THE WOMEN'S CAMP IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Northern Advocate, 25 March 1914, Page 8

THE WOMEN'S CAMP IN SOUTH AFRICA.

The recent erection of a monument to the memory of the women who perished during the Boer war awakens'memories of a conversation held with one who had passed many months in a concentration camp. She had been invited— with other thoroughly trained teachers —to go to South Africa and teach the Boer children in camp. It was a new and striking experiment. No pother warring nation has ever realised its responsibilities towards the wiveS and families of a foe in the same magnanimous spirit, and, although this action may be regarded as a strategical.blunder—prolonging the struggle—its'ethical values cannot be denied. A farewell service was held in Westminster Abbey for this novel c.ontin■gent—armed not with* swords but with book and pen., At the close, the,ladies were invited to come into a private chamber,where many illustrfous persons were gathered together, among them Mr Joseph Chamberlain. The impression made by his parting words served as an inspiration of the service subsequently rendered' by these devoted women to the -wives and children of the foe. He told them that, in order to- : secure just rights for the fellowsubjects, English soldiers had brought bloodshed and misery into the land. And now the.' women were sent to heal the wounds, to confer blessing, to breathe the spirit of peace: Their mission was to teach the young generation to forget the war, and to live side by side with the British as their friends. With these words ringing in their ears, this little band-of English women set forth to the seat of war. Theylived side by side with the Boer women sharing all the vicissitudes and hardships of the camp life—hardships that arose frequently because the Boers themselves cut off the trains bringing food supplies from the coast, so that the abundant provision made for their needs, lay miles away, and famine reigned m camp. Another source of danger was neglect of the common rules of hygiene, so that "the pestilence that walketh by day" won as many victims as the sword. Through all that terrible experience, the English women worked —nursing the sick, teaching the children, consolinp the bereaved, and forming, as the sequel proved, many lifelong friendships. 6 Those who complain that the concentration camps fell s h o rt of perfection, forget the conditions under which the women lived, and the impossibility with the best of intentions of wholly counteracting the baneful effects of war But the missionaries of peace kept the charge, imposed on them to teach the young generation to forget the war" and to-day, in the Government schools, where Dutch and British • sit side by side, the subject of past hostilities is absolutely ignored.—L.B.L. in the Sydney "Daily Telegraph."