Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-07-16
THE Beers.
A People Who are Overpoweringly Ortho.
dox in.Their PoliticaIlEconomical and Re.
Ggious Creeds.

People Who are OverpoweringIy ortho-
| dox in.Their PoliticaIEconomical and Re-
| ngious Creeds.
| Not so long ago it was the custom
for all ministers of the Dutch Reformed
Church to be educated in Holland, but
recently, it appears. the universal
spirit of progress has infected the re-
ligious ideas of the divines of Holland,
| and the Boer farmers have started a
| great college of their own at Stellen-
| bosch, where their pastors may be edu-
of their South African ancestors. And,
| as in religion, so is it in all their in
| dustries. This is a great wine-growing
center, every farmer making 80 to 500
'.leaguers'' (of 200 gallons eachl of
wine each year. Much of this wine
has to be turned into good vinegar or
vile spirits. because there is no sale for
it. But if one points out to one of
these good farmers that if he made his
wine on the European system he would
make a beverage suited to the Europ-
can taste and salable then in any GUAM
titles at good price, his reply is. No;
why should l? and my family like
this wine and drink little else, and if
English people don't like it, it's
their loss, not miner' And so the
farmer foregoes a great profit because
of his Tory belief in the unimprovable
nature of all the processes his forefath-
ers have handed down to him. So. too,
in his politics. his Conservatism. or
rather his Toryism, takes the shape of
regarding all Constitutional Govern
ments as radical is. as govern
ments to be resisted at every turn.
Above all, he refuses altogether to pay
taxes unless positively compelled. He
has a shrewd-a peculiarly shrewd-
manner of reply, thoughtful. slow, but
logical And on this matter of taxes
he will answer. mo! why should /
pay? L get nothing in return that I
could not supply myself with without
taxes. And it is remarkable how Will
ing he IS freely to supply himself, if he
is freely convinced it is good. His
clergy, of all others, have been able to
ing the church. There is probably no
country where the clergy are more free
ly and more literally supported. In
nearly every district the clergyman will
have an assured salary of f30o to $500,
a residence. extensive garien grounds,
presents lin kind (w ne, cheese, bat
ter. mealies. grapes and stock, and a
standing bed and meal in every house
in his district. In later years the Boer
has become equally liberal in providing
for the education of his children. lib
erality prompted by a shrewd concep-
ton of the value in this world of this
new-fangled reading, writing, and
arithmetic.
The Boer is commonly reported by
travellers to be supremely ignorant and
Supremacy incident There is undoubt-
edly basis of truth in these some
what sweeping concentrations. By
force of circumstances the Boer is I'M
doubtedly ignorant He has lived in
uttermost seclus ON, and he has lived
in great contentment until that Sc
clusion was invaded. His standing
rule has been, Il must never be in
sight of my neighbours chimney" and
when traffic increased along his way,
or when residents came, he found his
only relief in removing again INTO the
further wilderness. His tendency was
thus perpetual endeavor to keep HIM
self cut off from his fellows. Reading
and writing are quite a modern innova-
ton; few of the elder Beers have any
knoWieuSe Vi eitneT. AS d consequence,
the Boer has been both suspicious and
ignorant; and while, on the one hand,
this has saved him again and again
from being misled by the designing. it
has also led him to forego many and
many an advantage or opportunity for
materially improving his position or
prospects. He is ready enough to be-
lieve anything that fits in with the
creed-political. economical or re-
his ancestors; of all else he
is suspicious, unbelieving, or ignorant.
South african Cor. London Times.