The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-21
LITTER FROM 0EN. JoUBERT.
Boer Strength Concealed Prom England
Confidence In tho Outcome.
From he Courier de- Etau Uns.


From he Courier de- Etdu Una
The editor Of one Of tho Magocburg Journals
who formerly resided in tho Transvnal and there
brcsme acquainted with Gen. Joubert wrote q
long letter To the BoTT commander In October
last in which he cxpr s-rd his opinions in regard
10 the solution Of the hnglo-Boer conflict. Tho
following In Gen. Joubcrts reply:
BEFORE LADYsMITH, Oct. 2T
MY DEAR Sin The close OF your letter which
reached me- this morning was prophetic. War
has broken out. God grant that II may con-
tinue to be as favorable to US as II has been up
10 tho present. II was with full and firm con-
fdcnco In tho Almighty that We entered upon
this war. which was forced upon us. in defence
OF our country's liberty, for which VIZ arc deter
mined TO conquer or die.
You know my countrymcn sufficiently not To
need any explanation on tina. point, and that
Ia the reason why come Immediately to the i'm
portant point Of my reply. After the Jameson
raid in January. 1898, which. fortunately. We
crushed. our Government became convinced
that England urged on by classes ilttlo worthy
of respect was determined to begin, soonrr or
later, war Of determination against the Beers
We wero also convinced that the only way to
guard against that danger was 10 accumulate
armaments and, although we knew that the
war In question on the part Of England would
be severely condemned by all the European pow
ers We foresaw that none Of them could inter
vene eflcaciousy because they would all h.
strongly influenced by tho noisy threats Of
England and by the armament Of her formda al bio
fleet that the greatest of them would not dare
TO raise their voices az nlns tho Unsuitable greed
, Of England, even II their own interests were to
suffer. Undey these circumstances. we had to
rely upon our own strength. To arm continually
and to conceal our ornaments thai was our aim
and IN this we have been cmincnly successful.
! We often allowed the English spies 10 visit
our arsrnals where there was nothing but old
material but we carefully concealed our modern
material Of, which tho English knew nothing
until the outbreak Of the war
We were not wrong In counting upon tho dis
dainiul reports N the English spies in regard to
=, But your opinion oil the numerical forces OF
tho English, secms 70 me exaggerated, Up to
llsh will not lie able 10 put In the field more IN an
- 900 men from which must be deducted at that
time at least TO- 900 men in killed, wounded, sick
| must he y considerable deduction which viii
be occupied with the guarding and trnnspor,n
tnn OF supplies so that II is not likely that there
| operations
| Before God assure YOU that we Beers b,v,
no idca Of interfering with English prcdominance
| in South Africa, What We insist upon is tho
COMPLETE independence Of our own country Rut
| II the war should continue II is the independent
spirit Of all Afrkanders that will smash British
| supremacy.
inhabitants i she can only send 80 go sod ,T
| here We Beers. with y population Of 10. 600
souls. have ALREADY $1,000 men In the field, so
| Of the Beers Of the Care and OF Natal
| Woe TO the English II they continue TO excIt.
! the savage blacks against us \ universal M
| henvRl of the AfrikaNders would he the conse
quence, and shudder to think Of what that would
| mean for the English
| tpt the present time our enemies have fought
bravely; but when they begin TO suffer the priya'
tons Of war, decentralization will come upon them,
| and they will weaken, We are convinced Of our
| own ult mate triumph and Of Gods aid in this
| war. hsin our preceding wars with tho same foes
The blood that must he shed In this struggle,
be upon the heads NJ our children We fsht Tor
! our creed and country
| Hoping that you will cherish friendly remem-
| brance OF my countrymen md Of myself and trust
| Ing that these lines may find you in good health
! 1remhin, Sincerely yours p. J. JoI'HFnT