Washington sentinel., 1901-02-09
I'll = ~ SENTINEL

was SO obviously anu uOBGiCo0lH
forlorn-to check those excesses
among his men which have been
too often tacitly permitted, # not
openly encouraged, by other guer-
lila leaders in other times. Theft
from prisoners he has endeavored
to put down with the utmost sew
Gritty. Thus, after the Derbyshire
militia had capitulated to him at
Rhenoster k liver on June 7, it
came to his ears that an officer had
complained that, in spite OF the
generals mandate that private
property was to be respected, a
pair OF valuable field glasses had
been taken from him. To the off
Ger in question comes Dewet, who
says that in the confusion attend
ing the capture of so many men il
is almost impossible to keep all his
troops under control; but "if you
can point out the man, l will make
an example of him. l will blow
out his brains with my own hand"
And he would have done it too
dared 10 do it with the certainty
that none OF his men would have
murmured. That is more than
would be the case with any OF the
other Boer generals, whose hole
over their subordinates has ever
been of the most fragile character.
But it has been truly said that De
Wet has his men under a sort Of a
charm they do his bidding
whether they will or no. He is
severe upon them; il any show
signs OF tagging or ialtering in the
face of a heavy FIRE, sjambok in
hand, he rounds them of or fogs
them back to their places like so
many Kaffirs, while for their ply
sical needs he shows little concern.
When food was growing short, and
our troops we're pressing him hard,
some OF his men complained OF the
poorness Of their rations, In reply
they got the stoical one, "a
burgher who can't live on meat
and mealIes is no man for me-"
Yet he is not feared by his men
they relate these things ofhim with
pride and affection in their voice,
as if to say, "See what a hne fellow
our General isl They respect and
admire the strong hand, even
though it crushes them. De Wet
knows what sort Of material he has
had to deal with.
The lot OF prisoner can never
be happy or even an easy one,
but l do not think De Wet has
ever done anything unnecessarily
TO embitter the path OF those who
have fallen into his hands. 1t has
been said that he has not fed them
properly; all l can say is that we
had practically all he had to give.
On the other hand, instances Of his
co1sideration are not hard to find.
When We were his captives, said
member Ot the Imperial YeomanrY
in the Londop Pail Mall Gazette,
Il was the ca pm for farmers in
the neighboy8S5d Of the various
laagers to drive m, bringing pro-
duce for sale. No doubt these
good people thought that here was
a prime opportunity for spelling
the Egyptians, for their prices
were at first exorbitantly high.
Evidently this came to De VETS
ears. tor he issued a mandate TO
the effect that the prices of COM
moditles were TO be: is. a dozen
for eggs, IS. a pound for butter, IS.
for a loaf. These prices were to
be adhered to, and in the event OF
attempts being made to charge
more, the veldt cornet had orders
to turn the delinquents out Of the
laager and not permit them to
come in again.
Unlike most OF the Boer gener-
ais, De Wet has believed in treat
ing his people with a certain
amount oi straightforward candor.
He has openly SAID that ne is well
aware what must be the upshot Of
the war, but has simply expressed
his intention Of giving the English
as much trouble as possible. At
Potchefstroom, shortly before the
entry Of General Hart's brigade,
he addressed a meeting, and said
that he could not stop the English
from coming in, but he and his
men would get out on to the veldt
again. and amid the kopjes play
their old game, haIassing the in
vader, and waiting for an oppor-
tunity when a small party can be
attacked with the prospect OF sue
cess. Here again the mans bet
ter qualities came out. They we're
warning, ne said, against the Brit
ism soldiers, and not against the
defenceless British inhabitants Of
the country. Among them he had
many Of his best friends, and he
asked those around him not TO
modest the British people who had
remained in Potcheistroom as
to molest them nor
to injuFe or destroy their goods.
The appeal did little good, how
ever. The rif-raff Of the country,
the men OF no nationality, who
recognize no leaders, were not
going to let such an opportunity
pass them by. De Wet is credited
with having occasionally made
some rather caustic remarks at our
expense. Thus, anent the corps
to which l have the honor to be.
long, II don't trouble about the
Yeomanry; can always catch
them when 1 want tor This, OF
course, was mere piece Of brag-
gadocio (the Yeomanry must have
given him rather a lively time in
June and JULY, but there was Just
that grain OF truth in it which
caused the rumOr to be rather un-