The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-03-29
BOERS CANNOT LOSE
REV. ROBERT SHEMELD. or ST-
PAUL, DISCUSSES SOUTH AZ
RICAN SITUATION
THERE FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS
British for Years Before War Omen,
ly Roasted of Intention to SUBJ
jugate COuntry-Natives
Favor Burghers

Great Britain will never conquer the
6oers' and in the humiliation of this
mighty empire by handful of ubart,,-
loving patriots will be seen the dawn Of A
ne" era IN which wars of conquest viii
De thing Of the past. The Beers rev.
erently believe the Almighty is with them
in their struggle, and I agree with them
In the above sentence is summarized III.
opinion Of Rev Robert Shemeld, of st.
Paul, on the South African war situation
MI Shemeld has just returned from sew
enteen years of continuous mission serv-
| Ice in the Transyaal and Natal ana with
! MIS- Shemeld is the guest of her par
| ents, Mr.. and Mrs. Peter IkIer. of Smith
| avenue. They will spend a six months
furlough in this city before returning TO
| Pretoria.
Mr.. shemeld, though st. Paul is his
! adopted home, was born in England OF
! English parentage, and as he puts it, he
! lis naturally predispOsed to favor the
| side OF the British, but is convinced tn"t
it is thoroughly unjust and without Z
shadow OF justice or principle to S.
! port it."
Il lived in Pretoria for some years
| prior to the outbreak Of the war i'm 1892
said Mr.. Shemed yesterday to The
| G o b e." "and every day in my life L
| heard the English openly Boosting that
they would one day own the country.
| With the characteristic caudOr of their
race, they cheerfully scattered this in
/ formation among the Beers and the ma
! uves; the feelings Of the burghers were
| not considered in the least.
! The jameson raid prCCiptated the
real crisis, that was the spark which ig-
! nlted the rather slow moving Dutch in
! tellects to percciVing that the British
| really mean what they were saying.
| Then began the preparations for the
| struggle Arms and ammunition were
openly imported in vast quantities. while
| the English stood by and ins0lentIy
! chaffed the Beers on their inability to use
such modern weapons. Immense cannon
/ were photographed on the public streets
] in the presence Of Kruger and JOUbert,
and the English, guessing the purpose
for which they had been imported, stood
around IN clusters and discussed tho
thing as a huge joke.
! when the war actually broke out the
| English, before they left Pretoria said
/ they would be returning i'm a few months
! as soon as the troops had time to get
! over the country. They did return, but
the whole world knows at what cost and
! sacrifice of life. l was in Pretoria at the
time, and at the time when Lord Rob
! ert was making his triumphal march
| through the city. I saw General Louis
( B0tha, cOmmander-in-chief Of the Boer
forces. and Christian Botha. in their
/ homes, plaCidly and leisurcy making prep
! aratOus to move out. 1t never occurred
to the English to pay a friendly call 20
! see where they were Both the generals
| escaped, and right under the eyes of the
/ British
LAS to the natives being treated cruelty
! by the Beers and welcoming the English,
! a great many foolish stories have been
printed" continued Mr.. Shemeld. at Is
true that at first they were glad at the
| prospect of being able to work for more
! generous and lenient employers but now
they realize that their last condition is in
tinitely worse than their first and they
! would hail with acclaim the news thar
every Englishman had left South Africa
/ forever. They have good reason to b0
! of this opinion; under Boer rule their
rent within any city limits was $3.50 a
year; under the British it is about "a y
month. Formerly they We're furnished
free passes to go about as they pleased
! in the cities; now they are charged a
shilling month. Thus is the advent or
! British freedom" tinged with qxtOrtiou
( Of "a most glazing description. The
| Beers know how to manage the natives,
just how much rope to allow them ana
! just when a touch Of the sjambOk would
! be productive Of beneficial results ana
/ the British do not They make the mis-
| take of being too easy at first, and I'm
/ ish by being far more brutal than the
\ Beers ever find it necessary to De- The
! Beers are good judges Of native character
just as they are unrivaIed judges of OK
en-; the English know nothing Of either
| and the natives consequently, nave
! grown to despise them"
British Keep beers Supplied
When asked as to his opinion or the
reported desire Of the Beers to negotiate
for favorable terms Of surrender Mr..
Shemeld said he thought any Overtures
| Of this nature must have originated with
| the British. why" said he. should
! they want to surrender? They have more
| money and munitions Of war than ever
| before. Where do they get them? Why,
from the British, of course"
The Beers do not use Mauser rifles any
more, the entire field force IS supplied
with Lee-Metfords. and the field guns are
also of British manufacture. The money
they get by capturing pay trains, which
are always to be found on the move on
the tenth day of the month. Thus bOun-
tifully supplied with every field require
ment even to table delicacies, they have
not even the remotest intention of sur
rendering. There is another side, OF
course, to this, and that IS that the
women and children left a home are not
| faring as well as if the men were there
! In the concentration camps conditions
are deplOrable, but Of this I have not
had the benefit Of personal observation.
| This war is being conducted for ter
| ritorial ACKNOWLEDGMENT, and its cost has
fairly staggered the world, as Kruger
predicted it would, and so far as I can
see, the British are doomed absolutely to