MR W.T. STEAD AT CAPE- TOWN.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11877, 26 April 1904, Page 4

MR W.T. STEAD AT CAPETOWN.

A REMARKABLE SPEECH. Mr Advocate Malan, M.L.A., editor of the Afrikander journal "Ons Land," and Mr A. Cartwright, editor of the "South < African News," were on March 12th, at ! Capetown, presented with mementoes from .; pro-Boer committees in South Africa and Europe. Mr W. T. Stead was present, and during the afternoon he made a remaikable speech, the following extract being ; taken from the "Cape Argua": — j Mr Stead, who was received with applause. *aid Mrs Kooproan (tlie hostess for ' the occasion) had asked him to My whatever was in his mind, but his heart was «i> full, it would take him a very long time to tell all. It was- a sincere joy to stand before them, the representatives of those who—might he sayf—had alone been loyal to England (hear, hear). He had not, it was true, been in gaol tor what lie had tried to do for them, but, honest.lv speaking, in the opinion of a srreat majority of his fellow-Englubmen he deterred it- '(laughter). Only the other nii-ht he was assured by a Minister ot the Colony that if he had come out here two years' ago. he (the Minister) would liave 'had the greatest pleasure in Hanging him—a fact which he considered to be. A GREAT COMPLIMENT. (hear, hear, and laughter). That was a j _ood old truth in tlie Bible. "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in Heaven; 4or so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. From the lips of that great writer and Christian, Count Tolstoi, he had heard similar words. Count Tolstoi mid. How , is it that men may be converted to the • truth?" He showed to the speaker that j it was neither by argument nor preacli- , ins:, it was by personal example. iney , learnt to love Jesus Christ by His joy and suffering; by his humanity. (Hear, hear.) Some of them had suffered pain, either personally or through loved ones. They gloried in the martyrdom of those loved ones; lie was glad "and rejoiced that in this country so many people—so many brothers and sisters —had been true to the faith in South Africa, for which they had died. He was not worthy to stand amongst them to praise them, and he felt unworthy to stand in the presence of Mrs Koopman, whom he regarded as the incarnation of genius • of South Africa. (Hear, hear.) All through the dark and dreary days of the war he had had no correspondence more frequent than with Mrs Koopman, when she was allowed to write, and when his letters were allowed to "pass censor." (Laughter.) Passing over the question of the "mean and disreputable" doings of the censors, wliich he also characterised as a "scoundrelly attack" upon them, Mr Stead proceeded to refer to himself as AN ENGLISHMAN OF THE OLD TIME, expressing his shame ot the doings of hie countrymen in the past, and in the present. He had tried to get permission for Mr Kruger to return to his country to die in peace, but the cowardly people would not give the required permit. It was remarkable how a great nation should be co afraid of an. old man. (Hear, hear.) It was olso remarkable to find people trembling in their shoes when one pastor wished to marry a lady in the capital of the Transvaal, and when another wished to go and see his doctor. It showed a. guilty conscience. (Laughter.) Mr Stead proceeded to refer to the events in tho | early part of tho war, when the Cape •Ministry failed to "hold the pass" against the iKaglish soldiers travelling northwards. They had thought they could RELY UPON THE MINISTRY, but the Ministry had failed to stand firm. Mr Stead, in passing, referred to the leeeons which England had learnt by the war. which, he said, George Washington had endeavoured to teach them. Let them realise their responsibilities.' The Ministry to which he had inferred had been afraid of what people vroSld say, but let them say-what they liked and be hanged. If they had really been loyal in the Cape Colony to the loyal truths of British liberties they would have stood firm. The war they had believed waa not a just one, and yet* all had NOT DARED TO BE TRUE. In the future he hoped they would act in the spirit of those brave men who had fought for their rights in the battlefield. Paul Kruger had told him himself that he did not fight to humble England but to preserve hia rights. Now, why did he (Mr Stead) speak as he did? He loved his country; he loved his God, and he did not believe God would leave England until she was led into the right path. Let them remember one truth; the truth of loyalty was akin to disloyalty. Why was England so free? Because they had, in days gone by, cut off the head of the King; because George HI. was ''smashed" by George Washington, and so on. He liad one thing more to say. They had fought a great war; a war unparalleled before except by Waterloo. England had sent 450,000 men to deal with a little people. He trusted that before the memory faded away all who bad suffered would put their sufferings to paper and form ' A GOLDEN ROLL such aa was formed in the time of the Norman Conquest at Battle Abbey. They ' could not depend upon oral tradition. He would suggest that the roll of martyrdom be called the "golden roll." People in the future could then realise how in tbe twentieth century war. was waged. This, he contended, would not fake up the old embers, but would hasten the dajr of peace and conciliation. Peace and conciliation in Africa would only come when those who, fought and struggled and those who would i continue to struggle had had their heroism ' and sacrifices appreciated by their fellow subjects. Peace and conciliation would come, not when tbe English ministers, rulers, and newspaper men continued to refer to them aa rebels, but when they said they were the heroes of the war. (Applause.)