THE LAST DAYS OF KRUGERISM-

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10738, 18 August 1900, Page 3

THE LAST DAYS OF KRUGERISM-

i» THE PINAL MEETING OF THE TRANSVAAL VOLKSRAAD. (By Douglas Story.) PRETORIA, May 12. They have said, oh God, that this must be the last meeting of the Volksraads of the Republic. To Thee we pray to prevent that. The -words came in the chaplain's opening prayer, so that all who were there knew they were present a. a historic sitting. A gravity that was really a gloom settled on the faces of the Baadsied_h, and of the women in the crowd the greater number ■wept. All knew the ine_ora_leness of the fate that pursued them, though none admitted it. And they looked a synod of kirk elders rather than a Parliament, this company of sunburned men in ill-cut broadcloth. They filled their chairs uneasily, for, for seven mon_ts, they had known no softer seat than a sad die. Their deep bronzed faces contrasted strangely with the office p—lor oi the Hollander clerks; and the healtlhy mahogany of the chairman, Lukas Meyer, mads ghastly the fishy whiteness of the President's cheeks. "PEACE HATH ITS"—PRICE! For a deliberative assembly they were young, with only two greybeards conspicuous in the First Volksraad. Douce, soberminded farmers they seemed, more suited to the taking of a collection than the deliberation of a nation's destinies. All men in their -prime,, full of the passion of life, there was but one influence could curb their animalism —their own material gain. Peace had its price in this Transvaal national assembly, the reckoning day was coming, and the members were already uneasily counting its cost. In the chair sat General Lukas Meyer, a great man, deep-chested and deep-voiced, pre-eminently a man of presence. High on his left hung the portraits of those he had aspired to be reckoned among—Paul Kruger, Pkt Joubert, and Nicolaas Smit. A war, he had valiantly fought against, had intervened to keep him from their company, and to dim in some degree the lustre of his reputation. He had not done badly in battle; but he had not proved himself the leader the people had thought tun a, and so he was somewhat of * smaller man than at the date of his last election to the chair. He had been tried in the tire, and the burghers were not satisfied with the assay. THE CENTRAL FIGURE. At his right hand sat the changeless one. Paul Kruger. Sitting crink.ed up in his chair, the old, leaden-faced man looked badly beside his burly colleague. And yet bad he lost nothing of the respect which he claimed at the commence—ent of the struggle. Day in, day out. ceaselessly, tirelessly, tho President liad worked. Many of the big battles had been designed by him, all of the great business had been conducted by him. He had been indefatigable, labouring through the darkness and ail through the Sunday. Every principle of his daily life had been violated. At seventy-five he had broken laws which had been immutable with him since childhood. ' He had s«t out on long journeys on the Sab-

bath, had forgotten the peasant's precision in dining hours, and had driven poor Ta-nta Sana nearly crazy by th. irregularities of his ways. But there is much of the hero in Paul Kruger. He has had a great battle to fight and, with the material to his hand, has fought it well. He stood out- that opening day pi-e-eminent-v- the greatest man in the Start*, as he did wbesi last lie sat en the Saad__al. He alone stood firm in the faith while, others faltered He was a roan, who, in other States, wo__ go down in history as Paul the Great; nor would he there disgrace many of his compeers. Granted some grace of body, some dignity of presence, am Pan! Kruger would avowedly a great man. Sitting there hnddfed together in his chair, with the tbumbless hand frotting over the needless, tedious ceremony, he is ___r„y the farmer of Geduld made President. VACANT SEATS. But tlirough it all the restless eyes are roaming, resting for a moment with- silent wonder on the brilliant uniforms of the foreign Consuls and the glittering breasts of the military attaches, but resting longest on the vacant places. Only two of the executive chairs to his right are occupied. Mr Reita. the State -Secretary, is there, looking busy but buoyant, regretting sorely the time lost in this senseless ceremonial, "and VicePresident Schalt Burger, pessimistic, burdened, tired—the -nan who has overlain his opportunity, the Transvaal Hamlet, Piet Joabert's seat is held sacred to him by a great wreath of palm leaves clasped by a bunch of Transvaal ribbon. It is his guerdon for a clean-handed life of service to the State ; General Joubert may have been no great tactician, but he was an honest man— the proudest epitaph a man may earn in South Africa. Three other Executive seats are empty, those of A. D. Wolmarans, gone to Europe; Jan Kock, killed at Elandsiaagte; and Piet Cronje. Jan Kock's place is marked, as Joubert's is, by the insignia of an honourable death. Over the vexed chair of Cronje is draped a vierkleur, and on that is placed an oak wreath—memorials of the man who so badly planned the Republic's Sedan at Paardeberg. STRICKEN* BY THE WAR. Down in the body of the Raadzaal. two wreaths show the seat, of 'Mr Barnard, died at Derdepoort, and of Mr Tosen, succumbed to hardships suffered at the front. Of the. members, one at least was dependent upon a crutch, who had walked straight and well six months before. Round every hat was a band of crape, and the hand of war lay very heavy on the Assembly that bright, sunlit afternoon of May 7th, 1900. Three members remained out of seven upon the Executive benches, and the President referred to the vacant places not inelegantly in his speech: "To my mind it would not be out of place to express here how sincerely we appreciate the services of these our dead brothers. History will know how to value the work of our late Commandant-General. He not only commanded the respect of the enemy, but his humane and glorious deeds have added significance to the State among the nations." A suitable resolution was afterwards adopted by the House. THE PRESIDENTS LIMITATIONS. Blunt company of farmers though they be. the Transvaal Raadsleden are jealous of their parliamentary ceremonials. Their President may only enter the Raadzaal on their express invitation, and must remain throughout a guest with all a guest's limitations of privilege. At this, the opening of the Raad, he is escorted to his seat by a chosen commission of members, wears his broad, green sash oft office, and so much of a pair of white gloves as he can conveniently manipulate. He is an old man, Paul Kruger, now; of a curious leaden complexion, who speaks,, without stop or breath, in a hard, crackling voice that positively barks when he is irritated. His voice was a good bass once, but it has grown sadly msted on the in battle and in the chase, and is now out a greatly deteriorated instrument. His language is the true voortrekker's taal, forcible, sometimes picturesque, but terribly illiterate. Punctuated by hard, dry barks, it is difficult to fpllow; and much of the clerkly Hollanders' dread of him is due to the mystery of his tongue. * He entered the Raadzaal this afternoon with a bluff "Goede middag, heeren," and settled in his seat to hear the reading of his formal speech. Later, he spoke, and his speaking was a passionate recital of his efforts after peace and of his country's treatment at the hands of the British. The substance of all of it has been known ti us this long time; but there was conviction in the old man's voice as he thundered: "I tell you God has said, 'Thus far shall you come, but no farther.' We live in the Lord, and we shall triumph." And yet this was no Roundhead Parliathe most "corrupt body of politicians on the face of the globe," throwing its faith utterly upon a God of just dealing! But Oom, Paul was as honest in his belief as ever was Old Noll. In that belief the better part of this fighting has been undertaken. LOSING FAITH IN THE PRESIDENT. And so it was until the next day, when the Government introduced to a secret session its proposal to dispose of certain undermining rights, the property of the State and of private persons, "in the worst market and at the worst time." No longer was the sea-green incorruptible secure in he's faith. He must have money, and he would have money. He wrestled with the Rand, bullied it, cajoled it. It was useless. The Raad would have none of the proposition, and the old man flung himself homeward in the deepest dudgeon. Again, on the Wednesday, the attempt was made in a new form; but the Opposition .swore to end their part in the war, to withdraw their sons and relatives from the ! fi-hting line if this thing were done. The. , President was worsted. And so the session of 1900 was ended. It had ended badly. Moderate men, sobered by the long-drawn tussle with death, left again for their commandos, wondering sadly 1 that such things could be while the very ■ veldt wis rusted withi the blood of patriots. Was this, then, to be their last recollectirV: of the Volksraad?