A SOUTH AFRICAN ON THE WAR.

Evening Star, Issue 11658, 19 September 1901, Page 5

A SOUTH AFRICAN ON THE WAR.

Mr T. L, Schreiner, who is eldest brother of _ Miss Olive Schreiner and of the late Prime Minister of Capo Colony, is a native of the colony, and has a very wide knowledge of the Dutch clement in the population of South Africa. He told an audience before, whom ho lectured that the groat difference between the Boer and the European soldier was that each individual Boer was left to himself to do the greatest damage he could to the enemy, and than, when ,he thought the necessity arose, he was free to retire to another position and repeat the operation all over again. Ketrsat was an essential part of the Boer game of war. He would not attack. There were incidents at Ladysmith, in the attack on Caesar’s Camp and Waggon Hill, and in Eloff's attack on Mafekiug, which seemed to prove the contrary; but in these incidents the general mass of the Boers within reach would not, and did not, join. If they had the results might have been different. The Boer was good in defence. He would hold on stubbornly to a position, but would break and go the moment his chosen avenue of retreat appeared to be threatened. If there had been a sufficient number of cavalry and mounted infantry early in the war to follow up the Boers when driven out. of a position, and to keep them moving, the fighting might have been over long ago. The Boers, too, in the beginning of the war were better shots than the British soldiers, but he did not think that that advantage was possessed any longer by the enemy. It, was only natural that the Boer should be a good shot. For twenty years past they had been practising the art of rifle shooting, chiefly as a preparation for the great conflict with the British. He believed the successful army of the future would he that which would combine good shooting and good drill with the development of the individuality, intelligence, and self-reliance of the soldier. The frontal attacks of the early days of the war, though costly to us, were absolutely essential. They had taught the Boer that his accepted ideas of the courage and fighting power of the British soldier were entirely wrong. Thou the war had knit the Empire together in a manner that was cheaply obtained at the cost of the blood and treasure that had been expended, and in many other ways it had brought priceless blessings which would add real strength to the British cause. The only way in which peace could be assured between the Dutch and English races in South Africa would he to beat the Boers until they acknowledged that they were beaten, and well beaten; then they would sit down in real peace with the English and become good citizens, and South Africa would know no more warfare between white men. Talking of the battle of Magcrsfontein, Mr Schreiner pointed out that it was the first occasion in which the Boers accented the advice of their foreign advisers and made trenches on the onen veldt away from the konjes. The trenches were 400 or 500 yards from the foot of the kopjes, out on the level, and the Highlanders were within 40 or 50 yards of them when the accidental discharge of a rifle gave the alarm. He did not know if Lord Methuen know that the trenches, carefully screened with froahcut thorn bushes, were there; but if be did a terrible mistake was made in marchinn the Highlanders within 40 yards of them in closo o»dcr on the level, where the full eff»ct cf the Mausers was obtained. If Lord Methuen was not aware of the existence of th° trenches, then his intelligence department had to bear a heavy responsibility. R„t tho Highlanders did not die in vain. The Empire for wlrch they and others shed" their blood must and would bo secured and maintained for ever. Sneaking of the concentration camps. Mr Schreiner expressed” die opinion that their influence would bo for good. The Boor women were the bitterest fomenters and promoters of resistance to tho English in the whole country, and they re garded the British soldier as a monster of lust and cruelty. Their experience in tho 1 carans would prove how erroneous had been [ a" tkeir preconceived ideas, and the kindness

and goodness of heart shown to these women by the soldiers would have an immense influence for the future. Mr Schreiner gave an interesting description of the four classes into which the Boers are divided socially. First, there were the wealthy Dutch in the towns, who were like English educated people in their tastes and habits: then there were the wealthy fanners, who possessed some culture; after these came the more or less well-to-do “ Doppers ”; and, lastly, the “ bywonors " or landless Boers, who had no stake in the country, and were content to lead lives of idleness amid surroundings and habits that would be shocking to civilised people. Those two latter classes furnished the greater part of those now in the field, and their religion was that of tho narrow, bigoted, illiberal kind ono might expect to find among ignorant, rude people. He believed the Dutch and English would yet clasp hands over the graves of their dear dead, standing together loyally under one flag which recognised no distinction between them.