The age-herald., 1897-10-09
DOM PAUL NOW ON THE STUMP.
Features of a Presidential Election in the
 Transvaal.
From the New York Sun.

Recent advices from the AFransvaal in- dicalte that the presidential campaign in that African republic is proceeding The candidates are again, sas at the last elec- tion of 1892, Kruger and Joubert on the | president and the other the comma anding l gensral who beat the English at Majuta Hill.
 The present year ends Mr. Krugers third term as president, term in the South African republic extending over not four. but five years. For fifteen years therefore, Paul Kruger has been almost dictator of the republic. In the United States no man would have been allowed to secure himself in power as Dom Paul has done The American chti- zen Is, with the craftiness bred of bitter memories, too jealous of his liberties. too suspicious of even the brightest public servant, to 1ndorse a third-term nomina- ton. With Kruger and Krugers peo- pie It Us differsnt. "Oom' means "IJncle" put Father Paul' would be thes old purgher's proper tftle Those who have been With him through the stress. the eXS;lg9sment, the dire poverty, and the sudden prosperity of. the.e pael. fifteen years are as devoted to him as ever was an Old Guardsman t9 Napoleon
 ~ oust before the last election, in which GeneTal Joubert, the commander-in-chief ran ran m opposition to Kruger, General SchmlUt, famous old veteran, came nome from Holland The general could taik English, but, when interviewed att hs motel in Johannesburg on the ap- preaching contest, he used for the effect the services of an interpreter. The writer asked s hlm IT, as a soldier, he would vote Tor Joubert, and was sorry he could not understand the emphatic gutterals with which the general announced his ai1sgfance to Paul Kruger. He was him self a white haired man, but he said. as 'the interpreter translated 1t:
 Paul Kruger is my father: I am his him?'
 It is a widely spread sentiment and the majority of the burghers think as does the good old General Schmidt. It IS also semi-reIlgious sentiment, for religion is part of the daily life of the Boers, and, in defending their b:arlh- ssones, his people understand that Dom Paul is defending also their faith.
 At the last election five years ago, ths railway connecting Cape Colony with Johannesburg and the capital of the iransvaal, uretorla, was just being fin lshed. Outside of that line there was no railroad in the whole republic. The stumping of the country, therefore, by the two candidates was conducted on the most primitive principles-the churches of the different settlements be- Ing the usual meeting place. In every thing there was a simplicity and frank earnestness. MT. Kruger rode and drove over the rude treks from farm to farm and burg to burg, perhaps as unpnaten- tious and homely a candidate as ever ran for office. He is not an orator but has that plain, direct mod:, of speech in addressing the burghers which they understand best, and somewhat Lin coin style of introducing a smile. Whsn he was expected at a town the burghers lod@ out to meet him and escort him to the market place. Every Boer is a horsel- man, one might even say oavalrymssn, and these escorts were semi-military in character. In this way he traversed the country with small permanent es- cort besides the regular army, body of youngsters who enlist for two years.
 One very noticeable thing through the campaign was the manner In which re- ligion was mingled with politics. In the United States many of the speeches de- hvered would have been branded, prob ably with justice, as hypocritical, or at best, fanatical. In Transvaal they seem natural and appropriate to one who had at all studied the Boers and their his tory. A Boer reminds one of Cove nanter; h+ prays and fights with equal zeal. The 'sold dopper," when you meet him in the street, is almost insignificant, and his tall hat is generally unbrushed and his black coat shiny. At these po- 1itical gatherings he made no effort to look imposing, and a stranger would scarcely have pisked him out of the crowd as the president. General Joubert stumped the country in much the sams way, but throughout he had little chance and Dom Paul won in canter
 Near the magnificent mass of buildings which constitute the state houses of the Boer republic there is a large grocery store. The proprietor of it told me once of the early days when that architect ural triumph had not been consummar- ed-when there was absolutely no money in the Transvaal treasury, and the gov ernment could not raise loan. Then MT. Kruger was first elected president, in 1883. There was not then a large force of clerks and secretaries required to run the business of the government, but, small as it was, the clerks were frequently paid with orders for house. hold necessaries. In this way the grocer became an important creditor of ths gov ernment. There was no grsat crush of office seekers round the presidential rooms in those days. But in 1887 came the rush of gold seekers. and the great boom. The English Uitlanders swarm ed to the Witwatersrand, Barbarton, Klerksdrop and all over tre country. They brought capital with them eDor- nous amounts of capital, and were, at |