--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Tanner, J. M. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 3 number: 2 published: 1899-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Tanner, J. M., "The South African War," *Improvement Era* 3, no. 2 (December 1899): 134–142.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera32unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera32unse start_page: 134 end_page: 142 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1899-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera32unse publication_year: 1899 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1899, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The South African War SOUTH AFRICAN WAR. BY DR. J. M. TANNER, PRESIDENT OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL COL- LEGE, LOGAN. The war now going on in South Africa between the English on one side and the Dutch, or Boers, as they have been popularly called, on the other, is creating an unusual interest in the Dark Continent, and is giving rise to many arguments as to the justifica- tion which England has in aggravating the Boers to a declaration of war. This war is also bringing prominently before the people of the world a history of the Dark Continent, a history whose interest increases as the development of the country goes on, and questions of great political importance arise. It would be difficult to appreciate all the causes which have led up to this war, without some knowledge of the early history of the people who founded South Africa. The question which now interests most people is, whether or not England has been guilty of a political crime, and whether she can find justification for the war which is now going on in that country. The question is argued from both sides, and these arguments depend largely upon the sympathy of those who undertake to treat the matter. But the justification of this war is a question, and for .that reason has two sides. In America we have not been very greatly interested in South Africa. Neither its people nor its government has affected the af- fairs in this country, and therefore its history is little known to us. In 1497, the great sailor, Vasco de Gama, doubled the Cape of Good Hope. This was the period of its discovery. But no settle- ments were begun in that country until about 1652, when the Dutch began to colonize what is now known as Cape Colony. Holland, the country from which the Dutch came, was then a great sea power, having its territories and colonies in different parts of the world. THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR. 135 These Dutch emigrants were not of the character of the Pilgrim Fathers; they were in a large measure a restless class of people with indifferent characters, and belonging to what was styled the lower orders. In 1686, they were joined by refugees from France, who took up their abode at Cape Colony after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Some Germans settled later in that country, and thus the Boers, as they are commonly called, are a mixture of the different races. The Dutch element, however, predominates almost entirely. Of course, in those times, the country was inhabited by the negro, or African race, and the Africans who inhabited this part of the country were known as the Quaequae, afterwards called by the Dutch Hottentots. From 1652 to 1815, Holland ruled this colony very much as it governed her other distant colonies. The mother country prescribed just what class of crops should be planted, and so burdened the people with taxation that they became rebellious, and became imbued with more or less hatred or dislike for all systems of government. So that in time> they grew to be very unlike their ancestors. The Dutch are a quiet, peaceful race, with little inclination for outdoor sport, for hunting, shooting, horseback riding, while these became the pre- dominate characteristics of the Dutch in South Africa. In 1815, when the country was taken by England, Great Britain found these peculiar traits in the Dutch, which they have never yet been able to overcome, and a resistance in them which they have never yet been able to subdue. The Dutch, like others, found in the negro element an excellent slave; and so subdued the unfortunate race in South Africa, that involuntary servitude over- took the negro there as it overtook him here; but England at a very early period had contended against slavery, and, in 1834, suc- ceeded in emancipating the slaves in the possession of the Dutch colonists. This was perhaps the greatest cause of national pre- judices towards the English on the part of the Dutch. It was interfering with a somewhat sacred institution to them, and in the midst of this discontent, and a year or two later, they determined to leave English rule altogether, and took up their march northward. This exodus is known in history as the great Trek. The Boers took their march in a north-easterly direction and located three or four hun- dred miles north in a country called Natal. But Natal was also full of resources, which invited the English into that country, and 136 IMPROVEMENT ERA. it wasnot long before the British took Natal. This occurred in the year 1842. Those Dutch who found themselves unbearably aggravated by this acquisition to the British domain, determined to rid themselves again of the rule of the hateful Briton, and, in 1843, took up their Trek again. Some of them took a westerly direction and settled in what now known as the Orange Free is State, across the Drakenberg, while others moved north across the Vaal into what is now called the Transvaal. Here the discontented Dutch undertook to establish themselves and enjoy that mode of life in which they had the greatest pleasure. These trekkers had no very great love for agricultural pursuits, but preferred to engage in the cattle industry, in which each burgher was allowed something like 3,000 acres of land. They preferred to settle upon these great ranches, sometimes at a considerable distance from , their neighbors, and thus enjoy the solitude in which they seemed to have found the greatest satisfaction. They felt at last free from British dominion. But it was not long before they found themselves in a war with the surrounding native tribes, especially with the Zulus. The Dutch had always been stern and severe in their treatment of the negroes, and had meted out prompt and swift punishment for any encroachment upon their rights and privileges as they understood them. For miles around, the negro races were held in awe, and their frequent attempts to overcome the Dutch had proved utterly futile. The Dutch were excellent marksmen, having been trained for generations and from their youth to hunt. But in their new home, they finally found themselves so hard pressed that they were obliged to appeal to their English neigh- bors for assistance, and in 1877, after the sought for aid was furnished, the Transvaal was annexed to Great Britain. As soon as the dangers of the Zulus were removed, feelings of restlessness began to arise among the Dutch, and in 1881, the Dutch revolted against Great Britain and finally secured an independent govern- ment in all internal affairs, at the same time, they accepted the suzerainty of Great Britain. That is, all questions which had to do with the foreign policy of the little State must be referred to the Queen for her approval. During this revolt the celebrated battle of Majuba Hill took place, in which the English went down in over- whelming defeat. It was a remarkable battle, remarkable for several reasons. In the first place, it demonstrated very clearly THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR. 137 that the Dutch were strategists of no mean order; and, in the second place, they proved themselves to be most excellent warriors. They are perhaps the best marksmen in the world. Whenever an Englishman was seen to lift his head above the rocks, he was killed, and, after the battle, an examination of the field was had, and it was discovered that a very large percentage of the English were shot through the head. At the same time there arose in the minds of the Dutch the idea that they were unconquerable. At this time, Mr. Gladstone was in power, and he concluded to withdraw from any further con- test with these Boers, and their liberty was finally accorded to them, in the year 1884, in what was known as the London Conven- tion. Gladstone was a great home-ruler. He was never noted for a vigorous foreign policy, and to carry out the principles of home rule and to extend the franchise to English subjects, it became necessary, in his mind, to hold aloft the standard of liberty everywhere. What he would do for the unfortunate peasant who twenty years ago in England did not possess the franchise, he would aim, in some measure, to do abroad. To hold foreign peoples in arbitrary subjection was inconsistent with the advocacy of those great principles of universal franchise which it was his glory to advocate. The Dutch would now have been permitted to get along in their own indifferent way, and lead the life most congenial to them, had it not been for some geological accidents by which the great gold fields of the Transvaal were opened. In 1886, came the dis- covery of gold in great quantities. With the discovery of gold came a great influx of population, especially English, and Johan- nesburg became a great mining center in which tens of thousands of people took up their abode. In the course of time the Uitland- ers, as the Boers called them, became more numerous than the Dutch themselves. Especially was this true of the voting popula- tion which is said to be in a proportion of two to one, in favor of the foreigners. The Uitlanders, very naturally, found obstacles in matters of government, and undertook to remove them. In the first place, they would naturally be free traders, desiring to secure their necessaries as cheaply as possible. On the other hand, the Dutch maintained a high tariff, not simply for the purpose of en- couraging any industries which they had in view, but for the pur- 138 IMPROVEMENT ERA. pose of raising as much revenue as possible. The administration of justice, indeed all affairs relating to the government, were car- ried on in the Dutch language. Such a condition of affairs as this has, perhaps, never existed in the history of the world, a condition in which a majority of the people, superior in all that relates to civil progress and material prosperity, should become subject to an unprogressive race. The Uitlanders preferred to consider them- selves colonists, entitled to the same 'rights and privileges as the Boers. The Boers, on the other hand, contended that they were a separate and distinct nationality; that the colonization period was past, and that they occupied the same position as the great nations of the earth. The Uitlanders contended that their position was analogous to tens of thousands who inhabited the United States, in colonial times, and who were admitted to all the rights and polit- ical privileges of the people, on the ground that they were colonists. Strained relations, therefore, continued to develop as early as 1890, and there has been a constant demand for fuller political recognition on the part of the Uitlanders, and a stolid resistance on the part of the Boers. Such a relationship inverts all our theories of political equality, and subjects a progressive race to restraints and political servitude which they very naturally resent. If the Uitlanders were admitted to the full political rights of the Boers, then the latter must become the inferior and subordinate race, notwithstanding they regarded it as their own country in which they were entitled to all the prerogatives of an independent nation. In these strained relations, the utmost care was not taken on either side. Difficulties naturally arose, and a multitude of grievances were finally set forth by the Uitlanders, and the mather government was petitioned to intercede in their behalf. In the midst of these contentions, there was a very strong in- clination on the part of the Boers to take up another trek. They would go north into the Matabele land. They would go where they would be free to enjoy their own institutions, and their own quiet, undisturbed lives without any interference from the English. At the time they were evolving the idea of another migration in their minds, Europe was busily engaged in partitioning Africa among the great powers. The Matabele land, on the north of the Trans- vaal, had already attracted the great millionaire and South African promoter, Mr. Cecil Rhodes. He saw that the land was rich in its THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR. 139 mineral and agricultural resources, and urged upon the English government the necessity of establishing a form of government and of promoting colonization schemes. To his proposal England turned a deaf ear. But Rhodes was not to be baffled. He applied to England for a charter, and incorporated an enormous company with a capital of some ten millions of dollars. English settlers were invited into the country, mining and prospecting were carried on, and the natives were crowded back as the demands and re- sources of the country made it imperative that the English should have a fuller sway. It thus happened that the Boers of the Trans- vaal became, so to speak, hemmed in. The English government possessed colonies, now, to the south, and the chartered company owned an immense country to the north, a country which has sub- sequently been known as Rhodesia, in honor of the president of the chartered company, Mr. Cecil Rhodes. The Matabeles in time became troublesome, and Mr. Rhodes found it necessary to enlist a number of soldiers, more than eleven hundred, under the leader- ship of Dr. Jameson. The Matabeles were driven back, and Jame- son and his soldiers were masters of the situation. Mr. Rhodes now conceived the idea of forcing England to assume the attitude of a protectorate over her subjects in the Transvaal. An issue was to be made, and, after a crisis had been engineered, it was believed that England would be forced to intercede in the interest of peace and the protection of her subjects against the aggres- sions of the Boers. The Uitlanders, at Johannesburg, were con- stantly holding meetings, and were arousing public sentiment, and the agitation among them became very general. They had shipped arms into the country, and in some measure prepared themselves for an uprising. Word was sent to Dr. Jameson that the Uitland- ers were now prepared to strike for their liberty. He was to take the initiative, on the north, and invade the Boer country, while they would attack the government of the Boers, on the south. The appeal to Dr. Jameson was for immediate action. He was made to believe that the war was on; and, without any instructions from Mr. Rhodes, though he acted in consonance with the plans which Mr. Rhodes intended should be ultimately carried out, he rushed with his force into the Boer country. Jameson and his men were at once cut off by the strategy of the Boers who took them priso- ners after a number had been killed in the contest. Jameson had 140 IMPROVEMENT ERA. been made the dupe of the Uitlanders, the agitators in Johannes- burg, who, after inducing him to make these aggressive move- ments, left him entirely to himself. The raid thus became a ridicu- lous failure, and Jameson and his fellow-troopers became, through- out the would, largely the objects of ridicule. The trial and pun- ishment of the offenders clearly indicated that while England did not endorse it, she looked very charitably upon it, and the fifteen months imprisonment of Dr. Jameson clearly demonstrated that England was disposed to condone, as much as possible, such a gross national offense. This failure, on the part of the raiders, and Uitlanders of Johannesburgh, turned the tide for awhile in favor of the Dutch. The raid occurred in 1896, and for more than three years the Boers became masters of the situation. But the agitation grew greater. The political conditions were not only burdensome to the English, but they became well nigh intolerable. They were surrounded by Boer soldiers who patroled the entire country round about, and created a feeling among the Uitlanders that they were somewhat subject to a quasi or sort of military government. The English government, however, declared constantly its intention to maintain a conciliatory policy toward South Africa and to regain the reforms desired by friendly means. These assurances were given out by Mr. Chamberlain as late as March, the present year. A change, however, was made in the appointment of a high Commissioner to South Africa, when Sir Alfred Milner was appointed to that office. It became at once manifest to the Dutch, when he took up the agi- tation with the newspapers, that he evidently had a mission. His telegraphic dispatches were of the jingo type, and he became, not a concilatory factor, but, an agitator himself on the side of the Uitlanders. The Boers felt at once that in him, Mr. Chamberlain was showing his hand, and that he was determined to create a crisis which would make a conflict imperative. The Dutch became now more resentful than ever. The animosity toward the English was intense, and the feeling of resistance became wellnigh uni- versal. The paramount question through all the discussions lead- ing up to the present war was that of the franchise. If the Dutch made the franchise universal and admitted on easy terms the Uit- landers to its full enjoyment, they simply surrendered their national identity. It was not easy to hit upon a compromise, although the THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR. u\ Boers offered better terms for naturalization, and, finally, under pressure, diminished the period of residence in that country from fourteen to five years. The terms, however, of naturalization were such as to force Englishmen, and other foreigners, to alienate themselves from the mother country. Of course, the idea of citi- zenship in the Boer republic in preference to that of the British Empire, was merely for temporary purposes,— was, in fact, a sub- terfuge to which, after all, few Uitlanders were very willing to resort, and the concessions now made by President Kruger did not satisfy the English government. The question of the franchise was set aside by Mr. Chamberlain, and the question of suzerainty brought forward. This question was one that offered an easier solution of so difficult a problem. Were not the Boers, after all, subjects of Great Britain? They were subjects of Great Britain when they inhabited Cape Colony. And was it not a legal and tech- nical principle of international law that a man did not lose his citizenship simply by migrating from his native land? Were the Boers not subjects of Great Britain when they took the Transvaal ? Did they not, as subjects, do so, with full recognition of the para- mount authority of their mother country? While these discussions were going on, England was amassing troops on the frontier, pre- paring herself to enforce whatever demands she might choose to make later on. In the meantime, the Dutch had not been wise. The irritation in the administration of the law had become a source of enmity between the Uitlanders and the Boers, A man by the name of Edgar had been arrested and shot, and the story of his unjust treatment was circulated and repeated in the most sensa- tional manner. Again, there were many private interests to be adjudicated. The relationship between the miners and the govern- ment was to be established. Rights of private property were set up to be adjudicated by the judges; and, although these judges belonged to the Boers, the government began to mistrust even them, and by law undertook to control the judgments of the courts, placing the final adjudication of all matters of private rights in the hands of the Dutch parliament, rather than leaving them where they are left by all civilized nations— in the hands of the judiciary. It will be said that, in the strained relationship between the Boers and the English, the Boers were not wise. But mad men are never wise, and the Boers had been enraged: they had been goaded 142 IMPROVEMENT ERA. "by the Jameson raid, and by the open insults which they felt that Sir Alfred Milner was constantly heaping upon them, in order that the conditions might be pressed into a crisis which would force the intervention of England. England had not declared war, but she did what would be equivalent, in any other country on earth, to a declaration of war. So that the declaration, or ultimatum itself, and the question of who fired the first shot, became merely matters of detail. England forced the crisis. The impartial historian of the future will review the matter, perhaps, with more candor, and, perhaps, with more justice than partisans on either side at present. The war is now on, and it is a war, from all appearances, of greater magnitude than any that has been waged since the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. It will cost thousands of lives, and millions upon millions of treasure, and what seems to be more unfortunate than all, it will undoubtedly create a race prejudice, if not intense hatred among the Dutch in South Africa, that will give the English greater trouble than any they have experienced for years among their colonists. While England has been perhaps, of all colonial empires, the fairest and the most just of any on earth, it has nevertheless its faults. There can be little doubt, however, but that the country itself will be benefited by a change of govern- ment. But it will be said, in answer to these statements, that it is the old argument by which the means is justified by the end. But it is not a question of justification. It is rather one of explanation. The end must certainly aid us in weighing all the questions that have arisen in this unfortunate conflict, pro and con, and enable us to determine as correctly as one may determine political questions of that character, where the right and where the wrong lay. At the outset the Boers have shown themselves to be excellent strategists, but England cannot repeat the policy of Majuba Hill. She cannot surrender, and will not yield in her determination to carry on the contention to a finish. There can be but one result, and that is the overthrow of the South African Eepublic, the establishment in its stead of a British colony, and, it may be, that this colony will lead to a confederation of all South Africa. And thus the work of anglicizing the Dark Continent is moving rapidly on, and England will play the part, in the future, that she has played in the past — the part of the foremost colonizer in the world.