The times., 1899-12-22
THE Willy RoERs-
JOubert Explains How England wns
Outwitted

Il.
The editor Of one Of the Magdeburg jour
nails, who formerly resided in the Trans
vaal and there became acquainted with
General Joubert wrote a long letter TO the
Boer commander in October last, in which
he expressed his opinions in regard 20 the
solution Of the Anglo Boer conflict The
following is General Joubert's reply:
Before Iadysmith Oct o.
Ny Dear Sir: The close Of your letter which
reached me this morning was prophetic. War
has broken cut. God grant that it may cor-
tinue to be favorable % Us as it has been up
TO the present. II was with full and firm CON
hdenee IN the Almighty that We entered upon
this war, which was forced upon US, iu defence
of our country's liberty. for which We sre de-
termined 10 conquer or die.
You know my countrymen sufficiently not to
need any explanation on that point, and that
IS the reason why come Immediately 70 the im-
portsnt point Of my reply. After the Jameson
raid in January, 1896. which, fortunately, We
crushed, our Government became convinced that
England, urged ON by classes little worthy Oi
respect was determined TO begin. sooner ur
later, a war OF determination against the BOers.
We were also convinced that the only way 20
guard against that danger was 20 sccumulat te
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
yene efticaciously, because they would ali be
a.
England and by the armament of her formidable
fleet that the greatest Of them would not dare
TO raise their voices against the Unsuitable greed
Of England, even il their own interests were 20
suffer. Under these circumstances, we had 20
rely upon our own strength To arm continually
and 10 conceal our srmamentS-that was our aim
and in this we have been eminently successful.
We often allowed the English spies 10 visit
our arsenals where there was nothing but old
material, but we carefully concealed our modern
material, Of which the English knew nothing
until the outbreak OF the war
We were not wrong in counting upon the dis
dainful reports Of the English spies in regard to
our military strength, and their boasts about
rushing Pretoria did not frighten us.
But your opinion Of the numerical forces OF
the English seems to me exaggerated. Up to
the first week OF the month OF December the Eng
lish will not he able to put in the field more than
s. 900 men, from which must be deducted az that
time at least 10,OC0 men in killed, wounded. sick
and prisoners. From the 1900 remaining there
must be a considerable deduction which viii
be occupied with the guarding and transporta-
ton OF supplies; so that It is not likely that
there viii remain more than $1,000 mon for de-
cisive operations
Before God / assure you that we Beers have
no idea OF interfering with English predomi-
nance in South Africa What we insist upon is
the complete Independence Of our own country
But if the should continue it is the indie
pendent spirit OF ali AfIikanders that viii smash
British supremacy.
What do we care for England's forty million
inhabitants. # she can only send $1,000 soldiers
here! We Bocrs. with q population Of 10000
souls, have already 5000 men in the field. so
that We can get along very well without the aid
OF the Beers Of the Cape and Of Natal
Woe 10 the English If they continue to excite
the savage blacks against usi a universal up
heaval Of the Airiksnders would be the conse-
quence. and I shudder 70 think OF what that
would mean for the English
Up to the present time our enemies have fought
bravely; hut when they begin TO suffer the priya-
tiOns Of war. decentralization viii come upon
them. and they viii weaken. We are convinced
Of own ultimate triumph and Of Gods aid
sars foes.
The blood that must be shed in this struggle,
which will Iast probably more than year. viii
not be upon the heads Of our children. We fight
for our creed and country.
Hoping that you viii cherish 4 friendly remem-
branee Of my corntrymen and OF myself, and
trusting that these lines may find you in good
health, / remain, sincerely yours,
p J. J0TBERT