The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-11
RULER OF THE BOERS
PRESIDENT KRUGER As PICTURED
BY FRIENDS AND ENEMIES.
Honest, and Yet Worth Between One
and Two MiIIiOns-A Mighty Hum
ter and Of Indfsputable Courage.


There have been so many word portraits
or Paul Kruger, so many contradictory ac-
counts of his motives and objects, that
man with new impression of him may well
feel some diffidence in putting II forward.
But, after al, the character Of a ruler is
discovered by invasions and rebellions, and
1t is easier now to see Kruger as he Is than
it was year ago. Speaking roughly, one is
able t. divide the existing descriptions of
the president into two ciasses--those made
by his friends. and those made by his foes.
His admirers have presented him TO US
sort OF Boer Cromweil-unlettered. is true.
and unacquainted with the conditions of
modern life, but gifted with the faculties of
a leader and ruler of his people-courageous,
honest, pious. The picture of him given by
his detractors. on the other hand, Is not so
consistent nor so clear in outline; the fea-
lures are blurred by contradictions or de-
humanized by exaggeration; but. If hate can
not give us a recognizable or even possible
portrait of the man, it can put forward
facts and arguments which make be-
leve that this village Cromwell Is more
complex, and therefore a more human and
interesting. if a less officially perfect. being
than his worshipers imagine You call
Kruger honest and disinterested," say his
do you account for the fact that he's worth
fS00, 600 or f40O O00-all made in the last eight
or ten years? And if one in defense adj
duces the fact that President Kruger has a.
ways saved seven-eighths Of his salary. and
invested his savings in farms near Johannes
burg and Pretoria, which have increased
thirty-fo.d in value in the last decade-.f,
in fact, one shows that Kruger's wealth has
been accumulated honestly, and that, had
he been dishonest, he could easily have been
worth as many monS as ne his Is now dve2sa
ries, instead of admitting the
argument. go on TO point out that Kruger
and distributed monopoies among his
friends, and that the administration of the
Transvaal government Is dishonorably dis
This government differs from all other gov
ernments," said firancier 10 me the other
day in Johannesburg, lin that here You nave
you want document from government de-
partment you have 10 distribute 'hvers TO
the clerks in order to get it in any reasona-
TEN YEARS WORK.
All this is probably true. 1t must be re-
membered. however, in excavation that the
Beers. few thousand ignorant farmers.
scattered over a vast territory, have had in
the last ten years TO constitute government
which should be able TO handle all the de-
tails of a complex modern civilization, a
civilization, too. that has grown, and is
growing, with unexampled rapidity. Eight
years ago there was open veldt dotted With
half dozen makeshift tents and twenty or
thirty bullock wagons where to-day stands
the town of johannesburg, with its hundred
thousand inhabitants. it's streets of brick and
stone. its clubs, its newspaper offices and its
mining exchanges. The forty miles of veldt
along the Rand, which could have been
bought in 1885 for a few thousand pounds
Is now worth over three hundred millions.
Men who ten years ago were struggling
clerks or needy adventurerS are to-day mil
lionaire mine owners whose names are men
tai. Tempta tons beget faults. and society
that has suddenly shot up from poverty 10
riches can scarcely hope to be distinguished
for honesty. 1t is sufficient surely, to say
here that, If Kruger has allowed brides to be
taken by his relatives and dependents If he
has given concessions to his friends that
trammel Industry, and has thus enriched
partisans at the public expense, bis personal
honesty has not been seriously impugned.
Under great temptations he. has been what
Hamlet calls indifferent honest"-honest
that is, after the fashion of poor human ma
tureJt For there are those of us who would
have our children and relations immacu-
lately virtuous, as II TO atone for our short
comings, while Kruger seems content TO let
those near and dear to him fill their pockets
clean.
And If his personal honesty is indisput-
able, even more can be said for his courage;
for courage. indeed, is of the essence of the
man; he has shown all sides Of it-save
perhaps one. His mere physical courage
and insensibility Of nerves are extraordinary
forty years ago he himself pt ampntated n the
thumb or his left hand, injured In a gun
explosion: and a few years ago. when suf-
similar hardwood. Some of the enlightened
members of his family begged him to go to
the dentist: But, after hearing what the
charges n "a he
angriiy rejected the suggestion. A night or
two later the pain increased that he could
rot sleep, whereupon he got up and pried
the tooth out with his own claspknife. and
went 70 sleep afterwards without more ado
A mighty hunter from his youth up-he has
Killed lions and buffalo with his old single
barreled muzzle-ioader-the temper OF his
SEVENTEEN year is that of his early man.
hood: While driving the other day with
the chief Justice told me that when the news
reached Pretoria. late on Tuesday, Dec 81
tnat Jameson with his force was nearing
dered his horse to be saddled and was get
ting out his rifle. in order TO go and person
ally lead his burghers to battle. Now that
this Jameson's on the veldt,'' cried the old
man exultantiy. well soon see what he's
WORTH "and it took a great deal of argu-
chief justice. that his brains here in Pre- RE
toria were of more value to the state than
his hand and eye out yonder on the veldt -
STRONG IN MORAL COURAGE.
Kruger's moral courage is marked that
it might be mistaken for obstinacy. Year
by year as the Uitlanders have Increased
in number, and as. johannesburg has grown
in wealth and influence, Kruger has dimin-
ished the privileges of the foreign emigrants
Before 1885 1t was possible for any one TO
become a fully naturaized burgher of the
| Transvaal after residence of two years
and declaration of allegiance. To-day one
may pass ones life In the Transyaal with the
satisfaction of knowing that ones children
| born and bred in the State will be regarded
| to take the responsibility for this retrosrade
| action. AS rule. IL is true. he tells YOU that
the Volksraad Is responsible for these meas
| ures. but pushed into a corner he will not de-
| ny his initiative. At the back Of his mind
| there Is the justification aptiy phrased by his
| chief HOllander adviser: LAS the flood rises
| we build the dykes higher" On the other
| hand, this moral courage makes noble deeds
| possible to him. When Jameson and his
| force were prisoners in Pretoria certain
| Beers demanded the immediate trial and
| punishment al least of the leader and the
| officers. But Kruger stood out against ar
| bility. One would have said indeed. that ne
| his personal will But fairness OF mind or
| worldly wisdom and al deep knowledge of
| the character of his people was shown in
| the way ne went about among the maIcon-
| tents, setting forth his reasons for exercis-
| ing mercy. and gradually persua ling every
| one that Dom Paul felt as he felt though as
| head OF the State he was compelled TO ADOPT