The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-08-03

ground. he says, will always be there for his
children, Its fruits and Its meadows. Why
SHOULD ne save up for them! The farmer Of
the Iransvaal in his lonely stead. wishes
lor nothing which the. farm cannot give
him. Its crops are amply sufYicient to make
MS bread and give him a variety of vege-
taoies and fruit. His well-fed stock give
MN INK and meat. He makes his own "yeldt-
scnoen. His women folk weave and make
up the cloth he needs. There IL not q thing
OF necessity which he cannot procure on his
own acres, and luxuries he despises as
effeminate
IN the many happy years which passed
aiter his settlement the Boer was almost
aDsoiutely isolated from the world. doubt
II, Ior quarter of a century. newspaper
was published in the land. What cared he
for news? 800
THE BOERs LAND OF CANAAN.
The Lord had led him to Canaan, and he
was content. He. of all. things. wished to
De let alone. He dreaded the advent in
any numbers Of the Uitlanders foreigners).
Inis was not because he was inhospitable.
Tor In those days the chance hunter, tourist
or prospector found a hearty welcome at the
farmstead or the village, but because he
feared the foreign vices and their effect
upon his children. He did not drink, and he
knew the foreigners introduced drink wher-
ever they went. He was fearful of their
amu ,s cards, exaggeratedly
afraid of their theaters, their dances, and
so on No-he wished to live as Abraham
lived, with his many children. his focks
and herds, his Bible-near to God. The
world. civilization, he did not want to hear
Of Sometimes he communicated with his
KIN in the Cape Colony or with those who
mad now established the Orange Free State.
once or twice year he and his whole
FAMILY left the farm and attended the
nachtmaal at the nearest church. There
they gossiped innocently and ignorantly Of
outside things, or new wagons drawn by
engines. or telegraphs, and other things
they would not understand; nor cared to
understand
He was great hunter. and the shooting
match was his only amusement, as the Bible
was his only reading. His boys grew up
strong, clear eyed. manly; his girls indus
trfous and comedy. Ten years passed and
the Beers awoke to the fact that they were
a people-nay, they reversntly said: God 8
chosen people," 1t must have been an idyllic
life the only life of our time approaching
the lives led by the shepherd fathers of the
Old Testament. Can we wonder that the
BOer today ia furious at the thought that 1t
has gone forever
THE SERPENT IN EDEN. -,,
1t Is necessary. in very few words only,
to relate how the Beers trouble began.
Thelr only real annoyance during the period
OF bliss just described was the everlasting
kafhr trouble. The savages were continu-
ally breaking in on the settlements, ex-
actly as the Indians did in the United
States. One good thing resuted-the Boer
became f1rst-class bush ighter-as later
he proved at the battle with the English at
Majuba Hill. But in 1877 the Zulu tribe
became SO powerful hostile, and threaten
ing that the Beers really feared general
massacre Tn their trOuh1n thew had no
neighbor but England to give them aid.
England gladly came to their assistance
she was very near now, at Kimberley's new
ly discovered diamond fields. But England
never, never, never did and never, never,
never will do anything for friendships sake
alone. She desired that vineyard-the
Transvaal. Some kind of treaty was made
-Cetewayo was whipped. and his Zululand
annexed by England-and the Briton, when
peace came again, was in the Transvaal
there The Beers claimed they had been
cheated; they revolted; they sought Majuba
Hill. and In 1881 Gladstone gave them back
their beloved garden land. But irreparable
mischief had been done. The Boer was now
not entirely free as before. England still
was at hand.
In 1886 an Englishman prospected for gold
in the Transvaal. The Beers had long
known gold was there, but what did they
care for a gold mine? The simple farmer
of the happy days. if he had discovered mug
gets of gold pebbling his ground, would
have given them to his children to play
with. What need of gold when there is no
need to buy anything? The Engishman
found what he sought. He bought the piece
of land. The Witwatersrand reef became
famous johannesburg was founded. To his
horror and dismay the Boer saw Uitlanders
of all sOrts-English, American Australian,
German, Dutch. French-pouring into his
country in search of the accursed gold-the
serpent which had destroyed his Eden, pour
ing in so fast and in such numbers as to
threaten very soon to outnumber in popula-
ton the original immigrants the Beers
themselves. 1t was the gold beneath its
surface which was the ruin of Boerland
Had it merely been big farm, the foreign
ers might have left it in peace.
The evils for the country which followed
the foundation Of johannesburg were many
Chief of them, and this is the sorrowful mat
ter, large number of influential Beers
yielded to temptation. The great majority
of them still live on their farms, far from
the faint of gold fever, looking on the min
ers with contemptuous indignation. But the
sight of wealth in nearby hands breeds envy
and avarice. Some Beers of high standing.
among them Stephen Johannes Paul Kruger
himself. looked and were tempted. They
saw the Uitlanders rolling in wealth, and
they frowned and muttered. They said
why, now, should we be poor and toll all
our days, while these verdamter Uitlanders
feed on the best and roll in carriages?"
The serpent whispered to them, and
showed them how to do it. From being
one of the simplest and most upright
parliamentary gatherings in the world, the
volksraad of the South African republic be-
came one tainted with corruption. Willy men
schemed, and soon taxes after taxes (some
fair, many unfair) were laid on the foreign
ers. Most unjust concessions were granted.
and, perhaps worst of ALL business in
liquor licenses was established, which filled
the pockets of the few, and raised sheol
with the morals of the Kaffir laborers. From
being empty the treasury became full. From
being plain men of honest ways and inten-
tons Kruger and others became wealthy.
1t is claimed on all hands that Paul Kru-
ger represents the people. He did once,
but he has betrayed their best interests,
whether from cupidity or lack of foresight
we will not now debate. The evil was done.
He had given the English just cause for
complaint. He had taxed them more heav-
lily than his own people, but would not al
low them to become citizens, and, behold!
as in 1916 in America, arises the old war
slogan: "No taxation without representa-
ton"
Meanwhile cloud of dark aspect to the
Beers was growing larger and larger on the
horizon-the face of Cecil Rhodes, the en-
pire builder. Then Kruger's heart beat
quicker. Steadily Rhodes has surrounded
the country, and the Beers began to cry
aloud: "Give us back our peace of the old
days. Paul Kruger, we look to you, who
have allowed the Uitlander in, to see that he
does not now GUST us from our country
our fatherland." And Kruger and his fol-
lowers have listened, and when the Jane
son raid-most idiOtic of f1ascOs-happened