, philosophy, politics, and medicine, proves that God has never given direct, positive instruction on these subjects. It seems, to my mind, that religion rests on just the same authority as science — namely, human experience and research ; and God has never spoken about religion in any way, that he may not be said to have talked politics or given medical lectures. " The Lord spake unto " Solon and Galen as truly as unto Moses. When men recognise the truth that religious ideas have no higher authority than medical ideas possess, they will become as charitable about theological differences as they now are about varying medical theories. Will it not be a social improvement ? B. G. Adams, in the " Lndex.'' I know that for writing all this, that they (the pigmies) will try and find out my vulnerable part, maintain that I must have 76 The Orange Free State. murdered my grandmother, robbed a bank, or committed some other horrible deed, which will yet bring me to condign punish- ment. Try again ; come on ye manikins, and tax your little brains to injure me ; but it will all be of no use. The minister of the Wesleyans never did, and never will, " set the Thames on fire " or IluH anything or anyone ; there is but one thing he fully understands, and that is the universal law of ■"increase and multiply" — and understanding it thoroughly, like a big man, he practised it diligently ; and though in poverty, he lived in hope. As the President said, " All shall right come " — and for which, as an anti-Malthusian, he has my best respects ; but he would have had my esteem if he had followed some useful profession, enabling him to provide for his children, and preached — as he and others called it — for the love of the cause. It is no use hauling in the sentence that " the labourer is worthy of his hire." In these modern days, Paternoster Row supplies the world with any quantity of ready-made sermons for all seasons and conditions. A full portmanteau of these, when starting with a constant monthly supply, will always fill up an hour's reading without any effort ; if not to the edification of the listeners, to the passing away of the allotted time. There are no Oracles of Delphi to consult in these»days. Paternoster Row is a never- failing well to all the talking cripples that go out to South Africa and our other Colonies, which supply out-door relief and a refuge for the incap- ables'of England ; to the relief of the heads of missionary societies in England, on the same principle that Governors not wanted, are sent to some parts of India or the West Coast of Africa to be got rid of, so that they should not trouble their theological and political friends any more. . This much I must say, that of all jeligious and scholastic bodies in the Capital, the only party out of debt, and that pays its way, is the so-called Roman Catholic — in practice not catholic. They are too poor to be dishonest, as no one trusts or even fears them in these days. They have a full conviction that there is a veritable hot place called Hell, and that it is in the exact middle of this earth, where the Devil is constantly tormenting and worrying the unfortunates that they say are there. In the case of the man who eii, but even a^^propriated securities handed to him by another. Thus he doubly robbed me, and, to this day I feel, may he go down doubfy damned, as a warning to others ! Duty and obedience, in a burlesque form, is advocated under a.l conditions. Would that this one fact and idea was made more prominent in all our modes of life and action ! In the Free State, it seemed to be the rule to ignore duties, not fulfil them. This one fact must never be lost sight of, however it may be violated by others — there is no sacrifice when duty is not fulfilled. I do not advocate here what I myself have not carried out. Ten years of self-expatriation at the shrine of duty must testify for me ; and to-day I feel a giant, with the strength of an old god, in the consciousness that I have, in my humble way, performed mine. The insolence in the last scene is too much for my nature. It is a common cvery-day lie to say that no Englishman hears un- moved the statement, " for, with all their faults, we love our House of Peers." It is with bitter contempt that all true English- men look upon such a house of hereditary vagabonds, and to illustrate them by the book through which the bishops hold their positions " they reap where they have not sown, and gather where they have not reaped." After asking us to express loyalty to a Queen that is only a figure-head, and in no case useful, in place of being loyal to our country, rather than to a foreign hordi-i of Germans; with all this, we are to be told that we love this The Okange Free State. 83 House of Peers ! When shall we have true dignity, freedom, and independence sufficient to remove the whole, and in their place have true heroes and great men, whom we can reverence, honour, love and obey cheerfully, and at all times ? -^^^^i^^^^r^^ f2 Chapter VIII. T last, in the early days of June, some of the Members of the Free State Raad discovered that they stood in need of telegraphs, bridges, and other public works ; and, in a moment of enthusiasm, they elected a com- mittee to arrange to borrow from one or other of the European Powers, by Debentures as a first charge on Public Ptevenues, the sura of £100,000, at six per cent, interest, to be repaid by yearly instalments in gold, at the Treasury of the Free State. No one can complain of the erecting of public buildings ; but the modern system of borrowing gold from European countries, is^ so ruinous to any State — whether large or small — in comparison with the safe and easy mode of each State making its own public,, legal tender paper-money, wherewith to pay for the construction of its public works of utility, and so important is the whole ques- tioa, with all its future possibilities, that, at the request of many friends in Bloemfontein, I here draw attention to a " paper " I had the pleasure of reading at a meeting of the Literary Society, in the old Hall, Chief Justice Reitz in the chair, when my ideas, as ex- pressed therein, were fully approved, and endorsed by a ma- jority of those present, and the " paper " itself I have since had printed. The same views are advocated in my pamphlet entitled Hoio to colonize South Africa, and by wliorn ; also in my Jottings hy the Way in South Africa, and Hoio to Construct Free State Bailways, (fc, dc, wherein will be found an explanation in exienso of the Money, and other social and political questions, aflecting the past, present, and future of South Africa ; and the plans I proposed are- The Okange Free State. 85 3'et bound to be acted upon by the people of tlie future in tbe Free State and elsewhere. Many and many were the observations on my retired existence and absorption in my business, whilst in the town of Bloemfontein ; but to make acquaintances was positively dangerous. One German failure, whom I had helped considerably, I fournl out afterwards had been discarded by his countrymen, on account of his dissipation and cruelty to his wife and family. I was, how- ever, desirous of assisting him once more, and did so ; but, not- withstanding my kindness, he took most unwarrantable liberties with my establishment, using my name as an introduction and cover, and even borrowed money from my friend Thomas, by the impudent representation that he was my commercial traveller and very intimate with me ; and, although he was earning consider- able sums on commission at the same time, he never returned the cash to me. This man was a well-dressed libertine, and a dis- grace to his nation ; and I found at last that isolation was my only safety from such people; to be friendly was to be imposed upon. It was even so among my neighbours. One German-born Jewish lady — at least she said she was born a lady — constantly maligned me, because in free trade I had made my business on the premises she had formerly occupied ; such was her jealousy of my success in business — entirely due to my untiring exertions — that she assailed me with all the fury of a virago ; until at last, in self-defence, I had to tell her that, if born a lady, she had out- grown the early conditions; in fact, although I am a man of peace, had it been her husband — a poor hen-pecked, unhappy mortal, that could call neither body nor soul his own — instead o: herself who abused me, I certainly should have gone for him. Although I gave this wretched man and his termagant wife credit, and helped them in various other ways, they did nothing but try to injure me in return for all my kindness ; but I forgive even them, for I blame the conditions of life, as arranged by " the powers that be," as the cause of so much uncharitableness and ill-feeling amongst neighbours. This couple, like many others in times of prosperity, thought a time of slackness would never overtake them. They went in for a large mansion and store, which they erected by means of the 86 The Oeange Free State. Building Society, and the proceeds of some 'land wliicli had- originally been granted to the husband as one of the old German Legion. This land, in reality, belonged to his colonial creditors, but he had contrived to keep it in his own possession, and ulti- mately sold it, furnishing their home with the proceeds. But, with ail this, they got involved with the building societies, until at last they were eaten up with the enormous interest these asso- ciations demand from their victims. It will thus be seen that the old adage. '• tools build liouses. but wise men occupy them," still holds good in some cases — although I pitied these people, on account of the losses they had sustained' by reason of my competition with them in business ; so disgusting, was their conduct to me that I felt 1 could know or help them no longer. All this was aggravated by the conduct of another German firm, and especially by the half-black compound, who was at the Beck of this man, the well-known Yernenk-Hard, near the Dutch Church. So intermixed are many of the colonists, that it is impossible to know who have not African blood in their veins, and when they are the outcome of past mesalliances and take it into their heads- to injure an Englishman, they — through their influence with the official compounds like themselves — act so that they make it almost impossible for an Englishman to exist among them. Africa is peculiarly a blackman's playground. An English- man's sense of justice is annoying to them ; cheating and lying is inborn in them. Well do I remember the Wool Scandal by a German firm, who deliberately cheated one of their customers, which led to blows from their rival black-blooded competitor, and finally landed them in a libel and assault case that cost the cheating firm over £1500, which all said served them right. In fact, Africa is a place for no honest man ; to cheat and be cheated is the system all around ; honesty is positively unknown. I have met men-Ansell's who boasted openly that they had done their creditors, and were known to live ever after upon the plunder. I have no hesitation is say- ing that the Boers, Germans and Jews think it smart to lay it on the Englishman whenever they have the opportunity, and I know of no remedy for this evil but to let them stew in their own The Orange Free State. 87 chicanery, until tlie roguos so fall out, that there will be a chance for honest men to come i?ito their own and the jnst reward ol their honest toil. I was often sympathised with over my losses due to the faith I had put in man ; but somehow or another, I had in all my walks of life been fortunate in securing affection from friends, and at times great help, and although enemies and those who did me harm, multiplied as fast ; still the fact that I had the love of many, would never allow me to lose that faith in my fellow-man — that is as the salt of the earrh.. Without this ennobling senti- ment, we should but find ourselves in the midst of human devils,. making it impossible for the pure and good to stop upon this ter- restial globe. I well remember one clergyman, much better than his creed, trying to comfort me in the midst of my annoyances and losses, with the reflection that alter all, I had had to bear nothing com- parable with what his Saviour had suffered for his fellow man. The very fact of drawing my attention to such a case roused me somewhat from my lethargy, and I could not help reminding him that he must never have read the history of Christ out of the authorised version of His life ; and that taking the life as there portrayed, was not so bad as our modern lives. The fact of being able to live away from the city — the ease with which locusts and wild honey could be procured — a place with no rent for Him to pay, surrounded by nature in all her beauty, must have made it an earthly Palestine-Paradise to Him. The fact is we do not get the true life and history of Christ. No wife and children depending upon Him for sustenance, no landlord to worry Him, His wants but few, and in every way and contrast different to our modern life of everlasting "go " and risk. That He had His idea of a higher life, which gave Him the heart- ache and produced many a bitter hour, when He with His Light would have altered things for the best, must be admitted ; but all this was cut so short that it cannot be compared to any of our experiences. The commercial and agricultural conditions of that age, allowed men great latitude, but all is now so narrowed that men are always being ground on every side to the exclusion of all country-life ; and then there is no ending so quietly in these days, as Christ's ■■88 The Orange Free State. pain and suffering was. Accusation, trial and death all over in less than a week. Why, compared with modern sufferings and crucifixions, sudden death, if not sudden Glory, cez'tainly was sudden releasement from ail persecution. Far be it from me to repudiate the sufferings of One who was a Hero in His time, but modern facts and experience prove that in the heart of our man-made cities, there is a multiplied torture to 'the souls of men who think and would act out of the ordinary run of life that positively makes this earth a hell to dwell in. True it is, there are men who tell us, that it is due to Lucifer, or the devil, — as described in Longfellow's Golden Legend — that he is the author of all this sin and trial. Lucifer (fying over the city). .Sleep, sleep, O city ! till the light Wakes you to sin and crime again, "Whilst on your dreams, like dismal rain, I scatter downward througii the night My maledictions dark and deep. I have more martyrs in your walls Than God has ; and they cannot sleep ; They are my bondsmen and my thralls ; Their wretched lives are full of pain. Wild agonies of nerve and brain ; And every heart-beat, every breath, Is a convulsion worse than death ! Sleep, sleep, O city ! though within The circuit of your walls there lies No habitation free from sin, And all its nameless miseries ; The aching heart, the aching head, Glrief for the living and the dead, And foul corru|ition of the time, Disease, distress, and want, and woe, And crimes, and passions that may grow Until tliey ripen into crime ! Now if these lines indicate a fact, what a horrible state of things it must be that the god of this world, as they say, can commit Buch,havoc. I think I have read somewhere in the Old Testa- ment, that " If there is evil in the city have not I the Lord caused it ? " Now, this alters the case again ; but if the view is a cor- The Okange Feee State. 89 rect one of tlie clergyman, then no wonder that men can use the following words of Tennyson, and iclth all their Jieart wish its ACCOMPLISHMENT. But the God of Love and hell ogether They caunot be thought, If there be such a god, may the Great God curse him, aud bring him to uaught ! — Tknnyson. What shall I say of those who write or prate Of social scieuce and your social state ? Who draw dark pictures of the ills they see, And talk tlie cant of cheap philanthropy, Who rave about the griefs which men endure, But never venture to disclose the cure; • Who never touch the vices of your laws, Who never probe the sore, nor show its cause ; Who either do not know, or will not see, Since mischief works, the mischiefs remedy ; Who tell the world the thing it sadly knows. Its ceaseless sorrovv's, and its helpless throes ; Who deal in sentiment, but never seek How to chastise the spoiler, aid the weak? The Priest and Levite look, and turn aside, The scorn they feel they do not care to hide ; The poor Samaritan does all he can. Stoops to assist and heal the wounded man. Those creatures whine a dirge, and scold apace, And tell the story of the mournful case , But touch and tend him, and thair lingers soil ? No ; better save their twopence, wine and oil. What earthlj' benefit do they afford To Ginx's baby, and to Bantam's lord. Who never strive to plaee before your view Why Ginv's baby is, and Bantam too? It is the doubts concerning life and existence that make the future so uncertain, and men so desparing — almost creating in ■every breast a desire for annihilation. The Religious Orders and churches in Bloemfontein are com- pounded of idotcy, poverty and commercialism. Idiotcy may be fairly represented in the persons of the Hon. Little-Town, of Miss Grimes, her " sisters " and associates. A more wretched, sham- bling, shuffling, canting pair of imbeciles in gait, manner and 90 The Orange Free State. style than the two named are not to be found in South Africa. Theyjhead their respective bodies and homes, and it may be sup- posed what they are like, to be guided by such a pair. Poverty is the badge of the Sisterhood, but when it is known that not a single institute under their care is out of debt ; that the buildings are in a state of decay ; that their educational institutions are but poorly appreciated, that they have but one poor student who can tolerate such a home in which to be made into a mechanical par- son, all is said that is necessary. The Theological College is a disgrace in every respect. A Miss German Busybody is at the head of its culinary management — a common cook at ten pounds a year would manage better. It would have been an advantage if the college had missed her so- called services and superintendence. The commercial element is represented by the Bishop and his Archdeacon, who by their dress, so out of harmony with these modern times, not only make themselves Guys on the fifth of November, but are a source of amusement to the inhabitants all the year round. The Bishop started with a few pounds in addition to his wife's means, and together they for a time ceased to be shepherds of their Flocks, and amused themselves in sheep-farming, and even set up a mill to grind corn in opposition to a neighbour, entered into keen competition with those in the district as vegetable growers, fruiterers and brickmakers. All this was done for the glory of the Bishop, the associates, and the dearly beloved sister- hood, in more senses than one, if the kiss of sisterhood, and after- pleasures are taken into account, on the principle that carnal pleasures increase their spiritual delights. " How shocking ! " I fancy I hear some of them say ; but this much may be relied upon, that with the exception of the Bishop, who is a married man, the Hon, Little-town, who is totally incapable, Miss Grimes, whose age prohibits, all the younger ones do it, when the opportunity offers, although they may afterwards rue it. Another instance of their commercialism is the selling for gold the gifts of clothes sent from England to be given to the Kaffirs and the poor generally, and using the proceeds of these sales for maintaining purposes. Old, and foolish, idiotic women arc per- suaded to lend money to build institutes to be carried on as The Okange Fkee State. 91 boarding houses, in opposition to other private enterprises. Dutice parties for juveniles and adults arranged tor in front of the Ark of a cathedral so-called, to the inexpressible pain of the pious beholder. Card-playing and even billiards are allowed, within sound of the cathedral bell, to make this commercial speculation succeed, and add to the general funds of the Bishop, who has no need to account for the same, not being responsible to anyone, nobody having the right to demand an explanation of how the funds are gathered or how they are spent. I know of very little to the credit of the Wesleyans, Baptists,. Lutherans, or the ancient know-little, but bigoted Catholic Church ; but the English Church, which I did know, is in Bloemfontein a monstrosit}'. It is but the out-door relief-station for the unfortunates who would not be fit to occupy a decent clerkship in England. It is astonishing what social station the title " Rev." will give, even if possessed by the dullest in some out-of-the-way place ; with what unction and persuasion they can influence the middle-aged spinster to give ot the wealth she has inherited to assist as they tell them in the Lord's vineyard. They never seek the poor spinster, but the rich widow and sisters, and the well-to-do are always welcome as pillars of the Church in all or any station wherever the bastard English Church is found. But why say anything of all this ? The Cathedral, its Bishop, its " reverends," its clerical and lay officials, Dutch or otherwise, all are but the off-shoots of the system in England, and paraded in all our colonies to the digust of decent, and the contempt of intelligent men. Their stock-in-trade is the same in all countries, an old but present devil and a future salvation. Without a devil there would be no religion. Once free the world from the fear of the devil, who is called the God of this world, and there will be hope for humanity at large, and the brotherhood of Christ and the son-ship of God will be possible. Peace and good-will then will have a chance among the world's inhabitants. I had often asked what information these men were prepared to give to the rising generation of both sexes, but could never get an intelligent reply. One man gave his college-life, and being the son of a poverty-stricken peer, indulged in strong abuse of the sons of buttermen and railway contractors, to the delight of 92 The Orange Free State. his sisters. It was simply an exliibition of himself ; of what a *' goody-goody " boy he bad been, or, in other words, an ignorant sneak and fool ; but " what a dear man he was," cried Miss Grimes, to resist such constant temptation ; but ask these men to give a lecture on history or any other subject for the instruction of youth, and from sheer incapacity they remained dumb. The only man who could rant was a Father Douglas, who, it is to be hoped, in his seclusion with his young men, has not the tastes, habits, or the manners of Dr. Twells — a former Bishop of Bloemfonteim — with the young half-blood Beck and his com- panions. To teach the youngsters the Prayer-book, and who was their Godfather and Godmother was indeed their delight ; but how to raise them in manhood, and thus qualify them to become good citizens and good men was out of their power altogether. Their knowledge was a most limited thing, confined within themselves at all times. July was certainly a most remarkable month in the history of Bloemfontein. Scarcely had the festivities ended, before there arrived one of Rome's itinerant lunatics — a man who in madness had perambulated the world, and brazenly went about proclaiming it as truth that the Church which, three centuries ago, called itself Christian, had then and since been known by reasonable men as a falsehood. In those days of old the Priests of Rome openly preached that sins could be forgiven for metallic-coined money, and these priests did much else then that in face of the wonderful discoveries of modern science they dare not assert or do now. The Eoman Catholic Church, so called, is powerless now lor harm owing to its weakness, and as it cannot now apply the fire or shut up in dungeons and immure alive in vaults, as so well described by Scott in Rohehy, it raves and struts its knowledge of a place they still call hell. This^;fellow of a lunatic asylum who had travelled a world so full of light and knowledge, described the devil as so careless, that when walking in hell, he missed his path, and trod on the burning fuel, and even made his audience laugh in church when he described, with a strong Irish brogue, how he jumped and spluttered in pain at his lolly in stepping on hot coals. Not content with harrowing up their feelings in an ordinary way, he publicly informed his hearers that The Orange Free State. 93 there are more women in hell for lying than men, sending many home in a state of terror and half madness. He then, in powerful tones, invoked his listeners to bring each two sinners, and he pro- mised them not only a full account of the lower regions, but even to make them smell hell. Good heavens ! what have we arrived at in these days? — that decent men should be harassed by such a sight as this Rome's mountebank, fed by the income that people in fear gave him, to wander about seeing the sights of the world, and adding nothing to its enlightenment, and only fit to sit in a confessional, as below described : — Edwin Heron on the Confessional. Here mumbUng out his histrionic mass, His rival chants, here " ass intones to ass : " Sets up, with folly which is half sublime, The withered fetish of a bygone time, States that the priest alone can loose and lock Who proves his pedigree from Peter's Stock ; Curses without remorse, or stint, or doubt, All who don't make the thousand quarterings out ; And fancying Paradise a strict entail, (xrauts hope to those whose lineage does not fail. Of course asserts that he can ban and bless, Give or witlihold eternal happiness, Bids women bow before the sacred priest, Adore Ids functions and confess at least. But that this worship of the past should give. One worthy aim for which to work and live, ( tr fancy seek that Empire to renew Which the strong Saxon smote and overthrew ; That gewgaws such as these should even be Anything but a refuge for ennui. That monks can save the world, or ever could, That a/ichorite and fakirs do you good. Is to bring Buddha back before your gaze, Wen do not cat the Lotus in our days. To be sure that I did not judge this man unfairly, I determined to waste an hour to hear him. I lound an excitable, spasmodic man, more intense than strong, with no depth or breadth of thought. One cannot call vehemence stiength ; a man is not ■94 The Orange Free State. .strong who talks in convulsive fits. We need in these days to remember that shrieking is not indicative of manliness and wisdom, but rather of weakness and imbecility. For three hours did this semi-acting go on ; and, to give the audience a change ;ind a something to do and look forward to, they had in the morning been reijuested to bring with them in the evening matches and a baptismal candle, which, at a given time, they were all called upon to stand up and light, and hold heavenward, while some questions were put, and answered in due form. At length this was enough, and they were told to blow the candles out, and .sit dov/n, and then they were solemnly assured that to keep these candles would drive the demons away, and that held in the hands of the dying, they would contain certain virtues. Now, having worked up their lioi;e.s, they were regaled with a special rescript — a blessing direct from the Holy Father, used at all times and on iill occasions by this itinerant priest ; after which, being in a satisfactory humour with themselves and their church, their ordi- nary priest informed them that this man of God had need of ttavelling expenses, and their libei-ality of the morning not being enough, their assistance was once more solicited to help him on his way. In the old days, priests, to show their zeal and love for their church and cause, thought it not derogatory to their dignity to take their staff and wallet and march on foot to perform their holy mission ; but, in these degenerate days, these livers on human credulity must ride in the best conveyances, live sumptu- ously, and dress in fine linen and black cloth. This holy man of God! — oh, what mockery! — bitterly com- ]ilained that the Church was not earnest enough, that Catholics were too (|uie.scent, that the members would fall in love with out- siders, that to such marriages was to be traced much of the cool- ness to Mother Church, that the youth of both sexes would read the books of men of light and learning, and that in doing so, they would sell themselves to the devil. I felt thankful for his admission, and rejoiced that at last the writings of men of light and learning were influencing even these j'^-ople. But what must we think of such members of such a church who could listen to these mutterings ? When Lucifer was t'.iriied out of heaven and dropped into hell, that alighting upon The Oeange Fbee State. 95 live coal, he hopped and danced in pain, and that he still so dances, and then to state that was the origin of dancing ! Surely this man must have had the lowest type of intellect or of hearers that they could possibly take all this in, and pay reve- rence to the utterer as a man of God. Surely the spasmodic attempt and sing-song in the strains of the well-known nursery rhyme, repeating time after time, " This is the cow with the crumpled horn," &c., sending almost all asleep, aided by the incense. But it was truly pitiable to see what is called the house of God, turned into a house of begging. The appeal for money to take this man of God out of the town, at such a time, was a crime and robbery. My sense of justice to myself and the town woald not allow me to part with a single coin, although the missionary himself, with the wicked, piercing eye, as some Catholics called him, placed the plate before me ; and it grieved me when I saw a tradesman, who neither properly attended to his business, nor paid his debts, give a donation to help this man to ride out of the town in the best conveyance. Willingly would I have given a crown that he should never have appeared in Bloemfontein, adding one more to the charlai,ans who play upon the feelings of the women and the terrors of the men. Did such missions make all more moral, honest, and truthful, ■one would not complain ; but I, myself came into contact with many Catholics like the Cor-Bitts, who were most particular in iheir attendance at church, but perfect humbugs towards their tradesmen ; while I must say, that those who were not so anxious to confess, and had lost faith in their so-called and nicknamed holy men of their God, did keep their words, and j^ay their debts, proving that they were superior to their creed. Alas ! alas ! that it is possible in the Nineteenth Century for such shriekers and babblers to go about and talk of a veritable hell, and how so many are in its tortures, and yet teach that the God of the^universe is a just God! Surely thfe time has arrived when such imbeciles ought to be taken care of, and that such simple monstrosities no longer parade our public streets. I call upon all good men to renew their efforts to make known eternal truths, and thus defeat such wretched teachings, for the sake of the rising ami unborn generations. Such works as " Under which Lord ? " by Mrs. Linton, has 96 The Orange Free State. exposed the trickery, and the system as adopted by these men to gain their unholy ascendancy. At the church I noticed one old gentleman hold up his candle the highest, and appear most devout, but this exercise did not make him more human and less grasping : for, a few days after, when a small favour, in the form of the loan of a horse for a sudden journey was needed for an important matter, he would not lend, although I offered to pay most liberally for its use, but, seeing my great need, would sell, and that at an exorbitant price ; and such v;as my urgent want of this horse for a night ride — for a seventy-miles' journey — that I had to submit to this extortion, for which he deserved Lyneh-Ing. Let me here say, that men with no profession of religion, are more considerate, kind, and obliging, to men in need. The Decline of Orthodoxy. It has almost become a proverb that the age of miracles is past, and many people suppose that it is a very long time since orthodox people believed that miracles might and did occur around them. But two hundred years ago a man who had denied contemporary miracles would have been handled almost as roughly as an Atheist. Only one hundred and fifty-six years ago a woman was burnt in this country for witchcraft ; and only one hundred and ten years ago the divines of the Associated Presbytery passed a resolution, declaring their belief in witchcraft, and deploring the general scepticism on the subject. Belief in providential miracles was orthodox in the early part of our own century. It disappeared only after a stormy struggle, and then only to hide in many popular superstitions, and to recur occasionally in such move- ments as Spiritualism. The departure out of respectable ortho- doxy of the belief in modern miracles was a much longer stride towards radical unbelief than theologians are willing to admit. Its results have only in these last years begun to make themselves apparent. A Christianity whose deity does not interfere with the laws of Nature or with the government of the world, is only a kind of Deism. It may claim that once upon a time he did interpose in human affairs, eighteen centuries ago, and that, after the lapse of further centuries, he will interpose again ; but none the less are men in the present time left to administer their world without The Orange Fkee State. 97 Divine interference. That is now orthodoxy, but it is unbelief. In is contrary to the faith of the Bible, contrary to Christ's pro- mise of continued miraculous power to his Church. And this unbelief is only bearing its fruits in the wrath and denunciation with which orthodoxy is compelled to defend the faith and the altar which its deity abandons to their fate. — Moncure D. Conway, Protestants and the Bible. Protestants have committed the truths of Christianity to a theory of their own creation, and when they find themselves in difBculties they fall back on sophistry. The six days of creation are defined precisely by the writer of the Book of Genesis, The period between evening and morning could have been meant only for a day, in the ordinary sense of the word. Science proves unanswer- ably that the globe has grown to its present condition through an infinite series of ages ; and Protestant theologians, entangled with their own fancies, have imagined that " day " may signify a million, billion, or quintillion of years. Construing literally the vehement expression of St. Paul, they have insisted that death originated in Adam's sin. They are confronted with evidence that death has reigned through all creation, through the earliest periods of which the stratafied rocks preserve the record. They hesitate, they equi- vocate, they struggle against the light ; they do anything save make a frank confession of their own error. — Iroude, in " Short Studies on Great Subjects." The Triumph of Truth. In the end, the people who now murmur and ridicule what they do not understand will be grateful for the real manhood that has been revealed to them. In the end, truth alone will command respect, truth alone will prevail ; and, in the end, in the far-off time, truth shall make every heart of man its empire and its throne. — Felix Adler, in " Radical Fulpit." The Feligion of the Future. The coming man's religion will have no theology in it. All Q 98 The Orange Free State. questions as to the origin of things, the nature of life, final causes, and the first great cause (least understood), the coming man will naturally pass over. Such subjects have nothing to do with reli- gion. They are questions of science and curiosity, to be elucidated, if at all, by ages of investigation, experiment, and thought. It is not necessary to expound the universe, to assert or to deny a deity. It is only necessary for us to perceive that the question of the final cause is not pressing, not important to us — a matter of curiosity, no more. It is only necessary to agree that no opinion concerning it can be guilty or odious. — James Parton " The Coming Man's Religion. What we Need. What we need is an ethical movement, a system of moral inspi- ration, a method of education based on the radical principle that the highest honour is to be a man. What we want on our side is the moral power. That is always supreme. The first thing essen- tial is to destroy the illusion with which the priests and ministers cheat the people. As long as they bow the knee to powers above, they will yield their necks to earthly oppressors and masters. The morality of Christianity must be destroyed. We must cease our submission to the powers that be. We have nothing to hope from poverty of spirit, but everything from wealth of spirit. Out of a blood-stained cross can come for us nothing but misery. " Blessed are they that mourn and weep " must be blotted out of our beatitudes. In the place of this false morality we must put that which is true. True morality is equal and universal rights. Hence the second principle of every true Kadical is the right of every man to be and belong to himself. This implies perfect liberty of thought and action, so long as you do not trample on the equal rights of anyone else. — George G. Chainey. Press On I Struggle, often bafHed, sorely baffled, down as into entire wreck ; yet a struggle never ended ; ever will bear repentance, true, un- conquerable purpose, begun anew. Poor human nature ! Is not a man's walking, in truth, always that — " a succession of falls " ? Man can do no other. In this wild element of a life he has to The Orange Free State. 99 struggle onwards — now fallen, now deep-abased, and ever with tears and repentance, with bleeding heart, he has to rise again and struggle again still onward. That his struggle be a faithful, unconquerable one ; that is the question of questions. We will put up with many sad details if the soul of it be true. — Carlyle, in " Hero- Worship.^' g2 Chapter IX. HE second and third weeks in July were productive of experiences in the uncertainty of the law. I had been told that there was too much law and very little equity ; in fact, no court of equity, and truly I found it so. The Roman, Dutch, and a compound of English, and no-country law, anything and every- thing to suit the bias of the sitting Landrost, Judge, and the nationality brought before him. With my usual simpli- city, I could hardly suppose such acts and deeds could be com- mitted by persons who pride themselves upon being a God-fearing people. In reality I acquit the simple Dutchman of being a party to all this infamy and base iniquity. It is the outcome of the Hollander and German arrangement to fleece all producers, what- ever nationality or class they might belong to. In the case of the manager of a store of mine, stock-taking revealed a deficiency of one hundred and eighty pounds on his part, after being but eight months in my service, This alone was enough to give a shock to any man who desired to pay twenty ehillings in the pound. Acting upon the advice of a Maitland Street post-cart-contractor-of-an-attorney, he was urged on, before he rendered any account of - his stewardship, or gave any explana- tion of the loss, to demand of me a certain sum as commission on sales and salary, although dismissing himself from my service on the last day of the month. In the first place a reconvention was allowed, but with the understanding that I, the wronged one, must take my demand into the higher court, where, if I gained the day, I must pay the costs for the benefit of the legal profession and the Government, in stamps (the Dutch Government does believe in stamps). The Orange Free State. 101 Now, what respect can men — I say, and mean, men, have for such iniquitous conditions, that, if one is in the right, he must pay so expensively for proving it before men, who call themselves judges ? Truly it would be well if we knew upon what principle these men were made judges ; certainly it is not by acting equit- ably that they possess the right to sit in judgment. They may argue that they do not sit to make laws, but to administer them, which means that men who swear to act justly and to give no favour, may, like legal highwaymen, enforce black-mail whenever they have the opportunity. The indignation a man feels at being wronged impels him to seek redress rather than submit to being swindled. The legal adviser of the man that robbed me would have settled all for a certain sum. Accepting this proposal would, on my part, virtually have been condoning the wrong, and publicly saying to my other employees, •' Go, and do likewise ; you need not take any care of the man's goods, and if you allow them to be taken, and receive the benefit afterwards, no responsibility can attach to you ; rob and plunder ! your master cannot punish you." Truly the time has come when all judges must rise above mere considerations of pay, and advocate a cheap system, such as the Code Napoleon, that will enable almost any man to have his case judged fairly, or else let a body of practical mercantile men arbitrate in all cases before an appeal to the judgment seat. A land without righteous judgments is a piteous sight for the gods, and can only mean its downfall. I feel that injustice is more certain to be done when it is an Englishman who asks for right ; and yet it is from England that the Free State owes all its ad- vantages. Mu^h of the food, almost all the clothing, their arms and ammunition, machinery, and, in fact, all that tends to civilise them, is obtained from England. It may be asked, Why employ such men to take charge of stores, or assist in any business ? The truth is that it is a case of " Hobson's choice " — these men or none. The white adult Africander population are lazy, thriftless, and roguish ; the climate is calculated to cause them to call upon the black population at all times for the most trivial things. The tropical heat, with its consequent bounteous natural productions, makes them entirely careless as to the future ; and when Nature 102 The Orange Fkee State. gives of her plenty for seven years in succession, all goes on v^^ell, as may be supposed. Wool, sheep, and cattle, are plentiful for all ; but let seven years of drought come, and then starvation and death set in all over the country. Then it is one vast plundering from those who have by those who ha 76 not, until Nature is kind once more, and man ceases to be in want. There is no exaggera- tion in all this ; it is the oft-repeated experience of dwellers in the Cape Colonies and the surrounding States ; and it has been proved that asses, mules, swine and bastards, are the only animals that seem to increase and flourish. No one can honestly recommend the Cape as a land to emigrate to. It is only a half-way place to India ; and after all it is a question whether, considering the other and more attractive colo- nies that England has, if it would not be better to simply hold the Coast towns, well guarded as is done by the Portuguese, and letting the natives trade for what they require, and leaving all in- ternal arrangements to them. What have we to do with their fighting and slaveholding ? That is their business. Leave them to make their own terms with each other as older nations have in Europe ; but, in any case, I emphatically say, Africa is not, and never can be, the home of the white man. He may try for many years, and even centuries, to master its climatic conditions, but in the end he will fail. Nature, the mighty, is against him there, just as she would in Europe be against a colony of blacks. It would be well if the English withdrew all protection, letting those remain who so desired, to take their risk with the natives, or find a home in some more suitable place. The very animals and seeds we send out fail constantly to in- crease and supply ; all try to run back to their African origin, and such will be the experience in the future. The country can- not be relied upon for the growth even of its own grasses, and it is constantly importing provisions in order to exist ; and, as for its diamonds, man, when wise, will not think it worth his while to barter health and life for them, as they are, alter all, only orna- ments to feed the vanity of women, and show the folly of man. But even this is a failure now, and once more the country must depend upon its natural supply, or be doomed to become a howling waste, for what stock the farmer breeds in the summer he loses in ■winter. The Orange Free State. 103 The second demand of this Dutch employee was as bad as^the first, if not worse, and in which the post-cart contracting attorney, of Maitland Street, was again the active supporter. Although the plaintiff proved he had dismissed himself, this French-Dutchised attorney, in the hope of getting the expenses of both sides out of me, availed himself of all the well-known legal tricks to secure the same ; but my evidence was so convincing that the Solons could not give a verdict against me. To give an idea of the intelligence of these men : I claimed in my usual way to affirm — to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ; and, while uttering the same, the man, who sat as Chief Judge for his fellow-man shouted out at the end, *' So help you God." Now, as I had no help from a god to speak the truth, this was pure ignorance on his part, and could have only been introduced for the purpose of making me say too much, or too little, or to trip me up and prevent me giving evidence. I admit, without shame, that I did not appear to heed him, and, so uncertain was he of his ground, that he failed to grasp the details of the subject. In fear I awaited the verdict, the whole of the judge's summing up being so much in favour of the delin- quent, it quite took me by surprise that he accepted my evidence, and gave a verdict in my favour. It was just at this time that I bought a business in the country, and, after stocking the concern, I engaged the late owner to manage it. After releasing the original bond of seven hundred pounds, I bought the man right out, and, finding that he was no better in management than in ownership, I gave him notice that his services would not be required after three months, as agreed upon. Judge of my surprise, when I found that thia man, to in- jure me, had permitted a summons to go by default, and then allowed the sheriff to take possession of my lawful property, thus compelling me again to employ the lawyers and sharks in making affidavits, costing me the sum of £45. But this was not the worst part of this vagabond's tricks ; for it turned out that this judg- ment being out against this man in February, he committed a fraud on me, in causing to be passed away a considerable quantity of goods in settlement of other people's claims, so that he could give me a general bond upon all at his place. Finding that all -did not work satisfactorily, I then, for a further consideration, 104 The Orange Free State. bought him entirely out. Execution for the judgment got in February was put in force in July upon my property, and then, when I appeared in opposition, I heard, for the first time, that this German had given the bond fraudulently, therefore the after sale was illegal, and my goods must pay the debt and expenses. Such was the anxiety and determination on the part of the Dutch authorities at Ladybrand to injure me, that they postponed their decision, in the hope that I should not be able to protect myself^ or to stop such public robbery and spoliation. Fortunately, how- ever, in three hours I was enabled to get all things in order and completeness, to stop any further sale on the part of this thief ; but to do so, I had to buy an expensive horse to get over the seventy-five miles in sixteen hours, on a moonless night, in clouds descending, and to ride as if one had a reprieve to deliver before ten o'clock the next morning. This brawling G-erman thief was but the outcome of the con- ditions surrounding him. When in business in Bloemfontein, he always paid me honestly for all he bought ; but going out among the vile horde of his countrymen, who lived in that Alsatia of the Free State, he learnt from them the tricks common to such people, and put into practice the maxim, that it was more profitable to cheat than to be honest. Taking example from the Russians, that all was fair in war, fraud, or marriage, even to stealing your neighbour's land, as was done by them in Europe during the last and present century, and by their fellows in other countries, and thus they and he carried out their nefarious ways over here. I must say here, that they, thinking they had got a simple, honest man to deal with, resolved to take all the advantage possible of him ; and, although this was my misfortune, and loss to soma hundreds of pounds, don't let it be supposed that it was an isolated case. I give my experience as a warning to others that they may know that the Free State is not a place for honest traders. It is full, and is the home of immoral, dishonest, German traders ; and I can almost forgive the simple Boer farmers for their action against those country shops, where they are always taken in by this dishonourable class. Perhaps some may say passion guides my pen, and that I speak in fierce hate, owing to my losses. Nothing of the kind. I will admit that I feel savage when I see these foreigners take such. The Orange Free State. 105 advantages of decent people under the flag of England and her dependencies. I also admit that, as an Englishman, I cannot allow my country for ever to be robbed and plundered by these roving vagabonds, who as a rule are too lazy to work, but not too degraded to steal, and are to be found in all ranks — from the Guelphs, on what they call the Throne of England, which is a standing shame to an Englishman, and must be wiped away, even to the latest impostor that crosses the German Ocean. No wonder the Russians wish to get rid of such ruling pests. The time must come when they either must stop in their own Fatherland, or give some security for their honesty, if allowed to make a stay in England or her colonies ; and, until this occurs, up to my latest breath, in speaking and writing, I will urge that these iniquities be abolished, and such monstrosities no longer be per- mitted to inhabit England's sacred soil, or that of her colonies or dependencies. That men with honest intentions could get a living, there is my own case to prove, but it was only by constant, hard, toil from morn until late at eve, and strictl}' following the advice given me in Aliwal by an old Bloemfontein trader that I was able to do so. That advice was to stand behind my own counter, and look after my own till, and then all would be right. Immediately that my business increased so as to need assistance to carry it on, virtually making me a prisoner in my front store, then I became subject to the jumping proclivities of Free- State-born assistants, for I can testify that, neither for the home nor for the store, could I find persons possessing common honesty, notwithstanding the faet that I paid higher salaries than was usual. The inhabitants were no better in other respects ; to get into debt was the rule, from the President, members of Parliament, &c., downwards ; in fact, I was delighted to leave the capital of the Free State, as a nest of polite and unpolite robbers. They would get into your debt, rob you, and afterwards laugh at you, or trek into the next town to repeat the process all over the State ; when they could not secure credit, they slandered you in no measured degree. It was truly laughable to notice with what unction they (finding that they could not steal your purse, not that they con- sidered it trash) would steal a character, as described in im- mortal poetry by Shakespeare, till at last, in self-defence, one 106 The Orange Free State. had to act on the old advice of the Greek philosopher : " live it down." The slanders were not of the old women's gossip type only ; for when the little satellite of the mongrel church got to know that I did not " swear," but acted on their advice repeated Sunday after Sunday, not to take the name of the Lord in vain, and I " affirmed " to speak the whole truth and naught but the truth, I was immediately christened without godfather and godmother the " atheist." Although they were repeatedly assured that they were in error, I being a positivist and an all-round protestor ; such was their enlightenment, that the names of Auguste Comte, Lewis, Congreve, &c., were unknown to them, much less did they know what true religion consisted of. Then I found the town was puffed up in England as the heal- thiest spot in Africa, to inveigle invalids suffering from pulmonary disease to end or spend some of their days in — to enrich the doctors of the town where even quacks, made respectable by long residence (as mentioned in the Express of May 22nd, 1884) charge a guinea for a visit, and seven and sixpence for a box of pills. The genuine doctors at Bloemfontein did profess to believe that it was a veritable health resort, as described, and offered to accom- modate the sick for a stipulated sum per month, as they do at Malvern, Torquay, and other places in England, and I know that •when these well-to-do wretches read this they will call a meeting and pass condemnation upon me, and maintain that I must have murdered my grandmother, or committed some other heinous crime ; for what they all lack in intelligence, they make up in spite and dog-like cruelty. My own experience proved, as all can testify, that Bloemfontein is a most unhealthy spot. The " Queen City " of Cesspools, Cow- Kraals and Pigsties. Bloemfontein, March 8th, 1881. To the Editor of the Friend. Sir, — For some time past so much has been said by the leading English Medical Journals, and others, about Bloemfontein, as a " Health resort and Sanatorium," that no wonder so many per- sons, ourselves included, have been anxious to avail themselves of The Orange Free State. 107 the great advantages held out to delicate constitutions if they could only get here. We therefore made an effort a few months ago and did get here ; bat if, in describing our disappointment in the place, and attempting to describe it fairly, we should displease those who hold opposite opinions, we shall only be too pleased to be corrected in our judgment ; hear the other side of the question and, if possible, be convinced that this place is all that has been represented. Upon entering the town by the Monument we were surprised to find it situated in a hollow which naturally must be anything but a salubrious position, for, during the summer months, the sun pours down with an intensity, having no chance of the heat being counteracted by the breezes around, and in damp seasons there is a fcetid miasma arising from the town in such an insanitary condition that the wonder would be if it were not the fruitful source of blood poisons of every character. You have re- cently informed us that diphtheria and scarlet fever have made their appearance in the town, but let us be warned, for these dis- eases admonish us and tell us of typhoid lurking in the back ground, and no wonder, for lately we breathe nothing but the poisonous foetid exhalations from filthy cowkraals, stinking pigsties, and old standing cesspools. Whilst medical and scientific men are at present engaged in enquiring into the meteorological changes of the atmosphere in the locality, I would suggest that they immediately set about to ascertain how many cows, goats, sheep and pigs sleep every night in our midst, — to say nothing of the dogs and cats innumerable. In the present defective state of our sanitary arrangements it is more than difficult to get rid of the filth necessarily made by the human population ; but when there is unnecessarily added to this the abominable filth made by the above-named animals it is a problem how to keep disease out of the town. There is, within six yards of my own windows in the centre of the town and a closely populated neighbourhood, a yard, converted into a cow kraal ; here, every night, th ere are between thirty and forty head of cattle sheltered. During the late rains the place is some feet deep in filth — issuing a most abominable stench — and the only way the owner drains it is by surreptitiously making a bole at the bottom of the yard wall, so it runs into the neighbouring yard, and from thence into the back street — his own street, of course, being too aristocratic for him to venture upon 108 The Orange Free State. such a mode of procedure. Then there are the pigsties always to be met with in the most thickly populated neighbourhoods. If you can't see them you may always smell them, and these wretched animals are allowed to go about the streets rooting up every bit of garbage, and adding filth to filth. Goats innumer- able also add to the odour of the town ; so what with one animal and another we are nearly reduced to a sort of animal existence ourselves. It is not sufficient to expect that one man, a sanitary inspector, can properly see into and arrange these matters. Generally speaking, one man don't care — even though he may be well paid for it — to be looked upon as the obnoxious individual prying into the privacies of every home ; — besides, a sanitary inspector might perhaps be a cow-keeper himself, and, in such a case, it certainly would not be to his interest to interfere with cow kraals. What really is wanted is a sanitary committee, consisting of several men, who really, thoroughly understand the laws pertaining to hygiene and have some power to enforce them. The town really is about one of the best doctored in the country, judging from the number of medical men ; but then, in these places, it pays far better to cure disease than to prevent it, and we must not look to them for suggestions. I have seen cases of typhoid in this town, and only one common cesspool between two houses, with a wooden partition at the top only, and the poisonous evacuations thrown down the cesspool. Can we wonder how fever is generated ? But is it nobody's business to look very deeply into these matters ? How dirty- water is to be got rid of, is another question. The Sanitary In- spector very properly tells us it must not be thrown into the street, and we very properly tell ourselves it must not be thrown into our yards, and the landlord informs us it must not go down the cesspool, so where is it to be got rid of ? But everyone does get rid of it, somehow, nevertheless, and the town and spruit is often in a very unpleasant condition. I would therefore urge that the Municipal authorities take means to prevent any filth being made in the town that is positively unnecessary, such as that which is accumulated by allowing kraals and pigsties of any kind. When Bloemfontein is spoken of as a resort for Pulmonary The Orange Free State. i09 invalids, I often ask, wherein lies the advantage ? But suddenly I remember what an old woman in England told me many years ago viz., that "cow-dung and milk " was the sure and only cure for consumption, and, nasty as I then thought it, and much as I laughed, I can begin to see there must be some truth in her state- nt, i,e., if Bloemfontein really offers, as it is stated, a specific for this disease — it must be its "cow-dung and milk :" very large and nauseous doses of the former and sometimes very little of the latter. But to this " Queen City " of cesspools, cow-kraals, and pigsties, I must soon bid adieu, and look in another direction for a "health resort" — a " Sanatorium." — Yours, &c., Hygiea. Its extremes of cold and great heat, want of rains, dirty erfs yards, and kraals in the town, and a most foul sluit in the centre — all breeding diphtheria, scarlatina, and other contagious diseases, — drove me at last, for fear that my own family should become victims, to send thorn once more to the Colony. In my bachelorhood I was compelled to engage assistance to keep my rooms and linen clean, but in doing so, I was subjected to all kinds of inuendoes. Living in the heart of the town, and many of the fair sex being my customers, gave the opportunity, when I would not give them my goods on credit, to call me names, maintaining that I was a Mormon in heart and a Turk in practice. Truly through all the petty wars, Bloemfontein became the home of the vilest and most contemptible set of wretches it was ever my lot to fall among, and in very joy I shook the dust off feet, and was glad to bid such a spot a last farewell. " Good gracious ! " I hear some say, " what an unfortunate man." Stay, my friends ; I was not more so than others. I but give an experience that many could, but dare not. To plunder, cheat, and lie was the every day practice, and if not to be done in the light, then in the dark. The cruel wrong that I had suffered in the Colony through put- ting faith in human nature forcibly brought to my recollection my dear old mother's words, when I was in my early manhood and releasing myself from the swaddling clothes of my early religious training — and emerging in light through my reading and studying nature and life, with its many vicissitudes, and thinking out the no The Orange Free State. problem of existence. She told me then, my unbounded faith and confidence in human nature would be my constant ruin. Truly (as all will feel if ever I do write my autobiography) I have been the sport of many in whom I have had faith, and yet with all this I always seem to be perpetrating some Quixotic blun- der, from the belief that men are only waiting for a guiding light, in order to climb to a grander and nobler life ; and strange to say, no experience, however bitter and discouraging, seems to shake this faith or make me feel in the words of the poet Heron : — " Make it a golden rule, and keep it so, Trust none you know not, and trust none you know.'' Many were the sympathisers and even opponents who, like all others who are wise only after the event, expressed their surprise that I should be so taken in ; to whom I could only reply by shrugging my shoulders and expressing myself to the eflFect, that if they were so wise why did they not tell me before the event — it was a known thing to all ajter it had occurred. I was momentarily pained by one with whom I had had many a confidential chat and even taken counsel over all my transactions. This man had always expressed his unbounded confidence in my customer's honesty, if not in his ability, yet he had the courage and impudence to say, when I expressed my indignation that a countryman of his — in whom he took such interest — had failed in such a manner, that it was not owing to his own independent judgment that he had faith in him, but because I reposed confi- dence in the man. Good heavens ! What desertion from his previous views. I felt, after such a statement, a bitter contempt for this former friend. Truly a man's friendship is proved if he helps in time of trouble, and proves a friend in deed or counsel when a man is in need thereof ; but then, as Carlyle says — when speaking of the wretched mistakes which different ages make concerning the best and greatest — " Why the Jews took Jesus for a scoundrel, and thought all they could do with Him was to nail Him up on a gallows. Ah ! that was a bad business ; and so He has returned to heaven and the descendants of the murderers go wandering about the streets buying old clothes ! Is was truly a bad business that the working out of a Divine plan, so stated, of Salvation, should The Orange Free State. Ill depend upon a wretched mistake committed by such Jewish fiends and yet we must press on, struggle on, often baffled sorely — baffled, down, as into entire wreck. Yet a struggle never ended, ever will bear repentance, true unconquerable purpose, begun anew. Poor human nature ! Is not a man's walking in truth alwavs that — a succession of falls ? Man can do no other. In this wild element of a life he has to struggle onwards : — now fallen, now deep debased, and ever with tears and repentance, with bleeding heart, he has to rise again and struggle again, still onward. That is, struggle, be a faithful unconquerable one. That is the question of questions. We will put up with many sad details if the soul of it, and man be but true." In this age when the true Gospel of man is well known — and which, if acted upon, would make all feel their existence to be a much richer, and grander and more valuable inheritance, if pro- perly used, than ever dreamt of, and if believers in such were scrupulous in their engagements, loving fathers, faithful husbands, honourable neighboujs, and as just citizens as are to be found in other creeds and beliefs — let us advocate the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God, and all will be well, and notwithstand- ing the general laxity of faith, which is the characteristic of our age, the moral sentiment of our day is growing broader and better. There is more charity, more sympathy, more love and tenderness, a greater desire to know the truth, and be guided by it, a stronger hatred of injustice, tyranny and wrong, and a deeper love of the true, the beautiful and the good than ever was known before. But morality is not Christianity. It is common to all religions. The fundamental principles of morality are everywhere, and at all times the same. The coming man's religion will have no theology in it ; all questions — as to the origin of things, the nature of life, the duration of life, final causes, and the first great cause — the coming man will naturally pass over. Such subjects have nothing to do with religion. Self- Improvement. Whoever improves his own nature improves the universe, of which he is a part. He who strives to subdue his evil passions, vile remnants of the old four-footed life, and who cultivates the 112 The Orange Free State. social affections ; he who endeavours to better his condition and to make his children wiser and happier than himself, whatever may be his motives, he will not have lived in vain. But if he acts thus, not from mere prudence — not in the vain hope of being rewarded in another world, but from a pure sense of duty, as a patriot of the planet upon which he dwells, then our philosophy, which once appeared to him so cold and cheerless, will become a religion of the heart, and will elevate him to the skies ; the virtues which were once for him mere abstract terms will become endowed with life, and will hover around him like guardian angels, con- versing with him in his solitude, consoling him in his afflictions, teaching him how to live and how do die. — Eeade, in " Martyrdom of Manr The Morality of the Future. Of one thing we may be perfectly sure : the coming man's religion will inculcate and actually produce a genuine and high morality. Much more is requisite, but this is preliminary and indispensable. Philosophers and litterateurs, who survey the scene of human life from a library window, may not know that the practice of the homely moralities is the first condition of all welfare and all excellence. It is the fact, nevertheless. For my part, I avow my conviction that the most blind and bigoted religionist, Catholic or Protestant (Buddhist or Mohammedan), who performs with loyalty and diligence the duties of his sphere and home, is not only a better man, but, in truth, a more intel- ligent man, then the most brilliant philosopher who does not. — Parton, in " The Coming Man's Religion.'" I had once more from compulsion — not in love or confidence — to apply to the lawyers for legal assistance to prove my case — knowing but too well that like crows or dasvogels smelling a carcass, they would help until they had devoured the meat, and then, when no more flesh in the shape of gold could be found in my clothes or on my bones, they would leave me to dry up. It has often been said that very few lawyers ever get to heaven. Certainly my experience tells me that they are only fit for that period of torture described by Dante in his Inferno, if being paid The Orange Free State. 113 beforehand and then getting incapable through the luncheon, &c., indulged in, or forgetting a duty — or how to defend — when the liberty of a man is at stake, without taking into consideration his prospects of the future, deserves punishment ; then many have my best wishes for some punishment, in a warm place, as a warning to their brethren. I witnessed conduct on the part of legal gentlemen robbers, during the Transkein war that was perfectly shameful. After taking all the money they could get from their clients, and smirk- ing and bobbing their assurances that nothing should, be left un- done to maintain their rights, when it suited their purpose to do so they deserted their victims in the most heartless manner ; and yet these men were afterwards made judges of the land, and even sat in Parliament to make fresh enactments giving them additional facilities to rob and plunder ; and what makes the matter more disgusting is, that it is all done in the name of justice, truth, and right. Napoleon the First ! If for naught else, I remember thee as a hero for thy " Code, Napoleon." Would that we had such in our country, and the same opportunity for asking and getting advice and help before it was possible for any fool or rogue to drag us into the meshes of what is called the law. Gilbert and Sullivan ! your names must go down to posterity for describing so nicely how much of modern law is fudge, and how so many in similar ways become judges. By way of illustration and in corrobation of my views I submit the following extracts from the Express and Mercury : — A great deal of feeling has been evoked by the discussion of the Draft Ordinance which deals with the prosecution or punish- men of legal practitioners and other professional men who carry on their business under the provisions of Ordinance No. 6 — 1884 (Tariff Ordinance). It is held by this new measure that a legal practitioner, who has drawn up a summons in a careless manner, causing absolution from the instance ; or who has brought a trumpery case into any Court, or neglected a defence, causing thereby loss of suit to his client ; or who has advanced silly ex- ceptions to delay the case, shall be mulcted in the costs of the case, with the right of an appeal to a higher tribunal. Further, that any person practising under the provisions of Ord. No. 3 114 The Orange Free State. 1880, shall be bound to the tariff fixed therein, and shall not be . allowed to enter into a private contract for the purpose of evading such tariff. Those acting contrary to this provision shall be deprived of their licence, and shall have no legal redress to recover the amount of such private contract. A defendant in any case shall have the right to demand from plaintiff's attorney security for costs in the case. If any moneys shall have been collected by or entrusted to a legal practitioner, and he shall fail to render an account when called upon, he shall be brought up for the embezzle- ment of trust moneys. The above provisions are severe, and in some instances unduly so, and we have every hope that the feel- ings of our legislators, outraged as they have been by innumerable instances of carelessness, over-charges, and embezzlement, will not carry them from one extreme to another. For this would result in a del eat of the good the Raad aims at, and which in the public interest is moreover indispensable. At the same time there is no use disguising the fact that the iniquities, that have been perpe- trated upon an unprotected public cry to heaven for redress and protection. Who is there in this State that cannot point to some abuse, by means of which he has been robbed of hard-earned gains ? To instance cases would require volumes. Who, again, has not the knowledge of the fact that the medical profession (so- called only in many instances) counts amongst its members men who have abused the ignorance and helplessness of their patients to a most fearful extent ? Before us lies a Doctor's account for £78 Is. 6d", for work done in one of our towns during fourteen days ! How many such accounts are there ? Is their number not legion ? And will any real professional man say, that he has a right to such a charge — to a charge of £11 Is. 6d. for one day for visits and medicines ? We should like to know the gentleman who would come forward to claim it. And the legal profession ? In our own experience we have smarted under treatment that deserves no other name than theft, and how are we to protect our- selves ? By employing only honest people ? That's just what we did in the instance that stands before our minds' eye, when we had occasion to employ an agent, but our opponent was not what we should have desired, nor had the Magistrate much idea of law. As a result we were on trifling exceptions mulcted in a much arger amount than was represented by our claim, and we had to The Orahge Free State. 115 bear it, in the hope that one day the legislature would think of these things and make an end of them. Thus, as we say, there can be no question of the necessity for some means by which the public shall be protected, as little as there can be that thesa enactments should not take the form of provisions calculated to drive honest and able men out of the country. There is no country on earth, certainly no civilised country, where the various profes- sions are not bound down by law to remain within the limits of honesty and reason. At the same time it is left to any able man to either fix the price of his work, or refuse to do work, and why should he not ? A man's brains are as much his own as his house or lands, consequently he can make his price for either ; and a law prohibiting good men from making the most of their capabilities drives good men out of the country. By this means we return to a state of things such as we had in the early days of this country — when anyone became a lawyer and anyone a doctor. Besides, there is another diiSculty in the matter, and it is this : If a person going, or dragged, into Court has to give security for costs, the rich man has all the chances, and the poor man none. With the aims of the law we have all sympathy; with the means very little. For the indifference and stupidity of the public, no laws can be made ; and it is a fact which stands out prominently in this dis- cussion, that in spite of all the swindling, no doctor has yet been brought before a Court (at least not to our knowledge) because he attempted to swindle his client. It is just as rare an accurrence to see a dishonest lawyer figuring before a Judge to answer for his misdemeanours. What should be done is, that the legal and medi- cal professions obtain a status and legal enactments, enabling therii to take cognizance of the abuses, and to remedy them by the ex- pulsion of the offender. If the general public co-operates by giving due notice of the abuses to which they are exposed, there is little doubt but that this remedy will be effective. We were unable to make any reference on Friday to the very remarkable charge delivered by the Chief Justice on opening the last criminal sessions in Cape Town ; but the address deserves careful attention. It is in part an answer to Mr. Froude's last article, but we agree with much that is in that article, and also with a good deal that Sir Henry de Villiers said. Mr. Froude thinks that in this Colony justice is not often by white juries to h2 116 The Orange Free Htatb. natives, but tbat the charge as he makes it is by far too sweeping. There is often occasion to complain of this, but it arises very fre- quently from the absence of newspapers. In most of the circuit towns there are no journals, and in these courts the press is not represented. Occasionally a barrister will supply reports, but these are such as lawyers would make, and the jury do not feel that their conduct will be made public and commented upon when the court rises. At other times the fault lies with the presiding judge who shows that he is in a hurry, that he is not well, that he has lost his temper, or that he has made up his mind as to the verdict, and means to have it so. Ordinary citizens know very little about the rights and privileges of jurymen ; but they have vague ideas of the tremendous powers of a judge, and when he bullies a witness, or shows his temper to the jurors, they submit under the impression that it is their duty to do so. It is true, as the Chief Justice says, that the Supreme Court has been adorned by a succession of judges who were both lawyers and gentlemen ; as it is true that Sir Henry de Villiers sustains the reputation of his court ; but there have been judges of but slender fame, and there still are judges who would benefit the country by attempting to adorn the life of common citizens. If it were necessary we could find a number of cases in which the injustice that has been done nominally by juries, is due to the conduct of the judges. While waiting at the Court House I had an opportunity to note how the Landdrost treated a case of trespass and assault preferred against a man who had reason to suppose that another trespassed on his conjugal rights, and in the attempt to find this out, walked into the yard of the house where this wife dwelt. The man had, as I afterwards learnt, committed himself, while in the colony, and had to flee from the punishment that his employers — the Government — would have meted out to him, and left his wife and children to the mercy of a cold world, and in the immediate care of his mother-in-law — a hard-working body, who did her best for all this family. Now, unfortunately, this man was a human cripple : once out of Government employ, he was physically and mentally incapable of recovering himself, and, instead of being a help and a breadwinner for them all, he simply underwent a caving-in through his intemperate habits, and at last became a nuisance. In a fit of generosity the wife allowed him to dwell in The Orajige Feee State. 117 her mother's house, and thus, to her misfortune, she gave light to a child, and in consequence became reduced to a wretched state of poverty, which was so degrading an experience to her as a sensitive woman, that she determined never to live with him again, unless he could provide for them, and had an assurance that she was not to be only a child creator without the means of being properly supported. For a long time, in conjunction with her mother, they kept a roof over their heads, and clothed her children, but thfe income and profits did not enable her to pay all, and, therefore, it was a loss to the tradesmen of the town. Now this human skunk having failed to find means of subsistence for his family, and, having learnt of the death of his wife's mother, at once returned, and claimed conjugal rights. To this the woman very properly objected, and, to prevent violence, a young man, in a moment of chivalry, protected her from his repeated annoyance. The assump- tion that the husband rushes at is, that his wife must, of necessity, be encouraging immoral attentions on the part of this young man — a position by no means certain. I grant that the Free State is not the most moral ; its farmers are like the old generation called " Bucks " ; their constant eating of dried and fresh meats, without a fair proportion of vegetables, increases the animalism of the Free State burghers, and the same may be said of the women. Animalism is rampant all over the State, and, strange to say, the Dutch pretend to be ruled by Koman-Dutch law, and they carry this out so far as to lend their wives to each other ; but not as the old Romans did — as a token of respect and regard for their special friend, and a proof of their esteem, inasmuch as it enabled them to part for a time even from what they held most dear. Whether it is due to some climatic influence in the tropics or not I cannot say, but that warm climates do produce a looseness of life and disgusting immorality is undeniable, and the polygamy of the natives, and the giving of their women simply to be mothers, has intensified the lusttulness of the Dutch farmers, and it is no uncommon thing, as in the old slave states of America, to find likenesses on the farm, in the shape of two-legged bastards, but of -a darker colour. To bear this out as a truism, and an indisputable fact, the 118 The Orange Free State. Griquas, whom I met fifteen miles from Kokstadt, and who were- on the point of slaying me while passing over that district, on my way to the Colony, at the time I took a sea passage to Natal, and returning by way of Kokstadt and Uemtata to King "William's Town, with the families of Garbutt, Smith, and myself, mustering in all, three women, four men, and twenty- seven children. These people, who were living among the Bastards of the old Cape Dutch colonists, who were called Griquas, with Adam Kok as their chief, and who, becoming a constant peril from their numbers and general intelligence to the Dutch of the Free State, were eventually persuaded by the Colonial Government to sell their possessions in Philippolis and trek over Basutoland, into what at that time was known as No-Man's-land, and at the foot of the Drakensberg, near Natal. After twenty years, fearing that they again would lose their all, and be absorbed by the white man, they rose suddenly under the leadership of one Smith Palmer. Now, it so happened, that I was in the immediate neighbour- hood of their principal town, called Kokstadt, and, on the advice of their chief magistrate, Captain Blyth, hastily retraced our foot- steps to Harding for protection and certainty. It was never ex- pected that we should pass out of No-Man's-land alive, and I fear- lessly say that, but for the coolness of Mr. Garbutt, who came out of Natal to settle there, we should never have had a tale to unfold. I then, and often since, have felt for all who in after years were surrounded by savages. The horror that one felt when in the presence of naked men with assegais in their hands, cannot be des- cribed, and only one false move at that time on our parts, would, in all probability, have ended in a general massacre of our little party. Captain Blyth, after three hours' fighting at Kokstadt, was en- abled to drive these Griquas away, but not without a heavy loss in killed by the blowing up of the magazine in the town. Three days after Smith Palmer was shot, and we were once more enabled to return over Pondoland to the Colony ; but I have often thought since what little incidents prevent us getting into positive danger. There was I, a perfect stranger, in a No-man's land, and bewail- ing my fate that I was unable to get on. Now, had I entered Kokstadt before the engagement, so few were its defenders, that I The Orange Free State. 119 should, of necessity, have been pressed into service ; and who can tell but what I might have been one of the blown-up victims ? Truly, at that time, I passed through the bitterness of death, and that at the hands of the unfortunate descendants of Dutch and native liaisons. x^fterwards I never saw a " Bastard " or Griqua, either in the Free State or the Colony, but a shudder ran through me, and when I came to know the true history of this people, I often felt that animalism and lust on the part of the Dutch had produced a fruit- ful crop of active agencies to bring about a fearful reckoning on the innocent and weak, At the present time the Dutch are in- creasing their " Bastards " as fast as the half-breeds are begotten in America, and the time must come when they will be a scourge to the Dutch themselves. I am not exaggerating when I say that the Dutch are both im.- moral and vicious, and that they look upon all black women as mere instruments or beings for their lustful delights, and then afterwards treat their progeny as slaves for their profit. This is, perhaps, a fearful thing to say, but it is only too true, as could be proved in all the Dutch districts of South Africa. I am no advocate for women leaving their homes, even though they may be unhealthy spots to live in, unless under some special pressure, and I feel that a man so left is placed in an unfair posi- tion ; he is tempted of all who do not hold the Seventh Command- ment in awe, but the many many evidences I had of the cruel treatment, by lustful men, of women who, in many cases, worked and supported the families that the men should have sustained, compels me to give credence to a woman's word rather than to that of the men-husbands ; let a man once get lustful and drunken, and he becomes brutal, so that the sacredness of woman is for ever lost. Will the day ever dawn when men and women, calling them- selves Liberals, shall understand the issues at stake in all these fights for larger liberty, and comprehend the principles of purity and justice for which you are so gloriously labouring, and cease discolouring by their own perverted mentalities, thus representing white as black, and purity as filth ? Oh, for a race of men born of free mothers, conceived in love, and because desired ; gestated in knowledge and observation of natural laws ; reared in the sun- 120 The Oraijge Feee Statb. shine of happy homes ; nourished on a diet of pure and simple food ; supplied with air to breathe, free from the contamination of alcohol and tobacco ; educated according to the laws of evolu- tion ; body and brain developed in harmony ! Such a race would know no sickness, misery, nor crime, but would bring the kingdom of heaven down to earth, where it belongs, and usher in the Mill- enium morn. To bring about such a consummation it were the greatest honour to suffer persecution, scorn, or ostracism from a society too corrupt to perceive purity and recognise self-sacrifice But glory will in the future crown 'the noble workers who, with bleeding feet, clear away the brambles and make easy the pathway for future generations. I do not speak without having well observed, and I am sure that England and other countries will bear out this view. I have said somewhere that women should not be the breadwinners ; they are far more helpless than men, and are far more tempted by men. I have met men who would be horror-stricken with their wives if they went astray, but who, in their very lustfulness, would think it no sin to set traps for other men's wives. I know it may be argued that men love women for themselves, while women love to know that men love them ; but, so long as man remains the stronger, it is his duty to curb his passions and lusts, and guard and protect the weak. Marriage to me is a holy and sacred condition ; and in such a state for men and women to forget themselves, is a prostitution of the word Love. Let us at once call it by its right name — Lust ! and on whichever side it is shown, call them wild animals, that, for. the sake of the morals of others, and of rising generations, should be kept in check, even to confinement or isolation, if neces- sary. Parties, when married, should regard the agreement as sacredly binding, should guard its sancity, and seek to carry it out ; and in another way men should band themselves as of old, to guard the helpless, the widow, and the orphans from the liber- tine and devourer. "While I uphold the sacredness of the marriage tie, I cannot forget there are conditions in marriage that make it desirable to disunite ; and, while condemning the loose way divorce is carried out in the United States, I must admire the conditions recently proposed by the French Assembly, and which I here annex for the reader's information : — The Orange Free State. 121 " The French Senatorial Committee on Divorce have agreed to M. Eymard-Duvernay's scheme, which allows divorce for deser- tion, adultery, or scandalous misconduct, and an attempt on the life, health, liberty, or honour of the husband or wife. It likewise admits divorce after three years' judicial separation, but forbids the respondent to re-marry in the petitioner's lifetime, unless with the consent of the latter." Whilst supporting such a rational system of divorce, I protest against any sympathy being given to men who do not protect or guard themselves from committing violence against, or fail to pro- vide for, their wives and children ; and it behoves us at all times, if we have any chivalry in us, to specially hesitate to condemn a woman without positive proof. The man whose conduct led me to write these rambling remarks, did not deserve the slightest sympathy ; he failed in all that denotes true manhood, and would have lived upon his wife's earn- ings, and enjoyed, in his way, his sensual appetites. Such men are better buried, and that their children know them not — their acts and uncertain conduct. But alas ! they too often leave their nature in their children, and it is for this reason I preach these lessons. May their shadows grow less, and may the true pro- tection of all women continue to grow greater in pure love and unselfishness. 1 may here mention that this woman kept a house that was visited by some of the most particular of her sex. She was also scrupulously particular in the education and bringing up of her children, and in no way was there positive proof that she at any time misconducted herself, and, under such circumstances, I felt it incumbent to protest against the inuendoes and statements of her husband, who was well known to be most unreliable in his walks and habits of life. Lustful, drunken, and unreliable men are not the best judges, and cannot be expected, therefore, to look aright, and should be the last, without positive proof, to destroy the reputation of their wives, and bring everlasting disgrace upon their ofFspring. Chapter X. HILE penning these tlioughts I had hoped that my application for a board of arbitrators would have been granted, and that the possibility of being dragged into court, and thereby partially ruined in the attempt to prove my rights, would have been prevented ; but alas ! here, as elsewhere, victims must be had to fatten the lawyers' trade union — one of the vilest combinations against the life, liberty, and property of the subject ever allowed to exist. Although, time after time, a demand has been made for a confi- dential public servant, who could advise a man how to act, with power to stop litigation until he had investigated the cause of dis- pute ; no such man or friend has been appointed. The absence of such a person might be tolerated if lawyers were held respon- sible for the advice they charge for ; but, as matters stand at present, if they are wrong, a man may be ruined in endeavouring to prove he is right ; and yet we are told that justice is open to all — to poor as well as to peer. What vile untruthfulness ! the facts are all the other way. The liberty of the subject is constantly threatened and violated, and the victim has no redress. Let a man but speak the truth, and a con- spiracy will be formed to convict him of some misdemeanour, out- lawing him from all civil rights, and the very conviction used against him to prove that he is a vile scoundrel. Many and many a time have judges been proved drunken and idiotic — (see Mercury reports on Fitzgerald), and yet they will sit, and (as they say), dispense justice. Good heavens ! when shall the earth be covered with righteousness, and such impostors be impossible ? The Oranse Free State. 123 The late cruelties in connection with the victims of the Blas- phemy LawB — Foote and others — feeding the pretentions and cruelty of one class to satisfy the cant and hypocrisy of another, is proof positive that, in England, the judges are not always ap- pointed on account of their capability, but in consideration of their political party services ; and thus it is we see such injustice flourish. The same my be said of many of the judges of South Africa, in the Free State. The Chief Justice made a journey into the Colony to stir up strife between the races, as a party " move," for, in reality, the Dutch and English are but a part of the great Scandinavian race, and, in conjunction with a Mr. Hofmeyr, •they desired Africa for the Africanders. The Dutch and English could live side by side happily ; but it is German, the Hollander, and the Jew that cause strife, as I will show before this history is finished. They say the Dutch cannot read the printed reports of Parlia- ment because they are in a language they do not understand (which says little — worse than little — for the Zuid Afrikaan, and the three or four gentlemen who so diligently report for Dutch papers) ; but English journalists may well complain to Mr. Hofmeyr that they cannot read the reports of his " Bestuur " meeting, as they are in Dutch. We do not know what part Chief Justice Eeitz took in the debates on the resolutions that England should leave Basutoland to the colonists ; that unnecessary trains should be stopped ; or in advocating protection for Colonial industries ; but the Chief Justice of the Orange Free State was present, and must be held responsible for such resolutions. What he has to do with Colonial industries we do not know — though, when a judge becomes a party politician, he may also be interested in trade ; and we cannot quite comprehend what it matters to a judge in the Free State whether trains run on Sundays or not. It has been asserted, with some authority, that the President of the Free State informed the English Government that he looks to them to fulfil the Treaty of Aliwal ; and, that treaty being fulfilled. Sir John Brand, in his opening speech to the Raad, gave it to be clearly understood that the Stale he presided over had nothing to say about the future of Basutoland. Is Chief Justice Reitz to be 124 The Oeanqe Fbee State. allowed by his own Government to come into the Colony, and assist in carrying a resolution, which, if accepted by the Home Government, must involve the Free State in a Basuto war? This question is one that might very well be asked of the English Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Possibly he may be questioned about it in the House of Loids ; and we agree with the Argus in thinking that some enquiry will be made in the Colonial Legisla- ture when it meets. Mr. Hofmeyr has recently been telling some friends in Bloem- fontein how far advanced in civilisation the Free State is as com- pared with_ the Colony. Cape Town has not such Houses of Parliament as adorn Bloemlontein ; the senators do not dress themselves as elegantly, or as sombrely, as do the members of the Kaad, and more in the same alter-dinner style. When running down his countrymen, Mr. Hofmeyr might have added that the Cape Colony had not a Chief Jusdce who would so far forget him- self, and so besmirch his ermine, as to visit the Colony to assist in organising a " Bestuur," with the object of disturbing and, perhaps, of destroying its established Government. There are some things done in the Colony that are not altogether to its credit. As far as we know, all the English organs of public opinion in the Colony have of late years given expression to the most kindly sentiments towards the Orange Free State. They have drawn comparisons most favourable to the Republic, and have held up its example as one which, in many respects, deserves to be followed. "Whatever unplesant things may have been said about the Free State by a section of the Colonists in times past, in these days we feel confident that Mr. Hofmeyr would have to search long for statements derogatory to that State, and, if he should succeed in finding them, he will only succeed in proving the rule by the exceptions. The second statement of Mr. Hofmeyr, which calls for notice, is that, " The Rules of Order in the Free State Volksraad are superior to those of the Cape Parliament, and are better observed than is the case in the Cape Legislature. As to the superiority of the Volksraad Rules, we can express no opinion, not having seen them. Mr. Hofmeyr, who attended the Volksraad deliberations on one or two occasions, is, of course, in a position to judge ; but to the The OsXnqe Free State. 125 assertion, or to the insinuation, that in the Cape Parliament the Eules of Order are but indifferently observed, we must take ex- ception. Hitherto we have always been told, and we never have seen anything to persuade us into the belief that it was meant as an idle compliment or mere flattery, that the Cape Parliament is an exemplary body among colonial legislators ; nay, when we call to mind the scenes which in the British House of Commons have made the Cloture Bill a necessity, we do not see why we should not plainly say that, as to orderly conduct, the Cape Legislature is not inferior to its great model. Mr. Hofmeyr, who has been several years a member of the House of Assembly, may have noticed flagrant breaches of decorum and disregard of the rules of the House ; we must admit that they have altogether escaped our attention. Then a comparison is drawn between the dress of the Volks- raad members and that of our members. " The members of the Volksraad," says Mr. Hofmeyr, " are all properly dressed in black, while members of Parliament appear in fancy costumes, orna- mented with neckties, which display the colours of the rainbow * nay, some even enter Parliament House in buttermilk trousers " (whatever this may mean). It is certainly a novelty to have a legislature judged by the garments of its members ; and if there was any reason for pre- suming that a man is in a better position to vote for or against a new bridge, or for or against a Municipal Bill, when clothed in a black coat than he is in his every-day suit, then we also would declare in favour of black coats ; but, in our abject ignorance, we fail to see the connection between a black suit and a clear brain and we, therefore, are profoundly indifferent about the colour of a legislator's wearing apparel. " If, in the Free State," Mr. Hofmeyr goes on to say, " an elec- tion is going on, burghers come and they vote for their candidate. With us, in the Colony, it is not practicable, when the utmost trouble is taken, to bring the farmers to the polling place." This was the case in the years gone by ; but a vast change, for the better, has in this respect taken place during the last few years, and Mr. Hofmeyr, of all men, knows this. He has, therefore, been most unfair to his countrymen, when, in a neighbouring state, he painted them as so callous and indifferent. He surely must re- The Oeange Fr^e State. member all the recent elections, that, at Oudtshoorn, the two at Swellendam, the one in the Midland Circle — where was the apathy with which he charges the farmers of this colony ? If at Montagu, for instance, on an occasion when two gentlemen, who are both members of the Farmers' Protection Association, con- test a seat, 261 out of 263 registered electors think it worth while to record their votes, we may safely challenge the Free State, or any other country under the sun, to compete with us in poli- tical activity. And Mr. Hofmeyr proceeds to give the reason for this political torpor. " It is the language," he says. " The Boer in the Colony receives a notice, in English, at his residence to vote. He does not understand it, and he does not think it worth while to have it translated. He begrudges the money which he would have to pay an agent for translating." It is not clear to us what Mr. Hof- meyr means by the " notice " left at the Boer's residence ? In the Govern7nent Gazette, these election notices are published in Dutch as well as in English, and though but few farmers ever see the Gazette, they are informed in the Dutch newspapers when the elec- tion takes place, and who the candidates are. The notice sent to their residences, referred to by Mr. Hofmeyr, can only mean notices sent round by the candidates themselves. And surely these men have sense enough not to send English notices to Dutch Boers ! When men are anxious to obtain votes, they are obliging enough as a rule, and they will be particularly careful not to offend any prejudices. But even supposing there were such fools in existence, ■will Mr. Hofmeyr seriously contend that there are any Dutcli farmers in this country who will require a translator to tell them wbat "■ Vote for Barry " means ? Really the Colonial farmers have little reason to feel flattered with the picture which Mr. Hof- meyr has seen fit to draw, and with the small modicum of intelli- gence with which he has credited them when he addressed an audi- ence in a neighbouring state. Inexplicable to us again is the next sentence. " The farmer takes not the least interest in the politics of his country ! What then is the meaning of the numberless meetings of the Bond and of the Farmers' Associations ? What means the innumerable resolutions discussed and passed at those meetings, dealing with every imagin- able political question which now engages the attention of Par- The Orange Feee State. 127 liament and of the public ? The farmers of the Colony are repre- sented by the leader of the farmer party as taking " not the least interest " in the politics of their country ! Are " visions about ? " And then it is said they do not take that interest, because the Par- liamentary reports are published in English ! Is there no Zuid AjriJcaan, and is there no Volhshlud -which inform them in the vernacular of what takes place in Parliament ? And does not every Dutch newspaper in the country republish these reports ? Nay, are not even the laws passed by Parliament published in Dutch also, and obtainable by every person who desires to pur- chase them ? We must conclude. Mr. Hofmeyr's peroration is devoted to the " United States of South Africa, extending from the Cape of Good Hope to the Zambesi." We must co-operate to bring that about, he says, and for that purpose the population must be reconciled and work in harmony. But we fear that if the men of the Free State do not take this after-dinner speech with a grain of salt, they will feel little inclined to ally themselves with so miserably ignorant and backward a lot as their Colonial brethren are. on the authority of Mr. Hofmeyr, M.L.A., the reputed leader of the Colonial party. Time — the tyrant of us all — will wait for no man ; no, he would not even wait for the virgin Queen Elizabeth, though she offered to bribe the venerable scythe-bearer with pounds of the earnings of her subjects, for one day more, in order to enable her to satisfy lier mind, and to put her affairs, as she called them, in order — a warning to us all not to put off till to-morrow what we can do to-day. I was summoned by a stern demand to appear on the 16th of August, to resist a claim of £32. Although the man who made this claim had, as he himself swore, in his possession more money than the amount of the claim — money that I had entrusted him to collect for me — I was compelled to take him before three judges, in what is styled a High Court of Justice, to demand an account of him for a deficiency amounting to about one hundred and eighty pounds. These judges, as in most other countries, turn what they desig- nate their High Courts of Justice into halls of injustice — plenty of senseless form, ceremony, delay, and expense, but very little regard 128 The Orange Free State. to the comfort and convenience of plaintiff, defendant, or witnesses. Why are magistrates and judges so unjust (seeing that they are not the masters of the people, but the servants of the inhabitants of a country that pays them enormous salaries for doing but little in return) as to allow a day to be named for the hearing of a case, and, when that day arrives, to hear actions of all kinds that could be disposed of in Chambers, thus causing delay, and multiplying the expenses and anxiety of both sides ? Many other questions might be asked, such as, Why don't the judges move for the ex- penses to be reduced, and security given for the costs by all who will rush into litigation, regardless of consequences, thereby en- couraging lawyer-sharks to take up cases in the assurance that their expenses will be met by the man who defends his right, who, unlike his assailant, is not a man of straw, and who cannot disobey without fearful penalties the mandate of any court ? Why don't they move to allow merchants, or other competent inhabitants, with one judge or legal assessor to preside over them, to go into all commercial disputes and questions, with power to decide whether or not there exists any cause of action, and to take security for costs before any action can be brought in any court of law or equity whatever. Of course, to all these questions, if I paused for a century, I should get no satisfactory answer. If they did answer, and truth- fully, I should be told that they did not wish to prevent litigation ; that, in reality, it is their business to increase it, if possible, for the benefit of their numerous relations and the land mono- polists in general. To this I reply, we must reduce, as speedily as possible, these legal confiscators of our wealth ; take away their power, and the possibility of their ruining any man, who, by industry and careful- ness, may have saved a little money, and who, in the present state of things, becomes a mark for all the lawyer-sharks who scheme to compass his ruin. Pass a law to make it compulsory to arbitrate outside the court of injustice, and give men of business a chance to settle commercial disputes, and a jury of inhabitants to arrange causes of quarrels before proceedings are allowed to be instituted elsewhere to incur expenses, and, it may be, ruin the defender of the right. Then there would be less wailing and gnashing of teeth from robbed merchants, and, as a possibility of getting rid The Orange Fkee State. 129 of land and lawyer-sharks, and the numerous exploiters who so readilly assist the land, money, mercantile, agricultural, home and share-making monopolists to confiscate, by a legal ruse, the pro- ducers' wealth, and, in so doing, reap where they have not sown, and are the main causes of the poverty which we find side by side in our midst, with the so-called rich, who are but living upon what they have stolen from labour's ranks. Once remove these un- numbered monopolists, and there will be a chance for the wealth producers ; but I trust, in my Political Economy, to elucidate all these questions to the entire satisfaction of all who want to know the truth. The disproportionate increase in the number of men who make a living by " business " other than that of productive industry, is be- ginning to be recognised as one of the greatest evils of the modern economic and social system. It is seen, of course, in its fullest development, in the United States, and fresh statistical instances of it are always coming to light. In 1856, for instance, there were 23,939 lawyers in that country ; in 1870, 40,786 ; in 1880, 64,187; a supply quite out of proportion to the needs of the popu- lation. Once past a certain point, and the more lawyers the worse law. It it perfectly obvious that the object of a large number of these men must be not to do business, but to make it. "We see the same phenomenon in other directions. The number of bankers, brokers, agents, and other auxiliaries of productive industry is out of all proportion to the regular army . If the time ever comes, as at the present rate of income it will come in half a century, when the States boast 200,000 lawyers, this new army of locusts will have become an even greater pest than the host of monks and friars who infested Europe on the eve of the Reformation ; and the re- forming of them will be no easy matter. At last, after one day's waste of time for all parties concerned, and the best part of another, occupied in hearing motions, &c., I was called upon to give evidence. Wishing to affirm, to speak the truth, and not to swear, the judges referred to the law on the sub- ject, but found no exemption clause, except for those goody, goody people, the Moravians and Quakers ; so I had to give evidence in the usual way. The Chief Justice said that the law upon the subject ought to be altered for the benefit of all, and I have no doubt that when the I 130 The Okange Free State. Free State comes once more, by request of its inhabitants, under the control of the English, the law will be so modified as to meet all requirements; but certainly not before, for it seems, in this Free State, nobody's business to see that they keep pace with civilisa- tion. The Dutchmen don't want change, so long as they can live on their farms, tax the commercial classes, forego paying for years their quit rents, enslave or apprentice their blacks, or shoot them down as thieves for taking cattle, because they had not paid them their wages. Living like Africanders, which means — eat, drink, and be merry with the women, they are content ; and so long as the foreign judges and officials can rob and plunder in the name of the Dutch, all things have, as the Cape Town President says, " to right come," and no change is desired. A change, however, ')nust come ; but the intervening period will be short or long, in pro- portion to the poverty of the Free State in general, and its officials included. On the 20th, the mountain, with its three judges, brought forth its mouse, in the form of the following decision, to the surprise of everyone who really expected a compromise to please the Dutch element : — " M. J. Boon v. V. Van Eeenen. '* After hearing counsel on behalf of both parties, the Court de- cided that, after allowing for natural waste, and deducting the amount for which defendant had given credit to customers, contrary to orders, and lor which he acknowledged his liability in the present case ; there still remained a deficiency of some £110, in the amount of stock in the business not accounted for ; and that the defen- dant was liable for such deficiency, whether the loss arose from his having giving other credits, or from errors, thefts, and the like ; but that there was no reason to suppose that the deficiency was due to any dishonesty on the part of the defendant ; and gave judgment in favour of plaintiff to the amount of one hundred and fifty pounds, with ccsts." The Court dismissed the claim in reconvention, with costs ; but, as the man was not worth a farthing, the costs fell upon me, and, as I was supposed to be able to pay the lawyer, he did not forget to charge rae. It is this and other experiences that compel me to demand that no one sliguld be allowed to bring an action into The Orange Free State. 131 Court unless lie or they can give satisfactory security for costs. I know that the law is as uncertain in England and in other countries, as will be shown by the following extract from an English newspaper : — ■ " We are occasionally having striking examples of the certainty, cheapness, and charm of justice, as administered in our law courts. Perhaps the following is about the most striking : A Mr. Smither- man was killed in 1878, in attempting to cross the South-E istern Railway, in front of a passing train. There were some circum- stances which tended to show that the Company was in fault. The widow brought an action for compensation, and recovered £900 at the Assizes. The Exchequer Division thereupon granted the defendant Company a new trial. This decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal, and their decision was reversed by the House of Lords. Thus the matter had been four times before a judicial tribunal. This, however, turned out to be only a becrin- ning. A new trial, in accordance with the decision of the Lords, was held in London. Again the jury found for the widow, but this time with only £700 damages. Unfortunately, wanting, as juries do, to seem very wise, they appended to their verdict an ex- pression of opinion that both the Company and the deceased had been guilty of negligence. This opened a nice little question of what lawyers call ' contributory negligence.' Application was therefore made — first to the Queen's Bench, and then to the Court of Appeal, to enter the verdict for the defendants on the findin<^ of the jury. This failed. The matter had now been seven times in a court of law ; but the Company were not daunted. They at- tempted to set aside the verdict, as being against the wei^-ht of evidence. The Court of First Instance would not help them, nor would the Court of Appeal ; but the House of. Lords has taken a different view. Hence, after ten arguments, before I don't know how many judges, and thousands had been spent in solicitors' bills of costs and counsels' fees, the matter is — to beo-in all over again ! " A friend, who had lived in the Free State' told me that after twenty years' experience, during which he had had twelve cases in the Law Courts, and in which he always ought to have been the gainer, he lost, owing to bad law, lawyers, agents, the poverty of his assailant, or to the ar^te-nuptial cover of his opponent. The i2 132 The Okange Free State. following illustrates the ante-nuptial arrangements generally : — " In our country," said tlie Englishman, as he leaned back in his chair, " before we marry we arrange to settle a certain sum upon the wife." " Yes, I know," replied the African, " but with us it is different. It is after we are married that we settle every- thing on the wife, and arrange to beat our creditors." *' Haw, I see. And how do the creditors take it ? " " They never find any- thing to take ! " And such was my experience, after this decision. — I came across the proprietor and editor of the Dutch Express, who, after ex- pressing his sympathy, assured me that after all my " cases " and unpleasant experience, there was the silver lining to the cloud in the knowledge of the Free State Express. I smiled, and passed on ; for at that time, I was not disposed to combat any argument or statement ; but a few days afterwards I had an opportunity of knowing that the Press can be a power to harass and injure as we.l as to support ; but I protest against this common cry and agree with the subjoined words of Edwin Heron : Perhaps it may be thought you could discern One other meaus by which to serve your turn, And while these natural forces all confess Are grown too weak, too sordid, try the Press, If you believe the voice is talking still Out of an honest heart and fervent will. As when men spoke their thought, and when their word Sounded like thunder, and the people heard ; If you conceive that in the latter days There burned one flicker of that ancient blaze : When like a beacon on each lofty height Each nobler spirit caught and gave the light ; If you imagine that the hackney's pen Can win its wages, and win also men. Or that these sightless leaders of the blind Can keep the trust, or gain it, of mankind ; Dismiss the fancy, scout the idle dream. And learn that things exist not as they seem, I grant that men at the present hour. The faded echo re-unites its former power ; But just as trembling savages adore The fetish worshipped by their sires of yore. So though your fourth estate affects to rule. Its bluster only serves to scare the fool. piBtrust the moral that it fain would tell : The Oxange Free State. 183 It does not write to teach — it writes to sell. Trust me, a nation's teachers never stoop To act the sycophant, to catch the dupe ; Nor would they, if they held their vaunted power, Retail the gossip of the passing hour ; Nor in U sea of soft sensation splahh, Nor vend a racing prophet's slangy trash, Nor scribVjle cockney talk of fells and streams, Nor dribble science and its airy dreams, Nor twaddle on the marriage of a peer, Nor meet stern anger with a clever sneer, Nor always wait upon the •' upper ten," Nor write as " gentlemen for gentlemen," Nor chatter to a city of the dead. And never touch one heart or teach one head. Give me a man that loves, a man that hates. And I may think he means the thing he states ; What leisure or what patience serves to heed The idle chat which languid quidnunces read ? CHAPTER XI. OME days after this, I learned that my own expenses, in the lorm of a lawyers bill, were over £77* and, by way of " adding insult to injury," the de- fendant's hiwyer, after putting me to this expense, had the impudence to ask whether I would not pay him the amount of ten pounds odd, as expenses in- curred. Really, I was so disgusted at his mercenary begging disposition that 1 felt convinced the Maitland Street would-be-lawyer for everybody would not be above stealing, if he ran no risk of being found out, seeing that after urging my opponent to sue me for what I did not owe, and then after putting me to such an outlay for costs, yet had the audacity to prefer such a request. Truly the Free State lawyers were, as one woman had the courage to yay in open Court, only legal swindlers, thieves and black-coated rascals. Such was my indignation at this mean wretch that if I dared I would have slain him, and the difficulty of burying such human carrion alone stayed me from removing him from the midst of that humanity his very existence disgraced and polluted. Just on the eve of my leaving for the Colony, I experienced another loss. I had a horse, tfiat cost me £25, to dispose of — wishing to sell rather than feed the animal during my absence. Picture my surprise when, alter handing over to two men the horse to test its qualities, they simply cleared out of the town without paying me ; and, to my further astonishment, I found that they had lived upon the hotel-keeper for two months, and had got deeply in debt all round the town. This was quite a common thing out in that Free State, whence, al'tei taking all they could get The Oi!,a.nge Free State. 135 hold of, they passed ou to steal the land and goods in Stellaland ; and the corn-lanky Dutchman was no exception to this eating upon. English importers. Feeling outraged by such a bare-faced robbery I, acting upon the advice of the Landdrost's clerk, declared that under a pretence of examining the animal and an agreemsnt, if they approved of it, to pay me the cash at a certain time, instead of which they ran off with the horse, and having failed to pay their just debts in town it was a fair inference that they had stolen the horse. The clerk thereupon at once made out a warrant for their apprehension, and owing to their being in debt to others — but from no desire to help me on the part of the black-blooded Dutch Sheriff — the war- rant was executed. The men, however, took the precaution of providing the amount of cash, so that when in town — having ex- plained that they had paid it in Lady brand — they were released. A second warrant was at once issued against them upon another charge, but this not being my business I dismissed them from my mind. Judge then of my feelings, when I was threatened with a law suit, for a £1000 damages, for — as they called it — false im- prisonment. This was the information I received on my return to Bloem- fontein, and at a time when, to make me still more enraged, I had to suffer from the robbery by the German villain at Paradise. Truly this trading-place, called Paradise, was a Hell to me ; for I had to make a claim against him for £1,042, and when other incidental expenses were added bringing it up to £1,200 — which, however, was a total loss to me ; for although there was £G00 in bad debts due to him — which was never collected — and anything else that remained was eaten up by the lawyer-sharks. To make this matter even worse, the friend who had so mis- managed the business, availing himself of the looseness of the Dutch conditions, threatened me with a claim for damages, etc., which fortunately — like the threat for damage for false imprison- ment — by sheer doggedness, on my part, came to naught ; but only after months of annoyance to me in the attempt to still fur- ther rob me of my small possessions. The Judgment against my employee for £159 and costs, was the finishing stroke to my patience. The lawyer-shark in defend- ing this case brought me in the following bill of £77 lis.:— ]3r, The Change Free State. In the High Court of Bloemfontein, In the Orange Free State. In the case F. Van Eeenen ... Plaintiff, in Eeconvention against M. J. Boon ... Defendant, in Reconvention. Account of Disbursements made and salary earned by H. Bier, Defendant's Attorney, in said case for the payment of £100, real injuries, etc. IDiebursements. £ s. d. Instruction to draw out Defence Attending to hand over Defence to contra party Drawing out Defence Original ... Two copies at £1 Is. each Drawing up Notice to make out taxation Copies, at 2s. 6d.... Attending on receipt of claim in Recon- vention... Do. to hand in pleadings Do. with resumption ol documents. Do. to consult with Client ... Do. to be present at Taxation of Ac- count ... Do. pleading case, first day ... Making out account Duplicate Taxation ... [Stamp 9s.] Total ... £11 12 6 Agreed, — Eleven pound, twelve shillings, sixpence sterling, against the Plaintiff in Reconvention. The 27th day of August, 1883. (Signed) JAMES A. COLLINS, Acting Registrar of the Court. Salary. £ s d. 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 5 2 6 2 2 7 1 1 4 4 10 10 11 3 6 9 Salary. £ s. d. 5 4 5 4 The Orange Free State. 137 In the High Court of Bloemfonteiu, In the Orange Free State. In the case M.J. Boon ,.. ... . Plaintiff contra F. Van Eeenen ... ... Defendant. Account of Expenses and Salary earned by H. Bier, Plaintifi's Attorney, in said case, for account to be rendered to, or payment of £180 7s. lOd., etc. Disbursement. £ s. d. Letter of demand Copy Drawing out Power xVttendance to have the same signed Instruction to Sheriff about serving of Summons ... ... ... 050 Do. to pay Sheriff for serving Summons Ati;endance to take out Summons Do. for handing same to Sheriff ... Do. to pay Sheriff for serving Summons Do. for looking over his Keturn Drawing out Summons ... Original ... Two copies at 10s. 6d. each Paid to Sheriff for serving Summons ... 7 Notice requiring Defence (made out) ... Two copies at 2s. 6d. Making out Notice of Documents to be handed in Two copies at 28. 6d Making out Notice of domicile Two copies at 23. 6d. Making out Notice i-equiring Rejoinder Two copies at 2s. 6d. ... ... ... 4 2 4 4 4 1 10 1 1 1 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Carried forward ... 7 7 13 Disbursements. Salary. £ s. d. £ s. d. ... 7 7 13 De 15 5 5 2 6 138 The Orange Free State. Brought forward Making out Notice of Documents to be handed in Two copies at 2s. 6d Making out Notice of Taxation . . . Copy at 2s. 6d Instruction to draw out Replication Do. to Sherilf about serving do. ... Attendance to hand over Replication to contra party ... Making out Replication ... Original Two copies at £1 Is. ... Attending to receive Defence ... Do. do. Notice of documents to be handed in by Defendant.. Do. to receive Notice of Domicile... Do. to hand in Pleadings ... Do. with resumption of documents Do. to consult with Client in Con- vention ......... 110 Do. with two witnesses, at 7s. 6d. each 15 Do. settling with two witnesses, at 4s. each ... Do. case heard — twice postponed... Do. settling with Defendant Do. to be present at Taxation of Account ... Do. and Pleading case — 1st day ... Do. do. do. 2nd day . . . Do. Sworn Translator for translat- ing one document Do. to pay Sworn Translator Copies ... ... ... 11 4 'S o o 2 2 2 2 o o 2 7 8 1 1 4 4 5 o 6 6 4 4 Carried forward ... 11 'J 33 3 6 The Okange Free State. 139 Disbursements. Salary. £ s. d. £ s. d. Brought forward ... 11 9 33 3 6 Translations ... ... ... ... 5 12 6 Making out Account 10 Duplicate 10 Stamps £1 13 Power 16 Document ... 4 ... 1 18 6 Paid to witnesses: — H, Drinkwater, three days... ... 1 10 C. G. Hudgson, three days 1 10 22 33 13 6 55 13 6 1 7 33 13 6 Taxation Total £57 6 [Stamp 7s.] [Stamp 20s.] Agreed to — Fifty-seven pound, — shillings', and sixpence sterling against the Defendant. The 27th day ol August, 1883. (Signed) JAMES A. COLLINS, Actinj: Registrar of the Court. In the High Court of the Oiauge Fies State, At Bloemfontein. lu the case M. J. Boon V. V. Van Keenen. Account of Disbursements made and Salary earned by H. Bier, Attorney of Plaintiff, in said matter regarding the Fi- ception : — 140 The Orange Free State. £ s. d. Instruction to Defend against the Exception ... 5 Drawing out DcCetice against Exception ... ... 3 8 Original do do. 2 2 Two copies at £1 Is. ... ... 2 2 Attending consultation with Client on Exception ... 10 6 Attending Taxation 4 Notice of Taxation, with copy ... ... •■• 07 6 Attending to the settlement ... ... ... ••■ 40 £8 18 Taxed at £8 18 (Signed) JAS. A. COLLINS, Assf. Reg. High Court. From this my readers will have an abundant opportunity of convincing themselves of accuracy of my assertions, borne out — as they are — by the following remarks in the Friend of the Free vState : — " It did our hearts good when we read your leading article last week, anent the monstrous charge a client is put to to have his rights upheld by the law courts of this State. I am sorry you did not express yourself in stronger terms. It is an admitted fact that to obtain justice, in this State, costs money; and the Courts a3 constituted in Britain really give our law-makers in this State, if they wish to tollow it up, an easy mode and cheap means of get- ting rights upheld. To give you an instance of what recently took place here in the Landdrost Court. A plaintiff appears. He has two cases against the defendant, respectively £25 and £36 sterling. The Landdrost of Jacobsdal gave judgment. Plaintiff's Attorney takes out a writ, and in each case the defendant has to pay £22 sterling and £18, together with costs : £40 to recover £60. Suppose now that the Sheriff brings a return of nulla bona, plaintiff has then to pay costs — which otherwise defendant had to pay. In case of no nulla bona, what does the plaintiff actually gain ? for in these cases he has to pay all the attorney's travelUng expenses, which will no doubt at the lowest come to £10. Execu- The Orange Free State. 14l tion will follow, proceeds of sale amount to nothing at all, simply costs to pay the Sherifi for work, publication in the Courant, &c." So that my legal robberies and my business robbery — mainly due to the shark who drew up the bond, who misled me as to its value, and which being written in Dutch gave no light to guide me — cost me in a few months as under : — Paradise-Hell robbery ... ... ... £1042 Employee in business ... ... ... 227 Personal and sundry expenses for the whole ... 330 In all £1500 odd, the cost of Private, Legal, Parliamentary, and Public Robberies. Now if, after this, anyone wonders at my condemnation of the Free State managers, they need indeed eyes to see, ears to hear and brains to understand. I have written strongly of the man who so deceived me in the management of the business at Paradise; but when I mention that he knew of the bond that was given to me fraudulently — a judgment having been given against my original debtor, but not executed until an opportunity occurred to put a claim against my property — and that he was drunk at the time of the Sheriff taking possession, and thus helped to rob me ; being in hope, as I afterwards learned, of an opportunity of helping himself at my expense, did not protect my interests, although in receipt of £20 per month ; and thus my original desire to save about J£2o0 was frustrated owing to my need of depending upon outside help, and the impossibility of relying upon honest legal help — and the hasty legislation of its Boer Parliament at £2 a day, headed by its incapable President at j£3000 a year, in allow- ing such legislation in a hurricane, to the injury of its English supporters. The mere fact of writing strongly in the face of all these facts, can be understood and felt for ; more especially when it is known that it could all have been prevented if ordinary arrangements, as in England, were followed out. " Complaints are continually being made of the expensive machinery of our Free State Courts. The rooted horror of law induced by the fear of a lawyer's bill, often accounts for people paying any moderate claim made on them, so long as it does not amount to extortion, rather than run the gauntlet of an action-at- law. And some do not care to press a just claim against a person who may be of little means and of doubtful honesty, because the e^- 142 The Orange Free State. penses of the winning party are often more than the sum in dispute. We believe in the Colony there is a small debts Court. In Eng- land there are County Courts, which are the machinery for collecting a great number of small debts, and thousands of cases are annually disposed of by these Courts. A judge presides and business is carried on very expeditiously. Sometimes a jury of five men, substituted for the traditional twelve, is called to the Judge's assistance, especially if the case, being too trifling for the higher tribunals, has been sent down to the Court below. An appeal lies from the decision of a County Court Judge, if it can be made out that a question of law is involved. The County Court Judge not only gives judgment against a debtor, but he generally breaks the blow of his judgment by allowing the defaulter to satisfy the claim in easy instalments. We cannot help thinking that something of this sort should answer well in the Free State, The tariff is now so high as to be well-nigh intolerable. We have heard of people suing a debtor for a few pounds in our lower courts and being mulct in about £25 for law costs ! We are no well- wishers to the lawyers and agents, and we think the line should be drawn somewhere. It appears monstrous that justice should not be often obtained simply because the costs in a case are so high as to deter creditors from suing debtors. We are not aware of the tariff of the Colonial lower courts, but we are led to believe that it is considerably lower than ours. We shall proceed to give a few of the charges for bringing, say a claim of £5 to £10, in our lower court. There is first 12s. for the stamp on the summons ; Is. 6d. stamp on every subpoena ; Is. on every translation, abstract, or other document, delivered in ; Is. 6d. on every special power of attorney ; retaining fee for agent lOs. ; letter of demand, 5s. ; making out power of attorney, 5s. ; drawing summons, from half a guinea to a guinea, for defending a case if witnesses are heard, three guineas for the first day and two guineas for every subse- quent day ; and 23. to the messenger for serving the summons. Besides these there are the thousand and one little charges and costs for stamps and salary, which anyone who has seen a lawyer's bill of costs can readily understand. Now we consider this tariff altogether too high for the lower courts. If parties have thousands and thousands of pounds at stake they must expect to risk a few pounds in recovering their own, but we maintain it is not only The Orange Free State. 143 monstrous, but the ends of justice are defeated by the tariff being so high that no one can sue a debtor for a small sum without risking more than double the amount in doing so. We should have thought it might have been possible to set apart one day in the week for the hearing of cases similar to those brought before a County Court at Home. There you do not require to be much of a lawyer to carry your own case through, as there is not, as in the High Court, any of the * preliminary skirmishing of pleadings.' " Draft Ord. No. 1,000. Al. (For consideration by the Triumvirate, &c.) The Volksraad being mindful of the provision in the now ex- isting Constitution (adopted from the earlier Constitutions), that " the law is for all equal," and desiring to compensate the sufferers from the injurious consequences of contraventions of that principle, enacts as follows : — 1. — That henceforth each stock farmer shall pay yearly, as licence for freedom to earn his bread, the sum of ten pounds sterling for each thousand morgen, or less, which he possesses or uses. 2. — That henceforward each agriculturist shall pay yearly, as licence to be allowed to work, the sum of ten pounds sterling for each acre or less, sowing or garden ground which he cultivates. 3. — That as stock farmers and agriculturists have hitherto (for 30 years) escaped payment of licences to carry on their occupations, each stock farmer and each agriculturist shall within one year pay thirty times the sum claimable frcm them respectively, under the foregoing articles ; and the sum to be collected under this article shall be equitably divided among the shopkeepers, canteenkeepers, and others who formerly paid licences contrary to the provision that " the law is for all equal," to compensate them for all the licences heretofore paid by them. Where such licence payers are already deceased, their shares can be claimed by heirs and creditors. 4. — That whereas hitherto has been exacted from practitioners 144 The Obanise Free State. in the law, contrary to the Constitution, four per cent, on the amount of their bills of costs for their earnings, hence- forward to make all square the same rule will be applied to all officials, stock farmers, agriculturists, and others who have hitherto escaped taxation upon their income, and they shall now pay four per cent, on the amount of their yearly income, while practitioners in the law shall be freed from the tax alluded to for thirty years. Lrajt Ordinance No. 1,001. AAl. The Volksraad, desiring to do right and justice, enacts as follows : — 1. — The Judges, high and low, including Landdrosts whose decisions have been, or shall be, set aside, or altered in appeal, shall respectively bear the costs of suitors in the original and appeal cases, and on non-payment they shall be immediately dismissed from office and cast into prison for the t^rm of their natural lives and no longer. 2. — All markets are abolished, and all stock and produce shall be sold only according to valuation by a jury, consisting of the person who wishes to buy and two of his friends. Contraveners are to be hung without form of legal process. 3. — Any stock farmers or agriculturists, who shall be caught in presenting for sale any deceased or crippled animals, un- wholesome oat-sheaves, emaciated fowls or ducks, unripe potatoes, rotten tobacco, unserviceable butter, dirty and sandy wool, and such scandalous things, shall be banished from the ^country and their property confiscated to the State. Draft Ord. No. The Last. A AAL The Volksraad, considering that it is expected from the Legis- lature that it shall make, repair, and patch laws, enacts as follows : — 1. — That all laws regarding which any difference, in regard to the interpretation or meaning thereof, can arise, are hereby repealed and declared of no effect, and the makers of such jocomprehensive laws, as (ar as they may be copie-^t-^bl© The Orange Free State. 145 are lined each in the sum of one hundred pounds sterling in favour of the treasury of this State. Such fine to be levied without any form of legal process in execution against the persons and properties of the guilty. 2.— That to obviate any further clashing in regard to the re- maining laws ( if any) the Judges are commanded, on a penalty of banishment in ease of non-compliance, to give within one year one unalterable interpretation of all re- maining laws. Such interpretation shall be printed in the Govetmnent Gazette, and thereafter no earlier law-book shall be taken into consideration. 3. — -That as probably all earlier judical sentences, civil as well as criminal, were faulty, all decisions of Courts or Judges are hereby repealed, and parties are invited except those who have undergone capital punishment, to proceed at law de novo. ■4. — That as it is advisable that legislators should study, and as enough laws have been made, no further Ordinances shall be discussed for one hundred years. Supported by vai'ious Colonial organs of public opinion, extracts wherefrom I have somewhat liberally quoted, I have in the im- mediately preceding pages endeavoured faithfully, although — I am painfully conscious — inadequately, to portray for the edification and enlightenment of my readers the scandalous and disgraceful condition of all things pertaining to the judicial office and the legal profession generally — I had almost, and without any great bre<=.ch of propriety or veracity, might have said univei'sally — in that morally, socially, and professionally pestilent Republic known as the Free State. With regard to the three Draft Ordinances — 1000 Al., 1001 AAl., and AAAl.,— the reader will experience no difficulty in grasping the satire therein contained, and he will I feel satisfied unreservedly admit its force and appropriateness to the circumstances. These Ordinances were proposed by — satiri- cally, of course — and printed in the Friend as a "perfect cure " for all Legal, Clerical, Commercial, Agricultural, Legislative and Presidential Kascality. i4G The Orange Free State. All these small matters can be settled by a Judge and at a little cost in England, and wliy not in the Free State ':' Echo answers, that for the sake of plunder the President, the Judge, and all the Officials wink at such deeds, and sanction such bare-faced actions and robberies in a " Free State " where a man should have full faith in his fellow man. What a libel upon a Free State Republic; and I fear this state of things will continue until the horror and fear of losing all, the Boer and other inhabitants of the Free Statd — like the Boers of the Transvaal — will cry out to the English to come over and save them from their Presidents, Hollanders, Grermans, and other robbing officials. CHArXER XII. HE President, as the fountain of Jwhonour, met the old Dutch-£2-per-day-men and Town Council. A congratulatory address was presented by the half- idiotic Dutchmen — the opponents of all progress — who reproach the inhabitants with their folly in passing a law one year and altering it the next, and who cost the taxpayers about £10,000 joer annum — as will be seen by the following extract from the Fnend : — '* Our Dear ' I/a/idvaders.' — Last year these ' precious gems ' cost the country £9,153. A memorial will, we understand, be sent in to the Volksraad by the ' Landsmeeders,' oflering to do the talkee-talkee for a third of that amount. That retrenchment is imperative, is indicated by the debit balance of £84,000. There- fore let the ' mother * try their hands at making both ends meet, and permit the * Landsvaders ' for a while to enjoy their otium cinn di(j." These men are not elected for any ability, but simply because they possess lands that they or their fathers stole from the natives. This President, with his speeches of fulsomeness and " bunkum," only needed the services of a scene painter to make the whole thing look thoroughly ridiculous. If the Council had made the necessary arrangements for the amusement of the existent and all future inhabitants, the artist might have painted a scene depicting the President, with a well-worn shamboc in his hand, in the act of conferring the honour (?) of knighthood. With a flourish of the shamboc the President slashes across the back of the kneel- ing old-fashioned God — Hard (for the time being the God- head of the town), and ere the blow descends upon the postulant, he k2 148 The Okange Free State. promptly resumes the perpendicular in response to the President's command " Rise, Sir Knight of the. Trowel and Fumigating House ; " to Stock — alow-born German ostler — " Rise, Sir Knight of the Brandy Bottle ; " to little Arthur — the mean dog of Petti- coat Lane — " Rise, Sir Knight of the public Agapemone ; " to Bloemingtone, " Rise, Sir Knight Panderer, Flatterer, and Tom Noodle of my Court ; " to Clarkson, " Rise, Sir Knight of the Deal Box ; may you, for this honour, bury me for nothing when I cease to be an encumbrance upon this long suffering English people ;" and so on for the noble vote of not to exceed £10. This disgusting aping of the miserable customs of older countries is simply so child-like and idiotic that one wonders how the hard In-Man can tolerate it. He may explain it on the principle that he never, after dessert, would expect to be paid for being Court Milliner. It is said that the President flatters the Dutch on the one hand, while he takes their money and that of the English on' the ether, for fear that — at some future time — the Dutch, finding out what an old woman they have had at their head so long, should give him and his family their sudden discharge, and that then being pensioned, like President Burger, he could go to the English for support. Perhaps it may be said this is awfully strong language. True, and I admit it ; but when I witness such base crawling to a man of no genius — yet at the head of a people that dare to insult Englishmen, after all the advantages reaped by them from English capital and enterprise, both of the mother-country and her colonies — I am filled with such loathing that I feel the time has come to expose them in all their deformity. I don't pretend to write gracefully, or to spare the feelings of these heartless, cruel, mean Boers. I have felt degraded as an Englishman, at the rough bully swart Dutchmen, who never knew or wanted to know their mothers, but who had the audacity to tell Englisnmen that they — the half blacks with Dutch names — were better than the Saxon ; and that it was only through pity for our families that we were not turned out homeless ; and when a minister of the Dutch Church in Smithfieid urged the Dntch to give notice to what they — in their impudence and insolence — called uithxiider to clear out, my blood boiled to know that much of this was due to the folly of a Colley and the weakness of a Gladstone. The Okaxge Free State. 149 The following from the Friend will doubtless prove interesting. .4 Modern Daniel. "We iieai' that the Rev. Mr. van Niekerk, of Smithfield, preached on the occasion of Independence Day a most spiteful sermon against all Europeans in general, and the English in par- ticular, and that the * discourse ' gave great offence to the public. It is said, he expressed himself to the effect that no Europeans ought to have a seat again in the Volksraad or in the Cape Parlia- ment ; and that, in a couple of years, the prayer that every uitlander should be out of office — or words to that effect — would be answered and his prophecy fulfilled. This is the same reverend gentleman who did his level best to bring our Dutch Reformed Minister into hot water at the Synod, in May last, for using the English language in the pulpit; and he would no doubt have made himself conspicuous if he had been among those degenerate uitlanders — Peter and the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost — by ' mocking ' because they spoke other tongues than the mellifluous landstaal ! This reverend gentleman draws a salary from the State Exchequer and then uses his pulpit for political purposes and to vent his hatred against Europeans generally. We think it is high time that the Synod or the Volksraad took notice of his desecration of God's house. He should not forget that millions of Europeans belong to his Church, and that the good old failh was kept pure by the uitlanders, who finally planted the Chureh in this land — the Church of which he is a minister." Perhaps some one will say, " all this language will help to bring on a civil war among the white races in xifrica." Granted ; so much the better, I am not one to ask for the deluge in our child- ren's time, and *' Peace in our time, Lord." The time has arrived when the English, representing all that is grand, enterpri- sing, and loyal to law and order, must not be spat upon by the bastards of the Colonies, who dare to reproach and use even our own weapons against us. This is not a work of love on my part ; it is the work of necessity, the outcome of watching and of facts. The time has come for no more pandering to prejudices, and fawning upon Germans, Jews, or Hollanders, with all their blatant loud-mouthed impudence. It was not possible for an Englishman 150 . ' The Orange Free State. to be treated i'airly in any sense, and at last it was considered legitimate conduct to plunder and annoy any Englishman, until through very want he failed to express his manliness and nation- ality. These results were mainly due to the outrageous folly in the Transvaal and of the fools in power at that period. It may be said that my self-esteem has been wounded. Granted ; I feel, as an Englishman, we should hold the front place on the Conti- nent of South Africa, by virtue of the many, many sacrifices made by the English nation, individually and collectively, as all history proves ; and are we to be driven out of our Colonies, as we have been out of England, by the Germans, Jews and other foreigners ? I feel that I must, at all times, expose these impostors at English expense, aided by the folly of our Premier Gladstone, &c. Idolatry. John Bull is very much addicted to idolatry in one shape or the other. His present weakness is the Eight Hon'ble. W, E. Gladstone, better known in the Colony as the " Wizard of the North." We have the idol at Leeds, and the calves of the bull sucking in every frothy utterance, as children suck honey. A man in his position must speak, and that plentifully. He has to study hi.^ audience, and coin sentences to suit the hour and the people. A very pleasant game of excitement to play, especially to a man fertile in resources, and mentally endowed with great and versatile gifts. But even this picture has an opposite side The man who is constantly haranguing people as to what he has done, and what he intends to do, speaks advisedly of the future, and plays fast-and-loose with the interests of a great empire, such a man I say, has much to answer for, because his listeners, as a rule, have more tenacious memories, and are more or less im- pressed with the idea. The man means what he says, and intends to fulfil what he so unctuously promises. As time wings its flight, and events occur exactly opposite to what was predicted by the idol, then the multitude, by some process known only to them- .selves, gradually come to the conclusion that they have been bowing to a false idol, and immediately the people who were so lavish in their praises of the said image, forthwith merge into iconoclasts, and down goes the great idol, amid howls and execra- The Orange Free State. v ir)l tions. The people, as a natural rule, then cast about for a new thing to worship. Idols have ever been plentiful, and the void is presently filled, to end in the same result. The present British idol came in with a great flourish of mob music and much eating of humble pie. I allude to his wild assertions anent Austria, when in Midlothian, and to his ultimately eating the largest leek ever swallowed by an English prime minister in London. It has «ver appeared to my obtuse faculties something of the marvellous that a man should be convinced, and then convince his audience that such and such things pertain to Austria, and when he is questioned, after a few miles of travel to London, distinctly pleads previous ignorance, and forthwith abases himself in " sackcloth and ashes." The least that can be said is that it is good evidence of an intemperate-minded man. A chilly unbelief steals over one, when one contemplates such a man being at the helm of the State ship. It would be too lengthy a subject to follow the idol through all the tortuous, word-twisting casuistry, sophistry, cajolery, &c., which he has displayed since assuming office. I shall content myself with airing a few of the remarks made by the idol at Ouildhall. The idol was safely delivered of a long speech on things in general, and nothing in particular. Amongst other golden sentences which fell fi'om this most wonderful piece of clay, was the following, in relation to African affairs : " He was happy to say he had initiated a policy which would reconcile all the con- flicting races and blood in that hitherto unhappy country." Then later on, he assured the mayor and audience '' that he could not speak with certainty as to the future ; in fact, he had no control over the future." This is about equivalent to a schoolboy saying he could not conti'ol the sun. The view I take of the matter is this ; "When the idol takes so much credit to itself and party for the great good they have vouchsafed to the people of Africa, and becomes elqouent on the lasting peace which is to settle over the land; that it never occurred to the idol and satellites that the very great and good work they have accomplished here is but the foundation of the fabric which is to rise in the future, over which the " People's William " confesses he exercises no control. The utterances, both wild and reckless, about " reconciling races " and " lasting peace " are taken by Colonial-bred men to mean an immense mirage, interwoven with gross delusions. It 152 The Orange Fkee State. was a saying of the late Abraham Lincoln that " you should not .stop to swop horses in the stream." Unfortunately for South Africa, that is Just what has occurred. When we had one of the most eminent Colonial statesmen that England can produce among us, a man with a comprehensive grasp of mind, and a varied ex- perience amid the native races of the earth, with a Colonial prime minister in accord with him, and a great Englishman statesman at the "head of affairs in England — when the horizon appeared to indicate that peace, formed in stability, and not the phantom of of jugglers, would serenely lie like a morning cloud over this country, — who, but the party now in office, with their belongings and hangers on, clamoured for the recall of Frere and the installa- tion of peace. And it must not be forgotten that the said party in England was ably seconded by a large part of the Press in South Africa. When I say the Press I include the many abortions that the name of Press covers. And to " what complexion have we arrived ? " The question is easily put, but it requires careful thought to answer it. The outlook to an African or Colonial born man, is not by any means assuring It cannot for a moment be supposed that we can take the coleur de rose view that the Eng- lish people do. Colonial wars with them mean taxes, with us they signify supremacy — life or death. When the idol tells them that he has settled the Colonial bill, and assures them there Avill be no wars, and they will not be constrained to dip into their purses, it is only natural that they will believe such a golden statement in preference to a statistical argument that Great Britain must disburse thirty or forty millions to put African affairs on a firm and safe basis. To the Africans we are forcibly reminded of vEsop's fable of the " Boys and the Frogs." After much stone- throwing between political parties in England, during which each side appears to have enjoyed it immensely, we are very apt to say, " What is sport to you is death to us." But is time to nutshell the whole matter ? War in Africa has not ceased ; it exists among the black races at present, with power to extend to the white ditto. The Basuto peace is still in the purchase stage, the bargains so far being all on the one side. Loyalty has had the most crushing defeat at the hands of the Gladstone Ministry that loyalty ever received from any ministry, barring the Scanlen Min- istry. The Transvaal peace hinges on how much the idol v,'ill allow The Orange Free State. 158 them yearly to behave tliemselves, and also how much he is pro- pared to wink at, supposing the Boers think fit to sweeten up our black brethren. To my mind, it appears very doubtful, whether if a collision took place between the Dutch and blacks, " which always was and always will be," uladstone would interfere. His genius would most assuredly point out that the Dutch had no other course to pursue, that for the very existence of- the Eepublio it was necessary to subdue the natives. He (the idol) would call them rebels in this case. Certainly Gladstone would not send troops. That would mean expense, and he kindly tells Britons every day he won't put them to such horrible suffering. And after the exhibition of the British army in Africa, it would, no doubt, be to our benefit to keep such luxuries (useless as they are expensive) at home. In the meantime, who is to allay the storms awaiting us in the dim future ? Are we, the people of Africa, shivered into atoms by prejudices and jealousies, to rule coming events ? Are the political mountebanks, now in ofllce in England going to hush the elements ? Query. I want Free Englishmen to chew the cud of reflection, and not call each other ugly names Chapter XIII. N August the 5th Sepinare, the Free State made Chief ol the Barolongs, arrived in Bloemfontein to complete a Treaty of Amity with the Fj-ee State ; the said Treaty to be broken, and advantage taken of the same, whenever it might please the Dutch Govern- ^fk ment, Hollanders and Germans to do so. This '^ ^ Sepinare was not the rightful heir ; but simply made the Chief for the time being and to be removed at the will or caprice of the Free State Governors. To »ive to the proceedings an appearance of legitimacy, a Resi- dent was appointed at a salary of twelve hundred a year, paid by the Barolongs and levied by this Sepinare. One bully of a lawyer was silenced on behalf of the Barolong Gover)iment by having given to him the use of a sheep-i'arm, which, when the end of this Chief arrives, will be made over in due course— another mode of plundering the natives. In proof that this was all arranged for we refer the reader to the following extract from the JPriend of September 20th, 1883 :— The Barolong Commotion. There has been no end of rumours afloat during the week re- specting a threatened invasion of the Barolong tenitory by some of Samuel Moroka's partisans. One account was that some of the Barolongs over the Vaal-river had crossed that river armed to the teeth, with the intention of succouring Samuel and deposing Sepinare. It may bo true that some of Moshette's or Montsioa'e men, who are geting tired of being pushed from pillar to post by The Orange Free State. 15o the gentlemen volunteers who fought for those chieftains, are trekking to either Samuel or Sepinare with no hostile intentions to the one or other, and that some people have ascribed this move- ment on the part of the Transvaal Barolongs to the intrigues of Samuel. Another rumour current was to the effect that some of our burghers were behind Samuel, and were egging him on to try conclusions with Sepinare. We understand that the Govern- ment received information that a rumpus was brewing ; conse- quently, steps have been taken to secure the neutrality of the State. Sepinare is also not asleep. He has, we are assured, strong armed parties out on the watch on the border, and has entrusted the defence of his whole territory to that well-known officer, Commandant P. RaafF, C.M.G. ; so a warm reception will be given to any who may have the temerity to dispute the authority of Sepinare by crossing the border with any hostile intention. It is said that some of our burghers, who are suffering from earth-hunger to a considerable extent, are anxious to set the Barolongs by the ears, in the hope that a partition of the country would soon alter take place. And it is even asserted that some farmers who live not many hours from the Barolong border, have promised Samuel something more than their good wishes in the event of a scramble taking place. Material support is wanted, and farms are to be given as payment. We do not think for one moment that the Government would ever consent to Free State soil being made the base of military operations against the Chief with whom have just concluded a Treaty of Amity. The Free State Government have always been mindful of the good turn done by the late Chief Moroka to the Emigrant Boers when they were •spoiled by Moselekatse, and will support the reigning Chief in his i awful undertakings. Besides, the President is far too wise and .sagacious a statesmen, and too amenable to public opinion, to allow any part of the Free State to become a " Palfontein " or " Rooigrond," as did the Transvaal authorities about eighteen months ago. If it is true that any of our burghers are inciting .Samuel to abuse the hospitality of our State, an example should be made of them. And if Samuel, whilst living under our protec- tion, is proved to be scheming to overthrow the authority of the Barolong Chief Sepinare, he should be banished from the State. It is so difficult to get at the truth of all the rumours abroad that I-'jC) The' Okange Free State. yamueJ is moving at all. So far as we kaow, it may be only a concoction of lies by interested parties to create a bad feeling between either Samuel Moroka or our Barolong allies and our- selves. When men hunger and thirst for farms what will they not do ! A Commission of Enquiry should be instituted by the Executive ; for these rumours do a great deal of harm to the country, and place the Government in a wrong position. We understand, too, that the cost of maintaining a force on a war footing is a severe strain on the revenue of Sepinure, which has already many claims upon it, for the Barolong Chief is governing his country with more expensive machinery than is usual with native rulers. Since writing the above we have seen Mr. M. Steyn, Member of the Executive Council, who left town on Thursday last to make enquiries into the cause of the commotion prevailing in the neigh- bourhood of the Barolong boundary. He reports that the rumours arp much exaggerated, and brings evidence that several of the farmers of this district have openly sympathised with Samuel Moroka, and that one or more have called for volunteers, a la Moshette and Mossouw, to assist the Pretender. Mr. Steyn, who took with him, for the sake of distribution, copies of the Treaty of Amity recently entered into between this State and the Chief Sepinare Moroka, warned the partisans of Samuel that they were violating the laws of the land, and would be held responsible (or the consequences. He states that Samuel is at present at Kruid- fontein, some distance from the line ; but that about thirty Baro- longs, with passes from Moshette, vver outspanned in three or four wagons near the boundary of Moroka's territory. Their passes, which were for Kruidfontein, had been countersigned by the E., J. P. of Bultfontein. Mr. Steyn complains that the Pass Law, 60 far as Samuel Moroka's Barolongs are concerned, is a dead letter. This shows clearly that many of the border farmers are siding with the Pretender. Mr. M. Steyn, on his way back, passed through Thaba 'Nchu, and found Sepinare fully prepared to give a warm reception to any one who attemj)ted to dispute his authority. Mr. Commandant EaafT has white ofhcers under him, and has enlisted a corps of Bastards, so that things are pretty snug in Morako's territory. We are of opinion that things will blow over ; and commend the action of the Government in nipping The Orange Free State. 157 the affair in the bud. His Honour ihe President, who has been on a tour to Ladybrand, will, we understand, pass through Thaba 'N.hu to-morrow or Saturday, and will, doubtless, give confidence to Sepinare and his tribe. Thus we have the testimony of one of the Executive, that Dutchmen were doing their best to get the rightful heir to the st-at of the Chieftainship ; and if successful, to take farms as pay- ment ior services rendered. Now mark what happens. It was well known that efforts wc.uld be made by Samuel to drive out fet-pinare, whom he and many other Barolongs knew to be an usurper, who would be upheld by the Free State authorities so long as it suited their purj^ose. For some years (as I have explained in my South Africa and Jutiings by the Way), it was well known, that Sepinare had given Jarms to lawyers, missionaries, and to the Bishop of Bloemfontein to use, on condition that they would support him at all times ; but he did not give them liberty to sell the land. It 18 also a fact that some thousands were extorted out of the Barolongs to pay the Kesident, and the white forces with Com- mandant liaaff at their head to uphold Sepinare's power ; but the time having arrived when the users of the farms, with the relio-ious b"dies at their head, desired to sell the lands as private property, they winked at all that was done to get rid of Sepinare ; and thus it happened, that when the attack was make upon Sepinare at 8nnri.^e, and for hours afterwards, not a white — Commandant, Missionary, Resident, or trader — helped in any way to defend him. Now what happens after the chief ami his head councillor were slain ? The Free State burghers are summoned by President Biaiid, and — to show how insignificant was the whole affair — he with a lorce of a hundred men, takes possession of Samuel and his followers; and then, without taking counsel with the Raad, this man— who so loudly protested against the English Government Inking possession of the Transvaal without the consent of the in- habitanrs — immediately annexes the whole to the Free State, not- withstanding the fact that there was a son of the Chief Sepinare livmg. and under the care of the Free State Government. Although this was one of the most barefaced robberies of native lauds on record, it surprised nobody. Of course not ; because in 58 The Orange Fkee State. various ways it was known to li-ive been arranged for, and all the parties implicated were acquitted — the whole thing being settled in the hope of (as I stated in my " Jottings," while passing through this spot the year before, would come to pass) the Dutch obtaining own ership of the land, which, if sold, would defray the cost of constructing the Free State railway ; or if not sold, but let, would pay the interest of the Free State Debt. Under the circumstances can anyone doubt that the whole was an official and unofficial arrangement ? For confirmation of my views I again quote from the Fiiend, of Juljr 17th, 1884 :— Tkc Barolong Disturbances. " The unexpected." says Beaconsfield, " always happens," Little did any of us think that Sepinare — to whom had been awarded the chieltainship of the Barolongsby the President, some few years ago, on the death of the old Chief Moroka, and who had been recognised by our Government, which entered into a defensive treaty with him in August last, which treaty was ratified by the Volksraad in February at its Special Session — would now be no more and that the country he used to govern would be Free State territory. Sepinare not only at the time of the last disturbance managed to defeat and scatter his enemies, but secured the good- will and amity of his surrounding neighbours. It will be remem- bered that the claimant to the Chieftainship, Samuel Moroka, failed recently in getting his claims acknowledged by the British Government, to which he applied in proprlu persona in England. Thus Sepinare seemed likely to " live for ever." The fates, how- ever, decreed otherwise. A plot was so secretly and quietly hatched, that none of his councillors and officers, or any Free State officials, knew anything about it until it was carried into execu- tion. Viewed in the light of a successful undertaking, it was simply perfect. Bogachu, the Councillor and General of Samuel, it is supposed with the assistance of some petty chief of the Basutos, and aided by a handful of white men, managed to enter the Baro- long territory from three or four points and ride across it a distance of three or four hours, and strike a blow at the Head of the coun- try. To prevent suspicion, Samuel, it is said, remained on the The Opv.\xge Frek State. loO farm where he has been located for some time, and only repaired to Thaba 'Nchu after the cotcp d\tat. Although we cannot in any- way approve of the deed committed by Samuel and the conspira- tors who acted in his name, some allowance must we think be made for the way in which the acknowledged Chief by the great majority of the Barolongs was despoiled of his goods, and the heartless manner in which the followers of and sympathisers with the Chief had been literally " eaten up " by the, to them, Usurper. No doubt Samuel had been goaded on by his people, who became outcasts in the land, especially when they saw the country of their fathers portioned out to strangers — men of another race — for bolstering up the Usurper. It is not for us to say who was the rightful chief : that has been decided by competent judges ; but we have only to state facts, and they are, that the Samuelites far outnumber the followers of Sepinare, who by his harsh treatment of " suspects " rendered his name an abomination to a great por- tion of his tribe. White men who love to fish in troubled waters, lent their aid. The consequence is we have to chronicle what is considered by Europeans as " a most unnatural murder." No one who knew the two men, Sepinare and Samuel, could have the least doubt who was the most fitted to govern. The late lamented Chief Sepinare was born to rule. He was a man of much dignity, and although, we believe, of little or no education, was possessed of great information in history and in the art of governing. He was commanding in stature, straight, well-made, and handsome, and had a most kindly presence. He was brave in the field and a leader of men. Samuel, on the other hand, although educated in England, is a man of far inferior caste of mind and body. Moroka shortly before his death, it is said, pointed Sepinare out as his successor. No doubt the sagacious old Chief knew he was far more competent than his son Samuel. The evil has been that the common people among the Barolongs thought differently. Sepinare, from a young man, has taken part in the councils of the tribe, and has led his men in the field. During the last Basuto war, he commanded the Barolong contingent, and was present at the conchision of peace in April, 1866, at Thaba Bosigo, and his name appears among the r/itnesses to the signature of that im- portant document. All Europeans who came in contact with Sepinare were much impressed with his dignity of manner and his IfiO The Okange Fkee .State. gentlemanly bearing. He was of generous disposition and liberal as became a chief, and many poor people of the Caucasian race were recipients of his bounty. There is no doubt that the attempt to govern his people on enlightened principles was one of the causes of his sudden downfall. The system was too costly, and his people were heavily taxed to bring up the revenue required to carry on a government with expensive white ofiicials. The conse- quence was that many of his people were compelled to leave the territory, and many more would have left but passes were refused them. Those v^rho had nothing — or next to nothing — to lose, left the country, and many others were eaten up for going without leave. The country about here is full of Barolongs, ninety-nine out of every hundred of whom tell lieartrendering tales of how their cattle have been taken from them by the deceased Chief. Many whites, who were well-disposed towards Sepinare, advised him to be more lenient. His Honour the President, in speaking with the Chief, requested him to deal more humanely and leniently with his people. The Chief replied that the President did not understand a native as he did, saying that a Kaffir would not listen to smooth words, but could only understand a strong hand. We sincerely regret the death of the late Chief, for he was in many ways a noble specimen of a Bechuana chief : and we fear, too, that the tribe, by his removal, will be scattered even more than before, for the territory is now Free State soil, and our burghers are not likely to allow natives to congregate in any great numbers without working for them. We take it Sepinare will be the last of the Moroka, or Seleka, line of the tribe of Barolongs. The Annex'mg oj the Barolong Territory. It has been said that " the days of small States are over." The Barolong Territory, ever since the close of our last Basuto war, has been an anomaly. It was surrounded by this State, and retained its independence simply because it was always lelt that Moroka, who had been a faithful ally to us through the whole of the war, was deserving of very great consideration at our hands on account oi the way he treated the Emigrant Farmers in their hour of need. After his death, when Sepinare was awarded the Chieftainship by His Honour the President, the Volksraad and people were intent The Orange Free State. 161 on honouring the memory of the good old Chief, and of protecting the tribe so long as they behaved themselves well. Since that time there has been so much plotting on the part of the claimant, Samuel — and more by his pseudo friends — that it was becoming well nigh intolerable. So much was this fe!t by the Eaad in their special session in February last that it almost refused to ratify the Treaty entered into by the President in the preceding August. The events ot the past week have proved to be like the " last straw which breaks the camel's back." It was not only vexatious to us that our burghers should be every now and then called into the field to act as policemen in preserving the peace of our sable neighbours, but there was the constant danger of the territory of our ally becoming the theatre of a war in which other tribes than the Barolong might take part. There was also the constant dan- ger of our burghers enlisting themselves on the side of one or other of the Chiefs. No doubt some white men (citizens of this State) were among the ringleaders and actual leaders in the late disturb- ance. It has been a too common practice in South Africa of late for white men to espouse the cause of some native chief, and, like the cuckoo who kicks the young sparrows out of the nest when it gets big enough, or the nest is too small, they turn the natives out, and possess the land. There have been far too many free lances and freebooters in this part of the world lately, and we are glad that this State has put its foot down and refused to counte- nance any such evil. We hold this State guilty of allowing the late Chief of the Barolongs to employ white mercenaries to " slaughter " his kindred. What that Chief sowed he unfortun- ately reaped. We pointed out at the time that the policy of allowing any Chief to employ white men to fight for him was as bad as bad could be, for the end of it would be that white men would be found fighting against other white men — as .in Bechuanaland. Besides it is very lowering to the character of white men, in the eyes of the natives, to hire oneself to be shot at by their enemies. The territory of the Barolongs has been occupied by that tribe a litble over half a century. At the close of 1833, the Wesleyan Missionary Society bought " all that spacious country designated Thaba 'Nchu, with all that extensive range of hills on the north, south, east, and west, with all their plains, extending on the north to the ford called Farmer's Ford, or Boeredrift; on the west L 162 The Okange Free State. to the summit on the mountains on the west side of Modder- river, or Eiver Khaba ; on the south to half of the distance between Mount Moriah and Thaba 'Nchu, and forming a circle to join the western limit ; and on the east to the river passing through the mountains near Maquatling, and called , and passing along the hills in a circular direction to Boeredrift, the northern limit," from Moshesh and one of his subordinate Chiefs, named Moseme, for the price of 7 young oxen, 1 heifer, 2 sheep, and 1 goat. In 1849, Major Warden fixed tha boundary with Moroka of his territory. Before that time many of the Barolong kraals were between here and Modder- river, being many miles on this side of that stream, and others as low down on the other side of Modder- river as Doornspruit. The tribe at that date was estimated to number 14,000 souls. This boundary was confirmed in 1862 (in Pretorius' time) by this State, the late Mr. Allison having been instrumental in settling what was then a rather vexed question. Diplomatic Relations. The unfortunate tragedy enacted at Thaba 'Nchu ; the arrest of Samuel Moroka, together v;ith a number of his coadjutors, both black and white ; the unusual undiplomatic manner hostages from Bering Letsea were taken over by a commanding ofiicer of a Burgher Force ; and the fact that direct communications took place between His Honour the President and His Excellency the High Commissioner — have all had their share of criticism. The action of our Government has been much extolled by the Natal and Colonial press for annexing the Barolong territory and for dealing out summary justice against the raiders. In these days of vacillation and temporising of the British Government, the ready action and the strong hand are much admired. No doubt men like to see the leaders of the people take the bull by the horns, and exhibit a firmness, especially in dealing with natives. There appearing to be Basuto complications connected with the raid, the authorities of the State bad to deal with matters of very grave, moment. The decisive measures taken to prevent a Basuto raid thought then to be imminent, commended themselves to Colonial men, who are used to witness a vacillating policy ; and the ready The Orange Free State, 163 spD nse of our Burgliers to the ap];eal made to them by the Exe- cutive is deserving of all praise, and naturally is contrasted with the tardy action of the Colonial burghers when they were wanted to subdue the Basutos during the late war. While fully approving of the vigorous policy pursued in the matter of the late raid, we quite think some of the minor details are open to criticism. In saying thus much we think the suddenness of the attack, the very imperfect information to hand, and the great difSculty of obtaining reliable news from the scene of the disturbance, all made it ex- ceedingly difficult to grasp the situation. As a party of Basutos had just previously been implicated in a cattle raid on one of Sepinare's posts, and as Commandant Peter RaafF brought the news that the Basutos were mixed up in the affair, the President and others naturally thought there ^2.^ prima facie evidence that the "Nation of Thieves" was making common cause with Samuel Moroka. Even the missionaries and the white inhabitants of Thaba 'Nchu, although witnesses of the disturbance from a dis- tance, thought the whole of the morning and a part of the after- noon that the Basutos were taking an active part in the affair. The Executive naturally thought that Samuel was not strong enough to oust Sepinare without assistance. The consequence of all this was, that as time went on, the plot thickened. Men who had been to Thaba 'JSchu, we believe, assured His Honour that the Basutos were implicated. As we have before stated, the Basutos, rightly or wrongly are thought by certain people in this State to be plotting the destruction and spoliation of our frontier country. The wire was put in motion. A Field-cornet on the border made himself extra officious, sent spies into British Basutoland, inter- viewed Bering Letsea, and received hostages from him that no Basuto force should cross the Caledon Piver to take part in the affair at Thaba 'Nchu. It is, no doubt, in times of emergency a great thing to have good men on the border equal to any occasion which might arise ; yet it is hardly respectful to our neighbours, with whom we are on such good terms, to go past the head of that Government and treat with understrappers who have no authority ither from the Govei-nment or from the Chief. This is doubtless what Colonel Clarke feels. It will be seen from the ofiicial cor- respondence that the gallant Colonel thinks that he has been snubbed by the Free State authorities from His Honour the Pre- l2 I6i The Orange Free State. ■sident down to a Fieldcornet. This all comes from the miserably- weak rule of the Colonial Government. Since Colonel Clarke has been at Maseru, we do not think there have been any just causes of complaint against the Administration being too weak ; but as the Resident Commissioner has no force at his back, the people •of this State naturally fear he has not sufficient moral power to restrain the Basutos if they had made up their minds to make a raid on this country. The President, who is usually the most ■cautious of statesmen, and who generally errs on the side of being too extra-diplomatic, was carried away by the reports, and appeared to forget for the nonce that there was any Eesident •Commissioner at Maseru. This is a venial mistake, and under the circumstances an allowance can be made for the excitement the country was in — partly caused, we fear, by the spreading of lying reports. As we pointed out in our issue of the 17th instant — the massing of men on the border, nevertheless, made the Basutos restless, and was anything but a good policy. The worst of it is, the position of aflairson or about the lOth or 11th instant, was, that the Basutos may or may not have contemplated joining hands with Samuel. This is a debatable point, and, perhaps, will never be satisfactorily cleared up, as it is difficult to go be- hind a man's or people's intentions. But what is certain, is that eleven — some say more — burghers of this State deliberately plotted and carried out what the poor Basutos are accused of con- templating ! So far this Government — although innocently — is to blame ; and if Sepinare could rise from his grave, he would accuse us, and not the Basutos, of his death and the partition of his country. We grieve to write thus, but the truth must be told, for some are making capital out of things which actually reflect shame on us as a people. The Beginning of the End. The surrender of Samuel and his councillors on Saturday last bas put an end to a threatened calamity which appeared to be assuming great proportions. This day last week, a false move on the part of the head of the State might have caused blood to be spilt. And if such had taken place, who knows where it might iave ended? The misguided followers of Samuel vainly imagined Tee Orange Free State. Ifi5 that they had only to get rid of the Chief Avhom the President had made, and then they would live in peace and security under the protection of this State. But they reckoned without their host. Deplorable as a raid by a party of semi-barbarians on a friendly territory may be, it is nothing in comparison to the complications which might ensue if the Basutos and others were allowed to take part in the struggle for supremacy. For good or for evil, the Barolong tribe of the line of Seleka are now dispossessed of their territory as Jar as they understand the tenure of land. It must have come sooner or later, and the death of Sepinare gives this State a chance of stepping in and annexing the territory, and so restoring peace and order there. It is well-known and street talk that several burghers of this State took an active part in the disturbance at Thaba 'Nchu. Many natives and several white men, it is said, saw some of the prisoners, and spoke to them soon after the killing of Sepinare. Will the authorities allow these men — and others who are said to be quite as guilty as they — to be only tried for breaking into a shop ? If so, the raison d'etre of the annexation of the Barolong territory is not such a good one as we were led to expect. The looting of Abraham's store is a small matter compared to the attack on Thaba 'Nchu and the slaying of Sepinare. It may be that the authorities will bring other charges against the prisoners. If so, there is, we understand, plenty of evidence to prove that if they were not with the deceased Chief of the Barolongs, they were against him. With regard to the complicity of white men in the Thaba 'Nchu affair, an esteemed correspondent in this State writes: " I suppose Samuel would never have acted as he has done unless he had white backers. The whole affair is the result of the un- punished action of our burghers helping Transvaal v. English Government, Freebooters v. Chiefs in Stellaland and Goschen, and Dinizulu v. Usibepu. The interference of white men in native disturbances will, I suppose, go on to the end of time ; or till there is no chance of loot of land or stock. The Governments will, it is to be presumed, condone such action while it is profit- able." We fear there is much truth in these observations. 166 The Orange Free (State. Aiders and Abettors. Eight white men are said to have led the Samuelites. Some of them are known, and were seen at Thaba 'JNchu by the white residents, who spoke with them. Warrants are, it is said, issued for their apprehension. We trust for the sake of law and order that an example will be made of these men. " Is it Peace f " A man bearing a white flag came out about a thousand yards distance from the village, and met the commando as it was pro- ceeding to the scene, shouting, " Vrede ! Vrede ! " (Peace ! Peace !) He was immediately referred to His Honour the Presi- dent, who detained him until the camp was formed and our cannons placed in a position ready for action. He then gave the flag-bearer a copy of the proclamation requesting his messenger (Harry Hanger) to accompany him to his chief and read and ex- plain to him that he was about to annex the country. After waiting some time the messengers returned with a letter from Samuel to the President, stating that he wished to see the head of the State. His Honour replied verbally : " I will see him on Monday, and at the same time will require of him the delivery of the murderers of Sepinare." At four o'clock the President read the following proclamation annexing the country, and the artillery fired a salute of three guns as the flag was hoisted : — Proclamation. Whereas the Chief Sepinare Moroka was murdered in a treason- able manner on the 10th July ; And whereas the territory over which he ruled is now without lawful government ; And whereas, for the maintenance of law, order, peace, and safety, it is necessary that a regular government should be estab- lished without delay ; And whereas this can best take place and be facilitated by annexing the liarolong territory, over which the late chief Moroka The Orange Feee State. 167 — and after liim Sepinare Moroka — ruled at Thaba 'Nchu, to the Orange Free State ; Therefore I, Johannes Hendricus Brand, President of the Orange Free State, hereby annex the said territory to the Orange Free State, and proclaim that the above-mentioned territory shall form a portion of and fall under the authority, government, and laws of the Orange Free State. Everyone is hereby requested and commanded to take notice hereof and govern himself accordingly. This done and given under my hand and the Great Seal of the Orange Free State at Thaba 'Nchu this 12th July, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-Four. J. H. BRAND. By order, Thomas F. Brand, Private Secretary. In our presence : — C Van der Wath, member of the Executive Council ; Jan A. Prinsloo, Commandant of the district of Bloemfontein ; E. Albrecht, Captain Artillery ; P. J. Fourie, Fieldcornet Boven-modder-river. Thus at last the one hope of the Dutch of Bloemfontein was realised, and by a Treaty of Amity and Treachery the lands of the Barolongs were stolen by violence, to the everlasting disgrace of the President and the Orange Free State. CHAPTER XIV. HE year 1884 was a most unfortunate one for the Free- State. The inhabitants had exhausted all their cash and even their credit. In December, 1883, it was a disgusting experience to pass through and notice many, who would or could not pay their legitimate accounts, freely expending money in luxuries and for fireworks with which to usher in the new year. Trade was at a standstill ; money, like the old year, seemed to have passed away for ever ; and to drive hope still further away from the Free State, the loan sought for from England was re- fused ; a salutary rebuke to the insolence and impudence of the Dutch, who thought the English would run to throw their cash at them. However, the news came (to lower the pride of the Hollanders) that the English knew not the Dutch, and refused to advance them cash for their needs ; and then to make the blow still heavier, the financial particulars threw the officials into a perfect fright and placed them in a contemptible position ; for the Free State had hitherto boasted that they not only had no- National Debt, but could always show a large balance to their credit. It was a pitiable sight for the gods, to see all heads nodding at this juncture and in fear whispering one to another " What next ? " Then, to add to their discomfiture, the Government lost their heads, and iu alarm called the members of the Raad together at an expense of some thousands to decide the future arrange- ments. On examination it was found that — like a iool that tried to raise a loan on his estate without consulting his lawyer — the President had had the temerity to attempt to float their loan The Oeange Free State. 169 personally, instead of consulting and paying some Banks to do so; and to show still further the utter ignorance of the President — after twenty years of official life, with his communications with the outer world and particularly with England — he was mad enough to tell the hoped-for lenders that they could get the interest for their money in Bloemfontein. Then, of course, all discovered the blunder that the high and mighty Raad, with the " wisdom of years " at their head in the person of the President, and their Treasurer- General, assisted by the Executive, had committed ; and which resulted in bringing upon the people at large the dis- credit of official folly. The Express Editor, fully believing in the gullibility of John Bull, was simply astonished at the common sense displayed by Englishmen in not lending their money to a bankrupt Dutch State simply for the asking of the same ; and then, with the howl of a mad dog, he charged all the officials with want of foresight in not knowing better, — a charge which was as applicable to himself as to any of the others, as will be seen by the following paragraphs from his own paper : — An extraordinary session of the Hon'ble Volksraad has been called for Thursday, the 21st of February, 1884, to discuss matters which, it only a serious attempt is made to deal with them, will keep the members of the Legislature at least a month in our midst. The reasons which prompted the Executive to call the Raad together — notwithstanding the difficulties of the times, and the serious expenditure necessitated by that step, are manifold. In the first instance, the settlement of Basutoland (at least the official announcement of such bemg brought about) necessitates with regard to Art. 9 of the Alliwal Convention, the enforcement of a Pass Law. Article 9 stipulates that no native living in Basutoland shall be allowed to enter the Free State, and no Free State burgher Basutoland, except under conditions and regulations than already in force, or later to be enacted by the two contracting Governments. Ordinance No. 5, 1866 — which provided the terms of a Pass Law — became unworkable, however, through the Basuto war, and the President has for some time been anxious to replace that Ordinance by one suited to the altered circumstances of the situation. The hon'ble Volksraad has thus far refused to 170 The Oeange Free State. place this country, by means of a stringent Pass Law, in the posi- tion of a policeman to another Government. In how far the present settlement of the difficulty alters this conception we are anxious to learn, as we feel little inclination to change our very decided opinion on this point, remaining, as we do, of opinion that any Pass Law on our side must be preceded by an actual Government in Basutoland, for the evidence of which such clear proof must be given as has hitherto been entirely wanting. The next, and undoubtedly the main question the Eaad will have to deal with in the ensuing session, will be the financial position of the country. This, we regret to say, is by no means a satisfactory one — comparatively speaking, and from a Free State point of view we are in duty bound to add. The fact that our debentures were not taken up in London has naturally thrown our Budget out of gear — the public works, to be paid out of the loan, having been entered upon, thus obliging the Government to defray their cost out of a Eevenue already seriously embarrassed by the state of agriculture and trade. There is little doubt that the debentures — which the Government failed to float, and which the National Bank is now attempting to place on the money market — form the very best investment that can possibly be offered to European capitalists. Four causes militate against their finding favour. The first is that the coun- try is little known, and as a Dutch Republic suffers under certain prejudices ; the second, that the amount is somewhat small for a State loan ; the third, that a rate of interest of 6 per cent, pre- judices the transaction in the eyes of capitalists who are accus- tomed to pay 4 per cent, to 4f per cent, for the very best State debentures ; the fourth and main reason, that the capital and interest is payable at the Treasury in Bloemfontein. It is asserted by the very best authorities that Mr, Scanlen damaged the credit of the Cape Colony seriously by offering 5 per cent, on the new loan, an argument which is most likely to be brought forward in the matter at issue. It is thought here generally that principally through the above- named provisions of the Ordinance — which made both capital and interest payable in Bloemfontein — European investors were deterred from entertaining the loan. Be this as it may. the National Bank has certainly no ' light task to perform, especially The Orange Free State. 171 if it is taken into consideration that a venture which, through whatever cause, has — so to say — failed, requires careful handling to gain the public confidence necessary for success ; and we can- not refrain here for an expression of regret that the G-overnment did not, in the first instance, avail itself of the agency of a mone- tary insdtution — a course pursued by every Government in exis- tence. Without some connection, agency, or reference in London there can be no question of any such transaction, (certainly not, if the money, as was expected, is to be found there), and that our London Consul is about the most unfit person to represent this Govern- ment, inspire investors with confidence, and generally negotiate a loan of this description, requires not our assurance. On its merits, the loan without doubt should be a successful one ; how- ever, there is no saying what reasons may weigh with investors m England, and the Volksraad will at all events have to devise means to provide tht Executive with the necessary funds to carry out the existing contracts until such time as the loan, even if suc- cessful, will be an accomplished fact. Besides the small-pox epidemic and the means employed for the prevention of the introduction of the disease into the State, the treaty with Sepinare requires confirmation ; the appointment of an Assistant-Landdrost at Wepener must be considered, which appointment, for certain reasons, has not been made ; and the establishment of a bi-weekly post between Bloemfontein and Coles- burg. There is also a deal of arrear work which, according to its own resolution of the 7th July last, the Volksraad will have to deal with. Finally, 15 memorials on sundry subjects are proposed to be submitted. As we stated at the outset, the budget of the work is a heavy one ; yet it is to be hoped that most of it, if not all, will be done, so as least to give the country value received for an ex- penditure which, however necessary, it can ill afford. The Volksraad. This hon Durable body had two very important subjects under 172 The Orange Free State. discussion at the end of last week, viz ; the Eeport by the Commis- sion on the Diggings, and the Allowance made to Members of the Eaad. The Eaad very wisely, we think, refused to interfere with the tenure, or to do away with the compulsory working of claims. Although, if the diggings are any good, no compulsion need be required to induce men to work the claims, yet it there be no penalty, speculators would buy claims and allow them to lie fallow — with the hope of their becoming one day valuable on account of the others being worked by industrious and go-ahead owners. We believe it has been the practice in all countries to compel diggers to work claims which had been originally granted on appli- cation. Indeed, the title, so to say, is embraced in the fact of working. In California and Australia, where " Diggers' Law " for the time took the place ot the law of the land, this was always acknowledged by everyone to be the only fair, just, and equitable way of dealing with the question of claim-rights. In those coun- tries, the individual digger stood in the place of the rich — or sup- posed to be rich — companies here. It would have been too intoler- able for the poor hard-working digger to have borne the injustice of a monopolist, or speculator, appropriating claim after claim to himself to the injury of his fellow man. The injustice was too self-evident, and as it affected the majority, the law being on the principle of the axiom. Vox populi, vox JJei, no one questioned it- It is a thousand pities that our Diamond-fields ever got into the hands of the speculators ; for if they are payable at all, the poor, industrious, hard-working digger ought to be able to make a living out of working his claims. If, on the other hand, they will not pay the individual digger or the companies, the sooner they are shut up the better. More good money has been thrown away at Jagersfontein, for instance, than there seems any chance of getting out of the Mine for many long years to come. We are quite aware that the " original shareholder" is an amiable fool, who has done his work in his day and generation in other ventures and in other parts of the world, yet there appears no hope of breathing, life into the dry bones of any of our Diggings. Time, of course,, will tell. Although this question affects the mining population more directly than any other section ot our community, yet nearly everyone in the State is, more or less, interested in the issue. We therefore hope, when the whole question of our Mines comes The Orange Free State. 173 on at tiie annual session in May next, the Raad will not " listen to the voice of the charmer," but will strictly uphold all diggers' rights, and do e^^ery thing which will conduce to the benefit of the Diggings generally. The second question more immediately affects the whole of the burghers of the State ; for it must be admitted that the means taken to secure good representation of the people in our Volksraad is of paramount importance. Although there are certain property qualifications required for those who are born out of the country W'ho were not burghers in 1866, yet seeing that every person who vs^as born in the State has a vote on attaining his majority, Man- hood Suffrage may be said to prevail in this Republic. The pro- perty qualification for a member is also exceedingly low — the being owner of unencumbered fixed property of the value of £200 being quite sufficient to entitle one to a seat, if duly elected. We thus see that our Constitution has made every provision for the election and seat of the comparatively poor man. It has gone further, and provides for the payment of our legislators. This being the case, the only question to be considered is, What is a sufiicient remuneration to our representatives ? There can be no doubt, we think, that sufficient remuneration is just so much that the members are not out of pocket by attending the Raad, and compelled to spend more money in living than they receive from Government. We take it, then, that £1 Is. per diem would be quite sufficient to keep a member in any of our hotels or lodging-houses, and have a little over for calls on his charity on account of his position. We quite deprecate the idea that the office of a member is an office of profit. It is not. It is an office of honour, and an honourable office solely. We believe that most people feel that £2, or even £5, per day would not be too much for thoroughly competent men, but that 15s. is a waste of money when paid to incompetent members. We for our part think that the Chairman of the Raad should receive at least double as much as ordinary members. He is known as the Chairman of the Volksraad wherever he goes, and it is not too much to expect that he must spend some of his private means in keeping up the ■dignity of the office. Our present head of the Raad is, we believe, a wealthy man, but provision should be made for the time when one may be elected, who is the fittest for the responsible situation 174 The Orange Free State. but who is not so well-to-do that lie could afford to keep up the position of Chairman of the Raad. Although in England, where most of the members of Parliament are wealthy men, who would scorn to receive a few pounds a day for performing what they consider honorary duties, no compen- sation is allowed for their services, yet the Constitutions of the Colonies, to which we can be far better compared, provide for the payment of legislators. When the Constitution of the United States was drawn up, there were not, of course, a tithe of the wealthy men in that country there are now. The framers of that important political instrument took care that good men should not be excluded on the score of poverty, so the Constitution provides that " Senators and Repre- sentives shall have a compensation for their serviees, to be ascer- tained by law and paid out of the Treasury of the United States." This system of payment for legislative services, which prevails throughout the whole of the Union, has produced a class of pro- fessional politicians, whose probity in some cases has proved unequal to the strain put upon it by the power of dealing with the public money and the public possessions of what will soon be the wealthiest community in the world. We think no one can doubt that we can pay far too much for our representation. Perhaps, a good way out of the difficulty would be, as suggested by some during the debate, to reduce the number of the members. Two members for a district would be ample. That would reduce the number of the members by half. It is almost certain all the present good members would be re- turned, and there would be more expedition, and we think better laws, at half the expense to the country. At the present moment we have about one member to every thousand inhabitants, including men, women, and children. If we had one member to about 2,500 or 3,000 inhabitants, it would be ample. It will be easy to augment the number of members as the population increases. We are afraid that the Raad, although they have left this matter of allowances to members as it was before, did not give the proper reasons for doing so. " The labourer is worthy of his hire " ; and we trust Baadsleden will not be found wanting when weighed in the balance of Public Opinion. The Orange Free State. 175 The Raad was closed yesterday, but before the members were dismissed they passed the Debenture Ordinance, which will enable the Government to float the loan of £100,000. We think the country at large will commend the action of the Eaad in this matter. The talk about Bluebacks has subsided, and business will have a heatlhier tone now that all fears of a forced paper currency have been dissipated by the line taken by our landsvaders. We are sorry to say that some valuable time of the Raad was taken up with tinkering with Ordinances. Nothing does so much harm to the State as this eternal amending of our laws. The want of finality shakes the confidence of the public. No doubt some laws require revision, but the privilege accorded to private members of proposing alterations to old-established laws, or to Ordinances hardly yet promulgated, has the effect of making the public think that our laws are the reverse of those of the Medes and Persians. A few years ago, when everyone felt himself well- off, a ridiculously high tariff was passed. Now everyone is down in the dumps, retrenchment being the order of the day, the tariff must be reduced. If the country were governed by a party Government, there would not be so many changes, for the political parties would support and oppose parti- cular legislative measures, and we think this would give a greater sense of finality to our legislation than at present obtains. The way it " should " he done. We direct the attention of our Government to a telegram which appears in another column respecting a loan floated by the Standard Bank for the Capetown Municipality. It makes us, as citizens of a Republic, feel very small to think that an insignificant and by no means flourishing corporate body can command a large credit in the London money market, whilst, through gross mismanage- ment, the Free State has not only not succeeded in raising a loan, but has had its credit seriously damaged. We trust the Government will ponder well over this matter, and next time it attempts to float a loan, discard all private individuals from a participation in its monetary affairs ; success will then be assured. 176 The Orange Free State. Patent Lmv. It is with regret that we notice the passing of the " Patent Law " by the Hon'ble the Volksraad. Supporters of such laws may fairly be called men who ride their principles to death without just and proper application. We quite concede that an inventor should have the full benefit of his enterprise and perseverance ; and so he has, considering that there is hardly a country in the world where Patent Laws do not provide for his protection. But in a small and young country like ours — without rivers or forests — water or wood — without regular rainfall — thousands of miles from the seats of manufactures, and hundreds of miles from our •own sea-border, — it seems an utter farce that our Legislature should waste £50 to pass such a Law. It is a senseless apism of circumstances utterly foreign to ours, a waste of money, and an injury of all the greater weight to the country, when it is con- sidered that u.seful legislation might have been undertaken in the place of this " useless play." The next thing to be brought before the Eaad will be a law punishing " Railway Excursions to the Moon ! " I had previously given him chapter after chapter of mj JVational Faper- Money emel its Use, in which I had shown how easy it was to make Imperial or Republican paper-money for all purposes of ■Government, to pay all their servants' salaries, and for the con- struction of Public Works of Utility ; but of course this plan, not feeding the class of robbers that live on usury, was passed by as being of no account. It was not for want of knowledge on the part of the Editor of the Eiyress that my proposals were not a23preciated by him. Like so many others, being in the hands of the ferneuk Hards, he •dared not call his convictions his own, much less a thing he pretended to own — called his soul — even if he had believed in the right. He was on a par with the well-known legal thief who began to ask for works on political economy to enable him to argue on the subject at the forthcoming meeting of the Raad. This individual was a generally recognised counterpart of the The Orange Free State. 177 notorious Old Bailey legal black-slieep, who was up to every dodge, equal at all times to any trickery, one who could manufacture a witness to support his case by swearing without compunction, and who if promised a handsome premium — as in the great Will Case of Jajersfontein v. The Company of the Sluit— he (the legal thief) would go to any length to secure success for the side on which he happened to be retained. This man was a perfect buck animal ; no woman was safe from him at any time, and his very blood relations were contaminated by his immorality. Alas, he was not the only Black German Buck who sat in that Assembly at £2 per day. That the lawyers, conveyancers, auctioneers and doctors were a curse to the town and State may readily be gathered from the following from the Express : — "Following up our remarks regarding the position the legal profession occupies in this country in the public estimation, we pointed out the necessity of steps being taken to remedy this abnormity. In alluding to the principal remedy, we referred to the establishment of a Law Society, the members of which would be called upon jealously to watch, that the reputation of an hon- ourable profession should not be dragged into the deepest mire of public indignation by the constant malpractices of men, who should occupy quite a different position towards Judges and Juries than they do at present. The esjJrit de corps now wanting, and thereby supplied, would, however, not be the only gain achieved by the establishment of such a Society. " A still greater advantage would be afforded by a Society — a corporate body, taking upon itself, and that ' ofEcially,' a duty which individuals shrink from, firstly, because they dread the personal animus that might be suspected of them, even if it did not exist, and secondly, because they look to the head of the Bar for the performance of certain duties which are calculated to affect the whole body. Not only, has the Attorney-General not displayed overmuch anxiety to merit public and general applause by the display of that jealousy, which would prove that the interests and good name of the profession he leads and represents, are dear to him, but we are given to understand that the official in question has displayed a good deal of indifference, when the idea of co- operation was mooted to him by individual members of the bar. We regret this very much. M 178 The Orange Feee [State, " Certain oflSces and positions impose certain duties and obliga- tions, and whatever Mr. Vels may think fit or unfit, the Attorney- General has the distinct duty to lead in a matter of this kind. We say this with the more emphasis, and the more freedom, because we are conscious that the Attorney-General has enjoyed so much forbearance at the hands of the press, that exactness in this very matter cannot be considered, even by him, as severity The times we live in, and things as they are, are unhappily not what they should be, but we bear in mind, that the virtue ' pati- ence,' is engraved upon our coat of arms, and calls upon us, to wait and bear, in the hope that if * alles zal recht niet komen,' many things will advance and improve with the gradual advance- ment of the country. But, though we are ready to use such an amount of patience, as will make us doubted in the eyes of men, whose principles of right and wrong are not affected by cir- cumstances, there is an end even to our patience, at the stage we have arrived in the question at issue. " Were the dignity of the legal profession alone at issue, we might use, even now, more patience, and confine our emotions to a strong feeling of regret, that men of conspicuous position are so indifferent to what they owe to themselves. But ' since public considerations are involved as well, we trust that the Attorney- General will exercise the prerogatives of his position, and lead in a strong effort to resuscitate the legal profession from its present moral dilapidation. Extravagant as the various popular remedies may seem, that have been suggested for the purpose of confining the sphere o£ the lawyer to the smallest compass imaginable, we could, ourselves, not be expected to resist the ideas that have been advanced, if, in the case of nothing being done by the members of the Bar, the next Volksraad decided to follow up its actions of this session, for the purpose of placing work that is now done by lawyers, in the hands of officials, paid by the State, and whose earnings would, besides covering the amount of their salary, benefit the State Exchequer." The summons to the Eaad in February to meet in Bloemfontein upon serious and urgent business gave such a shock to the nerves The Orange Free State, 179 of the country members that even to this day they feel it in all its intensity. Through very fear that before they could meet, some earthquake might swallow up the Free State, they grew thin and cadaverous in appearance ; and when they did meet over their " talkee talkee," they were but skeletons' of their former obese selves, such was their horror at the audacity of England in refus- ing their loan. Picture then, if possible, their chagrin and vexation when they found that England readily offered to advance to Cape Town over £500,000, when only £100,000 was asked for— although she had refused to furnish a single farthing towards the loan asked for by the Free State. Fearful of the results that might accrue from their loss of credit in the financial world in consequence of England's refusal, the Government made another and final appeal for help to the amount of £200,000. This and some other law-tinkering occupied the Eaad during the months of February and March ; and then with the few pounds they had received for doing nothing, the members ran away in haste to their Vrows and Kinders with the fear in their hearts that the last days of the Free State had arrived — a fear yet to be realised in sad and sober truth, as this History will prove, and in support of my opinion I append the Free State Balance Sheet : — Our Balance Sheet. The financial statement published by the Treasurer-General in the Government Gazette of the 6th inst. indicates but too clearly the severity of the monetary crisis through which the Free State, in common with the whole of South Africa, is passing. The receipts for the third quarter of the current fiscal year amounted to £38,033 lis. 6d., whilst the expenditure reached £61,798 8s. 5d., — thus showing a discrepancy on the wrong side of the ledger of £23,764 16s. lid. The revenue estimated for the year was £222,360, or £55,590 per quarter, but the actual receipts will probably not exceed £45,000 quarterly, or £180,000 per annum. The disbursements, however, will overleap the estimates by at least £20,000. This is a gloomy outlook ; especially when it is taken into consideration that, on 31st December last, the Govern- ment owed the National Bank £32,000, the Bank of Africa m2 180 The Orange Feee State. £20,000, and the Administrator of Funds £11,000 — altogether, £63,000. By the close of the fiscal year on 31st March proximo, we shall have outrun the constable to the tune of £100,000, which the contemplated Debentures, if ever floated, •will ]ust cover. We say advisedly, " if ever floated," because if the interest of the debentures is not made payable in London, or some other European capital, vfe may whistle to the winds for £100,000, or even 100,000 pence. Men of substance know as little about Bloemfontein and the Orange Free State, as they do of Jerusalem the Golden or the Mountains of the Moon. Therefore it is not to be wondered at that they are chary in subscribing for debentures, the interest on which is payable in this city. When the Debenture Ordinance, No. 17 — 1883, was passed, we pointed out the gross absurdity of making the interest payable here. Consequently it is not surprising that we are no nearer obtaining the much-needed £100,000 than we were eight months ago. We have acted like goats, and been punished for our folly. The successful issue of two Colonial Loans in a single week for an aggregate amount of nearly eight million pounds (£8,000,000), indicates that there is no lack of money seeking investment in England if only the right kind of security is offered to the public. The Cape Colony has been borrowing of late years with startling rapidity. Little more than ten years ago its debt was only a few hundred thousands, and now it will reach to nearly twenty million pounds. As the London Standard truly observes, there has been no corresponding increase in its population, or its realised wealth, in the course of that short time ; but Mr. Scanlen knew how to " work the oracle," and readily obtained nearly £5,000,000 for his bankrupt government ; while our Volksraad, understanding nothing respecting the routine to be pursued in matters pecuniary, made a dreadful mess in attempting to raise a paltry hundred thousand pounds, and thereby impaired not only the credit of the State, but every importer residing in it." The truly and almost hopelessly deplorable position of the Free State as regards its financial condition is so justly and tersely described in the foregoing article that my readers will not only The Orange Free State. 181 be enabled thereby to take a complete grasp of the gravity of the situation— bad enough in all conscience of itself without taking, into consideration the even more disastrous results quite within the bounds of possibility — brought about by the incompetence or corruption — perhaps both — of the Executive ; but they will, I feel satisfied, admit that I had abundant justification for drawing public attention thereto in the manner 1 have, and that although I have expressed myself with more force than elegance, I have " nothing extenuated nor aught set down in malice." In dismissing this subject — at any rate jpro tern. — I commend to the reader's attention the subjoined sound, common-sense letter of " T. C." in reply to Mr. Higgo's suggestion for a Day of Prayer and the article immediately following under the heading " Hard Times." Mr. Higgo and his Bay of Prayer. " ' T. C writes with reference to Mr. Higgo's communication which recently appeared in our columns : — Just a word to ex- press surprise that one said to possess ' a vast fund of shrewd common sense ' should rush into print to point out the urgency of setting apart a day for prayer to get us out of our present crisis. Instead of praying, we must set to and work, observe the inevit- able laws of nature, and act in accordance with them. By praying to God to remove our dire distress, do we not infei'entially blame our Creator instead of ourselves ? No matter how deep and strong our faith may be that we shall succeed by trusting to the efficacy of prayer, we shall soon be in the Bankruptcy Court unless we avoid bad debts. Let us hear no more of setting apart a day for prayer, but manfully facing the perils of our country, investi- gate, discover, and get rid of the effect by removing the cause." Hard Times. " In these days of complaining, and that too with some show of cause, of the scarcity of money and food, one is frequently led to think whether there might not be some method or other to allow 182 The Orange Free State. the money to circulate more in the country, and thus to be kept more in the hands of the people themselves, and, at the same tiW» to strengthen and improve the agricultural interests upon which so very much depends. " Firstly, with regard to the circulation of money, one is naturally led at once to inquire, where is this money you are going to circulate amongst the people ? There is none in the hands of the people themselves. True, and who is to blame for it ? No one but the Government, not for inconsiderate recklessness of expenditure or for thoughtlessly incurring debt, but simply and solely for too much and ill-timed precaution. " Let us look at the facts of the case. Money was growing daily scarcer, when, to improve matters and put affairs on a firmer basis, debenture bonds were put forward by the Volksraad to start reproductive public works, such as bridges, telegraphs, &c., with this result — that they fell through — and why ? There was no money to be raised in the country : Well ! England and Holland have money which they would be perfectly willing to lend at a moderate interest ; but no, ' Out of debt, out of danger 1 ' said the sages, and there they erred grossly, for no one can deny that money makes money, and the countries that have the largest National I)ebt are universally the greatest, most powerful and most wealthy, for if a country has nothing it can gain nothing. ' Nothing venture nothing win.' It were therefore far better to seek help where it could be obtained, and do the best possible to raise the status of things in the country than to sit with folded hands trusting, like Mr. Micawber, that something may turn up. Nothing can be proved worthless till tried, and we must confess that the very many instances of countries raising money for public works have been universally productive of public benefit — the rates, being proportionate to the amount raised. (Observe, we use the term Public Works, not money raised and then recklessly and uselessly squandered as in the case of Turkey ; or as in the case of Eussia, Spain, and the South American Republics — countries groaning •under heavy National Debts incurred, almost solely, through ex- • penses in the constant wars in which they are engaged, and which lor ever wrack- the mind and harass the peace of the inhabitants without benefiting either the public or private purses ; but money raised to enable works to be put in progress for utilising the latent The Orange Free State. 183 wealth of the country and encouraging the energy and skill of the people.) " To prove the above statement, let us compare the young, though highly prosperous, colony of New Zealand with the Cape Colony financially, and tabulating results, we find that New Zealand has : Area ... ... ... ... 106,000 square miles. Population 530,000. Public Debt £30,000,000. Exports (1881) £6,000,000. • Whilst Cape Colony has : Area ... ... ... ... 240,000 square miles. Population 1,250,000. Public Debt £13,000,000. Exports (1881) £4,000,000. And here we must also note that New Zealand has had the full benefit of her loans, the minor-portion only having gone in expenses for the carrying on of war ; whereas, in the case of the Colony, by far the majority has been used to defray expenses in- curred in the continual struggles carried on between her and the native races ; so that, in reality, her debt, with regard to the extension of public works, becomes even still less in comparison with that of New Zealand. " Now this is how matters stand at present. Money is scarce in the country, and two bad seasons succeeding each other swallow up any overplus that may have lain accumulated, this money not even circulating in the country itself, but being, for the most part, sent out, directly or indirectly, to other countries, in payment for goods imported thence, together with any product of these two years, and losing, in its circuit, a large percentage. Inexperienced men, too, thinking by speculation to better their affairs, borrow on the security of their estates comparatively large sums ; their speculation fails and they become bankrupt with great injury to themselves, and, most probably, to a large proportion of their neighbours. Continuing in this manner, it is easy to foresee that in the end a country must either take a step (and that no inconsiderable one) backwards in the course of civilisation, or put 184 The Orange Free State. forth all its combined energies, as speedily as possible, to seek measures for a bettering of its affairs. ' All things come to those who wait ' may be a very wise old saw, but it is much better to remember that 'God helps those who help themselves.' Money! money ! is the cry. Well, raise it by loans, raise it anywhere, but only raise it. " Now, in the second place, let us consider the best methods of using these moneys when obtained, so as to benefit the majority ; and, certainly, amongst these the construction of public works and the promotion of home productions stand highest. " How often do we hear people complaining of the difficulty of obtaining articles they require at stores and blaming the store- keeper for it, who, already holding a large stock, owing to the distance from the ports and the slowness of transport, is utterly unable to keep it well sorted up owing to his inability, except by some rare chance, to get transport for the comparatively small quantities of goods he needs from time to time. Again, what delays occur to up-country storekeepers in obtaining their goods (to mention nothing of the risk of damage incurred) through drought or sickness among the oxen ; or the inability or unwilling- ness of transjport-riders to load on account of their own crops or flocks requiring attention. A.11 these hindrances and difficulties are so many checks on trade and advancement of the interests of the country. What is the remedy for them ? There is but one. It is the extension as widely as possible of railways, so as to open direct and speedy communication between the ports and the interior, thus enabling goods to be readily and in any quantity obtained, and also dispensing with heavy stocks and consequent risk, loss, and expense to the storekeeper ; and at the same time allowing him to keep pace with progress and civilisation, and also enabling him to sell his goods at a lower price. *' There is no doubt, too, that the railway would be a great social benefit, introducing greater energy into the country, and replacing listlessness and carelessness with briskness and ambitious emula- tion ; for there is no doubt had more energy and determination, in a right groove, been exercised in times of prosperity, the present distress and scarcity might have been much less. Know- ledge too of other places and other people, and contact with the highest branches of civilisation, cannot be without its effect. Man The Orange Free State. 185- — if he be worthy the name — always seeks to be better, nobler, to do, at least as well, if not better, than other men have done. Again, steam once in use, must eventually extend in use, and become of inestimable benefit to the country, making present im- possibilities possible. And, lastly, turning to the question which at present agitates itself, the construction of railways throughout the land increases the demand, stirs up energy to supply that demand, and at the same time spreads money over the tract it traverses in construction as a foretaste of the rich results to follow, "But some may argue that railways do not benefit a country, and quote their apparent iailure in the Colony. If they do not succeed as was expected, why is it ? Simply through want of patriotism, through striving to benefit the few to the neglect of the majority. Had there been two grand trunk lines from Capetown to Port Elizabeth, say to some such centre as Colesberg, and thence to the Diamond-fields ; instead of, as at present, Capetown having its line to Beaufort West ; the Bay it's, to GraafF-Reinet and Colesberg, and East London with its to Queenstown, with the consequent increased expense, whilst the goal (in all cases the Diamond-fields), is still unreached, we should then have seen a different phase of things ; smaller and cheaper lines could have been opened up to the other towns, and commu- nication established iar more widely and with much less cost than under the existing circumstances is possible, to say nothing of its being far more remunerative. What we want is a trunk line through the State, from the Orange-river at Colesberg, through Bloemfontein, to Harrismith ; thus gaining, so to speak, egress . at both ends : for in matters of public welfare the greatest good for the greatest number should ever be the first consideration, and will ever pay the best in the long run. " But we would not advocate the spending of these moneys alone on railway extensions ; there are other things equally worthy of attention. Why should a country like the Free State import its breadstuffs, its starch, its jams, its tobacco ? Decidedly not because it cannot itself produce them — it has done and still con- tinues to do so, but in unpayable quantities. Why should we not have our own manufactories for these things, and men competent to carry on the work be encouraged to come into the country. 186 The Orange Free State. men with capital and energy and skill ? Let us no longer go to other countries to seek what we ourselves are in every way sup- plied with, let bonuses be given for home manufactures from home products, as an example of which take the amount of peaches that are yearly wasted and given away in this country, which, prepared as a jam, could find a market in any country, and be made most remunerative. " We say distinctly let bonuses be given, not monopolies granted, we decidedly do not advocate protection ; Free Trade is the thing to promote the interests of a country. What has the Transvaal gained by allowing Nellmapius to monopolise the manufacture of brandy from anything but grapes for instance, with several other things of a similar nature of a general use ? Monopolies simply benefit the person who holds them, and who can thus ask what price he likes for his goods, knowing there can be no competition. " The demand for manufacture necessitates a greater supply being ensured, and as this season has shown us in this country that nature, unaided by art, cannot always render the due reward for toil ; and, after the warning we have thus received, we cannot help but see that to insure success in agriculture, the water supply must first be ensured, and for this purpose we would advocate the expending of a joortion of the promised loans on Government irrigation works, or in lo\ns to farmers as bonuses for the erection of dams, and for the best plans for watering the soil. At present tons of water are daily being wasted, and, in fact, doing just as much harm by forming bogs, &c., as they might do good, if only ■conveyed into proper channels and used for agricultural purposes, thus nullifying, to a considerable extent, the severe effects of such a dry season as we have experienced. There are many Boers to- day who, if they had sufiicient capital, would carry this out — they see the evil and its remedy, and are willing to undertake the latter. Let them be encouraged and helped, and not only they, themselves, but the whole country will be benefited, its value will be increased ten-fold, its products more than doubled, its people far more healthy, wealthy, and contented, and we shall hear * no more complaining in our streets,' " In point of fact, in these days, when everything progresses at express rate, and the old saw as to the building of Rome occu- pying more than the space of four and twenty hours seems, as The Ojrange Free State. 187 it were, but a slur on the irrevocable memories of the past ; when men fly along upon one, two and three wheels, and hold com- munion as easily with a friend half-a-dozen miles off as if he were at their own fireside, and when the barren wilderness, almost before our very eyes, assumes the joyous garb of a fruitful field, to succeed — whether as a State or an individual — one must be ever in the van of that fierce struggle now raging amid the shouts of Progress ! Science ! and Civilisation ! When once fallen back to the rear, the difficulty becomes an hundred-fold magnified to take a foremost stand, continual striving is the only way ; the strife brooks no cessation. We are behind the times, things are now at their worst, and we must now, once for all, make a grand rush for the front, banish ' Failure ' from our lexicon, and with ' En Avant' as our motto follow where Progress leads." At no time within the memory of the oldest inhabitant had trade been so bad as in the first three months of the year 1884, which culminated in the downfall of many, notably of the Criterion and of the Swindle and Thomas — the unbelieving one — in conjunc- tion with the Sell the Hand, an old deserter from a Penge regi- ment, who turned insolvent in a most shameless way. His friends had duped a Port Elizabeth house and even boasted of the trick and lived on the proceeds of the robbery for years after. He also appropriated some diamonds entrusted to him to sell by a Ross- shire man, saying that he had lost them ; and as they were the property of an illicit gang, no procedings could be taken against him. This kind of thing was repeated time after time, and the man lives by such means to this day and the outcome of a Cameron Estate. This Jew then helped another Jew (the Moss) to raise among his spirits the Fire King, and while taking his walk in the Market Square he made a Fire Dragon, and but for the appear- ance of a few Bloemlontein watchmen would have burnt down the timekeeper. Finding fire would not succeed, he sold all his stock by underhand means and then called his creditors together but paid no dividend. In the meantime he visited his brother Jews — who were introduced to him at the time he stole the wool money 188 The Orange Free State. from poor Bee — — les — and then acting as the go-between and re- ceiver of the illicits of Kimberley, accumulated his thousands out of his dupes ; and at last, in fear, drew a draft for £500 on Cape Town, sold his furniture for £20, and hastily assuming the guise of a Rabbi, once more hid himself from all his victims and ever after lived on the proceeds of his. plundering by means of the usual cent, per cent, business. Truly has it been said that no one could understand the ramifi- cations of a brotherhood of Jews. If ever a Eace deserved the hatred of mankind, it is the descendants of the Impenitent Thieves of the Eoman Era. These two instances, added to by the rotten- ness and fraudulent tricks "of the Old Sons from a fountain of rascals, with the culpable insolvency of the Company of the Crash Wells, gave a shock to the commercial morality of Bloemfontein that it had not recovered from up to the time of my departure, and which was of so foul a nature that I feel it my duty to chronicle the same as a beacon light of the future to the path of the honest merchants of England and South Africa. ^ Chapter XV. HE wisdom of the Bloemfontein Town Council was so apparent that they ceased to be respected, and be- came the subject of many a " skit," one of which I here reprint for the amusement of my readers from the Friend of December 21st : — Meeting Bloemfontein Council, in the Year oj our Lord^ i88t. Present : — Dramatis Personce. Mayor ( Unrobed.) COUNCILLORS. COUNCILLORS. Muttonhead, The General. Beefchops. Goathead. Muddleton. Catchup Bungleman Gaspipe. Hazybrains. Resolved by Councillor Beefchops and seconded by Councillor Catchup : " That we are the people." The speaker then proceeded to point out to the august assembly that were it not for the Municipal energy displayed in this city, and the unique subtlety of their engineering plans, together with the patriotic feeling shown by the members in their arduous duties, Bloemfontein, ere this, must have died from mere debility and " dry rot," trade would have languished, the clergy would 190 The Orange Free State. have left, women would have eloped, and the Queen of the Prairie would by degrees have become the habitat of the owl, the bat, and apostate members of the Africander Bond. (The speaker was im~ mensely cheered during the safe delivery of this marvellous oratori- cal display.) This resolution was carried nevi. con. Resolution proposed by Councillor Goathead and seconded by Councillor Hazybrains : " That the building of culverts proceed on the plans laid down by the Council, and hitherto carried out, with such improvement as the Council may suggest — always keep- ing revenue as the lode star in view." The speaker then thumbed his waistcoat under his arms and essayed to enlighten the members on the culverts. It had been said that culverts ought to be arched and built by good tradesmen instead of the genus " Mahowa." He could prove that he had superintended the building of more culverts than any member present ; and he was further prepared to prove that were it not for said culverts, the financial difficulties of the Council would be- fore this have reached that state that even Gladstone, or a Rivers Wilson, would have failed in any endeavour to elucidate them. There were members present he knew that from personal dislike to himself advocated arched culverts, as they were stronger and more scientific. He (the speaker) didn't believe in science ; he left science to the doctors, and they pursued it so well that our under- takers' " eyes were standing out with fatness." The reason he advocated the present style of culverts was this — firstly, a " Mahov/a " could build them cheaper than a mason ; secondly, they were attractive to Jcurweyers ; thirdly, the carrier paid for them. He had a good deal of experience in culverts, and he could safely say that as soon as a culvert was finished the " hour would bring the man." Some carrier would arrive with five tons on his wagon, he would naturally make for a culvert, and certain as his wagon covered it, the fabric would give way. Assuredly that man was fined sufliciently to enable the Council to carry on public trust. Councillors, he said, argued as St. Paul did against Alex- ander, and no doubt wished as Paul did ; but he was resolved to go on with his work, as his motto was the Corporation " expects every man to do his duty." (Sensation.) The Orange Free State. 191 The General assumed the perpendicular and assured the mem- bers he entirely agreed with the resolution of Councillor Goathead, providing that a culvert was built near his corner and gravel laid on the approaches to his emporium. He did not care for the argument used out of doors, that the Councillors only looked out for themselves. How was the stranger to know, when he visited the city, who was a " Roman of the Eomans," unless he had a culvert and *' et ceteras " near his premises ? " Fair play " was a characteristic of Britons. He might point out that Muttonhead, Beefchops, and Muddleton had culverts near their winkels. Why should he be left out in the cold ? Were they more patriotic than himself ? Did they burn the midnight oil more than himself in solving Municipal problems ? Then why, in the name of Justice, should he not have a culvert ? The resolution was carried by a majority of four. Proposed by Councillor Bungleman and seconded by Councillor Gaspipe : " That the Council do appoint another Sanitary Inspector with the title of ' Sub- Sanitary Inspector.' " He (Bungleman) was proud to assure the Council that during twenty years' residence in the city it had never been privileged to him to witness such monuments of dead cats and such a varied assortment of dead dogs, romantically varied with dead pigs, as now adorned the purlieus of this Volksraad city. The present Inspector had been scolded for collecting the departed in heaps and placing them in pyramids opposite the houses of favoured individuals. It was said the hygienic aiTangements were disturbed and people suffered. He was not prepared to dispute with the members as to the public health, but this much he could assure them, that in the vicinity of the said pyramids peaches were found to measure nine inches in circumference and pumpkins nine feet. It Avas obvious that the market was improved and thereby the revenue. He quite held with Councillor Goathead that revenue was the cardinal point to keep in sight. A family or two disap- pearing might inflict pain on a few, but a fat revenue brought comfort to the many. He hoped the Council would appoint a man to assist the present rabbit-faced Inspector, as he seemed to suffer in health owing to his exertions in preserving the health of others. 192 The Orange Feee State. The General again rose and plainly told the members that he did not wish to be indicted for manslaughter. Councillor Catchup said pyramids were no doubt essential to gardeners, but he opined "chloride of lime" ought to be used on these displays of architecture. Councillor Hazybrain was of opinion that pyramids in a town prevented small-pox and cholera, and he would vote for an Assis- tant Inspector. Councillor Beefchops was determined to take a more exalted view of the situation. If a family was carried off by the collection of cats before the front door, it was clear to his mind that it was undoubtedly a moral wrong. If cats improved peaches and pump- kins, then he was willing they should be ridden to his farm ad- joining the town lands. (Cries of " Don't you wish you may get it ? ") The Mayor suggested that the resolution be delayed sine die. He stated that he had received information that people were send- ing their dogs and cats to the country ; and if so, an Assistant would be unnecessary. Agreed to. Proposed by Councillor Muddleton, seconded by Councillor Muttonhead : " That in the opinion of the Council it is highly necessary to light the city after sundown, more especially the main thoroughfares." The speaker stumbled through a speech which ran as follows : — He would not suggest an expensive system such as brush light, electric, gas, or any of the modern lights. He held the Council was bound to " creep before they could walk." A few blue-bush poles and a requisite number of lanterns would answer all require- ments. He was not a very fluent speaker, but he hoped the Council understood him. He then sat down to the immense satisfaction of the Councillor^. Councillor Gaspipe called attention to the fact that Muddleton had a large lot of lanterns, which he had been obliged to take for a bad debt, and that was why he advocated that system. He himself didn't believe in lighting the town. If people were nervous to travel in the dark, let them get home early and stay there. If men would stay out and drink brandy and soda, let them stay The Orange Free State. 193 "tliere and take the consequences. Lighting the city would be eimply destroying the morals of the people. He believed the Council ought to sustain morality and not destroy it. He was a soft- shell Kanter himself, and, perhaps, took a different view to others. The General thought the Council required some lighting them- selves before illuminating the city. Councillor Bungleman could not see the extreme hurry of the •measure. We had a good moon just now which cost nothing, why entail expense ? Councillor Beefchops proposed, seconded by Goathead : " That the question of lighting be put off until the next meeting." Carried by a majority of three. Councillor Muttonhead called attention to the present state of the trees in Mud Lane. They had now been planted twelve months and were a very sickly sample of beauty. The Mayor had told him confidentially that the said trees were of the order " Cyclobranchiata," and would thrive better if the tops were planted and the roots aired. Here the Mayor jumped up and indignantly denied saying any- thing of the kind about the trees — Muttonhead should be ashamed of himself. The Council came to the conclusion that if trees would not grow with their roots soiled, they stood less chance if they reversed the order of things. Muttonhead seized the opportunity to state that the next time the Mayor favoured him with scientific talk, he would take care to liave witnesses. Mayor, derisively, "order !'' "order !" The Mayor then read the following resolution : " That in the opinion of the Council it was incumbent on that body to appoint a committee for the purpose of passing such measures as would tend to the public health." Seconded by Gaspipe. 194 The Orange Free State. The Mayor then proceeded to inform the Town Council that he had not been installed in oiEce long, but during that time he had tried to be impartial in his office. He wished that was the chief trait in the character of the Council. He had been told by a friend of undoubted veracity that old "Ironsides," who lives at the extreme corner of the city verging towards Waaihoek, had assured him that if a Town Councillor, or a road party, a city engineer, or any of the plant belonging to the Council, were seen at that corner they would be looked on by the inhabitants as a curioiSity ; and yet they were not overlooked when rates had to be collected. The only servant of the Council they knew was Zaccheus the tax- gatherer. Things should not be so. It would be invidious to point to any single Councillor as being more guilty than his brethren, but it was notorious there more people than " Ironsides " ready to empty their cups of woe when an opportunity afforded. Shakespeare puts advice to a young man in the following way : " To thine own self be true." He (the Mayor) did not think Town Councillors ought to be guided by that line ; but as regarded the health of the town, he was prepared to lay before the Council many of the causes that produced mortality amongst the citizens. He had observed that whenever the North-East or Nor'- West wind blew, the air was generally loaded with an impure gaseous substance called ozone, which brought in its train diphtheria, neuralgia, and rheum. To avoid the effects of these winds, the first thoughts of the Council should be directed towards mitigating the evils. They should, firstly, build an Ovipositor with a longitudinal inclination towards a Libethenite formation or Luteolin, and also collect lycodontes during every Novennial year, bearing in the direction of the Nubigenous with a corruscation of infinitesimal radiations, involving a complete phalanx of notoriousness. " Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno" and further consolidate the ramifications evolved from a distinct tracery of " tempus edax rerum,'' which causes, I may say, " Voxfaucibus haesit." At this stage the General found he was sesthetic in tastes and travelled to Bridger's hotel. The rest of the Council settled one by one into a deep, deep siesta, and the Mayor went in for tail- The Orange Free State. ■■' 195 lashing on his darling subject. How long lie would have stayed, and how long the Council would have slept, it is impossible to say ; but a boy rushed in and called out " Fire !" " Fire !" The Council was equal to the occasion, and walked in great dignity to the burning store. And here they enjoy themselves by looking on in an abject state of sheer helplessness. It was amazing to some Councillors to note their ex-Mayor frantically rushing about and spoiling a good tweed suit, worth £7 lOs., in order to save half-a-dozen Kafir pots, worth 15s. Wolsey's advice to Cromwell might have been quoted to the ex-Mayor : — " Cromwell, I charge thee fling away ambition," For by that sin the angels fell." , Blikoor. Gur Sanitary Surroundings. Bloemfontein, 12th Dec, 1881. To the Editor of the Friend : Sir, — The impurity of the town spruit has been the hue and cry of the inhabitants of this city for many years past. The town spruit has been represented as the infested nest from whence nearly all the diseases the town folk suffer, emanate from. Only a few weeks ago we noticed in the local column of one of our newspapers that a certain medical gentleman here had, under his treatment, over fifty cases of diphtheria within two months ; these facts speak for themselves, and certainly demand the prompt interference of the Honourable Town Council of this city _^to see to our sanitary surroundings. The spruit, with all its stagnant waters and other objectionable impurities, poisning the centre of our town, is bad enough, but is the Honourable Town Council aware that nothing less than a hide and skin curing establishment is added to the unpleasant and un- healthy odours of the spruit, and that, in the very heart of our town ? I, for one, begin to apprehend all^manner of calamities, n2 196 The Orange Feee State. sucli as " putrid typhus," or some other dire epidemic, to follow the toleration of such sinks of impurity. I believe it is the duty of our worthy Sanitary Inspector to report to the Honourable Town Council the existence of such nuisances as the above-named, which, if allowed, cannot fail to vitiate the general health of the town. The Sanitary Inspector being in default in this instance, allow me through the medium of your valuable columns to call the attention of our worthy Corpor- ation to the existence of such a public nuisance. I am, &c., An Inhabitant. Such was the want of common sense — especially on the part of Ex — Ton — Mare that the town was in a constant state of insol- vency and had to borrow at a high rate of interest from the bankers. Faying the Piper. " The building of a Town Hall in excess of our requirements is beginning to bear bitter fruit. The Corporation has already borrowed £2,000 ; and now a public meeting of householders is called for Wednesday next. May 9, at 8 o'clock, for the purpose of appealing to the householders ' for power to borrow a sum not exceeding =£3,000, to meet engagements for the current year.' The placing of £3,701 10s. on the estimates to be ' derived from prospective sale of erven,' was ' To swallow gudgeons ere they're catched, And count their chickens ere they're liatch'd.' And the piper must be paid somehow. Hence the Town Council is in a quandary. ' So comes a reck'ning when the banquet's o'er, The dreadful reck'ning, and men smile no more.' The Orange Free State. 197 We were always averse to the expenditure of so large a sum as £15,000 on a Town Hall, and looked upon it as the hobby of a few ambitious bat irresponsible citizens who had become ' too big for their boots.' Such has been the prodigality of our ' guardians ' that the town is now £5,500 in debt — a debt that will probably be augmented by £2,000 before the current year has expired. All our available resources are exhausted, and Bloemfontein will be like a lame dog limping over a style for the next ten years. Re- trenchment, therefore is imperative ; and we trust the householders in public meeting assembled will discountenance the reckless game of burning the candle at both ends, which has been going on of late so consumedly. The virtues of economy must be impressed upon the minds of the Town Councillors, and the folly of ' out- running the constable ' dilated upon. In these hard times frugality must be practised : it is the only safe card we can play. We are in debt, and it behoves the town to get out of the quagmire, and not sink deeper into it." Now all this could have been prevented if the State and Council had but understood how to build and construct public Municipal waterworks, &c., by means of public National Paper-money. They could not plead ignorance, because I specially drew their attention to the subject when I read my paper on " How to Construct Free State Railways and other Public Works without the burden of Loans, Bonds, Mortgages or Interest " — since printed and to be had from all booksellers with my other works. Time after tim» suggestions were made for the storing up of water for the use of the citizens, and notably the scheme here appended. Gwr Water /Supply. " We have always advocated a good water supply for this town. When we considered that the town was likely to ' outrun the constable ' in building the new Town-hall, we said we should not so much mind the extravagant expenditure if the Municipality spent a pound upon securing a good water supply for every twenty shillings it expended upon the new building. But, we are sorry 198 The Orange Feee State. to say, our advice was not heeded. We have now an expensive structure — very useful no doubt, but not a neccessity — but very little money has been expended on securing a supply of water. Now, the Corporation are in the position of the man who gave his children a stone when they asked for bread. They have secured, by boring at the Park Springs and at Kafirfontein, an ample supply of water, but the expense of bringing it into town baffles them. An Engineer has been consulted. An elaborate plan has been drawn up. We have been made to long for the rich store of the precious element which we can have simply by paying for it, but, alas our spending power is exhausted ! Although we should be glad to witness the supply of water running through our streets as promised by the scheme of Mr. Schurmann — and should not object even to the Modder-river being brought into town — we really do not see how our finances are to stand it. ' Utopia is a pleasant place, But how shall I get there ? ' It strikes us that a much more modest scheme, would have sufficed the inhabitants of this town for many years to come. Our Town Council has evidently lost its head in financial matters. Erven have in late times been sold at such ridiculously high prices ; the morning market dues have brought up such a pretty figure ; the rateable property, as we have previously pointed out, has by a sleight-of-hand trick been increase nearly double ; so our town- fathers think that there is money in galore. Wij zwemtnen in het geld ! But they should remember that the times, instead of im- proving, are decidedly getting worse. That it is no use in going too fast. ' Go slow,' should be their motto. These are the times of retrenchment, rather than of increased expenditure. It seems to us a rather reckless spending of money to give any local man £200 for any scheme for supplying water. No body of men who cared for the pockets of their constituents, unless they had the funds of the City of London at their command, should have voted such a large sum of money merely for a scheme, before they had ascertained that there were means sufficient to carry out the plan ■J^hen brought to maturity. If the Corporation had been in funds, The Orange Free State. 199 then the competitive principle should have been brought into vogue. A reward of £100 in these hard times would have brought plenty of schemes to the fore. Mr. Schurmann in his Report According to measurements taken by me at different times during the last four months the undermentioned springs are able to give the following mean number of gallons per day : — Ist, Park Springs every 24 hours about 50,000 gallons ; 2nd, Kaffirfontein every 24 hours 150,000 gallons; 3rd, Bloemfontein every 24 hours about 100,000 gallons. Together about 300,000 gallons per day, which quantity is quite sufficient for ten thousand inhabitants. So that it appears there is no want of water in and around our town for our population, which is probably under 2,000. After stating that the amount of rainfall in the town of Bloemfontein during a certain number of years has averaged about twenty inches per annum, Mr. Schurmann proceeds to say : If the same quantity of rain water falls on the area of the above-mentioned kloof [between Tempe-road and the Spitskop], which may be reckoned on, and from this rain water 8 inches only are caught, this will give a quantity of not less than 76,554,240 gallons of water per year, and if all is stored up, an average of 209,710 gallons per day. At present a reservoir to store up 20,000,000 gallons of water will be sufficient for the town supply, if the Town Council is willing to adopt a combined water scheme, according to the plans and specifications. In accordance with the above-mentioned scheme, all parts of the town, which are lower than 50 feet above a certain 0,oo point shown on plans, will be supplied with spring water from the Park, by means of the 50,000 gallon tank ; all parts of the town which are on a higher level than 50 feet above the 0,oo point, will be supplied with water from the High Level Reservoir. 200 The Orange Free State. The fire hydrants as shown on the plan, can be used under high pressure only; the above-mentioned reservoir will give th& pressure required, and will save the cost of a fire-engine. The tap-posts as shown on plan are made for the public in general, as well as for those who can afford the expense- of having the water from the main pipes laid into their houses. The following is the plan proposed by Mr. Schurmann for paying for the outlay necessary for this large undertaking : — According to the valuation roll, the value of property in Bloem- foiltein is about £500,000, and if the Town Council adopts the scheme with the High Level Reservoir, which will cost about £35,000, the water rates must be l^d. in the £. £35,000 at 6 per cent, interest will give £2,100 interest per year. l^d. in the £ on £500,000 will give about £2,600 per year. From this can be repaid in the first year £500, and in the following years more, so that in a certain number of years the Waterworks will be the absolute and free property of the Municipality. The scheme matured by Mr. Schurmann in accordance with an order of the Mayor and Town Council is no doubt as good as could be devised under the circumstances, but we maintain that there is no necessity for such a grand undertaking, and if there were, there are no funds at the disposal of the Corporation to pay for the carrying out of the same. What we want is a small practical scheme to cost at the outside about £5,000. We believe the rate- payers never dreamed that the Council ever intended to clap three- pence in the £ in perpetuity on their erven. We say, threepence in the £ ; for the estimate of l|d. would never pay the interest. A penny rate on the present fictitious value of property brings up, according to the published Estimates, £1,720 ; therefore, a penny farthing rate would produce £2,150. There would be expenses Che Okange Fkee State. 201 attending the reservoir and pipes, as well as the salary of another water bailiff to be provided for, which might be set down at £500 or £fiOO a year. If this were added to the interest of £2,100 per annum (which our readers will observe is reckoned at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum only, whilst the cheapest money the Town Council can get is at 6f per cent.), it would bring the yearly charge up to £2,700. Before the ratepayers agree to such a scheme a re-valuation of property is sure to take place, and that would probably bring down the receipts 25 per cent. We note that Mr. Schurmann in his report says that 1 Jd. in the £, is equal to £6 per erf, which would be a very high rate for landlords to pay on small tenements. And how about the hundreds of vacant erven ? Would their proprietors be called upon to pay their quota ? Although their value is included in the rateable property, it surely would not be fair to tax the proprietors if no water was consumed. In addition to the above, other schemes were proposed, but to please the Ex — Ton — Mare, a sum of about a thousand pounds was speilt in digging a trench to drain a hollow, born of bog and always dissipated by drought. I am bold enough to state that it is not for want of water that prosperity does not follow the white man in South Africa. It is want of wisdom in not knowing how to gather up Nature's solid stone and other material and storing up the waters that run to the rivers and seas. Of course, the one thing needed in South Africa or elsewhere is money, or exchange mediums, to enable the people to carry out all undertak- ings necessary for their comfort and welfare ; and this necessity, with its attendant train of discomforts, will always exist so long as we place our sole reliance upon bankers or gold money. The ancients knew nothing about our modern system of money, and yet, by their labour, they constructed aqueducts and other public works as can be seen to this day, as I have fully explained in my National Paioer-Money and Its Use. If, in the past, the ancients could construct such works without money, surely we, the scientific moderns, can do so ; and, with our improved system of legal tender paper notes, even much better. By adopting this course we should free ourselves and our child- ren from being debt-slaves to the gold money-holders. It must and will be done when the light dawus upon our State and Town 202 The Orange Free State. Councillors, and then there will be a chance for all to have pure water in their houses and in the streets. It is quite saddening to think of the want, waste and deaths that result from the want of a supply of pure water. With a large dam at the top and bottom of the town, millions of gallons of the precious fluid could have been blocked back by simply pulling down and removing the big hills at the back of the town by gravitation. The one could have been placed in the way of the water, and finally banked up by stone work, that it would at all times — by means of gravitation — have supplied the whole of the town for drinking and all other purposes, and thus the whole district might have been converted into a beautiful garden. But no ; though the hills were crying out, " Come and take us : " and the water asking to be stopped and used for the benefit of man and cattle whilst rushing away in sufiicient volumes to supply the whole country, and for want of gold money the unemployed were standing still and living upon charity. With a sufficient supply of water, and manure from the waste materials of the town, the lands of Bloemfonfcein could have grown all the food that was needed, and thousands of pounds would have been saved, — that were lost through cattle dying in the winter for want of food in consequence of the insufficient water sapply. These facts being known, one can only feel contempt for men who sit on Town Councils — not only in Bloemfontein but all the world over. In the days to come these are the works that will remove all want and trade depression and give everlasting work to all our workers, and thus : — In our distress bid Legal tenders chase All fear of want from Labour's hardy race, Bid Aqueducts be form'd to bring the rills Of purest water from from the neighbouring Hills ; Bid Lakes expand where youth may safely float ; Bid deepen'd Streams the Health of Towns promote. Bid Harbours open, public Works and ways extend. Bid Temples worthier of Art and Science ascend ; Bid the broad Arch the dangerous Flood contain, The Mole projected, break the roaring main. Back to her bounds the subject Sea command. And roll obedient Kivers through the Land. Lastly, let Government such Wages give The Orange Free State. 203 On Public Works, that all may toil and live : Then, all who toil will find life pass alon'4, Happier sustained by Labour than by wrong ; Then, will our Virtuous Poor be better fed, Nor workhouse test, — nor destitution — dread ; And all around them rising in the scale Of Comfort, show that humanity's Laws prevail. Chapter XVI. HE month of May was an important month in the- history of the Free State. For twenty long years John Brand had served the Free State as the State figure-head ; but certainly not as the head of the State. For many reasons he had been chosen : but I am prepared to vouch for the truth of the assertion that, in no sense, had these reasons been verified. I have already made frequent allusion to this man, and shall have to continue to do so ; but, in the first place, let me say there is no desire or intention, on my part, to draw attention to him in his private capacity. I consider him to be, like thousands more, a good husband, a good father, and a good man ; but goodness in private life is not all that is needed in a public official. On the eve of his fifth election occurred one of the most convin- cing proofs imaginable that — after twenty years of official life — he was a complete failure in his public capacity, an opinion that is thoroughly borne out by the following article from the Friend^ of May 8th :— The Vclksraad. " Pursuant to notice, and in accordance with the Constitution, the honourable Volksraad assembled at ten o'clock on Monday last. There were about forty members present. It being the annual session, a Chairman for the year was elected. The choice fell on Mr. J. George Fraser, the member for Bloemfontein. " Mr. Tobias De Villiers, who has acted in this capacity since the death of Mr. Gert Visser in 1879, said his health did not The Orange Free State. 205 permit him to accept the high and honourable situation. Many members, notwithstanding the expressed wish of Mr. De Villiers, voted for him as Chairman, twenty-three voting for Mr. Fraser, and nineteen for Mr, De Villiers, We cannot but commend the Eaad upon its choice, for Mr. Fraser's legal knowledge, tact, and husiness capabilities, pre-eminently qualify him for the responsible position. He is also thoroughly conversant with the new rules of order, and it is thought that public business will be much ex- pedited by his election. Mr. De Villiers has done his work in his day and generation, but his friends have lately observed that the new rules of order were very trying to the old Chairman, whose health has been failing recently. " Messrs. Louw and Kruger were appointed as a Commission to escort His Honour the President to the Council Chamber, and the Eaad adjourned. "At 2.15, the President arrived, the Band striking up the Volkslied. " The Eev. C. S. Morgan offered up a fervent prayer to the Most High that He would pour down on the assembly the continual dew of His blessing. " His Honour, who was in good voice, then delivered the opening address, a copy of which, and a translation of the same, our readers will find in other columns. " The Eaad has made some progress with the public business brought forward in the Speech by His Honour. We are sorry to observe, however, that the low state of the Treasury Chest is having its effect on the legislature, for it has not only refused to entertain the question of building a new Presidency, which can be done without for a time, but it refused to consider the subject of building a new Post Office, of which there is much need. " The Eeport of the Treasurer-General on the past financial year and the Draft Estimates of revenue and expenditure for the year 1884-5 were laid on the table. The latter was referred to the Commission on the Estimates. The Treasurer-General esti- mates the revenue from all sources at £229,598 10s. lOJd., and the expenditure at £269,827 15s. 2d., showing a debit balance of £39,729 4s. 3^d. This statement will no doubt frighten some of our landsvaders, who have been used to an annual surplus of 206 The Oeange Feee State. nearly the like amount. It must not be forgotten, however, that £84,157 lis. is brought up as an item of expenditure. This large amount appears to have been obtained during the past financial year, as follows : — Promissory Note, National Bank, £7,000 ; Loan from said Bank to Treasurer-General, £40,000 ; overdrawn account in the said Bank, £26,057 lis. ; and borrowed from the Government Loan Funds, £11,100. Of this amount, £40,001 Is. 5d., which sum has been paid for reproductive works, will be repaid from the Debentures when floated. The Treasurer- General having brought ■^l^is amount of £40,001 Is. 5d. up as revenue, it therefore follows, that the debit of balance of £39,729' odd is a serious deficiencyvfor us. "The great depression of trade has a very injurious influence on the revenue ; and the tightness of the money market and the low price of all kinds of farm produce at present ruling do not allow the usual sales of land to take place. It therefore appears that the Raad will have to ' cut its coat according to its cloth,' and retrench as much as possible. We trust, however, that all reproductive works will be allowed to be carried on as promised." The Bad Times. " Never since March, 1854, when the British garrison marched out of the Fort, has Bloemfontein presented such a wobegone appearance as it now does. Never since the epoch of the Aban- donment, has the capital exhibited such a list of empty tenements. Never since the country was thrown overboard by its sovereign, have ' sovereigns ' been so scarce. Never since the establishment of the Free State, have * establishments ' been so pitilessly reduced. Never since President Brand secured for us peace and plenty by the subjugation of the ' nation of thieves ' and the circulation of a forced paper currency, have trade and enterprise been at so low an ebb and " accommodation ' at such a high consideration. Never did the cheery motto of our blithe-hearted Chief Magistrate (* Alles zal regt komen ') sound so vapid and meaningless as it does in these 'hard times' when an almost imperceptible rise of the The Orange Free State. 207 commercial barometer would be hailed with inexpressible delight by the entire community." " The speech of His Honour the State President and that of the Governor of the Cape Colony offer much scope for the discussion of questions that may justly be called burning questions. Both are characterised by wh3,t we may be allowed to call, in opposition to the progressive legislation of former years, a tendency to con- solidate existing measures and provide for a period of difficulties and short comings. To exult in the position now occupied by this State and the Cape Colony would be sheer madness, yet it may be sound sense to acknowledge that nations as well as individuals derive incalculable benefit from being subject to laws as natural as they are necessary. "One of those laws is, that unnatural growth is followed by disease or decay, that upon every period of inflation follows one of depression. But the lesson would be a vain one, if the latter state was not really acknowledged and truly made use of to return to life's real and best objects, which are so often overlooked in the race for what is called in this world success. Thus, both the Free State and the Cape Colony will be occupied with legislation that concerns the regulation of their finances upon a more sound basis, and touch the prosperity of the country by an attention to questions, that are too easily disregarded and overlooked as lonw as each country — out of a sense of independence and selfishness is mindful only of what it deems its own profit. " The contemplation of what is of mutual interest to both coun- tries forces two or three questions to the foreground, which we in- tend to discuss on this occasion. Looking at the securing of peace as a main condition of prosperity, the question of Basutoland deserves to rank foremost in our consideration. Colonel Clarke's visit to Bloemfontein and his journey thence to confer with the Governor of Capetown, regarding the immediate measures calcu- lated to ensure peace and good government shows the mutual interest both countries take in the future of Basutoland. We have been told that his intention is to raise a force of something like a thousand volunteers — here and in the Cape Colony — destined to 208 The Orange Feee JState. protect our boundary and to enable him to govern Basutoland, if need be, by an application of force. We are again told that the Colonel has bluntly refused to lend a shadow of his authority to Jonathan, and that in consequence thereof the chief, loyal to the cause of his countrymen's enemies, is on the verge of ruin. " The two statements, coming as they do from trustworthy sources, do not harmonize, and we feel at a loss to offer advice to our Government, except to postpone action until the policy of the Administrator has passed the limit of intentions, and has made itself apparent in measures. The danger of a sudden change of policy, to which we are now as subject as we always have been, is too apparent to allow of our leaving the strict confines of caution and prudence. The more so as the imminent change of Ministry in the Cape Colony threatens to influence the position of the Colony towards Basutoland. Though we may at once add that we should hail the change, promising as it does the constituting of a Ministry, which will lay greater stress upon our needs and what is due to us than the present Ministry has exhibited. " A new Ministry in the Cape Colony means, if not a Dutch South African Ministry, certainly one in which that party — our party — will have a decided influence. It means consequently a reversed policy in the native question, and that is necessary. It means the retention of the Transkei, and a check upon ' the new departure,' by which colonists are placed in opposition to natives, and unmethodical philanthropy takes the place of a practical policy. It means the avoidance of complications in Stellaland, an eventuality in which we, as well as the whole of South Africa, are more deeply concerned than appears on the surface. It means that this country will have reason to expect justice from a sister State that has preyed upon us and abused our natural weakness. " Thus we come to the second point, in which both countries are alike deeply interested. His Honour the State President and the Governor alike touch upon the question of a rebate on customs, the former in an appeal to the sense of justice of the colonial people, the latter in an acknowledgment that the colonial trade will be benefited by such a concession. It matters little whether feelings of honour or self-interest dictate the actions of the Cape Colony in this matter, as long as justice is done to us. This we The ORA.NGE Free State. 2()9 fondly hope, for the sake of the Colony as well as our own. For the refusal to listen to the dictates of common justice will be fruit- ful of disappointment and distress, and we think it will not bo out of place to quote here an extract from the JSatal Witness bearing upon Railways, a question that is entirely dependent upon that of Rebate of Customs : — The railway question, however, as is well known, touches the financial question, and the financial question touches also the Customs question. These are also points that have to be kept in view in respect of any plan for the future. In discussing this on former occasions, we have spoken of it as the interest of Natal to assist in railway construction from her own border as far as Bethlehem, and as the interest of the Cape Colony to assist in railway construction from Colesberg to Bloemfontein. This is, no doubt, a convenient mode of stating the problem so long as we are arguing on the basis of the rival interests of the Cape Colony and Natal. There can, however, be little doubt that, viewing the question from the basis of the general interests of South Africa, a different and more comprehen- sive view will have to taken. It will be necessary to follow the system adopted in Algeria by dividing'raiiways into two classes, viz., " lines of general interest," and " lines of local interest," the former cared for by the South African communities in common, and the latter by the local Government by which they were constructed. The classi- fication would not be diflicult to arrive at. " Lines of general interest " would be clearly those which connected the diflferent communities together, and brought their centres of population into communication with each other. " Lines of local interest " would be lines other than these. Hence the lines from Capetown to Kalk Bay, from Cape- town to Malmesbury, from Capetown to Stellenbosch, from Port Elizabeth to Graaff-Reinet, from Port Elizabeth to Grahamstown, from Durban to Verulam, from Durban to Isipingo, and from Lady smith to Newcastle would un- doubtedly all be " lines of local interest." Probably the same classification would apply to the line from East 2l0 The Orange Peee State. London to Aliwal North ; possibl}' to the line from Cape- town through Beaufort West. It would be at least impos- sible for South Africa at large to recognise as '• lines of general interest " lines which have been notoriously con- structed as competing lines to serve party purposes. The individuals who have profited by the construction of such lines should pay for them themselves, if they can. They cannot expect South Africa to pay for them. So, too, the line from Pretoria to Delagoa Bay could only be regarded as a "line of general interest" as far as the Portugese boundary. Within that boundary it is Portugal's concern. On the other hand, it is very plain that the lines con- structed within the Free State would be all of them " lines of general interest," inasmuch as they would all be lines of intercommunication between the different South African communities. The importance of recognising this principle will be at once admitted, while the effect which it cannot but exercise on the future of the whole South African question will be very great. In all probability it be will found both desirable and necessary for united South Africa to under- take the responsibility for all money spent in the construc- tion of " lines of general interest," and there can be no doubt that the Customs receipts at the various ports will rightly constitute the fund out of which liabilities of this kind are to be met. The three questions of Native Management, Customs Dues, and Railways, seemingly unconnected and independent of each other, are thus brought under one focus. If an attempt is made to deal with them on a broad and liberal basis, the times that are and have been will soon be forgotten, in an era of true prosperity and progress. Alas, if to our present troubles should be added the result consequent upon a disregard of what concerns South Africa's best interests ! The above forms so serious an indictment that people may well wonder at the glowing eulogies that had been heaped u])on the TiiK Okange Free State. 211 President. The fact is, that but for the connection with England, the Free State would have become an uninhabited wilderness. The diamond fields were the one cause of an appearance of prosperity in the past ; and, as I shall afterwards prove, not one single effort was made on the part of the officials to improve the condition of the people. But for the golden shower of English sovereigns, the Dutch, aa of old, would have been but mealy eaters, with now and then a piece of biltong as a relish, and the wearers of leather breeches. All this may be repudiated by the brainless lads born since the the abandonment, but it will certainly be endorsed by those who recollect the period of the English occupancy, and who long once more for the power, protection and wealth of the English nation ; and now that money is so scarce the people are having their eyes opened to the truth. It may well appear that it was owing to some special merit that President Brand was elected for the fifth time ; but it was nothing of the kind, as all who know the cir- cumstances are fully aware. The Dutch are proverbially slow, and history proves that it is only on such occasions as when they feel the pinch of hunger, or property or life is endangered, that they can be moved 1o energetic action. During the whole of the President's career the Dutch had made money out of the English and that to them was sufficient. During this period, the German and Hollander have rushed into the Free State, and having occupied the ofhcial positions they are determined to keep the man in power that helped them into such good quarters at the expense of the Dutchman. The inhabitants of the Free State are getting so poverty-stricken that they will not stand another term of five years for Brand or any other President with a horde of German and Hollander human asvo^als, who look upon the Dutch people as so many carcases with which to gorge themselves for the remainder of their lives and their children after them. The Dutch have been and are good natured ; but they cannot stand the beaks of these wretches at their very vitals without turning like the worm when trodden upon, and in their turning I feel that they will smite hip and thigh the settled and roving vagabonds all over the country eating them up so continuously. The month of May was tho official May Day. Having a holi- o2 212 The Okange Fkee IState. day, I determined to see tlie sights provided for the Dutch people by the official Hollander class. Children are at all times pleased with firearms, and if not a living then a ?'ocZ;m^-horse. Now you cannot move the youth of the Dutch inhabitants so readily as to mount him on a horse and give him a gun with an inexhaustible supply of powder to blaze away. Now this was the great enjoy- ment of the day. The show^ so far as the bunting was concerned was a sight not fit for niggers much less the gods. It was not of sufljcient quality even to please the children, and must have dis- gusted the men. Simple-minded women will laugh and giggle at a little, and for an opportunity to show up and be admired will risk any amount of disappointment. But the miserable, ludicrous figure that the aspiring officials cut was something so saddening that one wondered how they could expose themselves before the conquered natives in such a burlesque. It was a daylight, walking pantomime of the grotesque order. To parade the streets, to conduct the President to the Dutch Church to swear an allegiance for another five years of good things in the shape of £3,000 a year and an honorarium of £2,500 to clear himself of debt after the many thousands he had had during the past years of his Presidency. It was quite annoying to me to see how happy he looked as he passed along thinking how nicely he had made the Free State a " Tom Tiddlei*'s ground " ior picking up English gold and silver at the expense of the Dutch. One wag facetiously intimated that he would swear and fulfil the office for a third of the sum. What a vile thought of a Radical in a Republican State — but really this aping of older countries is truly disgusting. A big show may be possible in a European country, but the attempt to parody the swindling ceremonies of Europe is something out- lageous. At a given time the burghers on their nags in some of the most wretched clothing and " show ups " that it has ever been my lot to witness were proud to salute their chief. The word of command was given by a half-blooded Sheriff RufF, for the time being made Commandant because he had a splendid mount. Then the march commenced to the Dutch Church. We passed, on the way, the Town Hall, near which were placed some damaged salmon tins charged with fat for the evening illuminations. The Orange Feee State. 218 The poverty of tlie town was sucli that the Town Council voted the magnificent sum. of £10 to celebrate the occasion. Think of it ye gods ; £10 for a National day of rejoicing. glorious sim- plicity of a Republic. Arrived at the Church, in the midst of guns firing, the officials at last entered the church of man — it had long ceased to be the Church of God — and then commenced a combination of blasphemy and eulogy that was simply a compound of insolence and audacity. Thanks to the conceit and narrow-mindedness of the Dutch, the minister was no longer allowed to speak in English in this struc- ture — so that I, not having learned the patois of these simple Dutch farmers and their kitchen Dutch, was not able to follow all the orders of the Masters of the Ceremonies ; reserving to myself the pleasure of its translation in the Friend afterwards. Having sat through the mimic torture of a spurious Republican swearing- in, I retired in the midst of guns firing to my tiffin, hoping to en- joy that better than all this childish mimicry. The Sivearing-in of HIS HONOUR J. H. BRAND as President. On Friday last, the 9th May, the town presented quite a gala appearance — flags waved in the wind from every flagstafl^, pennants and banners hung out from many a building, and the streets were thronged with people in holiday attire. Soon after sunrise horsemen galloped about the city — some with rifles with which they ever and anon fired off a feu dejoie, and others bearing the Free State colours unfurled. About nine o'clock the armed and mounted burghers, who had arrived in town on the previous day, began to muster under their different field-cornets. These came from the four wards and the town, and were distinguished by different coloured puggarees. The town burghers, numbering about 60, under Mr. Nicolas RaafF, wore orange ; the Boven- modder-river wore green ; the Middle-modder-river, red ; Ihe 214 The Orange Free State. Kafir-river, blue ; and the Kaal-sprnit, orange. Mr. Field-com- mandant Prinsloo, who was in command, wore an orange scarf. At ten o'clock the President in his carriage, accompanied by Messrs. Roux and Siebert, two of the oldest members of the Raad, especially selected to accompany His Honour, arrived on the Market-square under an escort of about 500 armed and mounted burghers, en route to the Council Chamber, where it was arranged the Volks- raad would receive him, and the procession should be formed. As soon as His Honour arrived, the school-children sang the " Volks- lied." Six masters of ceremonies, appointed by the Raad, and twelve assistant masters of ceremonies, after some little time, formed the procession as follows : The Town Burghers under command of Mr. N. Raaff. The Artillery Band. Two M.C.'s (Dr. Krause and Mr. Salzmann). The Chairman and secretary of the Volksraad and the Minister of the D, R. Church, Bloemfontein. The Members of the Volksraad. Judge Reitz and State- Attorney Vels. Armed and HIS HONOUR Armed and Mounted THE PRESIDENT Mounted Burghers. and Messrs. Souz and Siebert. Burghers. Members of the Executive Council. Consuls of Holland, Germany, and Portugal. The Moderator of the Synod. Ministers of the various congregations and Members of the Synod. Heads of Departments and the Rector of Grey College. The Mayor and Town Council, Officials and school teachers of Grey College. School children. The Orange Free State. 215 Burghers on foot. Armed and Mounted Burghers. The head of the procession, which had come down Maitland-street, arrived on the Market-Square exactly at ten o'clock. It turned to the right, passed in front of the Club, went down the south side of the Square, traversing the east side by the Free State Hotel, and then by the Irimd oflSce to Upper Church-street, It was about 400 yards long, and reached from the Club corner to the Police-station. The public walked four deep and mounted burghers six deep. Whilst the procession was moving along minute guns were fired. The President alighted at the Dutch Church at about half-past ten o'clock. About 500 persons were assembled at the building, the inside of which was crowded, space only being left for the Members of the Volksraad, the Executive, and other privileged persons. The Chairman of the Volksraad received His Honour at the Church and led him to his appointed place, followed by the two delegates from the Raad, the organ playing a voluntary in the meantime ; after which the swearing-in ceremony was commenced by the Minister of Bloemfontein offering up prayer. An eloquent address was then delivered by the Chairman of the Raad, who requested the Volksraad's Secretary to read the oath. It having been demanded of the Psesident whether he was prepared to take the oath, His Honour replied in the afErmative, took the oath, and signed the same. The " Volkslied" was played on the organ, and a salute of 21 guns notified the enactment of this part of the proceedings. After an address from the Eev. C. S. Morgan, to which His Honour the President replied, the solemnities were closed with prayer, and the Raad adjourned to the Council Chamber. The Chairman and Secretary of the Raad and the Landdrost of Bloemfontein escorted His Honour to his carriage, and he was accompanied to Government House by the two delegates from the Raad, under escort of the whole of the mounted burghers. The Chairman and Members of the Volksraad returned in the same order in which they came to the Council Chamber. There was no real recession, as the President proceeded to the Presidency by one route, and the Members of the Raad took another to their destination ; while the other bodies returned home without any formation M'hatever. A great number of 216 The Orange Free State. people who fully expected that there would be a recession similar to the procession, and who had been waiting for an hour-and-a- half — the time the ceremony occupied — were, in consequence, disappointed in missing a view of the expected pageantry. Soon after His Honour had returned home, the Chairman and Members of the Eaad repaired to the Presidency and presented the President with an address from that honourable body and the gift of money voted last annual session. At half-past one the W.M.s. of the two Masonic Lodges in this town presented an address from the members of the Craft, to which His Honour replied in cordial terms. Then Mr. Attorney Mathey, the Agent for the Chief Sepinare, handed in an address from that Chief con- gratulating His Honour upon his election for the fifth time as President, and expressing the wish that the cordial and friendly relations which had always existed between the Barolongs and the Free State would long continue. His Honour, who appeared much gratified with this thoughtful token of respect of the Chief Sepinare, said he trusted that the friendly relations which had hitherto existed between the two people would last, for the Baro- longs had always been allies of the State, and in the early days had much befriended the original settlers in this country. This deputation was no sooner bowed out than the Mayor and Corpor- ation waited upon His Honour and presented an address to the President, to which he gave a gracious reply. The Chairman and Committee of the Bloemfontein Club then presented an address to their Honorary Chairman, and were cordially received. The Moderator and Ministers of the Dutch Eeformed Church also presented an address on behalf of the Synod, now in convocation. The amusements and illuminations of the evening were posi- tively marvellous. I may truly say that the English at their clubs and houses were as fawning as the Germans and Hollanders. The Jew — as ever, parsimonious in the land where he gathered up his wealth, even the bankrupt unbelieving Thomas and the German Old — Sons of the fountain of dishonour — again went into debt at somebody's expense to lighten their residence, but no longer their house. May they never know what it is to own another place is The Orange Feee State. 217 all the harm I wish them after all my special kindness. The town, like the unfortunate land, is full of sycophants who, believ- ing that John Brand can help them in getting hold of English money, fawn and flatter without stint. The Germans and Jews are low and grovelling when poor, and insolent and snobbish when well supplied with English money. The Dutchman may love his Africa with all his heart and would perhaps fight for his land, but the Germans and Jews, directly they find there is nothing to be gained from the Free State, will leave all to their wretched fate. Chapter XVII. ROM the time when the Colonial Government gave to the Free State the sum of £100,000, as compen- sation for the supposed loss of the diamond fields at Kimberley, the banking power there has been to all intents a monopoly. That money was made the means of taxing, under another form, the in- habitants, and the income derived from usury was devoted to the payment of the Free State officials. In the early days of the Orange Free State, the then Govern- ment issued on the public credit, and the security of what were at that time known as the public lands, a sufficient number of paper notes called " Bluebacks " ; but as time rolled on, these lands were stolen, or passed away to private holders ; thus, the security, upon which the notes were issued, vanished, and as a matter of course the market value of the notes diminished. This was just the result any sane person would expect. Destroy all or part of the securities, whether moveable or unmoveable property, upon which the English or any other Government made an ad- vance and the whole value would at once depreciate to the exact amount of loss by such destruction. Although this was well known, the Government gold Bank, the one private bank of Africa, and other interested parties opposed the issue of paper- money ; but I am bold enough to assert that in futuie the English Capitalists will not lend to the Dutch Free State ; and they, like many others, will have to consider the ex- pediency of making their own money for home use, and the pro- ducts of the country — whether many or few — will have to be the purchasing modiuni lor foreign goods. The Orange Free State. 219 Gold money has been the cause of the downfall of all ancient Empires, and as it was in the past so will it be in the future. Thus it becomes the duty of all statesmen to consider well the present money and exchange conditions if they desire to prevent the destruction of the governing classes. The legal humbugs in Bloemfontein were so unreliable that it was impossible to secure an honest opinion from o?ie. This is not to we wondered at when we consider how they constituted them- selves black ornaments to their profession. The original history of the whole is so peculiar that posterity must not lose the advan- tage of watching how, under a Dutch Republic, such things could be possible. First and foremost, the President — a Cape Town lawyer, a failure in Cape Town — a place-man from the beginning in Bloem- fontein. The Attorney-General, so rank an impostor and swindler that no one desired his services ; and, with £700 a year, always in debt, and being a lawyer no one " went for him " for fear of losing in any just cause of complaint they might have against him. The keenest and most successful lawyer was a most immoral and outrageous man ; always in debt, and, as a retired German mis- sionary and KafSr killer and an ex-policeman, was very little respected. Another was so black a sheep, that even his black brethren did not care to know him ; who, although at one time I paid him £100 for services not worth twenty pounds, never finished the work for which he received the sum above-mentioned, and at last sent me a most piteous letter begging the loan of two pounds, which was never repaid. Perhaps Mr. What-is-the- matter and the Future will accept this as a gift to buy a Bier for him when he ceases from troubling. The magistrates of the Free State were totally unqualified for their office, as the constant appeals against their decisions in the High Court (so called) bear witness. The Hat — Ton of Bloemfontein was a most miserable man both in and out of office. With all the impudence of a Dutch Boer he offered an Englishman, who needed work and help, 1().~. a month, to work in his garden; mark it well, — less pay than that given to a black man. This man for two months refused to issue a warrant for the apprehension of a man who outrageously robbed me of over £1000. It was suggested that a fellow-feeling would not allow 220 The Orange Fkee State. him to be liard upon this vagabond. At last, under the influence of public pressure, he consented to see into it ; but when I respect- fully accosted him about the matter, he assured me that he was not sure if he had the power to do as I wished, but would look up the " authorities " on the subject. Fancy, the Chief Magistrate not knowing his duties ; no wonder it was said that he was an ofBcious fool, making up in bluster, for lack ot knowledge : — This state of things becoming intolerable, I demanded justice from the State Attorney, who wrote for the warrant to be issued immediately, with results that will be seen later on. In December at the introduction of a broker, I sold to a man who called himself a merchant, £142 worth of flour on a month's Promissory Note. This man was dishonourable enough to attempt to assign his estate, the very day after this transaction, and never paid the balance remaining. Finding I could get no satisfaction, I at last secured compulsory power of sequestration, and then the Law wreckers carried on their work of destruction. Think of the conditions that could allow such damnable conduct on the part of a trader ! " Victim " on Commercial Trickery. " The worth of a State in the long run is the worth of the com- mercial individuals composing it." Pietermaritzburg, Oct. 2oth, 1883. To the Editor of the Frimd : Sir, — Having noticed some very trenchant remarks in your local column of the 18th inst, relative to the unsatisfactory manner in which business is transacted in the Free State, I shall esteen it a great favour if you will allow me a space for these few lines apropos of the subject. It hcxs been a matter of great surprise to many for some years that in the face of such apparent rascality and business trickery that has, and is still taking place within the South African Colonies, that merchants are not more careful in the entrusting of their wares to the credit of petty shop-keepers throughout the country. The Orange Free State. 221 It is a generally admitted fact that the existing laws between the creditor and debtor will bear a deal of modifying, for the former's better security, but at the same time it is passing strange that a trader upon finding his business proving an unpayable one, is privileged with the consoling expedient that he has only to stow away to some distant part a third of his stock, and declare him- self insolvent when he may shortly reappear upon the scene affluently circumstanced with his name visibly untarnished. Others with a fiendish longing to obtain gold at any cost, speculate in a fire 'insurance policy, and cruelly charge the domesticated animal of their household with having set the matches in a blaze, thereby causing them to become " burnt out of house and home." Lor' how pitiful a story to work upon the feelings of a compassionate community ! ! How easily the Fire Insurance Agent's warm sympathies are touched too, so much so that he actually will not waste time duly investigating the fire's cause, but out of pity for the homeless shopkeeper, " shells out " like a lamb without further delay. It is indeed a cold country for an honest man where the great majority of men would sooner be calculating the money in your pocket than the virtue in your breast, but truly this is the general characteristic of a very large proportion of our shop- keepers. We hear so much of illicit diamond buyers and their severe sentences, but is the crime of the I.D.B. an iota worse than the shop-keepers ? Then why are our merchants not alive to the necessity of forming some means of detecting or preventing this accursed and doubly illicit system of roguery ? And I may further ask why are the Fire Insurance Agents not more alert to the cunning speculators upon their policies ? Hoping these home-thrusts will not fail to reach the many for whom they are intended, and that men of recognised probity and thorough straightforwardness will endeavour to impede the further increase of this gentlemanly clothed system of swindling by bringing the matter out more forcibly and thoroughly ventilating it through the medium of the Press, — I remain, &c., A Victim. 222 The Orange Free State. It has often been said that lawyers have no conscience, and that very few of them can possibly enter heaven. If making a hell lor other men is worthy of reward, then indeed these men deserve a future hell, as we have proof of from the time ot Judge Jeffries. Some may say we complain too much. Good heavens ! whatever we may say of the legal profession, can hardly be too strong when we have been victimised in Parliament, out of i?arliament, and in every turn of life by these legal swindlers. There may be a few honest men among lawyers, but in these days no honest man would care to belong to the legal profession. Even the simple-hearted Boer-farmer has felt his swindling prac- tices so long that in very self-defence he has had to pass the most stringent measures to protect himself from being ruined in the Free State by the army of foreign-German lawyers. CnArTEK XVIII. '' \W-^^JS[ May it became necessary for me to settle with my so-called landlord, but who in reality was nothing better then a " house thief." The reader will as he follows the narrative be able to form some idea of what this German missionary, Freemason, inhuman legal and illegal shark and exploiter — who assured me that Equity was not understood in the Free State — was like. During my tenancy of three years and a half he had received from me over £800 in rent, and more than £1,000 from the previous tenant, these two sums defraying the cost of the property for which he now demanded £2,500. During my occupancy I had erected on the premises at considerable expense an iron building which upon my leaving he refused to allow me to remove, claiming the same as his own property under what he called the Roman-Dutch law, and which even he admitted was in no sense of the word — Equity. What a land to live in altkough with a man at its head who had not only secured his legal right to absorb other people's chattels in Cape Town, but, it is said, sat his terms in one of the English Inns of Court, during the twenty years he was president of this Free State Alsatia no laws were passed upon which any man could look with pride, nor could the head of the State say with Solon " I left them a guide to regulate them." To resume : — I at last had to agree either to pay him ( my landlord) the sum of £25 for permission to remove what by all moral right was my own property or to allow the same amount out of the original purchase-money from my successor ; and as he required the structure, and to save myself from further 224 The Okange Free State. plunder, I allowed him that amount of money. To embitter me the more and ultimately cause me to leave the Free State with feelings of hatred against all such barefaced robberies, this man was a member of the Legislature, and a constant attendant at Church, where equity was preached but not practised. Truly the world needs the removal of these inhuman skunks — a Deluge or earthquake to swallow up the whole of them with all their wick- edness and injustice. Notwithstanding these facts, this swivel-eyed thief declared in the presence of others that he did not wish to deprive me of a single sixpence that I had worked so hard for, and then tried to gloss over his plunder and robbery of myself by flattering me, somewhat as follows : — " no man had ever stepped into the Free State who had worked harder, or did more to enlighten the public upon all matters pertaining to the improvement of their condi- tion, &c., &c." Still, all this did not prevent him robbing me in as shameless a way as ever an Irish landlord robbed his tenants who improved their properties at their own expense and could get no compensation. The insolence and impudence of the demand I was compelled to submit to was almost unbear- able, and if ever I felt hatred towards a squint-eyed man, it was at the moment when I recollected a former robbery on his part, wherein he gave me a further display of legal treachery by the monstrous charge of £55 for what was simply three days work on the part of his clerk ! To slay such men would almost be a public blessing. No law worthy of the name, no justice, no equity. — Advocates pretended to sympathise with me in my heavy losses. Death is the only justice for such wretches ! This swindler admitted that I had always paid him honourably and yet he was low enough to rob me at the last moment. Per- sonally, I might have passed even this over, but my case was by no means the only one. This defender of Kaffir cold-blooded murderers, illicit Jew diamond stealers, a supporter of the tyrant Sepinare, because he, like the missionaries in the territory, I'eceived grants of land plundered from the general domain of the tribe, a mean despicable detainer of the ill-gotten wealth of these mur- derers, and who, upon being compelled to disgorge the same, imposed upon his brother Masons by borrowing from them with all the effrontery of a practised beggar. Truly the Free State — The Okange Free State. 225 from the President downward — was but a home for all the mur- derers, thieves and vagabonds of South Africa. With fear at my heart that I should be skinned of my very all, I held my peace for the time, knowing that with such a monster of iniquity, and in their Courts of in- Justice I had no chance. Surely such vile acts must ultimately compel men to rise and with sudden power crush and stamp out such man-devils. Perhaps it may be asked why I submitted to such extortions ? In reply I would ask, after all the experiences I have related, would anyone think itpossible to contend against such odds single- handed ? The intormation vouchsafed to me and others was that although it was not lecjal to rob me in such a way, still — even if I gained a formal judgment in Court — he would find out some Eoman-Dutch arrangement whereby to fleece me and turn me out of the Free State shorn of the results of all my many years of self-denial and hard work. I could enumerate other cases, but they only sicken me. The examples I have given are more than enough. In order to prove that the record of these gross and seemingly incredible villainies is thoroughly well-founded I append, for the satisfaction and instruction of my readers, the following extracts from the Friend and the Express of the Free State : — The Free State branch of the Africander Bond is reported to have passed a resolution : " Whereas lawyers are not among the necessaries of life, this meeting of Bondsmen hereby pledges itself to use every constitutional means to extirpate them, and calls upon all affiliated members of the Bond to do likewise. Our reason for this course is, that, in the Orange Free State, lawyers of every grade in the profession unite marked professional incapacity with a great power of bloodsucking, and this is being borne in upon the community in a manner no longer to be tolerated." There is little doubt that there has been for some considerable time a feeling growing in the country so adverse, and we may almost say hostile, to the legal profession that if to-day a plebiscite 226 The Orange Free IState. were taken, the great majority would undoubtedly vote in favour of the abolition of a profession which, under ordinary circum- stances, men are too apt to look upon as a necessary evil, but which, under our present circumstances, is most certainly regarded as something much worse. Whosoever doubts our statement has not read the papers, and has not taken cognizance of what goes on in the country. If he should not attach much weight to these utterances he may go to the sittings of the Volksraad, and listen attentively to whab is said there, and, looking upon that Hon'ble body as as representative a one, as exists, he will without hesitation endorse the view expressed above. In itself, and without approaching the question as we do for the purpose not merely of discussing the same, but with a view to advising measures calcu- lated to effect an improvement, the prevailing sentiment is of sufficient interest to a writer of contemporary history, to note the same and to investigate its origin and the causes of its development. If in doing so we should appear harsh, we may be permitted to state at once that we write less with a view to criticise than to improve. Dictated by such a sentiment, laudable as it must be even in the eyes of the legal profession itself, the statement will be accepted as correct, though very disagreeably correct, that the legal profession, as a whole, occupies so low a standard in this country that upon the raising thereof the very first move towards amelioration depends. It would be unjust and ungrateful if we omitted here to mention that our Bench of Judges is of ■ as high a standing as that of any country, that we possess members of the Bar and Side-Bar who would be an ornament to the profession anywhere, and that the Judges, by their endeavours to raise the standard of . efficiency, have already attained a marked improvement. That, finally, the additions to the profession in late years leave no doubt of a complete ultimate change. Thus, all that remains, and indeed it is the burning point of the question, is that the period of transition may not be too prolonged a one, and that it should be marked by the utmost severity towards those members, who, through want of proper qualification, are already enjoying so much forbearance, that they should not bo permitted to encroach further thereon through want of professional usages, irregularity, and, finally, dishonesty. We are aware that we are treading on delicate ground, and that we are dealing with a Che Okange Free State, 227 militant profession. However, the truth must be told, and that openly. As things have gone, it has not been an unusual occur- rence that men who have held powers of attorney have abused their power, to the detriment of their mandators. It has occurred that men entrusted with the settlement of estates have used money collected in those estates, for their own private ends, and could only be made to disgorge after an appeal to th.e court. It has, finally, frequently occurred, that men collected accounts, retained 1 he moneys, and that their clients are either still awaiting settle- ment, or obtained such only after employing a second agent to collect the money from the collector. That this was wrong, who ject through the -d-- « sorne powerful mental microscope. Throughout the entire work — for we will take the public into our confidence, and say at once, that we have enjoyed the pleasure of a peep into the second volume, which is in an advanced stage of the arrangements necessary to enable it to follow Vol. I. into the " Hearts and Homes," doubtless waiting to welcome its arrival, where we opine it will prove to be of " metal more attractive" even than its predecessor — the readers interest is never allowed to flag. The diversified contents of the book, and their mode of treatment by the Author render Immortal South Africa a mental pahdum upon which the appetite never palls. All English-speaking folk who value the principles and attributes of right and justice, truth and purity, will greet Mr. Boon's book with a hearty welcome; whilst to the agriculturist, the settler in South Africa, or the intending emigrant, it is of supreme importance that "one and all" should be possessed of it, as they undoubtedly will be, if they have any genuine regard for their own interests. Although Mr. Boon makes no pretensions to literary style or polish, he is a writer possess- ing singular power and originality of ideas, fascinating by reason of their very freshness, accompanied by a rich vein of humour and keen sense of the ridiculous, whereby he at times completely deprives us of all control over our risible faculties. On the other hand we are now and again moved to the tenderest of human emotions by his simple, pure and un- afi'ected pathos. Neither can we pass over without notice his trenchant criticisms of evil-doers in high places, his scathing sarcasms when dealing with organised or individual hypo- crisies, or his truly terrible power of invective when deliver- ing an onslaught upon social, political or ecclesiastical malefactors. With his perfect freedom from all conventu- alism, Mr. Boon is a literary gem of the first water, a veritable rough diamond ; and it requires no great stretch of imagina- tion to picture his pen as the magician's wand, whose vigorous strokes shall bring about the moral redemption of South Africa, and hand down to posterity the name of Martin James Boon, as the Nineteenth Century literary Bayard. Sans peur et sans reprochey MONEY AND ITS TJSE. In these days, when " hard times" is the universal, and un - happily but too well founded cry, certainly, any proposition, that appears feasible, for the amelioration of matters must be somewhat more than welcome. Whatever the cause, it is a, 9 fact, which cannot be gainaaid, for all of us are only too painfully aware of it, that our country in common with others, is in a state of commercial prostration, the like ot which has rarely, if ever, been experienced ; and thousands upon thousands of our "horny-handed sons of toil" are in a state of semi- starvation through want of employment/ Of such gigantic proportions is the evil, that private effort, however well intended, is utterly helpless even to mitigate it to any appreci- able extent, and our willfully blind or mentally paralysed Government seems to be either unwilling or hopelessly incap- able of grasping the difBcnlty, and dealing with it in an effectual and statesmanlike manner. Innumerable plans and suggestions — all of a more or less impracticable character — have been promulgated by the Press, and mouthed from the platform or in the Senate, but nothing — absolutely nothing has as yet been done. The latest scheme for improving our condition and exorcising from our midst, or stalling off that rapidly approaching dread gaunt goblin Famine aye, famine ; surrounded by plenty, wealth, luxury and sumptuousness, appears to be the construction of subways in different parts of the Metropolis, thereby providing employment for a con- siderable number of our idle hands. Employment! Yes; just the thing English working men want, and " don't they wish they may get it? " Whilst our Municipal or Local Government pettifoggers are discussing the matter, and turn- ing about in all directions to find the ways and means — the indispensable, the sine qua non, absolutely and indisputably of our very existence on this sublunary planet, it is simply but a repetition of the " old, old story " that while the grass grows, the steed starves. What then is to be done ? Why simply this: — Let every statesman, every politician, every political economist, every philanthropist, the clergy and ministers of all denominations, in fact, every man who wishes himself and bis country well, procure at once the little brochure, entitled " Money and Its Use," by Martin James Boon, author of "The Immortal History of" South Africa," " History of tha Orange Free State," &c., &c., &c. Hiving purchased it, let them read and ponder carefully its contents. Having done so, we are persuaded that all then remaining to be done, will be for every one in his respective sphere and capacity to do all that lies within him to carry, or cause to be carried immediately into practice the great and indisput- able truths, and plans sketched out by the author. Let what was done in Jersey be repeated to the extent necessary in England, and then we shall have achieved our emancipation 10 for the greatest and grossest thraldom that ever disgraced, outraged, and held in bondage the world of manhood — that of the gold exploiters and monopolists. Then shall we have effected, noiselessly and peacefiiHj% the greatest social revolu- tion of this or any other age, and we make bold to prophesy that the name of Martin James Boon will be hailed with universal assent and acclamation as the talisman whereby this wondrous transformation was brought about. The rise, PROGRESS, AND PHASES of HUMAN SLAVERY : How it Came into the "World, and How it SHALL BE Made to Go Out. By James Bronterre O'Brien, B.xi. London : "William Reeves, 185, Fleet Street, E.G. ; G. Standing, 8 & 9, Finsbury Street ; Martin James Boon, 170, Farringdon Road, W.C. This little Work, by an eloquent denunciator of the manifold evils of Profitmongering and Landlordism, whose entire life was devoted to the advocacy of Social Rights, is now given to the world for the first time in complete form. The Author, in his lifetime, was frustrated in his design of finishing his History, through the ceaseless machinations of working-class exploiters and landlords. This has been at length accomplished by the aid of his various writings pre- served inprint. The object steadily kept in view h;is been to give the ipsissima verba of the Author, so that no foreign pen may garble or mislead. In order to provide room for so much additional matter as was essential to the elucidation of the great reforms needed in the subjects of Land Nationalisation, Credit, Currency, and Exchange, it has been found expedient to omit from this edition some disquisitions on subjects of ephemeral and passing interest, not clostily connected with the scope of the Work. Ample compensation lias, however, been given in the additions which have had to bo made for the elucidation and enforcement of the saving truths therein contained. A man who lived for truth, and truth alore, Brave as the bravest — generous as brave ; A man whose heart was rent by every moan That burst from every trodden, tortured slave; A man prepared to fij^ht, jn-epared to die. To lighten, banish, human slavery. The mighty scorned hitu, villified, oppressed ; The bitter cup of poverty and pain Forced him to drink, lie was misfortune's guest 11 Thro' weary, weary years ; his angaished bi-ain Shed tears of pity — wrath — for mankind's woe ; For his own sorrows tears could never flow. He loved the people with a brother's love : He hated tyrants with a tyrant's hate. He turned from kings below, to God above — The King of kings who smites the wicked great. The shame, the scourge, the terror of their race, Those demons in earth's holy dwelling place. Thou noble sonl ! Around thee gathered those Who, poor and trampled patriots were like thee. Thou art not dead ! Thy martyred spirit glows In us, a band devoted of the free : We best can celebrate thy natal day, By virtues, valours, such as marked thy way. WILLIAM JIACCALL. We have been privileged with a sight of the proof-sheets of O'Brien's " Rise, Progress, and Phases of Human Slavery,' and are sure that the thousands of Socialists throughout the world will hail with delight its appearance, for_ the first time in a complete form. It seems to us as the rising from the dead, after a long sleep, of the mighty great who electrified his audiences with his eloquence. With what convincing arguments does the writer show the horrors of slavery, tracing its progress from brutal chattel-slavery down to its more refined and diabolic form of wage-slavery. He does not, however, leave us here ; but in fixing the evil, he also, at the same time, gives the full and sufficient remedy. It is like the voice of the Deity, speaking from the dead to living. Let the people heed iha voice, and their redemption draweth nish. HISTORY OF THE OR. INGE FREE STATE. Under the above title, another aspirant for public favour will shortly make its appearance in the book market. The work will be complete in one handsomely bound volume, and is from the able pen of Martin James Boon, author of " The Im- mortal History of South Africa," a work we had occasion to notice with unqualified eulogy, some short time back — " Money and Its Use," and other works on social and political economy. " Immortal South Africa," with all its encyclo- pcedic comprehensiveness, from the immense variety of subjects it dealt with, could hardly do more than touch the fringe, as it were, of that many-coloured geographical entity, the Orange Free State. Those who have been fortunate enough, or had the good sense, to read Mr. Boon's more general work, cannot but have felt eager, when perusing the valuable and 12 interesting generalities, anent the Free State, therein con- tained, for more detailed information from the same authori- tative source ; and in the work under notice they will find it in abundance, variety and beauty. Mr. Tjoon has handled hi< subject, as only one in possession of absolutely personal knowledge and great natural gifts, could. In thie book we positively feel as though we were onlookers or participators in the stirring events described. Public affnirs generally — State, Local and Municipal — are treated with a copiousness that leaves nothing to be desired, and with a boldness of assertion, welcome and refreshing in these degenerate days of pandering to " authority," and cloaking its manifold transgressions and iniquities. Semitic and Teutonic rascality, appears to be rampant in the Free State, and the victims thereof seem, for the most part, to be Englishmen. So mean, con- temptible, and dastardly ; so utterly abhorrent to all the in- stincts of right and justice ; in short, so fiendish, one might say, are the practices of these degenerate Cousins-German, and nefarious descendants of Abraham, that the Orange Ke- public must indeed be a sort of terrestial pandemonium. If Mr. Boon is correct— and he certainly fortifies his assertions, both by direct and collateral evidence — the malpractices re- ferred to aie openly encouraged, or secretly connived at, by the Free State officials of all grades Whilst the experiences narrated, are engrossingly interesting, throwing a flood of light upon that mysterious, but ever existent inner circle of social and political life in the Free State ; the warnings given should not only be read, but engraven upon the memory of every Englishman contemplating a residence in that unfor- tunate and really little-known Republic. Whether as a supple- mentary, or companion work to " The Immortal History of South Africa," or from its own inherent merits and attrac- tions, " The Orange Free State " should find a welcome and a home in every public and private library. " HOW TO NATIONALIZE OUR COMMONS, WASTE LANDS AND RAILWAYS." Sucu is the title of a little work of very unpretending appearance, but whose contents are of paramount interest and importance to all classes, and especially to that unfortunate stalking-horse of political parties— the working man. Whilst the author, who has evidently studied the question carefully and earnestly, expresses his views with all the energy of an enthusiast who has unlimited confid(;nce in the soundness of his conclusions ; he is remarkably felicitous in his mode of 13 illustration, which is characterised by such force andVper- spicuity, that not even the humblest capacity can fail to grasp his meaning. The author contends that the appropriation, with the public money, of our Commons and "Waste lands is the only way to work out the great Land Question ; and he urges that it this were done, and the whole brought into a proper state of cultivation, there would be no necessity for our agricultural labourers to emigrate, and that our own lands would yield sufficient sustenance for a population of " one hundred and twenty millions." The historical and legal bearings of the Commons Question are ably and copiously dealt with ; and the statistics upon which the author bases his deductions, are collated from the most authoritative sources, including the report of the Enclosure Commissioners, from which he estimates the annual loss of revenue to the United Kingdom, through the present condition of our com- mons and waste lands, at the enormous sum of forty millions. Formidable as this amount appears, the author has something Btill more astounding in store. He says that if these lands were to be allotted to farm labourers for cultivation, they would in a few years yield, in the form of rent, an annual in- come to the State of " from sixty to eighty millions ! " Such are a few only of the numerous items of interest contained in this truly valuable pamphlet, which not only points out existing evils, but — what is of infinitely greater importance — it shows the way out of them, in " short, sharp and decisive'* fashion; and greater, better, and more wonderous still — " without a farthing's loss or cost to any one." Of the " Hallway Question," the exigencies of space only permit us to say — without intending a joke — that it is dealt with exactly on the same lines. In conclusion, we cannot give better advice concerning this marvellous little work, than that contained in the words, " Go and buy it." The price places this little treasure within the reach of all, and it is written by that staunch, true friend of the working man, Mabxin James Boon, author of the " Immortal History of South Africa," "History of the Orange Free State," "Money and Its Use," &c., &c., &c. "JOTTING'S BY THE WAY, OR BOON'S MADNESS ON THE ROAD."— By Maktin James Boon. London : Geobge Standring, 8 & 9, Finsbury Street. " This is a very remarkable book by a very remarkable man. Hr. Boon is an ethusiast of the most indomitable type. He ia 14 irrepressible ia his hopefulness. He presents us, in this volume, with a philosophical view of life — past, present and to come — in the Orange Free State, Natal, and Cape Colony. He has lived long and travelled much, and seen a great deal in these parts ; and he believes that his thoughts, speculations, fancies, and facts will be of service to Englishmen — hence this work. Mr. Boon is a most pronounced Republican, and an ardent advocate of the- nationalization of the land. He is a reformer, and is never happy, but as he is either destroying what he believes to be evil, or is uplifting and supporting what he believes to be good and true. His volume is interest- ing, instructive, and suggestive, and ought to be read by all reformers and those who take any interest in foreign policy. Mr. William Maccall, well known to advanced thinkers in this religion, introduces this book of colonial genius. We must not say, for the author is English born — but his ideas seem to have been strengthened, if not developed, by his colonial life and experience. In 1869 Mr. Maccall, at the Hall of Science, London, delivered four lectures on Pauperism. Among his hearers were the author of this book. The lecturer and his boon companions recognised a kinship of spirit, and this kin- ship has been strengthened by time. He is a merchant at Bloemfontein, Orange Free State. His "favourite ideas" do not let business muzzle his soul. Maworm, in the play of the Hypocrite, boasted that " he extorted [exhorted] all who came to the shop," and Martin Boon, who is a true man and no hypocrite, finds that his ideas being freely communi- cated and fearlessly maintained, do not hinder his progress in business. As Mr. Maccall's name is a sufficient voucher for the book we have only to add that it abounds with racy writing, which will amuse the cursory reader, and with thoughts that will interest the graver student of this mad world." — Western Times. George Standring, 8 & 9, Finshury Street, London, publishes "Jottings by the Way," and "How to Construct Free State Hallways," by Martin James Boon. Tliey are two thoughtful, earnest, and vigorous works. They are fresh, striking, drastic; brimful of all sorts of information and sug- gestions, and ought to be read by all reformers. — The Propa- gandist (Vail tfe Co,, 170, Farringdon-road), is a twopenny monthly of the most advanced type, edited by Martin James Boon. It is a fearless, outspoken, daring periodical, advoca- ting views of the most uncompromising kind. Martin Boon is far ahead of his age and country. — Oldham Chyonicle. , 15 "A SCHEME OF IMPERIAL COLONIZATION: How TO COLONINIZE SoUTH AFRICA, AND BY WhOM." By Maetin J. Boon. Many readers must recall with pleasure and esteem the name of Martin James Boon, who, twelve years ago, played a con- spicuous part as a social and political reformer, and who was the first popular champion of what has recently attracted so much attention — land nationalisation. The more disinterested and devoted we are in the service of truth, the more we have to suffer; and brave, benevolent Boon was not an exception. His worldly affairs having fallen into confusion, he went, early iu 1874, as a settler to South Africa. If in England he had been a hero, in Caffraria he was destined to be a martyr. Eor a considerable time he has resided as a merchant at Bloemfontein, Orange Free State. His tribulations have not diminished his enthusiasm, and he continues to write and speak with the valiant zeal whieh he displayed in England. His pamphlet, " How to Colonise South Africa," contains many ingenious suggestions. At the risk of being called a Jicg", I think that England should have a great foreign policy and a great colonial policy, and that England should be for the modern world what Home was for the ancient world. I was amused the other daj', when reading a lecture by Mr. Conway, to find Benjamin Disraeli treated as an earnest man, with something of the old Hebrew prophetic fire. It seemed to me the height of comi- cality that the most detestable impostor of modern days should be regarded as a serious and honest personage. It is enough to make me hate Benjamin Disraeli that, by his contemptible trickeries, he brought a vigorous foreign and colonial policy into disrepute. To that policy we must return if England is to maintain or to extend its place among the nations. When- ever that policy is revived South Africa is sure to be sought as an admirable field for colonizing experiments. Boon's main idea includes the rapid extension of a peasant proprietary in connection with an immense issue of redeemable paper money. As all money is simply representative, I see no reason for deeming Boon's plan unworkable. But I cannot discuss the plan here, and must content myself with trying to excite the interest of the reader in Boon's pamphlet. My own currency has always been extremely limited ; and I might be too much influenced by prejudices if I were to enter on the debate of currency questions. That these questions have been pro- foundly studied and are tlioroughly understood by Boon, I am convinced ; and his sincerity and generositj are beyond the reach of doubt. William Maccall. 16 HOW TO CONSTRUCT FREE TRADE RAILWAYS, &c. *' The manifold advantages of a thorough system of railway communication are so well known and appreciated in those countries fortunate enough to possess this universally recog- nised desideratum, that any recapitulation thereof is totally unnecessary. The chief ground for surprise in connection wilh the matter is, that any Nation or State, claiming to be considered civilised, should be without, or inadequately pro- vided with railways ; and as we cannot for a moment imagine any people to be so blind to the interests of themselves and their country as not to be possessed of an earnest desire to have them, we are forced to the conclusion that the want of means, rather than the want of wit, is the real stumbling block in the way. We are led to these observations by the perusal of a pamphlet bearing the title at the head of this notice, written by that well known militant Apostle of Pro- gress, Martin James Boon, author of the Immortal History of South Africa, National Paper Money and Its Use, History of the Orange Free State, &c., &c. The author having for a con- siderable time been an observant resident in the Free State is pre-eminently entitled to speak upon the question, which he treats from the point of view that the railways should be constructed by and become the property of the State, the cost thereof being provided for by the issue of State paper-money in the form of Notes, marked to denote the purpose for which they were issued, and made legal tender for all purposes within the confines of the Free State. The security upon which the notes were issued would be the railway plant and works themselves. Upon the completion of the line five per cent, of the receipts after paying all expenses to be called in, and notes representing that amount cancelled annually, until the whole would be passed out of circulation and the property left as a source of income, either to carry out other works or to relieve the burdens of the taxpayers, and all effected, entirely free of cost. Such is a brief outline of the author's general idea, and it is worked out in detail with admirable reasoning, illustrated by convincing examples. Every member of that somewhat cosmopolitan community. The Orange Free State, should invest sixpence, and study the question for himself." UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped Mow. yMiSL FEB 13 19 J Msf^ 'L<^ ^ V^ Form - 50m-4.'61(B8994s4)4li UC SOMTHfRM ppr .--.."ililllllllllllIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AA 000 979 691 DT 901 B6^h - w"*} ?Sjj.S!'MW>i*f^i ■" > !»{>-«>■*>*■