Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-03-22
A new VIEW OF TIRE Beers.

Il. ID. Davis, mining engineer from
Johannesburg, South Africa, one of
the Jameson raid copspirators, and,
like John Hays Hammond, an Ameri-
can born, gives some new views on the
Boer characteristics in an interview
with a New York Evening Post reporter.
with the individual Boer we Uit-
lapders have no fault to find, said he;
at is the Boer government to which
we object The government has been
corrupted by contact with foreigners
Hollanders. Germans and others--ard
is not honest.
he is just such man as you would
find up in the woods Of Maine or in the
Western States. I've shot all over the
Transvaal. and l never went to a Boer
house without finding that / was vel
come to the best they had. They are
good people. Their kind treatment of
the British wounded is not diplomacy
IL Is the simple. natural generosity OF
the people. The idea that they are all
rough and ignorant is very great mis-
take. have many valued friends
among them, men Of high culture and
extensive scientific requirements, grad
yates of the best universities of Europe.
That goes to explain their alertness,
their strategy, the wise preparation
they made for this present struggle,
and the fact that they are manufactur-
ing their own ammunition on large
scale. The Beers have been preparing
| for this war ever since the Jameson
raid.
81 do not think that the Beer is any
| better soldier than the Briton on equal
| terms, but with the Bri.on attaching
! him in his own country he can give
large odds. Then again the Beers are
superior in artillery. The reason is
that they have tried,everything without
| prejudice, while the British and We
| have been tied TO old models. The re-
\ suit is that the Beers .. 95 Creusot gun
is 1000 yards better than the Arm
ST. ongs used by ourselves and the
British.
1.-THE grievances of the Uitlanders,
(which are the root OF the trouble, are
too, many to detail, but they chiefly
arise from the government monopolies.
One of them, the sale of liquor &c
blacks, affects the mining interests
deeply, as % per cert of our working
foros is lncapacitated each week on ac
count of the excessive drinking. Sale
of liquor to the blacks is against the
| Transsaal law, and We pay for enforc
ing that law; but the magistrates and
police will not enforce it, and We be
lieve that the reason they won't enforce
it lie that they are bought up. The
Beers treatment of the black man i:
not one of the Uitlanders' grievances
The Dutchman is the only one who
knows how to treat the black. Tn,
Englishman and American make mis-
take by treating him as an equal ane
SO can never manage him properly
The Beers are not cruel to the blacks
that book Under the Sjambok' is al
wrong. The rhinoceros- hide whip i
only used in prisons. and is there uset
, very properly, because the black sen
! fenced to 25 days in Jail would do a
little work as he could and think him
self in clover with his three good meal
day. The whip removes the attract
iveness which the place holds for him
"The. pass system, the surveillance
the numerous repr essions, too many t.
tell about at length, go to swell the lis
, Of Uitlanders' grieis, discomfort owe
which caused the Jameson raid. jaime
son was encouraged from Johannes
, burg; we were all In it-no use denyin
,, it. If we had got 1900 armed men il
: Johannesburg, we could have taken tn
country, but there was no way for u
., to get the arms in, except by such
! rush as Jameson made. and when
was ready to move the Beers had bee
warned. and II was too late. Johannes
burg had ordered Jameson to get read
!, for the advance; then he was ordere,
! not to move. know that a messeDge
afoot and one on horseback were sen
I, to turn him back, because We were NO
. ready.
/. '..The disaster of Jameson's raid wa
: all the fault of Jameson. He rushe
. forward IN spite of our warning, and b
! got himself and all of us in mess
! The conspiracy was cleared up, an
4 brought home to us in Johannesburg
! and suppose that in any other countr
: there would have been o lot of shootin
: and hanginR-and for good cause, tot
. But the Beers treated US very midi,
!. They kept us disarined, though, so thu
= their minority has been able to hold oil
, majority down with ease. In spite
2 the fact that l have strong pull
! and powerful friends among the official
= | was not able to own rifle till with
I, the last year, and then only as speci
y and great favor. l was always above
shotgun, as that is not considered
- very dangerous weapon by the Tran
. eaalers, and all the time that they wei
Is watching us Uiltanders so jealousy
see that we did not procure arms, ii
Beers themselves were arming to Il