The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-07-27
The Crimes Perpenated on Non-combatants
are in Violation Of Every
Civilized Law.
In South Africa the Abominations of the
Cuban Military System are
in Full Swing.

luxury; fuel almost unknown: and
only the bare necessities of life are al
lowed the wretdhed prisoners. Into
the miserable shelters provided by
Kitchener of Khartoum, women and
children, torn from desolated fields
and burned homes, are crowded with
out mercy, decency and humanity,
where, to quote the language of Miss
Hobhouse, '"rhe very magnitude of
their sufferings, indignities, loss and
anxiety seems to lift them beyond
tears" Dirt and disease run riot in
these camps, and death reaps a fear
full harvest. Women of education and
refinement are thrust into these death
traps, their physical sufferings rem
dered keener by being subjected to the
insolent oversight of Kafirs acting
under the orders Of military brutes.
If during the last spasms of the Re
bellion, northern generals had driven
the wives and children of Their brave
and defeated foes into camps, to be
starved and herded, under the master
ship of their negro slaves, how long
would the conscience and manhood of
free America have tolerated it? This
is the condition today in South Africa,
made possible by the complaisance of
an American administration, and the
apparent indifference Of American pub
lie opinion.
/ have watched and waited to hear
protests and denunciations thundered
from American platforms and pulpits;
I have listened in vain to hear the
voice Of Indignation echoing in the re-
public. wonder if the American con-
science is drugged with commercial
success? Are we so elated with our
trade prosperity at home and our pitt.
full conquests abroad, that the walls
Of dying children and the sobs Of tor
tured women fall with indifference
upon our ears? Do we imagine that
God is sleeping and that the day Of
vengeance is put off forever? Have
we an idea that because we stand idly
by, taking no active part in the crimes
being committed in South Africa, that
we are guiltless? Do we owe no duty
to humanity, to conscience, to religion,
to God, that we remain silent and su-
pine while the massacre of the inno-
cents goes on?
In these filthy, diseased camps of
the Transvaal and Orange Free State
are penned some $4,000 women and
children, under conditions that are a
disgrace to any civilized race. With.
out clothing and bedding, overcrowded,
underfed, illtreated and browbeaten,
blistering in the tropical sun by day
and shivering in the wind and rain by
night, these tortured creatures suffer
and wait for death, which is kinder
than the British brute dominating the
land. Pregnant women thrust into the
indecency Of overcrowded tents, fed on
insufficient food, sleeping on the cold,
damp earth, under sodden tents in sod
den clothing, await the supreme agony
Of womanhood under conditions that
cry to heaven. Little children pine
away to death, dying pitiful little mas
ses of skin and bone IN the arms of
agonized, heart-broken mothers.
Here is the British ration allowed
these poor people, daily: Eight ounces
of meat, including fat and bone, two
ounces of coffee, twelve ounces of meal
two ounces Of sugar, half ounce of
salt, and one tin Of condensed milk
for every twelve persons. Quite often
the meat is rotten; occasionally one DO.
tato is given them; frequently there is
no fuel to cook this wretched, starva.
tion ration. When the Boer men in the
field are particularly active, the ration
is reduced one-half; when the trains
break down, prisoners starve absolutely
for days. The water they receive is
from rivers filled with disease, where
the dead bodies of sheep and horses
and cattle rot and stew in the sun,
rivers full of nameless filth. There
are no provisions for boiling the water
to avoid the disease thus engendered
the sinks around the camps are open