The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-04-13
WEBSTER DAVIS ON TIE BOER.
Chicago Chronicle.)

One Of the current surmises put forth
In the interest of sure-thing candidates
for the presidency is that Webster
Davis, whose resignation as assistant
secretary of the interior was accepted
to take effect Wednesday of last week,
resigned with the idea of becoming q
running mate with Roosevelt, who is
said to be slated for the presidential
nomination vice Mckinley by a faction
Of the Republican happy family.
1t will be safe enough for the public to
take Mr.. Davis at his word in this mat
ter. In an authorized statement given
out by him last Monday he said he felt
impelled to tender his resignation as a
result of his visit to the Transvaal. He
further said he proposed to deliver a
lecture in Washington at an early date
In the interest of the South African re-
publics, feeling that this was the best
way for him to arouse the enthusiasm
of the American people on behalf of
those hard-pressed republics.
We may firmly assume that Mr..
Davis knows why he resigned and his
explanation Is entitled to more credence
than the insinuations of the Mckinley
henchmen, who never fail to throw mud
at everybody who ventures to criticise
the policy of their imperial master.
Mr.. Davis resigns because he wishes
to say a good word for the heroic people
of South Africa who are resisting the
efforts of England to assassinate their
republics and reduce them to vassalage.
He resigns because he wishes to do this
and knows he cannot without arraying
himself in deadly hostility to the ad-
If Mr.. Mckinley and his
advisers were In sympathy with those
who are resisting the attempt to destroy
their independence by violent and un-
provoked assault 1t would not be neces-
sary for Mr.. Davis to resign for the
purpose stated by him. , 4,
While 1t would not be proper for him,
of course, to busy himself in behalf of
the beers while holding a prominent
place in the executive branch of our
government so long as we professed
strict neutrality it would not be neces-
sary for him to busy himself extensively
IL the heart of the administration was in
the right place. He might in that case
be even more serviceable to those with
whom we ought profoundly to sympa-
thize in this struggle by remaining
closely identified with the government
than by retiring from Its service.
He abandons Mckinley because he
wishes to do something to aid just
cause. And, after he was notified that
his resignation had been accepted, the
first thing he did was to make state
ment for publication. In this statement
he presents some facts which expose to
contempt a number of English false
hoods and calumnies.
For instance, he says that he was
welcomed and assisted in the most at
tentive and cordial way as soon as he
entered the territory of the Dutch re-
republicans, and everything was done
to promote his comfort and convenience
and to afford him the best opportunities
for observation. yet" says Mr.. Davis,
"the English told me with great posi-
tiveness that the Beers would shoot me
as soon as they learned spoke English
They tell this lie so much at Cape Town
that they even got Col. Stowe, our coun-
sui there. to believe It,"
1t will be observed that Mr.. Davies
does not hesitate to call lie a lie. And
this directness of speech tells more than
pages of diplomatic circumlocution
about the purport Of what Mr.. Davis
learned about the British an the Beers
during his sojourn in South Africa. 1t
explains why we have got most of our
truthful reports of battles from Boer
sources in spite Of the difficulty of COM
munication with them.
Mr.. Davis makes some statements
which seem hardly creditable. For in
stance, he says he speaks from the
most positive knowledge" when he as
serts that "all of the Boer troops in that
region 1.-THE Tugela1 numbered about
1000. With this force Joubert and
Botha held Butler with 10000 menl back
and kept White and his $1,000 men cor
rallied in the town. When Cronje was
threatened 5000 men were sent to him
from Ladysmith, leaving about 1000 to
face the $1,000 of the enemy"
4 If this statement is even approxima-
tely correct we may easily accept Mr..
Davis's conclusion that the defenses Of
Pretoria are impregnable. And we may
accept the statement which has been
attributed to Kruger that IL the British
persisted In the attempt at subjugation
the world would be appaplled by the loss
of life that would raai,If