The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-06
BOER JUSTICE.
How the Unarmed English Are Ruled
by the Beers.
London Daily Mail.

by the Beers.
London Daily Mail.
Can an Englishman. or. indeed, any uit-
lander. obtain fair play in the Transvaal?
The answer to this simple question is both
yes and no-but mostly no. The Beers as
race are so cunning and willy. or as they
say in their own language, "banje SLIM"
that they think 1t rather clever and smart
to best a man. even If they know that
they are in the wrong themselves.
Speaking broadly and generally. the best
served department of the Transvaal public
service is the judicial. The judges are
honest. upright, well-educated gentlemen.
who are as just and impartial as ii is in
their power TO be. But they are dragooned
(there is no other word for IT'D by the Uit-
voerende Raad-that is. by the government.
Instead of the bench being entirely indie
pendent, 1t is submissive to the wishes or
instructions of the Volksraad, which means.
of course, to the autocratic personality of
Paul Kruger.
A notable instance of this was the noto-
rious Doms case, which occurred a few
years ago, and Is typical Of the subjugation
of the bench. This man Doms claimed GER
tain farms which the government found IL
inconvenient to grant. Doms applied TO the
High Court. and would inevitably have won
his case. but the day before the hearing
the Rad passed a resolution TO prevent
Doms from having access to the court.
President Kruger said it was necessary to
pass this resolution because If Doms were
allowed to come into court he would as
suredly win and the farms would have TO
be given up to him, and for political rea-
sons this could not be allowed
Doms was not heard. He is now. or was
quite recently, a destitute cab driver in
Pretoria. He is uitlander. Thus was
More recently Chief Justice Kotze, an
honorable man of the utmost integrity,
was forced to resign because he refused to
the President This was an outrageous
case and raised great talk at the time:
The chief justice was universally respected
as man of unimpeachable high-minded-
ness. and the drastic autocracy which
forced him from the bench was adversely
commented upon by every legal authority
Again, when the unfortunate, misguided
reform committee prisoners were arraigned
at Pretoria after the jameson raid the gov
eminent could not trust any of their own
judges to be sufficiently severe, so they i'm
ported from the Orange Free State GER
tain Judge Gregorowski, who simply obeyed
instructions in the sentences he passed.
There was, further, gross miscarriage or
justice in that the prisoners We're induced
to plead guilty to the charge of '.gekwekste
majesteit," which is equivalent to treason,
on the distinct understanding from high
quarters that they would be let off lightly
and that none of them, not even the four
principals, would be sentenced to death.
We know what happened.
No., justice is travestied in the Transvaal
ihap the Hsb is n bot TO
pounds and shillings-they have no pence In
the Transvaal-but at the same time the
ultlander is at a great Disadvantages, The
even over the government itself. is the jour-
naiist. Mr.. Henry Hess, who is not entirely
unknown as a successful defendant in Lon
don courts. But he is the exception that
proves the rule.
For instance, there are constant disputes
occurring s,d in connection , with mynpaeh IT'S
claimed gold farm. If they come before a
country landdrost, or magistrate. and the
litigants are Boer farmers and uitlander r
verdict will go, whatever the weight OF evil
dence may be. 1t Is an astounding but per-
fectly safe assertion to make that five out
of six Boer witnesses are suborned. Their
idea OF truth is as elastic as their oatns are
unreliable.
The Consequence is that the jury box, except
at very special and important trials, is
packed with a lot of ignorant, vacuous
peasants. who have not the vvaguest idea s as
burghers, If you please, have to give their
verdict upon matters often affecting large
sni oI fhd the pares to the action
are of different nationalities-that is, Boer
and uitlander-there is no question with the
5 aecSr di e to their patriotic Si sympathy
OF course. all the proceedings throughout
the law courts of the Transvaal are con-
Quoted In mig hgh Dn,en SIcn ps at
known as the ''taal," which even Holland
ers find hard to understand at first.
This il the more ridiculous. as every one
in court-judge, plaintiff. defendant, jury,
counsel and witnesses-talk English. ana
would much rather use that tongue. But It
iii clx CfrtR &c
rule that the landedrost of Johannesburg. a
most worthy individual, was recently fined
E5. and that amount was actually deducted
from his salary, because he allowed wit
ness to give his evidence in English. In
the Cape Colony, by the way, both IAN
guages have exactly equal rights anefe
Scotsman aaf by birth. 70 hear him pratt
de taal," or speak the language. with a
strong north of the Tweed accent. is most
The recent, trial Of Won yeIdtheim for the the
alleged murder of Mr.: Wolf Joel was s rid rio.
not at fault, but the office of the public
prosecutor certainly was, for the jury was
Instructed to find him guilty or not OF muir
der without the alternative of manslaugn-
ter If Won Veldtheim had been tried on
the latter count he would certainly nave
been found guilty and sentenced to fourteen
In the outlying districts of the Transvaal.
away from the towns, justice, OF KIND, is
administered by the ldnOOTOSl. OF
ordinarily an ignorant Boer, which is saying
a great deal. He dispenses rough sort OF
justice according to his own particular
lights. and without the slightest reference
to the .'Grondwet." or law of the land.
Quarrels about cattle and disputed bound
airy marks, or "beacons," as they are called,
are of the most frequent occurrence. he Is
readily amenable to reason in the shape OF
bride and 1t is really question OF VINO
bids highest for the verdict.
In his dealings with natives he Is harsn,
unfair and something of a slavedriyer. He
collects their hut tax, sometimes twice over,
and then forgets altogether to remit the
amounts to Pretoria. He fines them two or
three head of cattle for the most trivial
offense, and his own herd soon wakes num-
erous in consequence.
A man in this position In the Spelonken
high position i'm the police force. amassed a
considerable fortune. and built himself a
lordly pleasure house, out of the fines and
penalties inflicted upon the natives.
Young Sarel Eloff, a very near blood reia-
ton of Paul Kruger, while in his official ca
pacity of lieutenant of police on the kru-
gersdorp race course, insulted her Majesty,
the Queen, in dastardly manner. He was
mildly reprimanded, and subsequently pro-
NOTED to a more responsible position.
1t is not the place here TO enlarge upon
the insecurity OF title TO property, which Is
a necessary corollary of the lax legal meth
DDS prevalent I'm the Transvaal, where any
thing may be upset at a moments notice by
volksraad resolution instigated by the
President. But ii is a real danger to the
many financial corporations who have liter
ally spent millions in the exploitation OF the
otrrifororc WffUaferSrand-