If
what theosophists say be true, that thoughts are living forces, then it
seems to me that the subtle power and influence of a national maxim must be
far-reaching and powerful in its effect on the national mind.
Of
this we had ample proof as the war proceeded.
With "Might is right" working ceaselessly in a hundred thousand brains, some
people in South Africa and England began to believe that might was right,
and with "All is fair in love and war" held up by the united force of a
million minds, is it to be wondered at that anything and everything seemed
justified under martial law? And yet, when we come to think of it, how
pernicious and demoralising the effect of such maxims must be on the public
in general and the uneducated mind in particular. Under its influence a
nation may become, in times of war, dishonourable and treacherous, may be
dragged from one abyss of degradation to another, deeper than the last,
until all self-respect is gone and the voice of conscience is silenced for
ever.
Well may we guard against this growing evil in South Africa! Well may we
keep our national mottoes pure!
I
do believe that the Dutch South African saying, "Geduld en moed, alles sal
reg kom" ("Patience and courage, everything will right itself"), is
responsible to a great extent for the South African indifference to duty. It
was first spoken by President Brand, of the Orange Free State, no doubt in
all thoughtlessness of what it might lead to, for no one could have foreseen
that the first part, "Geduld en moed," would fall into disuse and be
forgotten, because these good qualities do not come easily to men, and the
second, "Alles sal reg kom," would be made an excuse for a sort of lazy
optimism, by which anything could be justified which comes easiest to us at
the moment.
"Alles
sal reg kom," yes, but not if we shirk our responsibilities. "Alles sal reg
kom" if we are true, staunch, and honourable, if with perseverance and
patient endurance we fulfil our duty when its demands upon us are most
exacting and difficult.
Rightly interpreted, this popular saying would have been a strong support to
the Boers at a time when they were assailed by the fiercest temptation, and
this brings us to the subject with which this short chapter deals.
We
were frequently told during the war that it was Lord Kitchener's policy to
procure the services of as many members of the opposing forces as could be
persuaded, for material considerations, to take up arms against their fellow
countrymen, a policy which he had often employed in other countries and to
which he owed much of his success. This may or may not have been the case in
previous wars in which he had taken a leading part, but in the great South
African war this policy was crowned with undoubted success, in the formation
of the National Scouts Corps.
The thought has occurred to me that the words "National Scout" may convey
nothing to my English reader.
Would to God that it conveyed nothing to us either!
It
will be necessary to explain. The first downward step to becoming a National
Scout was the voluntary surrendering of arms to the enemy, to become a
"handsupper," as the burghers were called, who laid down their arms while
the Boer leaders were still in the field.
There were three kinds of handsuppers; first, men who, through a mistaken
sense of duty, surrendered themselves to the enemy, in order to bring the
war to a speedy termination and so to save the women and children from
further suffering; second, the men who, wearied of the strife, became
hopeless and despondent and only longed for peace, indifferent as to who
should prove to be the victor in the field; and third, the men who, through
their lust for gain, fell an easy prey to the temptations offered them in
gold and spoil by the enemy, surrendering their trusty Mausers in exchange
for the Lee Metfords of the enemy, with whom they thereafter stood, side by
side, in infernal warfare against kith and kin. To the latter class of
handsuppers the National Scouts, better known throughout the war as
"Judas-Boers," belonged. In most cases they were first employed by the enemy
as "Cattle Rangers," to gather in the livestock from the farms and protect
them from recapture by the Boer commandos. The next step downwards followed
as a matter of course, active service against their brother burghers.
A
few months after the occupation of Pretoria the first public meeting was
held in the Rex Bar, now known as the Lyceum Theatre, on Church Square
("under the Oaks"), for the purpose of recruiting National Scouts from the
ranks of the burghers in Pretoria. Many prominent men attended this meeting,
which, it will be remembered, was presided over by a distinguished British
officer. These men went, not to become members of the National Scouts Corps,
but to ask a certain question when the right moment arrived—and then they
rose with one accord. "What about our oath of neutrality?" They were told
that the oath of neutrality need not disturb any one who wished to join the
ranks of the enemy; it would be nullified by the oath of allegiance, and was
declared to be "a mere formality." The noblest motives for uniting their
strength to that of the enemy, in the endeavour "to restore peace to the
land," were laid before the burghers of the Transvaal. Not only would the
helpless inmates of the Concentration Camps be spared further suffering, but
the deplorable loss of life of men on both sides in the field would cease.
Then too, the pay was a consideration not to be despised in days of so much
hardship and privation. Large sums were paid for the capture of each brother
burgher, and so liberal a share in the plunder brought home by them that
there are, at the present time, well-to-do farmers, poor before the war, now
flourishing and well known in their districts as successful "pocket
patriots."
The National Scouts became a strong and well-organised body of men, versed
in all the arts of Boer warfare, familiar with the country—a dangerous and
treacherous addition to the difficulties with which the faithful burghers
were beset.
It
must be clearly understood that there can be no comparison between the act
of the men who, when condemned to death, saved themselves by turning King's
evidence and the treachery of the men who, voluntarily and for greed of
gold, took up arms against their fellow-countrymen. Under the impulse of
fear men may be guilty of a crime for which they may have to do penance with
lifelong remorse, and for these we may feel pity, even if we do not
understand and cannot enter into the cowardly weakness by which they were
driven to betray their comrades. But in the case of the National Scouts
there were no extenuating circumstances except perhaps that the greater
responsibility rested on the men who paid in dross for the dishonour of
their fellow-creatures.
It
was the public recruiting of National Scouts from amongst the burghers who
had taken the oath of neutrality that first induced the Boers who remained
true to their cause to use their influence in bringing the war to an end.
But they determined to assist their fellow-countrymen, not the enemy, and
when the call came from the field they were found ready to depart for active
service or willing to devote themselves to secret service in the towns, as
the case may be. I may say here that the appointment of the Secret Committee
did not at any time bear an official character.
Although the Boer leaders knew of its existence and made use of information
conveyed through the members, they did not approve of the work of espionage
being carried on in the towns, because of the great danger to which it
exposed the women and the needless risks incurred by the men.
The Secret Service of the Boers was not confined to the burghers. In every
department of importance there were British subjects in the employment of
the Boers, especially in that part connected with the registration of names
of the men who joined the National Scouts.
From every part of the Transvaal the names and addresses of Boers joining
the English were sent to British head-quarters in Pretoria, these lists
being again conveyed to Captain Naudé, who passed them on to Boer
head-quarters in the field.
There was no break in this part of the Boer espionage until the war came to
an end.
In
the Burgher Camps Department, as the head-quarters of the Concentration
Camps in Pretoria were called, there were men at work for us too, men who by
smuggling through statistics of the high mortality and other facts connected
with the Camps, strengthened the hands of the pro-Boers in England and
acquainted the world with the real state of affairs even before the Blue
books could appear.
Towards the latter end of the war thousands of burghers had succumbed to
their temptations, and the appalling increase of the Scouts Corps preyed on
the minds of the Boer leaders more than any other calamity. Everything that
ingenuity could devise was tried to stop the burghers from sinking deeper
into degradation, members of the Scouts Corps, when captured by the Boers,
being executed without mercy and their fate made known far and wide.
Hell was indeed let loose in South Africa and every man's hand was turned
against his brother. The worst passions of mankind rose to the surface, were
deliberately played upon, making havoc of every tradition of country and
race.
In
the towns, where the renegades felt themselves comparatively safe under the
protection of the British troops, their work was carried on quite openly. It
would not be possible to describe the feelings of the faithful Boers when
they contemplated this hideous aspect of the war.
Many futile efforts were made to stem the tide of crime, but it was a woman
in Pretoria who devised a plan which would undoubtedly have struck terror to
the hearts of many waverers had it been put to practice by the Boer leaders,
after she had successfully carried it out.
At
her instance a trusted mechanic, working secretly at dead of night, made
half a dozen tiny branding-irons in the form of a cross, to be used for
branding the traitors between the eyes, when captured red-handed. This
drastic measure was, however, not resorted to.
FOOTNOTES:
"Zak-patriotten."
