The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-02-16
MACRUM HITS AT hay.
CONTINUED from Page one.)
Hay OF beng In scheme to ruin his
character
Macrum's statement was as follows.

CnHrdCJeI.
Macrum's statement was as follows:
The situation in Pretoria was such that, first.
rs an official, / could not remain there while my
government at home was apparently in the
dark a. to the exact condition in South Africa.
Secondly, as a man and citizen of the United
States, / could not remain in Pretoria, sacriflc.
ing my own self respect and that of the people
of Pretoria while the government at home con.
tinued to leave me in the position of British
consul and not an American consul want to
say right here that there was not one single
request made Of me through the department Of
state looking to the care of British interests in
Pretoria which did not fulfill and report upon
according to my orders. On the other hand,
American interests in South Africa were in
that condition which demanded that the de
partment OF state should be cognizant of them.
issued a statement received from the state
department that Americans must remain neu.
tral. In the face of this Americans were con.
tinually going to the front and taking up arms
in the cause OF the Beers / could not help but
know that many OF these were citizens of the
United States. also knew that many of them,
in utter despair at the apparent attitude of our
own government, were taking the oath of al.
1egiance TO the Transvaal republic. When af-
fairs had reached that state that my vice con.
sui, Mr.. Van Ameringen, closed up his bust.
ness, took the oath Of allegiance to the repub-
lie, and went to the front as a Burgher, l
thought the time had come when l should
make a report OF these conditions.
t was over four weeks from the time the war
opened before received single mail dispatch
from my government, or personal letter. The
mail for the Transvaal had all been stopped at
Cape Town by order Of the high commissioner.
When this mail was finally forwarded to me-
after Colonel Stowe, the consul general at Cape
Town, had secured its release, I had the humil.
iation, rs the representative of the American
20 IA
and looking upon envelopes bearing the official
seal Of the American government opened and
officially sealed with a sticker, notifying me
that the contents had been read by the censor
at Durham. looked up international law, but
failed to find anywhere that one military power
can use its own discretion as to forwarding the
official dispatches Of a neutral government to
its representative in a besieged country.
The mail service frpm Delagoa bay to En-.
rope was continually interrupted by the action
OF British men-of-war at that port. Service
was over two weeks longer than by the west
coast, and there were continual rumors that
that port would be closed and communication
with the outside world entirely cut off. The
cable service for the Transvaal was absolutely
cut Off l was privately informed by the Bel.
8ian and German consuls at Pretoria that their
official cables in code to their governments had
been refused by the censor. filed one cable
In the interest of an Americon in Pretoria
which was refused absolutely by the censor in
Durham. This cable sent to the fance of a
Mr. Nelson, an American business man in Pre-
toria She was on her way to South Africa
from Buffalo, N. Y, when the war broke out.
According to a letter which Mr.. Nelson re-
ceived just before the war commenced she was
tuying her trousseau in Europe. The cable
requested her to come by the east coast When
informed Mr.. Nelson that the cable had NOT
been sent, his brother took the oath of al.
legiance to the republic and went to the front.
But these are simply minor details.
The misrepresentation which had been 90
ing ON before the war and after it opened were
OF such serious nature and would require
such detailed explanation that on Nov. 6 I filed
cable TO the department in code, stat
tng that wished leave of absence in order to
visit the states. I set forth in this cable that
my vice consul had enlisted in the Boer army (:
that Mr.. Atterbury, an American, whom /
had known very favorably for more than q