New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-10-06
THE DEGENERATE BOER.
HE is NOT TO-DAY THE MAN HE WAS
~ 1881.
THE COMING or THE OUTLANDER RrsPoxSre,.r
FOR THE cHANGE-THE INFLUENCE
OF THE KAFFTR.

apparent.
Circumstances have changed him nightly.
\ new generation has sprung up. and the eyolu-
ton n degeneracy IS even more marked IN the
young Boer than II was in his father. At Ma
juba our opponents were sturdy men. poor hun
ery. iu clad. i'll fed. and good marksmen TO A
man. II is very different to-day. The causes
are simple enough
The Boer ~ nineteen wears ego eked out 4
bare living from hand to mouth. lie had 70
shoot for the pot The daily food Of bis fam
ily depended upon the game he shot. He was
homckco ping sober man u strictly religious
principles. according 70 his lights ana knew
Eothng II the ways # the Outiande-
The son Of this hardy pioneer has had
totally different upbringing Thirteen years
ago began tho great rush 10 the Wit"aters-
rand gold fields. Thousands Of stranger
poured into the country bringing with them
money. customs and Injuries which had been
hitherto unknown Many Boer farmers Sol
their farms. or options thereon. for thousands -
pounds. Their sons carned money as kurvey-
ors" or transport riders There was no longer
any necessity % shoot for the daily food.
certain number ~ Inefficient schools we're estat-
lished. The Outlander brought Win nm ATT
manner Of vices. which the idle young B)er was
only too ready TO assimilate. re rejected The
advice Il the "pred.kant." or pastor The towns,
VOW rapidly sprnging mp on The gold fields at
tracted and repealed him He drank square
face" or "dop' i'm place u coffee He learned
what 2 hotel was. what q staircase looked Ike.
and what music hall meant
In Pretoria came an increasing demand for
Sons II tn. country 10 take up Government
positions. and IL a young Boer could only read
and write an appointment was DIS. az a silaF'
which meant 10 him riches beyond me dreams
of avarice Then. again. In Pretoria he had
money offered him at every turn. There We're
contracts 10 be made, Jobs 10 De- done, conc".-
sions 10 be obtained, votes ~ be influences.
bribery and corruption were blatant and ever
present The Outlander was only too ready o.
he neeced What did the young Boer want'
Was IL sold watch or four Whr"lea SPIDER,
or his hotel bill for a month"; Certainly, Here's
n check. In return. a little favor A conoes-
sion Of course. And so the ball rolled on.
No wonder the Doe. to-day Is degenerate j.
IS impossible that he could be anything e.se he
is really only semi-civilized. and that fact ac-
counts for much Of the misunderstanding Do
/ tween mis- Government and ours
RETURNING TO \ PRIMITIVE STATE
Descended though he undoubtedly IS rom
. some Of the very best Huguenot stocN-as VIII
ness the frequent recurrence Of such names 40
De Vners pronounced Fljee). Celliers pro
nounced Celljee) Serrurier, Labuschagne foufe,
JOubert. and many OtLcrs-yet owing 70 harf-
shin eypatriation wildness Of surroundings and
want Of intercourse with his kind. h. has grad
ually returned 10 a primitive state-has desen-
Grated. in fact, though by no means on y .rlai
lines. 70 q standardization which is pltiiul ~
It's bigOted ignorance.
The history Of South Africa tells Us that the
Dutch took possession Of the Cape Colony IN
1862. under Jan Van Rebeck, and that In lbS>
a large party ~ French settlers fleeing from tfe
Revocation If the Edict Il Nantes. were sent
out from Holland for colonization purposes.
were granted lands around SteIenoosch ~
Drakenstern and az Fransche Hoek Frencn-
mans Corner, They ntermarried with the
Dutch colonists, and this combination OF the
strong religious feeling ard skill in farming -
the French. together with the business qualities
and stolid cunning Of the Dutch, produced an
ideal colonizng and pioneer race The Cow
ernorship would seem - have alternated be-
tween French and Dutch, for We read thai ~
171i the Governor was i Marquis de cha
vonnes and in 1928 one Gysbert Van Noodt.
very important element. which is often
overlooked has tended much more than is
generally supposed ID one side Of the present
Boer nature. This is the constant intercourse
with natives. and the consequent assimilation
If some Kaflr characteristics There was ~
intermarriage. % course but during the trek.
often lasting from two TO ten years. when
the hardy Boer pioneers. with womenkind and
children pluckily ventured 20 the unknown
North they were accompanied by slaves, prob
ably Hottcrtots and Bushmen. who became IN
a way ccmpanions at any rate to the children.
who naturally picked up many OF their ways
Now prominent characteristic or all African
races is p sur,le diplomacy Of language, largely
assisted by smiles drawn from the surround
ings ~ saily life. <afir will rarely, II ever.
say yes or no 10 direct question. He WIT
equiyocate. circumlocute, and do everything ey-
cect lie outright He IS vastly pleased II ~
thinks he has deceived you. even II only YER
haly The Boer IS much the same. and The
highest compliment one can pay him Is 70 ca
him slim" or cunning. General Jouberts nick
name is slim Pet and he is proud Of f. Tia
Boer and Kafr methods Of diplomacy are vastly
similar
THE ADVENTUROUS VOORTREKKER
To turn 10 another side Of the Boer character
The VOortrekker was the true adyenturer. as
understood in the strictly Ezabethan sense
Time and again during the last two hundred
years he had to set forth into the unknown.
fighting the Kafirs, shooting for his bare eX-
istence living almost the life Of savage for
years at a time and eventually settling down
in some remote spot where he is absolutely iso-
lated from his fellow beings. To this day the
B0er feels unhappy and crowded If from any
part Of his ten thousand or twelve thousand
acre farm he can see the smoke from any neigh
boris chimney. Nothing less than magnificent
distances pleases him. He feels unsafe in town
and I'll at ease even In village. That towns
people are one and all rogues thieves and YER
neukers (swlndlers) is a Dreconceived and Inc
radicabie notion. which. truth TO tell, IS only
too often verified.
The patriarchal Transvaa Boer had in his
time been through tire most terrible hardsh.ps-
Kaflr wars. awful massacres (Weenen. B.oed-
rivier), thirst hunger and. in a great many
cases. actual starvation. The gradual conquer.
ing of a savage and hostile negro hinterani
took many years and untold lives Even when
farms had been taken up. rude mud houses
built ard mealies sown 70 keep body and soul
together. either drouth or ocusts devastated the
crops and the work had TO be recommended Inc
country swarmed with wild anmals-buck or
extraordinarily different kinds, from tie oNNt
little oribi TO the wildebeest and koodoo lAeh
quagga and. of course. birds innumerable Every
man had (and has to this day. his trusty rooler,
or muzzle loading rifle and through ns'ah'
practice his aim was unerring
WHEN EVERY CARTRIDGE COUNTED
There is a story. which is amply true that IN
Englshman shooting with q Boer and having
his cartridge belt full up asked Dom Dante
why he only took three cartridges with him TIE
B0er said he only meant to bring home thfes
buck lie got his three buck, sure enough, ana
the Englishman got nothing. However. fAa-
was the older generation. The shooune ot me
Younger is by no means 50 good TO-DAY. as $
shown by the wappen-schouwings or ride con-
tests which are held in country dofps. ~ WI
la,os and a. which Beers and rooneks Eng
Nshraen) meet in more or less friendly fashon
The old Boer could unerrlng'y hit BUCK gun.
ning. at seven hundred yards. The young b.
is not much good at n bottle at two or inres
hundred yards or course there are exceptions
but they are few. IL,
Current news shows US that the Boer rciaihs