Native Life in South Africa [153]
of the Union." (An extravagant assertion considering that there are six million people in the Union and that the meeting only represented a section of the half a million Boers.)
A reply was demanded from the Government before September 30, so as to get it in time for consideration at a subsequent people's gathering.
When this was carried, General De Wet said in parting: "If there be still a few lap-dogs here, friends, don't take any notice of them. They have now no teeth. We are now more united than when the difference between the Government and `the People' first began." (Obviously General De Wet was here alluding to the rupture between the Government and General Hertzog in 1912, when, to the disgust of himself and his followers, the latter was forced to leave the Ministry. One reason why the Natives' Land Act was passed was in order to "dish the Whigs" and placate the Hertzogites.)
* * * * *
On September 24, General De Wet held another meeting at Kopjes, Orange "Free" State. The Resident Magistrate of Parys attended the meeting and read a telegram from the Government announcing that no Burghers would be forced to proceed to the front; that only volunteers would be asked to serve. This wire, however, did not satisfy the Burghers. They contended that the expedition to German South-West Africa was a policy of setting the prairie on fire, and it did not matter who the originator of the fire was, for when it was raging the Burghers would be called upon to quench it.
After the meeting had passed votes of condolences to Mrs. De la Rey, General De Wet said he was opposed to a war against a nation that had done him no harm. Whether or not the Government used volunteers, "who," he asked, "would be responsible for the harm that is likely to follow a provocation of the Germans? This expedition is to coax them into our country. You may go if you like," added General De Wet emphatically, "but I won't."
Now, the Boers in certain respects are not unlike the Natives; thus when a grey-haired Native, or a Boer, addresses a crowd of his compatriots and says to them, "You may do such and such a thing if you like, but I will not," it is understood by them to be a roundabout way of saying, "Take my advice and don't." And so when such a declaration is made by a man as influential amongst his people as General De Wet, it is not surprising that the crowd shouted in response, "We won't go. Let the authorities adjust the result of their own bungling. Ninety-two men in Parliament voted for the expedition without consulting their constituents, and we are not satisfied." Thereupon some one shouted, "Where is Mr. Van der Merwe?" Others said, "Call him; perhaps he is in the crowd." So the stentorian voice of a Boer equipped with a powerful pair of lungs called out, "Van der Merwe! Van der Merwe!! Van der Merwe!!!" and then announced "He is not here."
Mr. Van der Merwe is the Parliamentary representative of the district where the meeting was held.
In conclusion, General De Wet said: "Here is the Magistrate and there is the prison. If I have said anything that I cannot substantiate I will willingly surrender myself into their hands."
The motion against the expedition was then put, 512 Boers voting for it and only two against it.
* * * * *
Es ist sehr weit nach Tipperary, Es ist sehr weit zu gehn; Es ist sehr weit nach Tipperary, Meinen liebsten Schatz zu sehn. Leb' wohl, Piccadilly, Adieu, Leicester Square, Es ist sehr sehr weit nach Tipperary Doch dahin sehnt mich sehr. "Tipperary" in German.
On September 29, General Botha addressed his constituents at a Transvaal station called Bank, on the Kimberley-Johannesburg line. A thousand Burghers met the Premier as he left his special travelling saloon for the place of the meeting and gave him a rousing reception. Before General Botha spoke, he permitted his opponents (to the evident displeasure of the majority of the audience) to unbosom their alleged
A reply was demanded from the Government before September 30, so as to get it in time for consideration at a subsequent people's gathering.
When this was carried, General De Wet said in parting: "If there be still a few lap-dogs here, friends, don't take any notice of them. They have now no teeth. We are now more united than when the difference between the Government and `the People' first began." (Obviously General De Wet was here alluding to the rupture between the Government and General Hertzog in 1912, when, to the disgust of himself and his followers, the latter was forced to leave the Ministry. One reason why the Natives' Land Act was passed was in order to "dish the Whigs" and placate the Hertzogites.)
* * * * *
On September 24, General De Wet held another meeting at Kopjes, Orange "Free" State. The Resident Magistrate of Parys attended the meeting and read a telegram from the Government announcing that no Burghers would be forced to proceed to the front; that only volunteers would be asked to serve. This wire, however, did not satisfy the Burghers. They contended that the expedition to German South-West Africa was a policy of setting the prairie on fire, and it did not matter who the originator of the fire was, for when it was raging the Burghers would be called upon to quench it.
After the meeting had passed votes of condolences to Mrs. De la Rey, General De Wet said he was opposed to a war against a nation that had done him no harm. Whether or not the Government used volunteers, "who," he asked, "would be responsible for the harm that is likely to follow a provocation of the Germans? This expedition is to coax them into our country. You may go if you like," added General De Wet emphatically, "but I won't."
Now, the Boers in certain respects are not unlike the Natives; thus when a grey-haired Native, or a Boer, addresses a crowd of his compatriots and says to them, "You may do such and such a thing if you like, but I will not," it is understood by them to be a roundabout way of saying, "Take my advice and don't." And so when such a declaration is made by a man as influential amongst his people as General De Wet, it is not surprising that the crowd shouted in response, "We won't go. Let the authorities adjust the result of their own bungling. Ninety-two men in Parliament voted for the expedition without consulting their constituents, and we are not satisfied." Thereupon some one shouted, "Where is Mr. Van der Merwe?" Others said, "Call him; perhaps he is in the crowd." So the stentorian voice of a Boer equipped with a powerful pair of lungs called out, "Van der Merwe! Van der Merwe!! Van der Merwe!!!" and then announced "He is not here."
Mr. Van der Merwe is the Parliamentary representative of the district where the meeting was held.
In conclusion, General De Wet said: "Here is the Magistrate and there is the prison. If I have said anything that I cannot substantiate I will willingly surrender myself into their hands."
The motion against the expedition was then put, 512 Boers voting for it and only two against it.
* * * * *
Es ist sehr weit nach Tipperary, Es ist sehr weit zu gehn; Es ist sehr weit nach Tipperary, Meinen liebsten Schatz zu sehn. Leb' wohl, Piccadilly, Adieu, Leicester Square, Es ist sehr sehr weit nach Tipperary Doch dahin sehnt mich sehr. "Tipperary" in German.
On September 29, General Botha addressed his constituents at a Transvaal station called Bank, on the Kimberley-Johannesburg line. A thousand Burghers met the Premier as he left his special travelling saloon for the place of the meeting and gave him a rousing reception. Before General Botha spoke, he permitted his opponents (to the evident displeasure of the majority of the audience) to unbosom their alleged