The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-10-18
BRITISH AND BoERs



Froude'S '.oceanG.n
London Leader: Mr.. Froude, who can
not, by any stretch Of Inauguration, be
regarded as a Little Enslander,' g
makes some remarks in his 'oceana"
about his country's dealings with the
Dutch in South Africa, which make In
terestlng and Instructive reading to-
day. In Chapter III he remarks:
III we compare tile sueoess Of the
Dutch In the management Of uneiyllIzod
tribes with our own IN all parts OF the
world, It win be found that, although
their rule Is 8trioter than ours. and To
appearances haraher, they have had
fewer native wafB than we have had.
There has been less violence and
bloodshed, and the natives living under
them have not been les happy or less
Industrious"
Again, there 10 the sting OF unwelcome
truth In this:
"The infaVOraBle impression OF them
1.-THE Ddtchl becomes q tradition Of the
English press, and, unfortunately OF
the Colonial ONCE. We had treated
them unfairly as wen as unwisely ana
we never forgive those whom we have
injured"
Here Is another passage which may
be commended to those who speak CON
temptuously Of the Beers.
1.-THE Boera Of South Africa, OF all
human beings now on the planet corr
respond nearest 10 HOrnce'B description
Of the Roman peasant soldiers who de-
feated Pyrrhus and Hannibal. There
alone you WIN md obedience to par
ents as strict as among the aoient Sa-
bines, the severa mater, whose sons
fetch and carry at her bidding. who,
when thesons go to fight for their cdiin-.
try, win hand the rifles 70 them, and
bid them return with their arms In
their handB-or else not return at all
This is not pleasant reading, but may
be edifying, coming from an 'imperlalist
historian:
1.-THE ink on the treaty OF Allwal
North was scarcely dry when diamonds
were discovered in large quantities 10
a district which we ourselves treated
as part of the Orange territory before
our first withdrawal, and which had
ever since been administered by Orange
Free State magistrates. There was a
rush Of diBgers from all parts OF the
country. There was genuine fear
that the Beers would be unable to com
troll the flock of vuitures which was
gathering over so rich pre-. There
was q notion, also. that the finest Gia-
mOnd mines In the world ought not to
be lost to the British empire. It was
discovered that the country In which It
lay was not part OF the Free State
at all, and that 1t belonged to driqua
chief named Wuterboef The chIef In
past times had been an ally Of the
British. The Beers were accused Of
having robbed him. He appealed for \
help, and IN IN III hour we lent our 1
selves to an aggression for which there l
was no excuse. Lord Kimberley gave
his name to the new settlement. The
Dutch were expelled. They did not re-
sist. but they yielded under protest to
superior forces, and from that day, no
Boer IN South Africa has been able
to trust to English promise. The man
ner In which we acted, or allowed our
representatives to act. was isoIent in \
Its oynIcism. 4
I'VE had gone in as the champions OF |
the oppressed Waterboer. We gave
Waterboer and his Grlquns tenth OF i
the territory. We kept the rest our
selves. What could the Dutch have
done worse? We have accused theml
of breaking their engagement with us,
md It was we who taught them ths
lesson. A treaty but few months old
was staring US In the face. Even II |
Waterboer's title had been as good as
his friends pretended, we had pledged
ourselves to NEEDLE no more in such
matters. In language as plain as words /
could make II. Our conduct would |
have been less entirely intolerabla 10 |
we had rested simply on superior
strengtli-if we had told the Beers sim
ply that we meant to have the diamond
fields. and intended to take them; but
we poisoned the wound and we dustidei
our action by posing before the world
as the protectors Of the rights Of ma.
tive tribes whom we accuse them OF
having wronged."