The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-02-04
SOUTH AFRICA DIAMONDS

Tar as white women are concerned. Dur.
ing my hrst two years Of residence there
II saw only one white woman. She was
travehng through to join her husband, a
missionary When the presence of this So
called angel became known in the vicjn-
ity everybody quit work in order tn eaza
upon her w e1o
IRON the, discovery Of diamonds In
south Africa until the present dav ora
great obstacle the diggers and the com
Hahy mad always to contend with has
neen the enormous loss annually of rough
u.,,n,onos stolen by the native Kaffir
iaborers while at work in the claims or an
ne depositing floors. These thefts reached
such enormous proportions and the dia
ioohds found such ready market anonr
'he INSCRIPTIONS element of the white
population that it became necessary ia
enact specla! laws to cope with the evil
IN the earlier days, upon conviction tha
kaffir was simply punished for the theft
ny ABOUT tWele morths' imprisonment but
inc white buyer, for receiving stolen mon
cry, was subject to a fine of about five
tl1kes the actual value of the diamond
and three months Imprisonment with
Hard labor The profit to the buyer was
SO great that this punishment proved to
De utterly inadequate. Trial so far had
peen by magistrate. 1t became now
necessary to create a special court Under
an act passed by the Cape legislature
commonly called the illicit diamond buv.
ING or diamond trade act, this court con-
sisted or three supreme court justfcee
doing entirely away with trial by iurv'
upon conviction the maximum sentence
Tor a Kaf11r, the thief, was fifty lashes
Upon the bare back with the cat-o'-nine.
talls ana to undergo imprisonment with
hard labor for a term not exceeding ten
years. The receiver or Illicit diamond
buyer, upon conviction, received as a
IT111 I'M
onment at hard labor the first one-t1fth
of the term to be spent in isolation and
IN chains and he was also liable to q
line not exceeding $1,000, as we'll as con.
Hscat1on of all real and personal property
which he held at the time of his arrest
within the diamond mining area. Tho
ground taken was that the criminal had
accumulated this property from the gains
OF his illicit traffic. Isolation In prison
consisted in being kept apart from all
lother prisoners as well as not having
Ithe privilege of seeing a visitor or writing
Ia letter or communicating with any one.
The prisoner was herded with about fifty
Others consisting of Kaffirs and bush
men, in a large dormitory cell about 100
feet long by fifteen feet wide, and was
|obliged to work twelve hours a day in the
mot sun in 4 stone quarry, and had chains
weighing from seven to eighteen pounds
riveted on his legs. His behavior during
c!a-y; otherwise it was prolonged at the
discretion Of the prison superintendent,
Upon my leaving the. colony there were
about 300 whites thus undergoing sem
'tence. There was no appeal from thu
sentence except to the privy council or
house of lords, and this was hardly within
the reach of the average convict.
'This law checked to a. certain extent
Illicit diamond buying, but it must be re-
|1nembered that the inducement to commit
the crime Was enormous. For instance,
Fa Kafttr was induced to steal a diamond,
say of about 40 carats, which he could
safely conceal in his mouth, and even
swallow. The native runner or go-be-
tween in the employ of the white buyer
would pay him about $40 for this stone,
which might have market value of from
$1,000 to $4,000. The runner received a
present Of about SIS in addition to
weeks salary of about $25 and his board.
Upon conviction the runner Jared the
same as his master. Many fortunes have
been made in this traffic and the buyers
have slipped from the colony in the nick
OF time on the eve of being trapped,
Trapping is the mode of procedure re-
sorted to by the detective department in
order to catch the buyer The detectives
get hold of a runner, who is induced to
betray his master. A trusted Kaf1ir is
procured and thoroughly searched and
stripped by a number of detectives, so
that he has nothing in his possession. A
rough and uncut, well iden lifted and ac-
curately weighed stone is then handed to
him. The runner takes him in tow and
Introduces him to his master. These two
are followed and watched by a number
Of disguised detectives. The white man
will ask to see the stone. which the KAT
fir takes from it's hiding place. A bar
gain is struck for a few dollars. the
money is paid over, and the Kaffir de-.
parts. AS soon as he reaches the open a
signal is given to the detectives, rush
Is made. and the diamond buyer is ar
rested. Upon search being made the dia-
n,ond is found in the buyers possession
and the money in the Kaffir's The run
ner turns queens evidence against his
employer and is held as witness. The
detectives corroborate all details and
conviction is certain