The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-18
THE SUN, SUNDAY, APRIL l5, 1897,

men. Gordon had been sent by the Capetowr
Government in 1881 20 make terms OF peace
with the Basutos. Rhodes was there at the SAINT
time on n Compensation Commission, and TIT
two men saw much Of each other. On ono occa
sicr Gordon told Rhodes tho wcll-known story o.
the offer ofN roomful of gold which had been madt
20 him by the Chinc,c Government, after he had
subdued the Ta!-Ping rebellion. What did yor
do r. asked Rhodes. Refused 1t, Of course
said Gordon; "what would you have done 7
At would have taken It," replied Rhodes, land
ms many more roomfuls ms they would give me
II is no use for us to have big ideas IL we have
not got the money TO carry thom out"
Describing further tho intimacy between the
two men Rhodes's b~iogrnpher says:
Gordon, who was a trifc dictatoriai, on sew
cral occasions, vigorously criticised Rhodes's IN.
me- he said. i never met such a man for his
own opinion. You think your views are always
right and every one else's wrong, Rhodes was
not long In getting his. opportunity for retalia-
ton. The Bnsutos made much Of Gordon. They
came In thousands 10 the Indnbas, recognizing
the chief man. there. DO you know said
Rhodes to Gordon ono day, Il have an opinion
tRSssy 21a as Srs s1 mnEc Ss g Sr %sGn %istS nos F TSo ,St saRe
no attention to Sauor. Whereas he is the great
sauor was a Village attorney OF Aiiwai North.
but was Secretary for Native Affairs. a member
S OF thS Cape . 9gSSrn onsht BY to ph s9pls SEFa f% T fSs
Basutos tho truth that he Is somS6ody and you
Gordon; but Gordon took It quite seriously. At
tho next 1ndnba, accordingly, Gordon stepped
ssS pet expla inc e to tho ipa stdpnis dhs You
are making. n mistake In treating me az. tho
great man, that is. the great man of the whites.
more. After the Indaba was over Gordon re.
marked to Rhodes. I did it because It was tho
der his breath. but 1t was hard. very hard"
Nevertheless Gordon took to the young Eng
lishman with the big ideas and tho independent
mind. and whom Mr.. Rhodes had finished his
compensation work Gordon asked him to stay.
I'VE can work together he said; there arc
very few mon in the world to whom I would
make such an offer. Very few men, can tell you;
but, of course, you iriR have your own way"
The story of Rhodes's rapid ride to the Pre-
miership and virtual dictatorship Of South
Africa is known In general terms to all the
world. 1t is a record full OF incidents and OK.
perienccs which are characteristic Of the man.
and which when the time comes for their public
recounting will make the most interesting fea-
ture in the history of his remarkable career. It
is only the other day that he publicly assumed
the full responsibility of the plot against the
Transvaal republic which eliminated in the
jameson raid. He might as well have said
also that he was responsible for its ignominious
failure. 1t was q most stupid and ill-managed
scheme, aside from its immortality. Tho princi-
pal reason for the failure after all. was Rhodes's
contempt or incapacity for detail. The original
conception was his. In fact. he gave the Gov
eminent in London u half warning Of his inton-
ton the last time ho was here before tho inva-
sion. He had been urging the officials Of tho
Colonial office to adopt a strong policy against
the Boer Government, and on behalf OF the Uit-
landcrs. Finally. having urged his views with
great emphasis. no exclaimed with some i'm
patience as he took his leave:
"WelI. II you fellows don't do something, and
do II soon. I shall"
He did do something" and because he left
details to others or left them to take caro- Of
themselves he made the most humiliating flasco
which the present generation has witnessed. 1t
Is not worth while to repeat Mr.. Rhodes's con-
fession which he made the other day before the
South Africa Committee. The whole story OF
the raid Is familiar to everybody. An occasional
answer made by Mr.. Rhodes in his long cross
examination by Sir William Harcourt. Mr..
Labouchere, and others is interesting. however.
as throwing q side light upon the strong points
and weaknesses of the mans character. His
happy-go-lucky way of conducting Affairs APP
plies for Instance to money matters. Ho was
asked about the checks drawn on him by Col.
Rhodes. in connection with the preparations for
the raid. His explanation was simple.
II said to my brother: L suppose you will
want some money. Draw on me- He did draw.
and, when I knew how much. I paid" Incident
ally Mr.. Rhodes remarked that he supposed it
would have been two or three thousand" But
it was proved that the actual amount ultimately
paid by Mr.. Rhodes on this ono account was
361 900. So. again, with regard to Mr.. Rhodcs's
communications or want Of them, with the Lon
don directors. Sir William Harcourt wanted
very much to know why. when tho raid had oc-
CURED. Mr.. Rhodes did not communicate.
Mr.. Rhodes could not e~xplain-not, appar-
emily, because he wanted to keep any
thing back. but honestly because he could
not see what there was to explain. II didn't
WRITE" he said in effect, because there was
nothing to say. They could not have been OF
any help" But" insisted Sir William. sit
was a very important matter" At this point
Mr.. Rhodes gave it up, with an air as II he was
weary of arguing with anybody so utterly per-
verse as to contemplate the possibility Of max
ing any communication that could anyhow be
spared. well, I suppose I was wrong" he
said; but 1t did not strike me-" He also re-
marked in connection with this subject: "No.
! never write letters" And this is said to be al.
most literally true of Mrs. Rhodes.
In addition to his full confession. Mr.. Rhodes
wisely refralned from making any defence OF his
action against the Beers. This was brought out
clearly after II long series OF questions by Sir
William Harcourt. in the following passages:
Sir W. Harcourt-But may I call your atten-
ton to this-that the British South Africa Com.
pany Ia exercising the sovereignty Of the Crown
In South Africal Do you mean that any person
simply because he has lent money TO the British
South Africa Company has a right to do in the
name OF the company and with the resources of
the company what is equivalent to making war
uron q friendly statci
Mr.. Rhodes-Thc best answer / can give you 10
that l cannot defend 1t at all.
The most picturesque feature of Rhodes's
career has been his dealing with the rebellion in
Matabeleland last year. 1t is not doing the
man an injustice TO say that he went to Mata-
beleland, after a flying trip to London just fol-
the Jameson raid, In order, II possible, to
lind an opportunity to retrieve his reputation.
The guilt of the Transvaal plot had not been
brought home to him, to be sure. bu. nobody,
even among his friends, could be found who
did not believe he had been at least privy
to 1t. There Is no doubt that he felt