PLUNDER, NOT PEACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11553, 17 January 1901, Page 3

PLUNDER, NOT PEACE.

AMERICAN CONSUL ON THE BOER GUERILLAS.

Colonel James G. Stows, Consul-General of the United States of America in South Africa, was in London last month, en route to his home on a leave of absence to which his; distinguished services at Capetown through the war as an absolutely impartial friend of Boer and Briton, have entitled him. As American Consul-General at Capetown, Colonel Stov/e was in a trying position from the first. Ho maintained a course of unvarying neutrality, yet did invaluable services to both sides. He was captured by a Boer commando near Pretoria; he looked after the interests of British prisoners, and exerted his good offices for the captive Boers. Briefly, Colonel Stowe, whose name was made familiar to the world in war telegrams, has shown himself a representative of whom America has the best of reasons for being proud. At his hotel he said to an Express representative : — " After- a terribly trying year in South Africa., capped by 20 days of sea-sickness, I am resting here before crossing the Atlantic. My leave of absence is for 65 days after landing in America, and I feel that I need every day of it." Colonel Stowe, true to his neutral policy, had little to say for publication. However, he did remark : —

" The men who are now in arms on the Boer side are largely what we would call ' road agents' in Western America. There is a large proportion of mercenaries among them, and their recent doings indicate that they are seeking plunder more than peace. " I do not think that Lord Kitchener will adopt any measures not right and proper under the existing circumstances. lam surprised at the seditious feeling reported to exist among the Cape Dutch. " The burning of buildings has, as I know, been confined to those farms where treachery was shown or the structures were used for military purposes. "I have known of a Boer farmer standing on his stoep and informing an officer that he had not seen a Boer soldier for days, when his house was filled with men aiming their rifles and ready to open fire. So, too, have I known officers invited by Boer women to take tea and cake in furtherance of an ambush.

" I found the Boer prisoners, of whom I saw 15,000. well cared for and well fed. I often went among them to learn their grievances, and found that they had none." Colonel Stowe said that Lord Roberts had shown himself a true-born captain of men wise, valiant, and just. What impresses him most strongly is the great future that he sees before South Africa, for it appears to him that a season of signal prosperity will set in with the beginning of peace. " It 'is a land of great opportunities," he said.