The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-12-30
lew YEAR SIN The TRANSVAAL
THIS IS THE GREAT DAY FOR ALL
THE B0ERs.

What 1t n like Ordinarily md
What Sort OF u Year the Day VIII
BeEin This Time-Men From
Transrna1 Talk - Kruger Re-
ported Gonhdent OF Winning
When Tie Went Into the War, De-
volt.
-'Qh, New Years Day is the great Boer
festival he said. ut Is the time when
he lets himself Ego as freely as he ever
does" The speaker was Salvation Army
officer of high rank, who has just come
from the Transvssal. II suppose he con-
tinued, according to the London corre-
spondent of the New York Press, you are
asking about the farm Boer, the one
that we are hearing so much about now.
You know, there are really three varieties
,of the Boer. The first Is the Boer In the
big cities. the man who has got the better
of his natural tnclinat1ons; and he's just
like anybody else. The second Is the
suburban ,Boer, who lives not far from
!. the towns. and he, too. has been improved
by association with civilized people. The
other variety is the one I spoke OF first
the farm. Boer. New Years day finds
him at the end of the sixty or seventy.
mile journey to the A'nachtmaal' might
meal-held four times a year. To this he
This travelled, gypsy fashion. and, once
there, he mixes religion with seeing q bit
sof his brother Boer' and getting ready
for another three months Information
You see them there, in their camp
around the great square, each family In
& it's tent-fornned by ching a. canvas
side from the roof Of the wagons to
the ground. They don't use horses OF
mules In travelling, but bullocks instead,
and these are wandering about. cropping
the grass. The scene is quaint and the
odorioyerpowering This Is the time when;
the Boer does all his marketing, lays IN
all his provisions and things for use on
the farm, and it's the time, too. when his
children are christened itor his son or,
daughter married. He goes, primarily,
to partake Of the Lord s supper, but 1t is
Ia general season of prayer and fasting,
but usually closes with a great shooting
contest. That is your Beers greatest
delight Sociability he has little use for,
nor for feasting much merryna king,
but his holiday takes the shape Of
shooting match or a great fish contest.
4 That is the New Years day OF the farm
sBoeE. IA III f@f Fl
! THE suburban Boer, as you might call
y him, will trek. to Pref ria for New.
ears day, for In the ties HE nacht-
sSmaal Us held once "a mont b, and " lfen@ fie
has had enough religion to satisfy him,
tie makes it a point to go around to Paul
kruger'S house to see him and drink his
coffee. Atter that, if there's anything
going on in town-a circus or entertain
ment of any kind-hell go to it, whereas
ia eriy tn ho
widest sort OF a berth. AS for the city
Boer, he goes in for all the holidays that
the people around him observe, and ic
pretty much like everybody else.
That is the Beers New Year as far
as customs gu rs for his New Year of
1900 and the changes that it is likely tc
bring, of course it's hard to prophesy;
but here are a few Of the existing condi-
tons which the new government will
have, to wipe out: First, you must under
stand, that the Boer government is rotten
from beginning to end l suppose there is
not an official or member of the volks-s
raad who is not in the pay of a whole
regiment of people. The Beer government
fosters monopoly, you see, and gets a
frake-off' on monopoly's gains.
You asked me minute ago if as mncn
was being got out of the Transvaal as
might be got No. One reason for that is
due to ,Lippert, the dynamite concession
aire, empowered by the Boer government
salone, to import dynamite into the Trans
vaal. The price OF dynamite is beyond the
means of most of the mine Iessees. Dyna-
mite costs in the Transvaal about $40 a
case. 1t ought to cost $11. The difference
is, the profit of Lippert & Co., after $1.25
has been paid to the government. The in
stallation Of pure government will mean
that dynamite will be sold at proper
price, as it. is In Rhodesia. and this, in
turn, 7w1ll mean the opening and working
of countless new mines.
Another reform that must come is in
the liquor trade. To your Beers credit be
it said he is not Incorporate, and he has
made strict laws regarding the sale of in
toxicants. But there again his govern
ment. is lax...and winks at open violation
.-of the statue. The Transvaal is dotted
with places OF the lowest repute, dealing
out liquors to the blacks. One-third of
the black portion of the population is
drunk. all the year long.
"Of course the question of franchise is
an old sore. Bribery is almost as foul "a
.one. Bribery tbegins in the officials, con-
tinues through the volksraad, and. in
many instances; reaching the voters them
selves Common workmen are bribed to
vote for;a railway concession by presents
of silver watches. Another raw wound is
the national schools The Boer sends his
children-his boys-to school, but his RAJ
,cdal hatred is so intense that he refuses
to have English taught in the schools.
His boy goes through them and comes
into one Of the great towns where Eng
.lish Is the Language Of trade. You can
see the result The Boer Is booming his
offspring to be hewers of wood and car
sriers Of water in .perpetuity.
Reform must roll up her shirt sleeves
and prepare for .house-cleanins., too, III,
the matter cof the Boer police. 'Sarps'
they can them, from the letters s. A. r.
p ON their caps, meaning South African
Republic Police: They are cruel, unintel-
iigent and lazy. 1T Us not uncommon to
see a dozen of them at night sitting to-
gether In q. tap4roOm, smoking and drink
ing, Needless OF the safety Of the people
Their disregard really Is all part OF a plan
ito make the lORg-snneztng and oppressed
Outlander feel how little he is resaluea.
x our home is robbed at night: you SO to
the police station to tell of it. You are
met with sneers and insulted; nothing is
done House breaking is a common oc-
currence. The Johannesburg Star had
newspaper court at one time. where i
announced every morning the houses
which had been robbed the night be-
fore. No notice was taken Of the pubiics,-
tons. s
remember one morning hearing a
Scalfde going. on outside my door,
Looked out and saw an Englishman whom
1 had befriended at home struggling in
the arms of two 'sarps. rushed out and
asked him what was the matter. and was
told that he had just been arrested, The
charge. It seems. was that he had been
seen going from one door to another along
the street! As q matter Of fact, a stran-
ger, he had inquired my address and was
told that I lived on that street. and he
had simply been inquiring for nay house
was indignant and protested, but he was
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