KRUGER IN EUROPE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6994, 9 January 1901, Page 4

KRUGER IN EUROPE.

#0M PAUL AND THE; PARISIANS* HIS WELCOME TO FRANCE"NOISS;iS ALL WE CAN OFFER." [From Our Cobbespondent.] LONDON, Nov. 30. The lionising of ex-President Paul Kruger in France continues, but whether it will lead to anything definite being dlone by the French people in tha direction! of Oom Paul's desires is open Ho question. The Parisians welcomed Paul as they welcomed the Emperor of Russia when* txhl* ruler went among them to Show tine reality of the Franco-Russian alliance. They have shouted themselves hoarse witih "Vive Kruger!" and "Vivenfe les Boers I" but they have not "oonspuezd" aSI things British, as the fanatical Angtophobes diesired, and scarce a franc ihas been.raised toward equipping the 25,000 volunteers which that delightful babbler Henri Rooheforfc is begging his compatriots to send) out to the Transvaal to assit their dearly beloved friends to retain their indepeaidence. Moreover, the French Government does not appear to have any desire to attempt to delay the inevitable by the more regular, but scarcely less dangerous, method of intervention. As Great Britain apparently has not formally informed the Powers of the annexation of the two Republics, Mr Kruger is still in the official!! French eye President of the Transvaal, and as sucih he has been, given all the official honours due to Kings, Presidents and the like who may jtisit France, but nothing more. Had thfc Government dte■ired to encourage Oom Paul, PresMen* Loubet would have met the traveller at 1 tjhe statical when he arrived from the sotttih on Saturday morning. Instead, the State was represented! by tihe Director of.itihe Protocol, a sort of republican I/ord Chamberlain. This little attention was aJI that Kruger could claim, and the Frenxft.Gov- " eminent could not have offered him anything less. And you may search the French, papers of standing in vain; to find a promise of active support of Mr Kruger in his campaign in search of "justice." The ex-President may possibly set great store by the. welcome he received! from tihe Parisians on Saturday, and' his ovations en route to the capital, but lie will ] to a certainty discover, ere long, that lip service is all he wiil get from 'his French' "friends." They will give him all the ovations he wants, but as the "Daily News" representative perfcinenMy! remarks, they are "befriending 1 him in the way they choose, and not in the way he chooses." Yet Paris's welcome to Paul of Pretoria was a wonderful sight, one calculated to induce a person ignorant of French, j character to believe that the nation! was ready to go to any extreme to prevent the Boers losing their independence. The train conveying the ex-President arrived at the Lyons terminus at 11 a.m. The big station, which had been profusely decorated with flowers and palms, was besieged with a huge crowd, and that crowd was continuous for the three miles of boulevards twist railway and tihe Hotel! Scribe, to which Oom Paul had to drive. As the Kruger train steamed into the station all 'heads were bared, and loud and sustained cries of "Vive Krugert Vivent fos Boers! Vive I'lndependence!" were raised by the crowd which thronged the platforms. Through a ma* take of the engine-driver, the saloon carriage in which Mr Kruger travelled was taken past the reception saloon* and the ceremonious presentation of the, addresses of welcome had consequently to take place on the platform opposite tihe carriage. The crowd pressed so closely round that Mr Kruger, who began to alight as soon as | the train stopped, had to remain for a while standing on the foot-board, from which he bowed ids acknowledgments of the incessant cheering. M. Crozier, of the Protocol, was the first to approach, when a way had been cleared, and formally bade Mr Kruger welcome and offered good wishes in the name of the PtcBiddnt of the Republic and the Government. The words were translated to Mr Kruger, who bowed and expressed nis thanks in due terms. : M. Guerln, President of tihe Boer Inidependence Committee, next addressed Mr Kruger, who, through the mellifluous medium of a notable pro-Boer, M. Hamel, replied as follows: —"I am deeply touched by the sympathy which the population Of every French town that I pass displays [towards me by means of such striking, demonstrations. Indeed, I have s<jen thousands of Frenchmen assemble as I pass, 'and it is thus tTiat I have learned to understand that aJI Frenchmen are as convinced as I am of the justice of our course. ;We seek to maintain our independence, feeling assured: that the independence of peoples alone guarantee peace. It is to obtain that peace, founded on liberty and 'justice, that we are struggling oil the soil 'of the two Republics, and that I have come myself to Europe. Never would I think of soliciting the least favour that would be unjust. I have proved this by demanding xinceasingly that arbitration for Hvhioh I still ask. To carry out this task, 1 rely on the support of the nations, and notably on the sympathy of the French people." ' M- Grebauval, President of *he Paris Municipal Council, was the next to tender a welcome to Oom Paul, whose brief and jagged veldt Dutch sentences being put through, the Hamel process came out in this very taking form: —"l thank you for the words of welcome which you ihave been good; enough to address to me. If I am ihappy to find! myself in France, I am particularly proud to be in Paris. I 'know Paris from 'having visited it im other circumstances. I know, above all, that Paris is one of the brightest torches of true civilisation, in the world. The aeelavmations which greet me will sustain my courage, but I draw that courage also from .simply looking at the arms of Paris. I know the meaning of your beautiful Latin motto, 'Fluctuat nee Mergitur,' and in South Africa, as with you, if there are storms which threaten a ship, it will float, and wall not founder." . Outside the station Mr, Krugpr and his friends took their places in the carriages, and a few minutes after 11 the procession

left, preceded by a squad of the Garde Eepoblacaine on horseback. An immense roar df cheering accompanied and followed the passage of the cortege from end to end 1 of tlhe route. The public enthusiasm appeared to reach its Iheight fty the Hotel Scribe. The crowd here -broke through the cordon of police, and rushed tumultuously round the carriage, but the police, •who Fere very numerous, . soon, cleared the way and Mr Kruger was enabled to alight at the hotel without difficulty. Later on the ex-President, in answer to the demands oi the crowd, appeared on the balcony of the hotel with his grandchildren', wtho vigorously waved small Transvaal flags, and bowed! his acknowledgments. In the late afternoon he was taken. ?n a closed! carriage to the Elysee, andl after an interview bf ten 'minutes' duration with President Lpibet, returned to has hotel, meeting .everywhere with acclamations. Before five 1 * o'clock the Presiden* returned Oom Paul's friendly call, -when witb M. Hamel's assistance the two had "a most cordial interview," which was ooncludied by Mr Kruger showing his visitor to the head of ,th« staircase. Having got through these formalities the old man retired to rest, refusing to see any deputations or indivi-. duals. He yrp& even ungallanfc _enQUgh^|o, sport his oak against that lively patriot " Miss Maude Gonne, who cijiane^q meet with her reward for her tongue hab of the Boer cause in Ireland, and had $» escort of Yankee-Irishmen. „ Oni Sunday Oom*Paul kept his^ak sported, and we are told made up for the lack of a Dutch Church in Paris by reading the Bible all the morning: He was, during the courge of the afternoon, serenaded by a' group .of noisy students, and by-and-bye a crowd assembled, and in response to their insistent calls, the distinguished visitor, good Sunday thotagh it was, came forth and bowed his acknowledgments from- #he balcony. On Monday th^^ii^in of. Pretoria was shown round thjh£tnnamfe of the Exhibition, and was hoisted to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower,*which' filled him with admiring awe. Hp was astonished that human intelligence could \accomplisli such wonders. In the Transvaal section he was taken into the Boer farmhouse, and there one of his i cicerones took up the ever-obtrusive Bible ' and comforted Paul with a ver3e from i Detoteronom^, alluding to the Almighty and his protection. En route home to the Hotel Scribe, the ex-Premier was vociferously cheered by a dense crowd, and later on he received Miss Maude Gonne's deputation of recreant Irishmen. Miss Gonne presented addresses: from Irish, Nationalist societies, a 1 Fenian, named O'Leary, then presented an • ilmminated address in Irish, French and Dutch,: expressing the sentiment ! that the Transvaal's enemies were Ireland's. Major M'Bride introduced the delegates to Mr Kruger, who made three speeches in the Boer "taal>" thanking those present for what they had done for the Boer cause. | Of the demonstration, on Saturday, the; "Radical" remarks:— "lf cries were bullets the situation in the Transvaaji would be | considerably improved^, but they are, not, j and events will continue their customary jog-trot without paying more attention to shrieking manifestations than a carriage does to the noisy yelping of dogs. Less noise and more work would, perhaps, be more to the taste of the peoples who interest us, but noise is all we can offer them, and we do not spare them that. If they lose their independence it will be at least to a musical accompaniment. We have even been assured that certain enthusiasts indulged in illuminations. This is quite a new way of celebrating defeat. Hitherto illuminations have been regarded'as a sign of joy. That is the terrible thing, about this habit of shouting. By dintiof shouting, people end by not knowing wf y^they are snouting or what it is all about." DR LEYDS AS STAGE-MANAGER. There is no doubt that the success, from a dramatic point of view, of Oom Paul's reception in Paris was mainly due to Dr Leyds's fine eye for effect and superb stage management. The slim secretary had his | claqueurs and his demonstration managers, and spent money freely. A baby, 'of .some three summers was. kept a yierkleur on Mr Kruger's balcony to stimulate the ecstatic excitement of the crowd and to encourage them to recall the ex-President to bow his acknowledgments at frequent intervals. But Dr Leyds surpassed himself in his arrangement of the apparently impromptu sentimental family scene at the Hotel Scribe prior jto the official reception. A piano was placed in the ante-chamber of Mr Kruger's apartments, Mrs Pierson, wife of the Transvaal Consul-General in Paris, took her seat at it t surrounded by a choir composed of Mrs Eloff s two young sons and three nephews, and awaited Mr Kruger's arrival. Although deputations swarmed in ! every corridor of the hotel, some of them .; even taking up positions just in front of the lift with the idea of intercepting and addressing the ex-Pre6ident on his upward flight, Mr Kruger sped*rapidly up to his floor, without a pause. Amid cries of ; " Vive Kniigfer," he strode past delegations and deputations into his rooms. Then the domestic scene so artfully planned by Dr Leyds took place. As the ex-Preeident entered, the clear treble of children's voices piped the Boer Anthem, accompanied by Mrs Pierson on the piano. Oom Paul, visibly touched, humedlyjggpedjiis wearied eyes as he listened to 1&ie; yQlkjslied. There was a rush among all the visitors and delegates on the staircase to follow Mr Kriiger into iit& room, but Dr Leyds~barredthe '.way, exclaiming, " C'est intime, messieurs— this is only a family gathering." M. Grebauval, the president of the Municipal Council, put his Bead in through the half -open door, but, like the -pressmen and delegates, was firmly requested to retire. In his room Mr Kruger sank into an armchair, without saying a word. No sound from the room reached | those on the landing for several minutes, while outside the roar of cheers in the street was incessant. At last the deputation of French lady sympathisers grew impatient, and Dr Leyds prevailed upon Mr Kruger to admit them and listen to their speech in. French, of which he could not, of course^ comprehend a word. After this, st^ll'prompted by Dr Leyds, he got up and went ' to the balcony. The re-doubling of the roar outside told those in the hotel that the; new Parisian, hero was bowing to his people. The official reception was then allowed to proceed. Dr Leyds has not invariably been so successful as in his Parisian programme. The English Club in Johannesburg a few years ago 1 got neatly to windward of him. When <: thfc wily doctor was a power in Pretoria, he marked his prejudice against that club by imposing some very stringent rules, one of which was that no stranger should stay 'at the club overnight. Months passed away, and late one night a traveller reached Johannesburg. The hotels were closed; the club was the only place open. Thither the visitor went, and the manager recognised in him Dr Leyds, the State Secretary. Dr Leyds

found the club very comfortable, and was profuse in his expressions of appreciation. He had no doubt forgotten the incident of a few months before. But his bill reminded him of it the next morning. At the bottom was lie item, " Club subscription £10 ,5.05." The State Secretary did not understand, but the manager .explained to him that as tihe new rules forbade strangers making use of the club over night, and as he had not presumed to explain fys rules to the man who made them, the committee, not wishing to be inhospitable to a member of the Government, or to. incur a heavy fine, had decided to.savo the situation by electing Dr Leyds a member of the club ! The doctor accepted the situation, but the has not been to the English Club since, and is not likely to go again.