colony, to Zastron, in the south-east, would seem to mark a
climatic division. During the two years of repatriation and
relief it was invariably found that the districts to the north-
east of this line received double the quantity of rain which
fell to the south-west of it. Consequently, the reports of
weather and crop prospects received from the different districts
varied considerably. While during October, for instance,
Vredefort reported that * ploughing was in full swing,' and
Wepener stated that ' fair rains fell just in time to save a
portion of the wheat crop, and so to ward off the acuteness of
the threatened distress,' the administrator of relief at Faure-
smith had to increase his ration list ' as the effects of the
prolonged drought made themselves more and more felt,' and
Eouxville feared that ' ploughing for the mealie crop would be
impossible.' Generally speaking, however, with three excep-
tions — Edenburg, Fauresmith, and Eouxville — sufficient rain
fell in all districts during November and December, 1903, to
enable more land to be broken up than ever before, and a



204 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR

larger crop of mealies to be sown than had ever ])eon pre-
viously known. At the same time, the ration list had to be
increased, owing to the arrival of the ploughing season, and
the consequent return of those bijwoners who had gone
temporarily to the relief camps.

In tracing the gradual improvement outlined, I shall again
draw freely on the district reports, because they will give, I
feel, a better idea of local conditions than any summary which
I might make. The following are extracts from some of these
reports for November, 1903. Bethlelem : ' The issue of food-
stuffs materially increased during the past month, but it is
now fairly certain that the worst is past, and before my next
report the wheat harvest will have commenced. In some
instances the issue of rations was made conditional upon one
or more of the family obtaining work, and it was strange to
see how several, who were living in Reitz and had been unable
to get work before, within twenty-four hours obtained employ-
ment quarrying stone.' Ficksburg : ' During the month the
number of persons drawing rations has increased from about
300 to 600. A portion of the wheat crop has, however, been
saved.' Heilbron : ' During the month the burghers have
continued to return to their farms from the Parijs relief
works to proceed with ploughing and sowing. It has, there-
fore, been found necessary to issue rations to them on an
increased scale whilst they are so employed.'

The December reports in most cases marked distinct
j)rogress. Bethlehem : ' You will note the decrease in issues
since November, and there is every prospect of these being
now reduced, until only those who will be a permanent charge
on the Government will be receiving assistance. Copious
rains have repeatedly fallen throughout the district, and from
personal observation I can say that, so far as the wheat crop
is concerned, there is already sufficient wheat stacked to pro-
vide for this district, and by the time it is all reaped, there
will be a considerable surplus for others. Free ploughing and
free seed have again been very keenly appreciated, and the
mealie crop is most promising.' Lady brand has hitherto been



THE DROUGHT 205

regarded as the richest district in the Orange River Colony,
and this is probably due to a fair sprinkling of progressive
farmers, chiefly of British descent. But Bethlehem bids fair
to outstrip Ladybrand in agricultural wealth in the very near
future, and a close runner up to both of these will probably be
little Ficksburg, the smallest district in the colony, possessing
the prettiest of the provincial towns with one exception —
Parijs, on the Vaal River.

Not every district report was as favourable as that received
from Bethlehem, and in many cases where crops promised well
they had been partially destroyed by hail and visited by
locusts and other pests. Harrismith : ' Large quantities of
crops have been destroyed by hail, also a considerable number
of goats and pigs.' Wepener : ' Flying locusts have, I regret
to report;, made their appearance in this district and destroyed
many crops.' Frankfort : ' The crops are good, but early
mealies are suffering from a grub known by local people as
" rupsen." ' Vrede : ' A disease of a very bad nature has
appeared in several places amongst the mealie crops, some of
which are absolutely alive with worms. I have seen and
inspected some myself, and found as many as a dozen large
worms in a single pod. Farmers here attribute this to the
drought, and to the fact that the seed was put into the ground
too soon after the ploughing.'

In several of the southern districts the rain came so late
that only a few farmers were able to plough and sow at all,
and locusts in some eases destroyed what little was sown.
The reports from Edenburg and Fauresmith disclosed little or
no improvement. Edenburg : ' There has been little rain.
The crop prospects are bad. Water is still scarce, and some
farmers have great difficulty in getting sufficient for drinking
jJurposes. Locusts in the hopper stage have made their
appearance.' Fauresmith : ' There have been only a few
purely local showers. The crop prospects, with the exception
of potatoes, are very small. Distress is increasing for three
reasons. Colonial farmers who have been in the district
grazing sheep are now returning. As time goes on and the



200 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR

soil remains unproductive, more and more people get to the
end of their finances. The Jagersfontein Mine is not em-
ploying as many men as heretofore. One reason for my large
ration issues this month — 25,000 pounds of meat and 25,000
pounds of meal — is that the local storekeepers can no longer
afford to give credit. Previously well-to-do farmers are there-
fore obliged to appeal to the department. I do not see that
even the payment of compensation will materially affect the
state of affairs, as in most cases when the recipient has paid
his debts he will be left nearly, if not quite, as badly off as
at present. Many men still have debts contracted before
the war.'

From September to June the plough in the Orange River
Colony is never idle during anything approaching an ordinary
season. Even in districts where little rain fell the large
number of animals which the department had distributed
enabled the farmers to take every advantage of the slightest
showers, and it was not surprising, therefore, that with free
issues of seed the people managed, in spite of difficulties, to
get some sort of a crop into the ground. The peculiar nature
of the drought and the eccentricities of the rainfall, which
have been previously referred to, must still be borne in mind.
A record mealie crop was reaped in several districts in the
beginning of 1904, but this was due not so much to any
particularly favourable season or to an exceptional yield, as
to the fact that an unprecedented area had been ploughed and
sown. In the less favoured districts the people gradually
managed, getting a little return from one crop and another,
by hook or by crook, and chiefly with the assistance afforded
by the department, to regain in a measure their self-support.

With the reaping of the mealie crop the Government rightly
felt that the time had at length come when the Relief Depart-
ment might fitly be closed down. Since the beginning of the
year the department had been gradually reducing by auction
sales and otherwise its surplus stocks and stores.^ As early

' These auction sales had usually been held at " Nachtmaals," and
confined to farmers whose purchases were limited in amount when live-



THE DROUGHT 207

as March the issue of rations except in sick and necessitous
cases had been discontinued in certain of the better districts.
In the poorer districts it was not unnatural that the closing
down of the department should be contemplated with some
concern. The people had grown so accustomed to being
helped that they felt more unable than ever to help them-
selves. Even from the wheat districts there came an appeal
for assistance to be continued — not in food, but in seed.

' It must now be decided,' wrote the administrator of relief
for the Ladybrand district in his February report, ' whether
you will further assist the farmers with seed wheat for the
coming sowing season in April. There is really little seed
wheat here, and I am sure that it would be the greatest boon
to the farmers, rich as well as poor, if they could purchase
from the department's stores. Should sufficient seed be held,
I am confident that a large quantity would be realized for
cash at a small profit, and the handling of a large stock would
cost comparatively less in administration than a small one.'
From the Ficksburg report for January : ' The season for
ploughing for wheat is fast approaching. It will be practically
impossible for farmers to procure wheat from any other source
than from this department, and if they could do so the
samples would be so inferior as not to be worth the sowing.
Hence earnest inquiries are being made — if the department
has already bought, what sort it intends to buy, and what
the probable cost will be. We should recommend Walla-
Walla seed for this district, although Eed Winter No. 2 would
be readily taken.'

The explanation of reports like these, and also the protests
received from the poor districts to the south-west of the
Boshof-Zastron line, is to be found in the fact that the Orange
River Colony possessed at this time no properly organized

stock was scarce. They were now thrown open to the general public. By
Article IX. of Chapter CVII. of the Free State Law-Book, Government
property was exempted from payment of auction dues and customs
charges. The Secretary of State for the Colonies ruled, however, that
auction dues should be paid on sales by the military authorities, and the
Eepatriation Department was considered to be on similar lines.



208 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR

Agricultural Department, and that no means had been pro-
vided for the maintenance of the sick and destitute.

Relief on the scale hitherto obtaining could not be continued
indefinitely. It was decided, therefore, that the department
should be closed down on June 30, 1904. In connection with
this closing down, it is necessary to describe briefly the
measures adopted for the maintenance of the destitute and an
industrial scheme, both of which were later found to be
impracticable.

By the end of May, 1904, then, exactly two years after the
declaration of peace, the Orange River Colony had again
become practically self-supporting. But there remained a
certain residue of people who were physically unable to work
for themselves, together with a few penniless widows and
orphans, for whom some provision had to be made. Here
the department had to break new ground. The problem of
providing for the poor and needy was not the outcome of the
war. Like the bijwoner problem, to which it was akin, it
was part of the legacy left by the late Free State Government.
The question of providing assistance for the aged, crippled,
and entirely destitute, who were unable to earn their own
living and who had no relatives or friends who could properly
be called upon to support them, constantly presented itself
to the Government of the late Republic. No serious attempt
had, however, been made to deal with this class.^ Their
condition had been rendered more acute by the war, and their
future was a continual source of anxiety to the Relief Depart-
ment. The mere existence of this department and the very
general relief it afforded served for a while to shelve the
question, but when that relief was about to be withdrawn
it again cropped up, and to devise some means for its solu-
tion suddenly became a matter of the utmost urgency and
importance.

Any satisfactory pension scheme was not easily to be found,
and outdoor relief had little to recommend it beyond the
abuses to which it lay open. After much consideration
^ Parliamentary Paper, Cd. 2482, p. 39.



THE DROUGHT 209

the Government decided to purchase four farms adjoining
each other in the Lindley district to form a home for the aged
and destitute poor, and others who from bodily ailments or
deformity were unable to support themselves. Buildings
were erected, and accommodation was provided originally for
some 300 inmates. About £'29,000 was devoted to this
purpose from repatriation funds. The farms, which came to
be known as the ' Hope Homes,' were placed under the care
and direction of two philanthropists, who were prepared to
assume full responsibility for their maintenance, the depart-
ment furnishing the needful supplies in stock and stores, and
paying salaries to their assistants for the first year. The
institution of these homes was more or less an experiment,
for nothing of the kind had previously been tried in the
Orange Eiver Colony, and it was doubtful at first whether the
Boers could be induced to accept the kind of assistance which
they afforded. At first the scheme met with the approval of
the leading Boers throughout the colony, and it was regarded
as at least satisfactory by the destitutes themselves ; but
later it was found to be unworkable, and the institution was
closed in September, 1905.

In March, 1904, the Government appointed a Commission
to consider and report upon the best methods of promoting
the establishment and development of minor industries in the
Orange Eiver Colony.^ From one point of view this was
another attempt to deal with the ' poor white ' problem. It
has been seen that the scheme of relief works did not prove
an unqualified success, and the question of the future lying
ahead of the inmates of the relief camps was raised on more
than one occasion. These camps were not intended originally
to be a permanent institution, and it was frequently pointed
out that an endeavour should be made to find permanent
employment for their inmates when the camps should be
closed. It was felt that the establishment of industries, either
controlled directly by the Government or subsidized by it,

1 Vide in this connection an article of mine which appeared in the
Globe for May 20, 1904.

14



210 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR

would not only provide a certain means of livelihood to the
strong and able-bodied, but that it would also afford employ-
ment to those who did not possess the physical robustness
requisite for heavy manual labour, and who had for many
months been a heavy charge on repatriation funds, with no
immediate and little ultimate prospect of improving their
position.

From another standpoint the industrial scheme was dis-
tinctly a move in the right direction. Against a growing
expenditure and increasing liabilities the Orange River Colony
had few assets except its farms, denuded to an abnormal
extent, not only by the clearance policy of the war, but also
by the recent unprecedented drought. The establishment of
new and suitable industries would, it was considered, do much
to redress eventually the disproportion existing between the
exports and imports of the colony.

Hitherto the occupations of the Orange River Colony
burghers had remained almost purely pastoral in character ;
but that both the Boers and their women-folk possessed a
certain aptitude for other things was clearly demonstrated by
the number of curios manufactured by the prisoners of war in
Ceylon, St. Helena, and elsewhere, and by the lacework and
carpentry done under instruction in the refugee camps. His
mode of life had made the Boer necessarily a * jack-of-all-
trades,' for a man soon learns to turn his hand to most
things when he lives a day's journey from any and every
source of supply. The Boer farm, like the English farm of
the Middle Ages, has to be more or less self-contained, * The
average Boer can build a house or a waggon, make a set of
harness or a pair of boots, shoe a horse, weave a basket or a
straw hat, construct a comfortable " rustbank " or a chest of
drawers, dry a roll of tobacco or twist a cigar.' Industries
could be started assured, therefore, of the first factor essential
to their success — namely, a technically gifted population. It
was not unreasonable to hope that the Boer, who already
possessed the necessary rudiments of many useful crafts,
might soon, under careful instruction, become proficient.



THE DROUGHT 211

The Commission sat for several months and took a vast
amount of evidence, which was later embodied in a voluminous
report. The gist of this report was to the effect that the
Orange River Colony was totally lacking in the raw material
required for the establishment of industries, and the Commis-
sioners were unable to recommend the adoption of any in-
dustrial scheme on an extensive scale. An initial loss was
inevitable in an undertaking of this kind, but few people
doubted that the promotion of industries, somewhat on the
lines of the schemes adopted in Wiirtemberg and in Ireland,
could eventually be made to pay. Instead of the boom antici-
pated at its close, the war had, however, been succeeded by a
period of agricultural depression and industrial stagnation.
Consequently, retrenchment in all branches of the service was
the order of the day, and so many millions had already been
spent on repatriation and relief that a few thousands could not
be found for embarking on a scheme which would not only
have been of enormous and permanent benefit to the people
of the colony, but also bade fair to prove eventually a paying
concern.



14—2



CHAPTEK VIII

REPATRIATION FROM WITHIN AND WITHOUT

' Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world — though the
cant of hypocrites may be the worst — the cant of criticism is the most
tormenting !' — Sterne.

' All we see about us, King, Lords, and Commons, the whole machinery
of the State, all the apparatus of the system, and its varied workings, end
in simply bringing twelve good men into a box.' — Lord Brougham.

* When the whole story is told,' wrote Lord Milner of repatria-
tion, * I think it will be regarded as a remarkably creditable
one, though I am far from saying that a good deal of money
has not been thrown away here and there. But I cannot see
how it could have been otherwise, when we had to grapple
with a work so vast, so urgent, thrown upon us so suddenly,
and under circumstances in which delay might have involved
not only untold misery, but actual loss of life. Haste and
economy are never compatible, and extreme haste was forced
upon us by the conditions of the problem.'^ Though very
inadequately, the story has been told, and attention will now
be directed to the cost of repatriation, and more particularly
to the losses incurred, which might have been avoided had the
whole organization been perfect from the start, had all the
officers employed been fully qualified for, and experienced in,
the duties they were called upon to carry out, had the material
placed at their disposal been complete in every possible way.
The wisdom of applying ordinary audit rules to expenditure
made on such an undertaking as repatriation may be open to

1 ParUamentary Paper, Cd. 2102, p. 11. ' Everything had to be done in
a rush and desperate hurry, and the surprising part of the business is that
most things were done so well ' {Africam World, October 31, 1903).

212




LIEUT.-COI.. II. J. McCl.AL-CllI.IX, I) S.C.

Skcrejakv to rnK Centkai. Boakii.



,H(i^




'I'UKEF, OK His SrnOKlUXATE:



REPATRIATION FROM WITHIN AND WITHOUT 213

question, and it goes without saying that the department
failed fully to stand such a test. It would, indeed, have been
marvellous had it been otherwise. It must be remarked,
however, that this test was a very severe one, and it is sub-
mitted that the department came through the ordeal somewhat
better than many of its critics had anticipated.

A Pharaoh is said to have arisen in Egypt who knew not
Joseph. The difficult position of an officer in quelling a riot
has frequently been pointed out, because the question whether
the force he employed for the purpose was necessary or
excessive will probably be ultimately determined by a judge
and jury, and that ' the estimate of what constitutes necessary
force formed by a judge and jury, sitting in quiet and safety
after the suppression of a riot, may differ considerably from
the judgment formed by a general or magistrate who is
surrounded by armed rioters.' When the period of strain and
stress had passed, when the extreme pressure of repatriation
work was over, when things from an executive point of view
were running smoothly, the Colonial Office despatched to the
Orange River Colony an auditor to examine repatriation
accounts. This officer collected round him a considerable
staff, in addition to the inspectors of accounts sent out to
the districts, and, snugly installed in a comfortable office, with
no knowledge of the country and ignorant of the earlier
difficulties, these gentlemen proceeded to wade through every
available document, and to call for records which in many
cases had not been kept.

An attempt was made gradually to enmesh repatriation in
the coils of red-tape which were inseparable from the working
of more permanent departments.^ But it was soon found
impossible to apply the Colonial Office financial instructions
in their entirety. Instructions were, consequently, issued

1 This does not mean that red-tape is to be condemned. It is essential
in accounting and auditing, and, for that matter, in all government.
' There must be people to keep an office in order, to make a fetish of
etiquette, to insist on a stereotyped procedure, and to see the world dimly
through a mist of " previous papers." ' The point submitted is that red-
tape was inapplicable to repatriation.



214 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR

that the auditors should devote their attention to seeing that
all transactions were properly vouched, that no undue waste
or extravagance took place, that the charges for administration
were according to the authorized establishment, that the
stocks and stores purchased were properly disposed of and
accounted for, and that the scheme of repatriation, as defined
in the Terms of Surrender and any subsequent instructions,
was being properly carried out.

Even subject to these limitations the task was most
arduous, involving as it did the perusal and careful examina-
tion of material which was huge in amount but frequently
incomplete in detail, and it occupied three years. The
expenses of auditing helped to swell considerably the already
heavy expenditure incurred, and it is not quite obvious what
practical end was served, beyond fixing the responsibility for
mistakes made, and emphasizing what should and what
should not be done in a scheme which had never been
undertaken before, and which is never likely to be undertaken
again.

The repatriation scheme on its financial side lay open to
many criticisms, and these must be examined. The short-
comings of the department were numerous, and an attempt
will be made rather to explain than to justify their existence.
It may be stated at once that the amount involved is over
£140,000, which will be found under the head of losses in the
final statement of receipts and expenditure,^ and which was
made up as follows :

£ 8. d.

Deaths, etc 119,865 11

Stores and trading ... 19,111 3 2

Defalcations 2,002 15 5



^140,979 9 7



Before dealing with these losses, however, attention must
be directed to criticisms of a more general character. Refer-
ence has already been made to some of these, and they may be

1 Vide Appendix G, p. 278.



EEPATEIATION FROM WITHIN AND WITHOUT 215

regrouped under the following headings : (1) Bad book-keep-
ing, including lack of supervision and consequent defalcations.
(2) No system of purchasing stores. (3) Assistance afforded
to persons other than those contemplated in Section X. of the
Articles of Surrender.

With regard to the first of these criticisms, the reader is
asked to bear in mind the circumstances under which the
restoration of the people to their homes was undertaken.
The circular letter of June 21, 1902, describes in detail the
form of the accounts which was adopted by the department.^
The instructions contained in this circular are sufficiently
precise, and the proposed form of accounts is clearly stated ;
but the cessation of hostilities found the Repatriation Depart-
ment, which had then been in existence as a small central
staff for some six weeks, in a state of total unpreparedness to