The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-07-12
GERMANS IN AFRICA.
A Cosby Account Of Some Of Their
Manners and Customs.

Manners and Customs.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sir: I
send you n few facts concerning the
German colonists In Africa and their
methods. | corresponded with an Eng
lish missionary. too good a man to
complain. He only said that the Ger
man customs duties were a~ggravating.
The officials would accept no sworn
declaration, but examined every pack
age. and as in that hot land of insects,
&c. boxes had to be very carefully and
hermetically packed, forcibie opening
often considerably damaged the con-
tents when they had to be transported
further. The amount Of duty charged
was infnitesimal. the missionaries
would gladly have paid more n spared
injury to their possessions.
My other informant Is also a mis-
slonary In German East Africa M de-
voted to her work among the natives.
She suffered from fever and with an
other lady went TO the German SAM
tariufn. where they were most kindly
treated. but their amusement was great
at their rooms marble topped wash
stands. wardrobes, as well as correct
bedsteads. She explained that the Eng
lish (the missionaries anyway adopt
native furniture as far as possible.
sleeping on the low native bedsteads.
That the sanitarium being high On a
mountain. everything had to be car
ried up on a natives head and price
per pound for portage was consider
able. The ladies were transported In
nets slung between poles on natives
shoulders, very fatiguins to all parties.
The Indies were shocked at tho way
the Germans "slanyed' their native
boys" abusing them for the slightest
mistake or fault; the patience and
politeness of the boys was In sharp
contrast to the violent abusiveness of
the masters and mistresses. There was
n native girl there as nurse for one OF
the ladies' children she was a convert
and a nice girl. The Missionaries found
she had to sleep in a sort OF cubicle
"a space partitioned off, much like
horses stalls) among the other native
servants. all boys" The ladies ur-
gently represented the matter to the
mistress's attention, their earnestness
only producing a stare and the ejacu-
lation "Du liebe Zelt."
] asked whether the Germans took
the trouble TO master the native Ian
guage, as Germans are clever linguists.
She said they did learn the dialect. but
that II Is II very soft. melodious, glis-
sading language. and the Germans pro-
nounCcd II In a c~uriously staccato fash
ion. The natives are SO innately po-
lite that the ''boys' with German mas
tiers always copied their masters STAG
cato pronunciation. Natives like to
construct their nuts anywhere con-
venient to themselves, but the Germans
decree correctly straight lines.
The natives eyes see "a we'll In the
dark as the animals and they love to
SINK around In the evening. fading into
the darkness the correct electric lights.
planted syininetrically by the Germans,
are a trial to them. Also the German
sense OF order Is incomprehens!bie to
the natives. IL they eat a banana, &c.
they drop the skin. This disorder is pro-
hibited by the tidy Germans and the
punishment seems TO be Gaming on the
hand. l asked why not a fine. but ma
ives possess no money, or else IL Is too
soon exhausted tby fines?).
Planters exploit the natives shame
fully. There are correct official laws
concerning wages, terms of service, &c.
The native subs RIDES willingly to the
service term, then various means are
employed by the planters. selling them
CLOTHES. &c, to keep them always In
debt TO their employers, so that the
poor native cannot get out OF bondage.
III they desert they are punished, mostly
by beating so many stripes in grada-
ton for the offence. because they can't
pay hnes. The poor native simply says
Impossible to comprehend that is the
reason OF the order, the offence, or the
punishment.
The Government is a good paternal
Government and the laws are really
made with a desire for the welfare OF
the African, but they are administers
In an unpaternal way, and often they
inJure the African sense of Justice from
not comprehendlng African ways.
All the Africans really dread and hate
the Germans everywhere you hear, the
Germans are very fierce" They love
and admire individuals who are good
TO them all the noble. courteous Ger
mans they would lay down their lives
for. but the bulk of the colonists
are common men or those who have
been disgra ed In Germany or kicked
out OF the army, and these men are hec-
toring DULLES and really cruel TO the
Africans, calling them schwein and all
abusive terms. The drunkenness and
crimes or some OF the planters shock
even the natives. The number of sui
cides among the planters Is alarmingly
high. loneliness. drink. absence OF the
restraint Of publIc opinion and no re-
ligion causing il.
Thu colony has "A splendid scientific
institute. where any ~colonis, can rave
expert advice as TO how to treat dis
eases among cattle or plants, &c. The
Germans are untiring too in their ef-
forts to cure diseases among the ma.
tives. but the doctors and orderlies at
their hospitals are so ~unsympathetic
and red tapey in their methods that
most Of the Africans would rather die
than go 10 the hospital.
The energy and industry OF the
planters is wonderful. but the greater
number are careless as TO housing their
coolies and make no provision for them
10 bring their wives with them. so that
the coolies die from bad cooking and
disease. or run away.
The planters can be piticd, for though
the home Government raves about
"unscre Doutsche Kolonie' and Welt
politik," il is very parsimonious in its
grants for such necessarics as rail-
ways. s.. The planters ncwspaper
groaned over the fact that the English
Government had built 500 miles Of the
Uganda railway in the same time that
the German colony had built sixty
miles OF Its Usainbara railway. II is
the same Government niggard;iness over
everything. The German Government
sends out deputies, who are Hospitality
treated and entertained by the ~colonist.
but when the colonists were on the
verge of bankruptcy because OF the
slump in rubber the Government would
not lend them a pfennig.
The Germans don't deserve 70 b,x.