Missouri Valley times., 1901-03-07
Letter From South Africa.

The following letter was re.
ceived by George Burbank from
A. j. Laurie:
KIMBERLEY, South Africa, Jan.
8, 1901 Dear Friend George: I
know that you think l am a fine
correspondent not to answer your
letter which we received soon
after the siege of Kimberly was
raised. The fact Of the matter is
l have nothing to write that will
be of interest to. you folks. The
war is the only topic in this coun-
try-and l suppose you get enough
of that in the enewspapers at home.
But as for getting the truth / very
much doubt whether you do or
not. l am sure the people in
England do not get the true state
OF affairs concerning the war in
South Africa.
When the war started the most
skeptlcal persons said it would
last six months but the majority
Of the British population Thought
from sc to 60 days. Unfortunate
lly / chanced to be one of the
skeptics. We have had war now
for over IA months and as far as
I can see it is good for ID months
longer aud then it won't be settled
permanently. The British may
cause the Beers to submit for the
time being but in my opinion
there can be no lasting peace in
South Africa unless the Beers
gain their independence, and their
chances are better today than
they we're six months ago. The
Beers have fairly mystifed Great
Britain who declared six months
ago that the war was over and
that there were only a few rebels
in the field who would soon be
forced to surrender, but this con-
clusion has proved premature both
as to time of surrender and also
number of men in the field. The
British army number between
250,00O and 100000. The Boert
are said to have between 25,O0(
and 10000 but still the Beers g
almost where they please and de
. es they please. When ever trey
,et short of provisions they cap
Iure British canopy, where the!
get everything they require. The.
!. have invaded Cape Colony ant
British reports say they are with
in 100 miles of Capetown. Thi
does not look very good for tn
gsupporter of Rule Britannica or u
foreigners" as communication
between here and Capetown
wvery uncertain and the already ex
etortionate cost of living has gon
up by leaps and bounds until
takes all we make for living ez
j, penses.
Q, DeWett, the Boer General,
operating in the Free State no.
O prematu1ely called the Orang
/, River Colony and its people mad
rebels by proclamation, thei
property destroyed, houses burne
to the ground, women and inne
cent children made homeless an
then the Imperial Governmer
has the monumental impudene
to ask the Beers to come in, Ia
down their arms and return
:; their devastated homes aud begi
anew. And then we hear peopl
say how foolish they are not
except the liberal terms that Gree
Britain has offered.
The fact of the matter is Gre
: Britain with all her greatness
: the only country in the civilize
world that has made war {
. women and children. l dor
= think Great Britain could ha'
found a poorer piece of materi
alto manage the South Africa cal
= paign than she found in the pc
son Of Lord Roberts unless q
- had chosen "Kitchner,'' the o
now in command. He fought t
% most of his battles by proclam
- tion and used the most harbario
a methods methods Of conqueri
- the territory he entered and th
,el the papers call his method stra
gy. What rot! Well, Kitchr
in in command now and 40 far