The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-17
THE beers DISCUSSED
Montagu White Speaks Before the
Geographic Society.
The Destruction of Johannesburg.
in His Opinion. a Necessity in Casc
the British Threaten It-A Defence
of the Position of Kruger Toward
England before the War Began.

England. and who is in Washington. pre-
sunably as the accredited envoy from that
country to the United States, spoke before
an audience of 1,50O last night at the Con
gregational Church, Tenth and Streets.
| The address was made under the auspices
OF the National Geographic Soriety of
this city, the members of which were
present.
| The audience was made up largely of
Boer sympathizers, who were present to
| hear the personal opinions of man who
| had lived with and was familiar with
| the people now fighting in the Trans
vaal. There were many women pres
ent, and when Mr.. White had finished the
| sympathy that had been aroused for the
| Beers was manifested by the manner in
which he was congratulated by hundreds
of ladies who come up to the platform to
shake his hand.
Mr.. White was introduced after a pleas
| ing little speech by Prof. McGee, Chief of
| the Bureau of Ethnology. Mr.. Whites
| first remarks related to a newspaper ar
! ticle which had been written on a speech
which he recently made in New York
City. and which alluded to his speech as
being somewhat anti-Administration in
tone. Mr.. White desired to correct this
statement. which. he said. was not true
The speaker then took up the subject of
his address. which was South Africa"
and spck" at considerable length upon the
geographical features of that country. He
gave careful description OF the inhabited
portions of the country and while this
was made especially for the Geographic
nrrc nf
more interest to the audience generally.
Speaking of the present danger that
Johannesburg will be destroyed by the
Beers to prevent its being taken by the
advancing British Army, Mr.. White said:
Johannesburg. thirty-seyen miles from
Pretoria, while representing great wealth,
is now point looked at by all eyes be-
cause of its strategical Importance. Bloem-
fontein is not important in this respect,
and it would be but a wanton waste 10
destroy it. But johannesburg lies as
stepping stone. This city, with its facili-
les would be great help to the British
armies, and it has never occurred to me
that the Beers would hesitate to remove
stepping stones from the path of the Eng
lish soldiers.
Il read in an American paper recently"
continued Mr.. White. that johannesburg
was soon to be captured and Dom Paul
hanged. I do not think that possible.
Dom Paul can take care of himself, and
in case he cannot. the world would inter
yene to prevent such ar action.
1T has always been one of my dreams
that the English speaking people would
unite. 1t was not to be a hands across
the-sea union, but, instead. an understand
ing which would be not only naturally
helpful to America and England. but
great benefit to every civilized country.
/ m al tn,
England and forsook Her Majesty's cause
for that of the South African Republic, |
thought | might still realize that dream
But then it never occurred to me that
such an alliance might prove a menace
to the life of a Republic which stood for
the same principles as Great Britain and
America.
In my boyhood Lord Salisbury was a
fetch. | always admired and respected
him. When the trouble arose between the
two nations and assumed a dangerous form
l counted on SallSbury's great skill to
avert the horrible disasters and tragedies
that have taken place on the battlctieIds.
But my love for him suffered sevei
shock when l saw that NOT only did he re-
fuse to interfere in our behalf, bat made
our position much more difficult than |
think the facts warrant. oom Pauls COM
munication, which Lord Salisbury chose to
regard as an ultimatum, was merely q
necessity.
Were the citizens of the Boer Republic
to array themselves so that they could be
more easily killed? The British kept MAJ
ing the situation harder and harder for the
Boers until the receipt of this communica-
ton. Had not this step been taken the
British would have continued the massing
of troops and making ready to strike with
greater effect. This move upon the part OF
President Kruger was one that could not
have been easily escaped"
MIR. White said that his sentiments re-
garding the ultimatum were expressed in
an article which appeared recently in priat
TO this effect: "Of course, Dom Paul was
fool to send in the ultimatum, but he
would have been ten times greater fscI
had he not done So"
by the many questions that have E"en
asked me, together with the editorials of
many papers, my attention is drawn to tie
matter Of franchises. 1t has been repre-
sented in numerous instances that the
British subjects have been crowded out of
the righi of citizenship in the Transvaai.
but that is really not Dom Paui's fault"
Here Mr.. White told the story OF a con-
yersation which occurred between Dom
Paul and man named Carpenter, an Eng
lishman. who resided in the TransvaaI.
Carpenter desired to become citizen and
was asked by President Kruger if he would
his allegiance to the Queen.
q Indeed not answered Carpenter 4
can be a good subject of the Queen and
still serve you WELL
4" You have only TO read your Bible ar
swered Dom Paul. to learn that you can
not serve two masters
81 do not know Il great deal about
American history" continued the speaker.
but my attention has been called to an
incident that took place in 1914"
He referred to the burning of the United
States Capitol. and cited 1t to Illustrate
British methods, saying that in his opin-
ion il was untorgivable vandalism
Mr.. White gave a brief history of the
building of the Transvaal Republic, telling
Of the trials and sufferings experienced by
the Beers. He referred, during the speech
TO Rudyard Kipling as a wandering ro-
mancer," and feared that the novelist had
gone TO South Africa on a mission that
would do no good to man.
Mr.. White said that in the possible fall
of Johannesburg $50 600 worth OF his prop
erty rs teopardized. In concluding he said
that all the Beers want is liberty and IN
which they have desired and
fought for during great number of years
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