The Indianapolis journal., 1896-02-19
KRUGERASA DICTATOR
STRONG CHARACTERISTICS OF The
PRESIDENT OF THE TRANsvAAL.
He Is IlIitcratc. Unprogressive and
stubborn. but His People Worship
Him-Boer Fanaticism.
johannesburg Letter in St. Louis Globe


Democrat.
| One of the most interesting men of
! modern times is Stephanus Johannes
| Paulus Kruger, President of the South Al
| rican republic, or loom Paul. as he is
| affectionately called by the burghers Of
| the Transvaal. His title is President OF
republic; in reality. he is the absolute die
| tator of an oligarchy. There are nearly
| 100000 white people in the Transvaal, and
less than 3O.o0O have any voice in the gov
| ernment.
All these unenfranchised inhabitants have
| always been hostile toward the govern
| ment. 1t has been almost entirely through
the genius of Paul Kruger that the coun-
| try has been abe to maintain itself against
| such overwhelming numbers. The aliens
| are not of down-trodden class easily held
| i'm check. They have all the power that
| vast wealth supplies. In addition TO their
great fortunes they have brains. for the
| gold fields have lured some of the brightest
minds of the earth to the Transvaal. Yet
Kruger has remained the master of the
situation. Twelve years ago. when the
| Dutch vanquished the English and gained
their liberty, Kruger directed the war;
| then, as in the present insurrection of the
| Uitlanders, as the aliens are called Kruger
| He is seventy-iive years Of age, but erect
| and robust and in full posse ssioa CT the
| keen faculties that have enabled bin. to
| preserve the country against both savage
and civilized encroachment. In his official
position he is autocrat, but in his per-
sonal character he is democratic. In his
habits he is simple and even frugal, al
though he is very wealthy. He has pro-
found contempt for England but loves TIE
United States and always welcomes Amer
leans with great cordiality.
Just before the present rebellion / ac-
compdnied a delegation sent by Americans
on the Rand who went to the capital to
endeavor to bring about pacific termina-
ton of the trouble. Under the pressure of
business incident to the impending war, the
President was not at home to the numerous
delegations waiting to interview him. But
moment after we sent in our cards as
American citizens his secretary appeared
and ushered us into the executive cham
ber. Not only that but the President or
dered the Executive Cabinet. then holding
| council of war, to adjourn and attend upon
the interview. He also delegated Chief Jus
| tice Kotze to act as interpreter. The Presi-
ent does not speak word of English and
However just the grievances Of the aliens
may be, and however stupid and unprOgres-
| sive the Beers are, no one can remain an
| hour in the presence of President Kruger
| without realizing that he Is man OF great
| mental and moral force. He is limited. Of
| ceDtion of government and the rights OF
| man is provincial, but back of bis narrow
ness there is generous heart and a great
mind. He is restricted Abraham Lin
| coin. His belief that country should be-
| long absolutely to the pioneers and that
newcomers should have no voice in the gov
! ernment will seem ridiculous TO men of
cosmopolitan outlook, but 1t must be remem-
| bered that he is totally illiterate man.
He was born and raised ,.o on the African sacaa
| and others hailing from more civilized coun-
tries and calling themselves advanced has
convinced him that they We're adventures
| with more brains than honor.
A COMING CHANGE.
| The general sentiment in johannesburg
| is that the passing of Kruger will mean
| the disintegration of the republic as it now
| stands. For it is now only republic in
| name. The Constitution is ambiguous and
| construed entirely to suit the President.
/ The Raad and the Volksraad are complete
| ly under his dictation. He Is unprogressve
| and stubborn, but is a brave man and the
burghers worship him. There are many
evidences that without Kruger to lead
| them the Dutch in the South African re-
| public would be politically exterminated
| Their stupidity in legislation demonstrates
| this
The Boer of the Transvaal is religious,
| but his religion consists largely I'm a sew
eeremonials een ASIAN" and traditions. the Boer does
not confound religion with righteous ness
| No equivalent of the word virtue is 10
| be found in the Dutch patois. The pietistic
temper of the people finding expression In
| legislative acts has curious effect upon
| the life of Johannesburg. From March to
| December. 1885, there was a drouth in the
| Transvaal and many hardships ensued. The
| representatives of a water works company
| firally resorted to the expedient of shooting
| dynamite into passing clouds in the nope
| of bringing rain. These acts were brought
| to the attention of President Kruger. One
Boer statesman from Witfontein presented
] a bill making Ii high treason TO explode
| dynamite i'm the heavens that bend above
the Transvaal. Such an act, he c0ntended
zealously, was trying to fly in the face &, OF
| republic to have rain, he would send 1t.
| 1t was impious for goddess Uitlanders TO
| fire explosives in the direction of the in
finite The Witfontein Beers arguments
| and his bill prevailed, and dynamiting the
CLOUDS was FORBIDDEN. Another statesman
days for the people to pray in unison for
rain. A long debate followed. A member
from i.ydenburg exclaimed that u would be
| A stanch member of the Kruger party re-
sented this We are brave and free free
who pose as Gods chosen people, retreat
| ingloriously before us. In the name of
! God and the Dutch republic we regained
| our freedom. God was with us at Bron-
kerspruIt and at Majuba Hill Shall we
| hesitate. therefore, to pray when ever weld
| and spruit is calling for rain?"
! people went down on their knees in the dust
| Of the Transvaal and sent up what they
| thought to be more persuasive than dyLa-
| mite. But the invocations of the Beers Were
| no more efficacious than the nitro-glycerin
| of the experimenters. AS result, before the
| late December rains refreshed the lands
| watr was as scarce as intelligcnc, among
| the Transyaal Dutch. In Johannesburg the
| rich used Apollinaris and English soda at 2
shillings bottle for lavatory purposes 9nd
| the poor went unwashed.
| There is saying in the Transvaal that you
| can tell whether man Is Enysnnan,
| an American or a Dutchman by ,ie way he
| washes The Englishman pours water in a
| basin. washes and then carefully en- rties
| the bowl and turns il upside down 10 dry.
| The American washes and leaves the soiled
| water in the basin. The Dutchman comes
| along and washes in he water me Ameri-
| can left. l cannot vouch fer his story, as
| [ never saw Dutchman wash.
PIETY BY LEGISLATION
| Another instance OF the go-ern:nent's pc
cular piety is its attitude toward the at
tempts in other South african states 10 ex-
| terminate the locust. ape Colony and the
| Orange Free State pay royalty of 6 Pence
per pound for locust eggs. but Dom Paul
| has told his people that s.cn gosern-
| mental procedure is afront to the Crea-
| tor; that the locusts are a visitation from
| heaven, and that any effort To destroy III fem
| is an attempt TO c.rcInyent he imrnui5 BILE
| purposes OF the Onn.po-ent Aal so the
| Boer farmer bows III submissive 7, verence
| and breathes a pattern )ster ;s the arnijs Of