THE LAND OF THE BOER.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10450, 14 September 1899, Page 5

THE LAND OF THE BOER.

LIFE IN JOHANNESBURG.

INTERVIEW WITH A RESIDENT.

(BT OCR SPECIAL HKFOHTBR.)

An "Outlander" who lias suffered t Boer oppression, and therefore can ■with knowledge, is Mr J. Gillies, who luv. recently returned from Johannesburg, ar.-' intends to settle down in bhrJstchurcJV where he , wili be welcome as an appreciable addition to musical circles. Yet Mr Gillies kindly gave & representative e«" "The Press" some impressions 'of a%<'i<i the Transvaal, and of the state of pull's feeling in the city of Johannesburg espo« cially. Mr Gillies was fee three years-Lj business in, Johannesburg, being for & considerable portion of the time accountant-«» the Johannesburg Consolidated luvestnww Company, which owns a large number of the richest mines there, and which, in turn, is practically owned by Barnato Bros. Mr Gillies also acted temporarily as Undersecretary to the Association of. Mitfes, which was an off-shoot from the ObeiaUr of Mines organised by the German man* owners in consequence of the Jameson raid, but which subsequently HOW THE TROUBLE BEGAN. . "I beEeve you were in Johannesburg whea the oppression of the Boers culminated in the mujder of Edgar?" was the first queetion.eisked by the interviewer. '. fYes," said Mr Gillies, "I was there when JEdgar kilted, and the trouble first begun. Edgar was an iron-worker in the Austral Ironworks, and some three mouths before his death his wife came out from Home to join. him. On coming home aim night he heard some slanderous remarks mode about her in the street close to his house, and at once knocked down the two men who made them. These iellows immediately went to a policeman and got him to agree to an arrest. The policeman went to Edgar , ! house without any wan-ant and demanded admission. This was at first refused. Hβ then opened the door and made for Edgar, who, in self-defence, took up a stick. iT» policeman at once fired and shot him dead before (his wife's eyes. The blackguard was arrested, but released on the ludicrous bail of £50, while the case agaenst him was subsequently dismissed. A public meeting waa called in the square by the South African League, a petition was drawn up, and tie crowd nrarcned in force to the British VaseOonsul's (Mr Evans) house to present it, and protest against the injustice of the 'tnuig. The meeting* was followed by another, and both were quite orderly and contrary to no law; yet the Chairman of the League and several others were arrested for treason, and only released on £1000 boil; a singular difference from the' bail afforded the murderer of Edgar. The British. Government formally took the matter up, and the res* you know.", , "There are not, I suppose, many Boers in Johannesburg itself?" „•'■'- "Although the feeling is very bitter, in Johannesburg you do not have much chance of running against the Boer. Nearly aH the Government offices are occupied by Hollanders, who have taken the oath of allegiance. The Boer is incapable of filling any position whatever, through his dense ignorance and stupidity. ■ The Hollanders know on which sido their bread is buttered, and in the event of a war their oath would not count for much. I will give you, en instance of the qualifications of the Boers for business. One man of the progrefefereparty—which is only progressive by eom+ paiison—suggested in the Road that tho Eaad House should be insured. TheMdca was vetoed at once as flying in the face of Providence, and one member asked if, in the event of such a. proposal being considered, and they decided to pay this thing called a "premium" for one year, would the money be returned if the place were not burnt down before >the year was out?" AN INSTANCE OF BOER INJUSTICE. "The Boers are fatalists to a degree. I ; will give, you another instance of o, different kid of the way things are done. A &ew Zealander who was there, and has since returned and settled ait Waltlixun, had a store. There is a law that the Government; can, without warning, enter your office and'demand to see your books. The gentleman I refer to W®& out one day purchasing goods for his store, when the inspector called and demanded to see the books. The gentsleman'e -tfife explained that he was out, and had taken the keys with him, and asked the man to call again. Nothing more waa thought about the matter until the store- , keeper received a summops to appear in Court. Thinking that., it was a formal matter, and would be put right on h%qj> planation, ho did not even employ a lawyer.. The (business of the Court is conducted in the Dutch language, and he knew nothing about Ids case until he was told he war fined £50. He endeavoured to explain, but was not listened to, and was only allowed to go and get the money under the escort of two policemen. He tried to appeal but was advised that he had better let it alone and save his money. These are only one or two out of many instances I could give. I have had a tough time myself in many ways." . ■ ' ■ •■ ■■>■;■■«'' . . JOHANNESBURG. "Can you give mc an impression of Johannesburg and the effect ef war?" " '•in the event of hostilities it would not surprise mc to find the Boera outrage all the courtesies of war, and destroy Johannesburg ac once. There are millions and. millions of pounds worth of property there. It ii the only town in South Africa.. It is really a marvellous place, andon© lives as much in a week Ihere as in a year here. *tie place .is pretty well dominated by Jews, and .there are a large number of Polish Jews, or Peruvians as tihey are called, there. The nsioe Peruvian is derived from the old Latin tome for Poland, "Peruvia." If the Boer* nave a iiredeliction for any nation, it is for the Scotch, and Scotchmen hold very goodjpomtiona there. Friendships are! very difficult to make in Johannesburg, and pebple bardiy stop to exraess surprise at the death of tjwar friends, i'he deatfi notices are stuck up on, the verandahs'of the houses, headed by tba Dutch word, 'Overkden/ meaning death. It would be appropriate enough as a cause of death. It is difficult to find anyone s address, and people often do not even kaoyr the name of the street they are living in.. XwUl give you an instance of,the help you get fron* the Boer police. I fad frequently asked policemen if such a etreet was so and 80, and invariably got the answer, Ja <y<«), whether, it was so or not. One day, for amusement, I'saidto a policeman who ,lUi seen on the same beat for a month or two previously, 'Is that go and sos'buildmge? pointing to a buildine <>PP« IW V^ C the nanVof an entirely acrow its front in large letters. Ja, he answered. I replied, 'No, "» n L J»J you see its Goodman's buildings, and I spelt the name out. Ha looked at mc ac if be was going to run mc in, so I left. THE GENTLEMANLY BOER. "Now, toll mc something about the Boor had some experience of the Boer in his natural habitat. I Wlotting ness at MafeMng for a the W* I met there were entirely Bofcrs. I founo them hospitable after a &*«». **• *g thoroughly lazy lot of cumberers of,*"* fi rord g lLv^ y wishto lS ee. do a hand's turn more than they can hel£ They just grow enough to supply their peril needs, and in tie event of drought or locust plague, and the consequent loss.rf their crops, they **& ™ k °JtjTib* upon the Government to keep.them at-the Outlanders' expense. As an i"* , " l *? Cj£S laziness, all vegetables and fruit arc from Natal and Cape Colony, are quite capable of growing t hem .J»?™ c Jelvel. The market at Johannesburg i3ju« very large. Another feature » the «*«»• JS m which the Bo» live. Threeor four families live in one, house shocking crime is qu:te common. The floer ta Sfsplaking with some feeling which is Uie result of tbe injustice you have observed, Mr «»««; ••No; I flatter myself that I am as.impartial in my opinions as most P«>P»' 1 .laltfw**1 alt f w ** Ihave »uffare4 myself, and would like to see the Boer defeated." THE RIGHTING FOECE. "Whait is your opinion of the fighting capabUities of the Boers?" "When I was there we did not reckon upon the Boere having more than 3Q,GW

available fighting men at the very most, but of course we do not know what their reserves are, nor how many might join from the Cape or Natal. One can only conjecture as to what it ineide the fort which commands Johannesburg, but one thing is certain, that it is perfectly capable of destroying the whole town in a very short time. It lies in a commanding position to the north of the town, and commands practically the whole of tiie valley in whicn the town lies. The forts round Pretoria, which is forty-seven miles from Johannesburg, are placed on the hills surrounding the town, which is in a hollow. After the Jameson raid the Boers began to prepare for" trouble. Rifles were sent in in thousands, and hidden in the mines. I know that 10,000 rifles were hidden in the mines at one time." THE MINING INDUSTRY. "What is the position of the mining industry?" "The sum of two millions sterling is exported every month, notwithstanding that some thirty or forty mines are closed down, which are known a* the "smaller propositions," because they do not yield as much per ton as the others, and although most of them would probably pay better than anything in this country were the Government disabilities removed. The mines that do pay are so enormously wealthy that they can pay these Government charges on railway carriage (which is more for fifty miles in the Transvaal than 1000 in America) dynamite, etc., and yet return as much as 600 and 750 per cent, on the outlay of capital. Over capitalisation is the reason why many of these mines which are working do not yield dividends. As regards the dynamite monopoly, there is one point which I have not noticed as being referred to. The last reduction that was made enabled dynamite to be sold for £4 5* a case in the Transvaal, of which the extra 6s goes to the Government. The dynamite is manufactured in the Transvaal itself, and yet, notwithstanding the cost of transport, ■which is very considerable, it is sold with a profit for £2 a case out of the Transvaal, ihowing the enormous profits made through the monopoly." "What part does the Progressive Party play?" "Dieperink, one of the members for Johannesburg, is the leader of the Progressive Party, which for interested motives is not unwilling to take a certain amount of interest in more progressive legislation, but only to a certain extent. The older memberi of the Road never come near Johannesburg at all, but live entirely in sleepy little Pretoria, which they say is big enough for them." A GOOD COUNTRY TO BE OUT OF. "I would warn every young fellow that is thinking of going out there just now," concluded Mr Gillies. "It i> abbut the coldest country on earth to be without friends in. Death it thought nothing of, and aid or assistance is the la*t thing you may expect from anyone. The smallest amount you am live on is £20 a month, and that is in • very quiet way indeed. The chance of obtaining a situation within two or three month* i 4 very hazy. Then, attain, the ! probability of contracting "typhoid fever within a very few weeks is very great on account of the entire want of sanitation, and in the case of recovery in the hospital you find yourself with a bill of £120 or more to pay in six or eight weeks. People there get k> used to thii state of things that it never strikes them to warn their friends. Social life, too. ae we understand It, it an unknown quantity. There is also what is perhaps worse. Everyone ie set down as a blackguard until he is proved not to be one, and to a person accustomed to be treated as an honourable man it is most galling."