The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1900-01-18
The WHITE PINE NEWS.
Thursday, January Is, 1900.
THE PIOUS KRUGER.

The Courier-J ournal, tired OF the eff
forts OF certain men to make political
capital of the Boer war, tired OF the ef-
forts OF certain newspapers to do the
same thing, tired of the efforts OF GER
tain newspapers to make one race OF
men in this country distrust the decent
Americans and the American Presi-
dent, copies what happened to some
men few years ago in South Africa.
After stating that some foreigners in
the Transvaal, including several Amer
leans, resented the outrages put upon
them by the Beers, and decided to try
to compel them to grant reforms which
had been promised them in vain, col
lected some rifles and ammunition, al
though they did nothing with them
and committed no overt act, their Of
Tense being such as is punished accord
ing to law by only a short term of i'm
prlsonment or small fine Then the
Courier-Journal copies what followed,
based upon facts drawn from historians
of Boer sympathies as follows'
These men, including six Americans,
were arrested, cast into an indeseribab-
" filthy jail, and informed that unless
they pleaded guilty they would all be
hanged, but that II they did plead guilty
they would be let of with fines.
Being brought into court, they were
charged with an offense, which, by the
express statute law of Boerdom, was
punishable with nothing more than
short term of Imprisonment. Being as
sured by the Boer prosecution officers
that they would receive no greater SEN
tence than this, and would be allowed
to escape with fines, II they pleaded
guilty, they did so plead; although, as
TO many of them, the otfense could
never have been legally proved.
No Judge then on the bench being
quite INSCRIPTIONS enough to servo Mr..
krugers turn, he imported an utterly
INSCRIPTIONS Judge named Gregorowis-
XII. This Judge publicly stated that he
came for the express purpose of max
ing il hot for the Uitlanders After the
prisoners had all pleaded guilty, this
Judge arose and announced that, as to
the four leaders, he should not sentence
them under the statute law, but would
resort to the unwritten law of the Trans
vaal, which prescribed death for such
an offense. Accordingly, he sentenced
these four lone of whom was d1stln-
glished American, and probably the
ablest mining engineer in the world J, to
death, and all the others to various
terms Of imprisonment and heavy fines.
Even the Dutch settlers of South Az
RIGA. being Mortified at this sentence,
began pouring by hundreds into Pre-
tofil to demonstrate against 1t, Mr.
Kruger graciously took the matter into
consideration, but announced that his
religious scruples forbade that he should
commute the death sentence into fines
because such fines would be ''the price
of blood, y and his reverence for his
dear Lord Jesus forbade that he should
be less scrupulous than the priests OF
Jerusalem.
The pious Beers therefore informed
the prisoners that they could not be re-
leased on the payment OF any fines, but
that II the prisoners would, OF their
own accord, offer to subscribe for
charities sums varying from SO, 600
to 800, 600 each, for the leading men,
and not less than $40, 900 for anybody,
the merciful President might be induced
to pardon them, without any fines or
Imprisonment.
The offer was necessarily accepted.
The American citizens all made heavy
contributions to charity, Mr.. John
Hays Hammond paying 800, 600.
These charitable contributions
amounting to about 1000, 600 in all,
were duly paid over to his Highness,
Paul Kruger, or his son-in-law. 1t is
needless to say that the ''charities"
have never turned up, although four
years have now elapsed since the 81
200, 200 was safely deposited under the
control OF the pious Paul Kruger.
Then the Courier Journal remarks
that this Mr.. Kruger is the same Mr..
Kruger Who in his person and family,
constitutes to this day the Sister Re-
public" that figures in our Compression
al resolutions OF sympathy; the same
pious old gentleman who, having in
yited foreigners to the Transvaal, hav-
ing sold his lands to them for big money
and having robbed them under out
rageous laws to support his household
and his Government, Is now trying to
drive them from his country, to con-
fscate the remainder of their property,
and who, falling, cries loudly to the
Lord to guide the bullets, bought with
the Uitlanders' money, into the Uit-
landers' earcesses. Tribune.