The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-25


 equal material conditions, there would
 before many months had passed be
 marked difference between them. so Y
 is in the Orange River and TransVaal
 Some camps are infinitely cleaner, more
 wholesome, and nicer than others, bu1
 from the general system one clear anc
 strong impression remains. It IS thal
 the humane effort made for the frst
 time in the history of war to shield the
 English, and in some of the lower class l women and children of an enemy Iron
 unnecessary suffering will not be with out it's very great and good result.
 The immediate effect of such an effort in relieving the enemy of his impedi- menta and leaving him free to light Us
 without those intimate cares which
 must of necessity play large part in determining the cessation of hostili-
 ties has been evident enough It has disposed many even of those who were
 proud of the action from national
 point of view, and glad that it should
 be done, to say, "It is magnificent, but ! it is not war" Here, on the spot, one
 realizes. No, it's not war, but it Is
 something better; it is permanent peace. It has, perhaps, prolonged the i struggle for a few months, but 1t has i laid seeds the fruit of which. l think all
 those who have patiently observed the
 system at work will venture to predict, will be reaped through many genera 1 tions. The congregation of the whole young population of the State at an inn | questionable age under British influ- | ence has given unique opportunity, such an opportunity as could occur but | once in the life of a people, for bring | ing the two races together. The oppor- 1 tunity has been admirably used. No one can pass through the camps and see the happy faces of the thousands | of children who cluster round the school and soup Kitchens. nor listen to l the confidence with which they grumble out their little grumbles, without realiz- ing the state of harmony which exists between them and the English author ities who are governing them The rate of mortality remains. it is admitted somewhat bafflingly high but it is chiefly among very young children. The refugees are in frankest consultation with the British authorities on the sub
 ject, and anything that can be done to lessen the evil is being done. Here in the Bloemfontein camp the Boer moth CTS with whom I have been able to dis cuss the matter give as the most prob- able reason the violent changes of tenn
 perature which have to be endured in tent life, where the midday sun is over poweringly hot and the nights at some seasons sharply cold. They say that l,A hah hoe ha ipr1 and the tendency to pneumonia predis- poses them to every other form of H. ness. Ii is intended this year, before the winter comes on, to house all refu gees in portable wooden huts which will take the place of tents in the camps. Of these shall have more to say later on. Some few refugees in the Bloem- fontein camp attribute the high rate of mortality to an insufficient supply of fresh vegetables. These are difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity and are very cosetly, but, on Boer suggestion, it is now proposed to supplement the existing ration with fresh ''mealies.'
 Nothing can be more friendly than the spirit in which suggestions for the ameliora ton of camp life are made and received The ladies of Bloemfontein devote a good deal of their time to vis- iting the camp. and little voluntary classes of lacernakers, etc. are formed among the refugees,
 But the supreme instrument of un- conscious reconciliation is the system of free education admirably organized and indefatigablysea out under the su- pervision of MT Sargant, the very able director of public education for the two colonies. Mir SaIgant has devot-d q him self with whole hearted enthusiasm to the work He began with about 100 teachers for the camp schools. He has now 200. Before the end of the year he hopes to add another 100 to his staff Some of these teachers are Dutch; the latest import tions are chiefly Scotch The next batch will be English, Scotch. and colonial. In every camp there are schools in proportion to the number of child refugees. Instruction is given in es an important part of the work con- sists in teaching the children to speak English. I was present at a lesson of this sort, which consisted in putting up a picture on an easel in front of a large class. It happened to be a farmyard | y very small children, was asked if any | one could say what he saw Presently a chubby hand went up from one of the | benches and confident little voice pip | ed out the single word COW" His was correct; and the rext | minute the whole class was shouting in unison 'I see a cow Then rival aspi- rant for fame discovered two cows" Another eagerly outstripped him with two cows in the green grass" The fun grew fast and furious, and the shout in lnison as l passed on had reached to like the length of response n the Psalms. There was no doubting he enjoyment of the children. The Seenness of the upper classes, which re- ,eive tuition up to the level of the highest standard at home, is as great as hat of the lower; and the statistical 'esults given by the educational reports oear out fully the impression gained by ocular demonstration. There are ac-