THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 1901.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11562, 28 January 1901, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHE RN CROSS. MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 1901.

The threat of Christian De Wet to I shoot Mr. Botha, whom he appears to regard as responsible for the Peace Movement which is seeking to end the present guerilla warfare in-South Africa, is necessarily subject to the same famous postulate as |is the cooking of a hare. But the text {of the appeal to the Cape Dutch issued by the Peace Committee ; enables us to understand the furious j anger it must have caused among j those who are seeking to pose be- ! fore the world as the sole spokesmen of the Boers. It make very evident, what has long been contended, that whatever the theoretic sympathies of the Boer people may be, the actual resistance is being prolonged by deluding the ignorant as to the actual state of affairs and by terrorising the more intelligent in the above-mentioned manner. The headquarters of the Peace Committee, where the movement had its birth, is at Krodnstad, in the Orange River Colony, to which place the Government of the old Orange Free State was transferred after the occupation of Bloemfontein by Lord Roberts. At that place its members include a De Wet, who was assistant chief commandant under the old regime, several former members of the Volksraad, several ex-judges and other prominent Free Staters. Branches are being formed throughout the annexed colonies, and there is no reason to doubt '...that they represent the moderate and peaceful burgher element and honestly desire the termination of hostilities and the loyal acceptance of the generous terms offered by the Crown. The Kroonstad appeal to the Cape Dutch, which so infuriated De Wet, runs as follows : —

The moment lias arrived for the inhabitants of the' Orange River Colony to strive to avert further desolation. The country is a wilderness, and the farmers and their families have had to take refuge in the towns. This ruin is due to a small, but obstinate, minority. "We have done our best. "We have fought to- get South Africa under one flag, and wo have been beaten. Our duty is now to accept the irrevocable terms of England. Meetings such as the late Worcester Congress do much harm by encouraging an invasion of the Capo polony. It is unbrotherly of you to thus raise false hopes in the Boers. We appeal to you, therefore, to send a deputation to Mr. Steyn and General De Wot, and point out to them that they are the only obstacles to peace. Mr. Kruger and the late Transvaal Government on two occasions expressed willingness to accept the terms of the British. The refusal of Mr. Steyn to fall in with Mr. Kruger at that time encouraged the burghers in their hope of a foreign intervention. It is your duty now to assist in showing the hopelessness of the Boor cause.

I Since the men whose signatures are I' appended to this outspoken document know thoroughly well what they are saying and could hardly be alleged, even by De Wet, to be committing themselves to a tissue of falsehoods, we may well regard it | as one of the most important yet 1 published. 1 In the first place, it is a complete 1 endorsement of the Imperial posil tion, a complete justification of our I colonial action, a complete reply to I the persistent contention of the proI Boer element in Britain. "We [I ■have fought to get South Africa I under one flag," its authors say to I the Cape Dutch, who are so virulent I in denouncing the tyranny of the I Empire. That was the issue. When Joubert invaded Natal, when Cronje „led the Boers southwards, they did lit "to get South Africa Under one I flag." The subsequent claim that 1 the invasion was only intended to Scarry the war into the enemy's 1 country, that the insolent " annexation" of Imperial territories was 9 only intended to give rebels the I status of belligerents, was a mere j pretence. The violent Afrikanderjism of the Transvaal, the allied Afi rikanderism of the Orange , Free | State, the sympathetic AfrikanderI ism of the Capo and Natal Dutch ■ ; had a distinct purpose, recognised j as completely by the Boers as by the loyal British. The Peace Committee puts it mildly "to get South Africa under one flag." Which being interpreted in plain AngloSaxon was "to drive British institutions and all loyal English-speak-ing people into or over the sea." We do not suppose that this or any other evidence will alter the opinion of those self-hypnotised people who cannot possibly see anything wrong in the policy of those who strove to destroy the free and just institutions which flourish under the flag of Britain. But those who have supported the Empire because they know its worth and believe in its | justice, who would not mistakenly ! wrong any State, however small and j however pretentious, who would re- | gret deeply if they had unintention- j ally driven a peaceful and patriotic j people to despair,' will be glad to j see this additional proof of the j righteousness of our Imperial cause. I The desperate courage of the outlaw has always aroused un unprofit- j able sympathy in 1 the British heart, j and we can admire the hard riding j and indomitable spirit of De Wet. ] But we can also realise to the ful- i lest, after reading this appeal for j peace,..-that: he [ represents ;, nothing but the vaulting ambitions ;■■: and reckless indifference to consequences which inspired Afrikahderism to involve a whole people in bloodshed, 1 jiQfc tg jwUnUvUi Kg vijOlU and. liboi-* |

I "■■■■ i W": : -V.^i-'';:; : \yB;;^V ; '''" '''TC ■"'"'' : ~r- -'.■:""-':: '.!■ t3 ■:-' {ties, but to extend the rule of an| ignorant and benighted oligarchy | ; lover freeborn Englishmen, and 'Ho I i ! get South Africa \ under one flag.' ... [|< The appeal of the Boer Peace g; Committee-makes it very plain that J. Stevn and De Wet are public cue-1, mies, ■ to none more bitterly so than j,. their own fellow countrymen. Th* s "small but obstinate majority isß. keeping a great army in the field, and costing both Britain and Greater Britain many valuable lives, | Because of them our,- New Zoa : landers in South Africa must; stay j there indefinitely. Because of them J; our Sixth Contingent is marching jk away amid all our J national grief at § i our good Queen's .'death; But our |: British lands rest in peace behind £■■ the raided frontier. Even in Cape'B, Colony the districts ; where armed d] loyalists gather in strength are com- ■ paratively safe from the raiders. It |: is the Boers themselves who suffer J r mostly. " The country is a wilder- a ness," says the appeal, and well it j may be. ' These unfortunate Boers, J < unquestionably the majority, who|' thoughtlessly allowed Kruger and | j Steyn to lead them into an unpro-| ( yoked and ; unnecessary war are , caught between the -upper and the g i nether. millstones. Even Kruger, 11 we are now authoritatively told, j ] wished to submit to the irrevocable! but was powerless.to allay the ; evil I - spirits he had roused and garbed 1 • with authority.' And to add to the I : sorrows of the deluded " Free j ! Staters," the Afrikanders of Cape g; Colony, who have escaped the hor-1 , rors of war, who looked on while | : the legitimate struggle was in pro-1 gress, still encourage with theirs ; empty words the obstinacy which is ; devastating and ruining their un-j: : happy neighbours. There can be no | \ doubt that the Worcester meeting I'' largely tempted the raiders over the 1 ' border. Unless the raid is promptly 1 stamped out the foolish Cape Dutch | ; will be able, from their own experi-1 ence, to sympathise most heartily 1 : with this piteous appeal for peace. |