of this sum reduces the total amount devoted to repatriation services in the O.R.C. to
£1,454,135 7s. 8d., the balance of loans (subhead A) being reduced to £521,485 8s. 4d.
3 . The final distribution of the free grant is based on the assessed claims of all ex-
burghers, whether destitute or not.
APPENDIX H (I.)
Instructions issued to the Local (Eepatriation) Commis-
sions AND Eesident Magistrates by the Central
Judicial Commission.
Instructions issued in February, 1903.
1. I have the honour to inform you that it has been decided to
introduce a radical change into the system by which claims for com-
pensation for war losses, or for relief out of the free grants made by
the Imperial Government to sufferers from the war, are dealt with.
2. Complaints have for some time been rife with reference to the
delay in dealing with claims presented to Military Compensation
Boards, as well as to the principles on which these claims have been
dealt with. So far the Military Boards have only paid on claims
based upon receipts given by competent military authorities. The
payment of this class of claims is proceeding as fast as possible;
but all other claims, even for losses sustained by persons claiming
protection under the proclamations and promises of Lord Roberts
and other military commanders, are being referred by the Military
Boards to the Civil Commissions dealing with the £3,000,000 grant,
and have in no case been paid by the military. Strong protests
have been made by persons who had taken the oath of allegiance,
or by other ex-burghers who had surrendered and placed themselves
under military protection, against their claims being dealt with in
precisely the same manner as those of persons who had no such
special claim to consideration. They have argued that it was unjust
to them to treat their claims simply as claims to a pro rata share in
the relief granted to ex-burghers generally under Clause X. of the
Terms of Surrender ; that their claims were claims of right, based
upon the promises of the military authorities, to the payment of
280
APPENDIX H (I.) 281
which they would have been entitled, even if the grant of £3,000,000
had never been made, and that these claims were not adequately
dealt with simply by being admitted to participation in that grant.
3. His Majesty's Government have been impressed by this
argument, and have decided that claims for war losses sustained by
certain classes of ex-burghers shall be separately dealt with and
assessed, and be paid, so far as money is available, out of a fund
which has been placed by the War OflBce authorities at the disposal
of the High Commissioner for this purpose, which, for the sake of
convenience, may be known as the Military Compensation Fund.
4. There are, therefore, now three separate funds against which
claims, apart from claims based upon receipts given by militarj^
authorities, may rank for payment — viz. :
A. The sum of £3,000,000 provided under Article X. of the
Terms of Surrender.
B. The sum of £2,000,000 granted by the British Government
for the relief of British subjects.
C. The Military Compensation Fund.
5. The existence of three distinct funds renders it necessary to
define, as accurately as possible, the classes of claimants entitled to
participate in each of them.
A. The Gh-ant of £3,000,000.— The claimants entitled to share in
this grant are all those exburghers of the two late Eepublics who
have sustained war losses, and whose pecuniary circumstances are,
or were at the time when peace was restored, such as to justify
assistance being given to them out of the said grant to enable them
to resume their occupations.
B. The Grant of £2,000,000.— The persons entitled to participate
in this are British subjects, foreign subjects, and natives.
British subjects entitled to share in this grant comprise all
persons —
(a) Who at the outbreak of the war were British subjects,
and who rendered no assistance to the Governments
or forces of either of the late Republics.
(b) Who, being originally British subjects, were placed on
the burgher rolls of either of the late Republics with-
out their consent ; who never exercised burgher rights
or accepted any official post under the Government of
either of the late Republics, and who rendered no
282 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
assistance to those Governments or their forces during
the war.
(c) Who, being burghers, whether of British extraction or
not, refused to take up arms against the British, at
no time rendered any service to the Governments of
the late Republics or their forces during the war, and
took the earliest opportunity of actively identifying
themselves with the British cause.
C. The Military Compensation Fund. — This fund is intended to
deal with the war losses of ex-burghers, in respect of which com-
pensation is claimed as a right on the ground of specific promises
made by the military authorities. Receipts given by competent
military authorities for goods taken by the military do not rank
against the Military Compensation Fund, as they are being
separately dealt with.
The following are the classes of ex-burghers entitled to share in
the Military Compensation Fund, and who are hereinafter referred
to as 'protected burghers ':
(a) Those who voluntarily surrendered under a specific
promise from any British officer that their property,
or any portion of it, would be protected or respected,
whether such promise or undertaking was made or
given directly to the individual claimant or to a body
of men collectively, provided always that any person
who claims to have surrendered under such promise
as aforesaid is proved to have done so on the faith of
such promise, and at the first reasonable opportunity
after such promise was made or became known to him.
(b) Those who rendered active assistance to His Majesty's
forces.
Provided that no claim may be admitted against the Military
Compensation Fund in respect of any loss prior to the date when
the ex-burgher surrendered or began to render assistance to His
Majesty's forces, or of any loss sustained by any ex-burgher who,
subsequent to his surrender, rendered any assistance directly or
indirectly to the enemy.
7. With the claims of foreign subjects you are not concerned,
and any claims of this nature lodged with you should be forwarded
at once to Colonel Edmonds, R.E., Pretoria.
APPENDIX H (L) 283
8. As regards the claims of natives, with which, in the absence of
a Native Commissioner, you may be called upon to deal, it is only
necessary to say that the general instructions contained in this
circular will, so far as necessary, be applicable.
9. Claims are to be investigated by the following persons :
Claims to share in the Military Compensation Fund should have imme-
diate consideration, and will be assessed by you, assisted by one or
more military officers who will be specially appointed for that purpose.
Claims for ex-burghers to participate in the grant of £3,000,000
will be assessed by the local Repatriation Commissions, as heretofore.
Claims to share in the grant of £2,000,000, if made by British
subjects, will be assessed by the Resident Magistrates.
Claims made by subjects of any foreign Power will be assessed by
the Judicial Commission.
Claims made by natives will be assessed by the Native Commis-
sioner of the district in which the native resides, or, if there be no
Native Commissioner, then by the Resident Magistrate of such
district.
10. Your first care on the filing of a claim or in dealing with
those already filed will he to scrutinize the claim and determine the
fund against which it will rank. It is of the utmost importance
that claims which rank in whole or in part against the Military
Compensation Fund should be separated from the rest as soon as
possible.
11. The claim of an ex-burgher, which ranks only against the
£3,000,000 grant, should be endorsed on the outside cover
' Burgher '; that of a British subject or native should be endorsed
with those words. A claim entitled to rank in whole or in part
against the Military Compensation Fund should be endorsed
' Protected Burgher.'
12. Each claim of the different classes should be numbered
consecutively.
The claims of each class should be kept separately, to be dealt
with by the Repatriation Commissions, by yourself as Resident
Magistrate, or by yourself in conjunction with the military officers
above referred to, as the case may be.
13. It will often be the case that the same person will be entitled
to share both in the grant of £3,000,000 and in the Military Com-
pensation Fund — e.g., a surrendered burgher entitled to share in
284 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
the latter fund may have a claim for losses prior to his surrender,
in respect of which he would be entitled to participate in the grant
of £3,000,000. In such case you should deal with the whole claim
or claims of such person, in conjunction with the military officers
already referred to, with a view to assessing separately the portion
of his claim ranking against the Military Compensation Fund and
the portion ranking against the £3,000,000.
As rapidity in disposing of claims is now of paramount impor-
tance, it is not intended that you should reconsider the items of
claims which have already been assessed, but simply divide them,
where such division is necessary, according to the funds against
which they rank.
Where any person's claim or claims rank wholly against the
£3,000,000 and have already been assessed, the case should not be
reopened, but the amount assessed should simply be entered in the
appropriate column in the schedule hereafter referred to. Unless
it is absolutely necessary, claimants and other witnesses already
once examined should not be recalled. The instructions contained
in Paragraphs 20, 22, 28 of this circular should be read subject to
this reservation. They are intended for your future guidance, but
not intended to lead to the reopening of cases already dealt with.
14. It is not necessary that at the time of filing a claim should
be supported by an affidavit. In some districts this has hitherto
been insisted upon, and in some an affidavit of the truth of each
division of the claim has been filed, thus putting the claimants to
considerable expense. As a general rule, they are present at the
hearing of their claims and give evidence on oath, so that prior
affidavits appear to be quite unnecessary.
15. Where an authentic receipt for goods, etc., requisitioned by
His Majesty's forces, which has not been paid out by the military
authorities, is presented with any claim, it should be detached and
forwarded to the military compensation officer for the district,
except in the three following cases — namely :
(1) Where the receipt states that the goods, etc., in respect
of which it was given were destroyed.
(2) Where the receipt was given in respect of arms and
ammunition.
(3) Where the person to whom the receipt was given has
been guilty of a breach of the oath of neutrality.
APPENDIX H (I.) 285
The receipts coming under Class 1 should l)e retained and
treated as evidence of the loss of the goods specified for the
purposes of the claim.
Receipts coming under Classes 2 and 3 should be retained
with the claim, but no account should be taken of the goods
specified therein for the purposes of the claim.
16. No claim should be allowed to rank, in whole or in part
against the Military Compensation Fund unless it has been pre-
sented before the date of this circular, and no claim whatever shall
be considered if presented after 1st April next ; provided that if any
claimant can satisfactorily establish that, owing to his late return to
the country, or owing to illness, it was impossible for his claim to
be filed before the date above mentioned, it may be assessed.
17. No claim presented before the several dates aforesaid should
be rejected merely because it was not presented within the time
prescribed in any proclamation which has been issued dealing with
the subject of compensation ; but any such claim may be rejected
if it appear that the failure to present it within such prescribed time
cannot be explained, and appears to indicate a fraudulent intention
on the part of the claimant.
18. Every claim should be filed, even though it be one which,
whether on account of its nature or the date on which it was pre-
sented, apparently cannot be accepted for assessment.
19. It is desirable in every case that the claimant should attend
in person and give evidence ; but if for any reason his attendance is
impossible, or if his case is of an extremely clear nature {e.g., if an
ex-burgher claims for goods commandeered, and supports his claim
by receipts), affidavits may be accepted. The affidavits should state
the facts sufficiently to enable the court to decide on the justice of
the claim, and that it is not one which would be barred under
Paragraph 31.
20. Before including any person in the class of ' British subject '
or 'Protected burgher,' you should carefully ascertain whether the
facts are such as to bring him within the definition of these classes
of persons as given above.
In such cases you should inquire whether the claimant has lodged
any claim with any Military Board or Repatriation Commission,
what the result of that claim was, whether he has received any pay-
ment in respect of it, and whether any of the items of the claim you
286 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
are investigating were included in any such other claim. Care should
be taken to see that no item of loss is assessed more than once.
21. When a claim is in respect of the loss of horses or stock, the
claimant should he examined particularly with a view to ascertain-
ing whether they were acquired by him as booty or were lost by
him whilst being used on commando. In a very large number of
claims items of this character are included.
22. When a claim is based on Government notes, ascertain from
whom the claimant received them, and what consideration was given
by him for them.
23. Where the claim is in respect of damage to any building, the
size, extent, number of rooms, and nature of material of which it is
constructed should be ascertained.
24. A note should be taken of all material facts proved.
25. All receipts, notes, and other documents produced by a
claimant should be numbered consecutively, and reference made in
the notes of evidence to the number placed on each ; every docu-
ment received in evidence should be attached to the file of proceed-
ings. Where a quantity of Government notes are produced, they
should be fastened together and one number placed upon the
packet.
26. Awards should be made in pounds only, odd sums of shillings
and pence being disregarded.
27. The expenses of witnesses produced or required to attend by
claimants will not be defrayed out of public funds, but must be
borne by the claimants themselves ; but if the claimant can establish
that the presence of any witness is necessary on his behalf, and that
he is without means to defray the expenses of the attendance of the
witness, the amount of such expenses, according to the tariff laid
down for witnesses' expenses in civil cases in the Court of a Resident
Magistrate, may be authorized by you, and paid, but shall be
recoverable from any amount ultimately paid to the claimant. The
costs of any witness summoned by you may be paid according to the
same tariff.
28. All claims made by anyone which have been dealt with by
the Military Compensation Boards, Repatriation Commissions, or
any persons authorized to assess claims, should be collected by you
in one schedule, so as to show the total amounts claimed by each
person, with the assessment made thereon. The schedule should
APPENDIX H (I.) 287
also show the amounts (if any) which the claimant has received in
payment of any portion of the claim.
In order to enable this to be done all claims already assessed or
registered by the military authorities will be sent, and those for-
warded to the Judicial Commission will be returned to you. Of the
cases which have already been reviewed by this Commission there
are a few in which it will be necessary for you to reconsider the
claims, with the view of ascertaining the fund against which they
rank. The Secretary of the Judicial Commission, in returning them
to you, will call your attention to any in which the claimant appears
to be a ' protected burgher ' entitled to participate in the Military
Compensation Fund.
29. Forms of the schedule will be supplied to you, and a copy of
it should be forwarded by you after assessment to the Secretary of
the Judicial Commission.
30. No claim shall be considered unless (1) it is in respect of
direct war losses, such as the loss of goods, stock, etc., or damage to
buildings, fences, etc., the personal property of the claimant; and
(2) it is presented by the person who actually suffered the loss to
which it refers, or, if he be dead, by some person representing his
estate.
31. The following classes of claims cannot be accepted as ranking
against any of the three funds :
(a) The claims of limited companies or large firms.
(b) The claims of persons not claiming in their own right, but
as representing communities, corporations, or other collective
bodies of persons — e.g., on behalf of Churches, Freemasons, and
the like.
(c) Claims in respect of salary alleged to be due from the
Government of either of the late Republics.
(d) Claims in respect of services rendered to the members of
the commandos of either of the late Republics — e.g., as farriers,
etc.
((') Claims in respect of loss of horses used by the claimant,
and which either died, were killed, or lost by him whilst on
commando ; or for loss of waggons or stock used or kept by
the claimant on commando, and which were then destroyed or
captured by the British forces.
(/) Claims in respect of loss of horses, cattle, or other stock
288 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
which had been either taken by the claimant as booty, or which
had been received l)y him as his share of booty taken by
others, and which were subsequently either requisitioned for
the use of the forces of either of the late Republics or captured
or destroyed by the British forces.
((/) Claims in respect of the damage or destruction of grow-
ing crops or trees, other than fruit-trees or large plantations.
(h) Claims in respect of notes issued by the Government of
the late South African Republic under Law 1 of 1900, and
received by the claimant otherwise than in return for valuable
consideration received by the Government of either of the late
Republics or their forces.
(i) Claims in respect of such notes by the claimant in pay-
ment of horses, cattle, or other goods sold to the Government
of the late Republics, but which horses, cattle, or goods had
been captured from the British or looted daring the war by the
claimant.
(j) Claims, of whatever nature, made by rebels.
32. It would be impossible to assess accurately the value of animals
in respect of the loss or destruction of which claims are made ; and
it is desirable that there should, as far as possible, be uniformity of
assessment in the different districts, so that claimants will be placed
as nearly as may be on an equal footing.
APPENDIX H (II.)
Instructions issued on 14th March, 1903.
In assessing claims it is essential that the full facts on which a
claim is based should be ascertained. It is also essential that the
facts, when ascertained, should be shown in the notes of evidence
taken in support of the claim. In many cases a close cross-examina-
tion of the claimant and other witnesses in support of the claim will
be necessary before the facts can be elicited.
It is, therefore, requested that special attention may be given to
recording the full evidence in support of each claim, and the details
thereof, and, where possible, corroborative evidence should be pro-
duced.
APPENDIX H (11.) 289
Special attention is drawn to the following points, which should
be observed in connection with the assessment of claims :
1. Fraudulent Claims :
In cases where a claimant prefers a fraudulent claim, the
fact that he preferred such fraudulent claim shall debar
such claimant from receiving any compensation for any
other claim or claims preferred by him, even though such
other claims be not fraudulent. Evidence as to any other
claim or claims which a claimant may have filed with other
commissions should be taken from all claimants, and such
evidence should be shown on the proceedings. In cases
where other claims have been filed with other commissions,
a note to that effect should be made on the outside of the
jacket of the claim.
2. Protected Burghers :
Claimants who allege that they were protected burghers
should be closely cross-examined as to the date of their sur-
render, under what proclamation or promise they so sur-
rendered, what their occupation, and where their places of
residence were between the date of surrender and the
declaration of peace. To entitle a person to be classed as
a protected burgher evidence should be produced to show
under what proclamation or promise he surrendered, and to
show that the surrender was in consequence of such pro-
clamation or promise, and took place within a reasonable
time of the date of issue of such proclamation or promise,
also to show who was the person making such promise.
The Commander-in-Chief, or other responsible military
officer, was the only person entitled to make any such
promise.
3. Buildings and Furniture :
Where a claim for damage or destruction of buildings or
loss or damage to furniture is made, the commission should
be careful to obtain evidence of the age and the state of
repair in which the buildings and furniture were at the time
the damage or destruction occurred. Evidence should also
be taken as to the materials and dimensions of the buildings
19
290 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
in respect of which the claim is made. The original cost of
buildings and furniture should also be ascertained. Where
an amount is claimed for repairs, the quantity of material
necessary for such repairs should be ascertained.
4. Government Notes :
Where a claim is in respect of Government notes,
evidence of the actual cost price of the goods or other con-
sideration for such Government notes should be obtained
and shown on the proceedings. Where goods are charged
for at ordinary trade prices, evidence should be taken to
show what percentage was added to the cost price in order
to make up the trade price. Evidence should be taken to
show under what conditions, from whom, and for what con-
sideration a claimant received the Government notes
claimed for.
5. Large Firms :
In connection with claims by large firms, evidence on the
following points should be taken and shown on the record
of the evidence :
(a) The average value of stock in hand.
(h) The annual turnover during the three years before
the war.
(c) The annual working expenses during the same
period.
(d) The annual net profit.
It is requested that evidence be taken as to the position
of each claimant, and as to the present position of such
claimant should no compensation be paid for loss sustained.
In all cases where the claimant is a business man, the
name and address of a partner or other persons interested
in the business must be set forth.
6. British Subjects :
In all cases where a claim is by a person alleging himself
to be a British subject full proof as to nationality should
be obtained, and evidence taken to show what the occupation
and conduct of the claimant were prior to and during the
war, and whether he traded with, or aided the forces of, the
APPENDIX H (11.) 291
late Republics, and if so, in what manner and to what
extent he so traded with or aided the said forces.
N.B. — Cases have arisen in which a claim for prospective
profits has been recommended for payment. In view of
the fact that advances may be made against such a claim in
consequence of such recommendation, your attention is
particularly drawn to the fact that no allowance must be
made in respect of problematical or prospective losses.
19—2
INDEX
Accounts, mode of keeping repa-
triation, 60, 263-266; audit of,
218
' African Colony, The,' 5, 95, 128,
145, 179, 190, 213, 236, 257
African Review, 199, 202
African World, 193, 212
Aliwal North, 136
Allahabad Pioneer, 201
Allegiance, oath of, 38
Alsace, 245
Argentine, importation of cattle
from, 116, 118
Auction sales, 206