Evening star., 1902-03-18
CONCENTRATION CAMPS
AN APPEAL TO AMERICAN WO-
MEN FOR THE BoERs.
Urged to Protest Against the Methods
Employed by the British in
South Africa

To the Editor of The Evening Start
l wish. through your columns. to enlist
the interest of the women of our country
ir, behalf of the women and children of
the concentration camps in South Africa.
That women and children should be held
as prisoners-herded together like cattle and
die like flies sursly creates a precedent for
future warfare that is startling and i'm
possible.
1t Is the duty Of every woman to protest
against this method of warfare, which for
the first time in history. makes her sex
prisoners Of war. 1t is not a question for
democrats or republicans. but one fer men
to look into as affecting humanity. So
called civilized country initiates this inno-
walton and we acquiesce in it by allowing
l. TO proceed without one word of protest.
The mere act of destroying every home.
burning every house, of coopinS women and
childrer In canvas tents exposed to the ele-
Ments and horrors of disease, should be
sufficient to call forth the indignation of
civilization. but, II addition, to make pris-
oners or them, to surround them by SOL
dlers 10 stretch their camps along the
railroad as strengthening the lines of de-
fence and lessening the chances Of the de-
strGction Of the railroads by the Beers, to
use women and children as buttreSses, as
part of military pian-are we by our
silence to approve this method Of warfare?
AS women we have no vote, no voice In
the government. As women not
trained in the use of firearms expected
To- play part IN military tactics, and as
women We have until now been allowed to
nurse the sick, encourage the soldier. ad-
minister to the dying and shield the child
never before at the point of the bayonet
made and held prisoners. As women we
cannot act. bat We can protest-protest to
our husbands, fathers, brothers. to our
senators, our representatives: use every
channel of influence to protest: do not rest
pnt' as women we have fer women crush
ed this horror which threatens for the fu-
ture to snatch from us our prerogatives of
h.eicA ana make us part and parcel of each
and every war.
There sins of omission as well as
commission. and as long as those cries
from women and children ring In your ears
do not cease your efforts, do not feel that
at the end of each day because your own
are safe and unharmed that your duty has
been dcne but remember Christian wo-
men you have also a duty to humanity, aS
American women duty to your country.
Read the report just issued by the COM
mission sent to South Africa by the British
foreign office to investigate and refute the
statements made by Miss Hobhouse and
learn from English sources the fearful truth
or those cemetery camps" "a name given
them by an English newspaper). and then
II you have the courage, if you have the
heart, read letter from Mrs. Joubert,
widow of the late Commandant General
Joubert published in the London Daily
News OF February "a, 1902, and from which
| make a few extracts.
TIL now not a soul has been allowed
to visit the camps but yesterday after
much trouble and innumerable applications
| at last obtained admission to the Irene
camp. Infinitely more terrible than
1t had been painted. and more awful than
the widest imaginings can picture. The
people are dying like flies Of starvation,
exposure and disease. It is impossible to
realize the condition and the sufferings of
the women and children. Typhus is raging
everywhere. We are having an excep-
tionally wet summer and heavy rains fall
frequently in the evening and again at
midnight. All who know the Transvaal
know these fierce storms. As the camps
are generally situated on Sloping grounds,
the water beats with the force of tor
rent against the sides of the tents, flood
ing the whole place Standing in deep
water, the unfortunate creatures have to
clutch their poor belongings, bed clothes,
etc, to prevent their being carried away.
Afterward they have to lie down to rest
in several inches of mud If the war lasts
another year not woman or child will be
left. The world knows this. and yet the
mighty ones of the earth look on at these
cruel murders, this barbarous Slaughter
This is one of thousand descriptions OF
those camps In summer. Winter in the
Transvaal is fast approaching. and I leave
1T to each and all to picture what the added
suffering will be- There is no time to be
lcst-let every woman do what she can
toward breaking up those camps and re-
leasing those women and children. 1t is
true they have no homes to return to, but
there are willing hands and loving hearts
waiting to welcome them in Cape Colony
and along the coast where you may be sure
the present death rate of 40 per cent will
cease and return to its normal rate Of . per
cent. ULRICA DAHLGREN PIERCE.