was constituted, to give some account of its organization, and
to describe briefly some of the kindred departments and the
preliminary difficulties. These subjects will be dealt with in
the next three chapters.
1 Cd. 988. The total numbers of surrenders of armed burghers in the
Transvaal were 11,166, in the Orange River Colony 6,455, and in the Cape
Colony 3,635 ; grand total, 21,256.
CHAPTER III
ARTICLE X. OF THE TERMS OF VEREENIGING
• It hath been said that an unjust peace is to be preferred before a just
war.' — Butler.
' Miseram pacem vel bello bene mutari.' — Tacitus.
' It is more than a crime : it is a political blunder.' — Fouche.
The fact that wholesale devastation may be legitimate is
generally acknowledged, and history consequently contains
numerous examples of devastating wars. In some of these
devastation was merely incidental to certain military opera-
tions ; in others, it was adopted as an independent means of
attack.^ In former times it was the common practice to
devastate the enemy's country, not with any direct military
object, but to wantonly inflict as much pain and distress on
his subjects as possible, and devastation was constantly used
independently of any immediate military advantage accruing
from it. But during the seventeenth century the principle,
that the suffering inflicted on the enemy must not be wanton
or disproportionate to the advantages gained thereby, gathered
strength, and opinion seems to have struggled, not altogether
in vain, to prevent devastation from being abused. Accordingly,
although the devastation of Belgium in 1683 and of Piedmont
ten years later do not appear to have aroused any general
criticism, yet Louis XIV. considered it necessary to justify
his total ravaging of the Palatinate in 1689 on the ground
that it was essential to set up a barrier to cover his own
^ Hall's ' International Law ' and Risley's ' Law of War.'
31
32 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
frontier. ' In the eighteenth century the alliance of devasta-
tion with strategical objects became more close. It was either
employed to deny the use of a tract of country to the enemy
by rendering subsistence difficult, as when the Duke of
Marlborough wasted the neighbourhood of Munich in 1704,
and the Prussians devastated part of Bohemia in 1757 ; or it
was an essential part of a military operation, as when the
Due de Vendome cut the dykes and laid the country under
water from the neighbourhood of Ostend to Ghent, while
endeavouring to sever the communications with the former
place of the English engaged in the siege of Lille.' ^ In these
cases of destruction, however, as in the vast majority of
others, recuperation after war was gradual and not organized ;
it was left to Nature and individual effort, and seldom received
any direct aid from Government.
In Italian history, curiously enough, may be found an
example of a repatriation and land settlement scheme as
early as the middle of the sixteenth century.^ During the
siege of Siena by the Duke of Florence, the Sienese Marenna
was laid absolutely bare in the most systematic manner. After
the capitulation, Cosimo I. replaced the population as far as
possible. This did not nearly suffice, however, and his agents,
consequently, collected colonials from all parts of Italy. He
was very liberal in the remission of taxes, and allowed all seed
grain, implements, building material, etc., to be imported
free of duty. This was a great concession for those days, and
the whole scheme was far in advance of the age in which it was
carried out. The ' enlightened despotism ' of the eighteenth
century supplies an instance of repatriation on a minor scale.
At the close of the Seven Years' War, Frederick the Great
allowed the animals and grain collected for the anticipated
campaign of 1763 to be distributed among the inhabitants of
Silesia for the purpose of ploughing and sowing.^
In the two cases quoted such assistance as was given may
1 All these cases and several others will be found in Hall, § 186.
2 'Cambridge Modern History,' vol. iii., pp. 386-395.
2 Consult Tuttle's 'History of Prussia.'
ARTICLE X. OF THE TEEMS OF VEREENIGING 33
be regarded as an afterthought on the part of the conqueror,
and was not stipulated in the conditions of peace. History
may certainly be searched in vain for any instance of a
repatriation scheme at all on all-fours with that recently
carried out in South Africa. Article X. of the terms of
Yereeniging is probably the first example of its kind. * History
does not afford a parallel to such generosity to a vanquished
foe.'^ The task of repatriation was ' one of the most curious
and quixotic burdens ever borne by a nation.'- ' The Repatria-
tion Department had a task before them unlike anything else
since the Jews returned from Babylon.'^ 'The task thus
thrown upon the administrative capacity of the Empire, and
frankl}^ accepted by the victors, was one of a kind which had
never before been attempted, and for which, therefore, no
guidance could be sought or obtained from experience.'^
The repatriation scheme was, then, more or less a leap
in the dark. When it was started there was not much
to go upon : there were no previous examples ; the sub-
ject could not be read up from text-books, for such did not
exist.
And yet the repatriation scheme was the logical outcome
of events which immediately preceded its organization. It was,
after all, part and parcel of the clearance policy, ' a pendant
to the work undertaken in the concentration camps. In the
same way as Great Britain had rescued, clothed, fed, and
educated the wives and children of the men against whom she
was fighting ; so at the conclusion of hostilities did she
1 Birmingliam Post, December 29, 1903.
2 'The African Colony: Studies in the Reconstruction,' John Buchan.
^ Daily CJironicIe, October 16, 1903.
* The Times, September 28, 1903. ' Perhaps the nearest approach to
such guidance might have been furnished by the records of the various
associations which were formed in order to mitigate the distress left behind
in France by the war with Germany ; but the capable almoners to whose
hands the funds collected for this purpose were committed were merely
the agents of private charity, and had no other responsibility than that of
doing the best they could with the money and the opportunities at their
disposal. The Repatriation Departments of South Africa occupied the
totally different position of being the representatives of a Government
which could not atford to fall short of the complete fulfilment of its under-
takings, however arduous they might be ' (ibid.).
3
34 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
undertake to reunite the scattered families, and re-establish
them in their homes.' ^
It must not be supposed that Article X. was in any sense of
the word a ' sop ' to the Boer leaders, given in order to secure
peace. Its wording may have come as a surprise to the
general public at home, who were not fully conversant with
local circumstances, and who probably did not realize the
absolutely destitute condition of the country at the close of
hostilities. But, as a matter of fact, it was realized months
before the conclusion of peace that some extraordinary
organization would be necessary to restore to their homes the
absentee population, and the repatriation scheme had been
under the consideration of the civil authorities for some con-
siderable time. That this was the case is shown by the
following extract from a despatch written by Lord Milner at
Bloemfontein in December, 1901 :
' As regards the return of these people to their farms, the
time when it can even be commenced is necessarily uncertain ;
but it is desirable to utilize the interval before that return can
commence in making preliminary arrangements which will
enable us to carry it out, when the time comes, in an orderly
manner, and in the way most calculated to facilitate the
resumption by the people of their normal avocations. I need
not point out that this will be a work of great difficulty. The
preliminary business falls under two heads : (1) We require a
census of the people, both in the prisoners' camps and in the
concentration camps, not only to foresee the numbers which
it will be necessary to bring back to each district, but also as
far as possible to group them, so that the families may be
brought back together. In the concentration camps complete
records are being kept. As regards the prisoners' camps, you
are aware that it was my intention to appoint commissions to
go round these camps and make a census ; but the difficulty of
obtaining a sufficient number of competent people to under-
take this work in the considerable number of separate camps
at a great distance from South Africa proved insuperable, and
^ She^ield Daily Telegraph, January 1, 1904.
ARTICLE X. OF THE TERMS OF VEREENIGING 35
we are therefore now relying on what can be done locally by
the officers in charge of the several camps to furnish us with
the necessary particulars. (2) The second preparatory
inquiry which has to be undertaken with regard to those
returning is even more difficult than the census. We shall
have to endeavour to find out what the people will require in
the way of stock, seed, and agricultural implements, in order
to commence gaining their livelihood when they first return,
and to decide by what means and from what sources these
necessaries are to be provided. As you are aware, the
country has in most parts been in the course of the war
completely denuded of everything that is necessary for the
conduct of farming operations. A great deal will have to be
found for the people, if they are not to starve when they
return to their homes. After giving the matter a great deal
of consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it is
necessary to appoint in each colony a commission of persons
well acquainted with the country and its agricultural condi-
tions, to advise the Government as to the necessary minimum
of stock, seed, waggons, etc., which will have to be provided,
and also to suggest the sources from which these can be most
expeditiously and most economically obtained. A great deal
of material, no doubt, exists in the country, mainly in the
hands of the military ; a good deal more can be got from the
coast colonies ; but my present belief is that this will not
suffice, and that we must look ahead and place orders at
home and in Australia for a good deal that will be immediately
necessary when the return of the farming population com-
mences.'^
The foregoing despatch was written several months before
Article X. was drafted ; the Repatriation Department was in
existence before that article was made public in its final
form.
By the end of 1901 an Advisory Committee on the subject
of returning refugees had been created at Pretoria. In the
1 South Africa, 1148. Lord Milner to Secretary of State for the
Colonies, dated Bloemfontein, December 30, 1901.
3—2
80 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
Orange River Colony the Land Settlement Department had
been dealing for some months with the introduction of new
settlers. In a despatch, dated February 11, 1902, Lord
Milner discussed at some length the organization of Land
Settlement and Repatriation Departments.^ He contemplated
originally the creation of a single Land Board, which should
carry out both the restoration of the exiled farming popula-
tion and the introduction of new settlers. In a later despatch,
however, realizing the magnitude of the task which repatria-
tion entailed, he decided that the two departments should be
kept distinct, acting separately and independently of each
other.
The Repatriation Department, constituted in April, 1902,
was at the commencement insignificant. It consisted
originally of a Secretary, an Assistant Secretary, one clerk,
and a typist. Its work at this period was chiefly statistical,
and for the first six weeks of its existence it was occupied in
compiling a census, based on information supplied by officers
in charge of the concentration and prisoners' camps, of the
number of people to be returned to their homes. Un-
fortunately, during this stage no attention was given to the
subject of what such people were likely to require, and orders
for stock and stores were not placed, as Lord Milner had con-
templated in the despatch quoted above, ' at home and in
Australia for a good deal that would be immediately
necessary when the return of the farming population com-
menced.'
With the declaration of peace, however, on June 1, 1902,
the scene was changed. What had hitherto been an insig-
nificant record office, comparatively unknown, suddenly de-
veloped into a huge department, employing nearly a thousand
officials, which temporarily overshadowed all other branches of
the Administration. The return, which Lord Milner desired
should be carried out ' in an orderly manner,' turned out to be
in many cases a rush, where order was unknown. The statistics
collected proved utterly useless when the time for action came,
1 O.R.C., No. 24, dated Johannesburg, February 11, 1902.
ARTICLE X. OF THE TERMS OF VEREENIGING 37
and were consigned to pigeon-holes, where they may possibly
still be found. ^
The following is the text of the two articles in the terms of
Vereeniging which have to be examined :
* 2. Secondly, Burghers in the field beyond the frontiers of
the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, and all Prisoners of
War who are out of South Africa, who are Burghers, shall, on
their declaration that they accept the status of subjects of His
Majesty King Edward YIL, be brought back to their homes as
soon as transport and means of existence can be assured.'
' 10. Tenthly, as soon as circumstances permit, there shall
be appointed in each District of the Transvaal and Orange
River Colony a Commission, on which the local inhabitants
will be represented, under the Chairmanshii) of the Magistrate
or other Official, for the jDurpose of assisting the restoration of
the people to their homes, and supplying those who, owing to
war losses, are unable to provide themselves with food, shelter,
and the necessary amount of seed, stock, implements, etc.,
indispensable to the resumption of their normal occupations.
His Majesty's Government will place at the disposal of these
Commissions a sum of £3,000,000 for the above purposes, and
will allow all notes, issued under law No. 1, of 1900, of the
South African Republic, and all receipts given by officers in
the field of the late Republics, or under their orders, to be
presented to a Judicial Commission, which will be appointed
by the Government ; and if such notes and receipts are found
by this Commission to have been duly issued in return for
valuable consideration, they will be received by the first-named
Commissions as evidence of war losses suffered by the persons
to whom they were originally given. In addition to the
above-named free grant of £3,000,000, His Majesty's Govern-
ment will be prepared to make advances as loans for the same
purpose, free of interest for two years, and afterwards repay-
I'When the Department commenced, the Government wished a
schedule form, with inside leaflet, for each person to be filled in with
certain details. Forms were consequently ordered, but as the pressure
of work shortly afterwards became severe, the schedule in question was
dropped and the forms not used.'
38 TPIE AFTERMATH OF WAR
able over a period of years with 3 per cent, interest. No
foreigner or rebel will be entitled to the benefit of this clause.'
These two articles are concerned with three main subjects
— Repatriation, Claims Compensation, Loans. The second of
these is dealt with in a subsequent chapter, and may therefore
for the present be dismissed.^ It is necessary to discover
exactly the promises made and the obligations undertaken by
Great Britain in connection with the other two ; to describe
the interpretation put upon Article X. in this connection and
the measures adopted to carry out its provisions.
It will be observed at the outset that, had the British
Government chosen to be captious, both articles contain a
qualifying clause. The first is, ' as soon as transport and
means of existence can be assured '; the second, * as soon as
circumstances permit.' There was no stipulation as to who
was to decide either when the transport was available or
when circumstances permitted. Presumably, this decision lay
with the victor. So far as the actual wording is concerned,
therefore, exile and detention might have been continued
indefinitely. It is a principle of International Law, however,
that with the restoration of peace the right to detain prisoners
of war as such ceases, although for purposes of convenience
they may be kept under supervision until proper arrange-
ments have been made for their return home.
The one all-important condition laid down, under which
the Boers were to be allowed to return to their homes, was
that they should accept the status of British subjects. After
taking the oath of allegiance, signing a prescribed form of
declaration, or signifying his assent to the treaty subscribed
to by his leaders, every ex-burgher, with his family, was
entitled to free transport by ship, rail and waggon, to his
domicile.- Oversea prisoners of war were granted free
1 Chapter IX.
'â– ^ The declaration of allegiance was worded as follows : ' I, the under-
signed, declare herewith that I signify my consent to the resolution of the
representatives of the people, taken on May 31, 1902, at Vereeniging,
Transvaal, whereby our former Government was empowered to accept the
proposals of His Majesty's Government, and I acknowledge herewith His
Majesty Edward VII. as my Sovereign.'
ARTICLE X. OF THE TERMS OF VEREENIGING 39
passages to South Africa and free transport to their homes ;
every family was repatriated free of cost ; no charge was
made for administrative expenses.^
On the financial side the wording of Article X. is not quite
clear, and when it came to be applied, it underwent consider-
able modifications. There was, in the first place, a free grant
of .i'3,000,000 to the Boers to assist in resettlement. Secondly,
a liberal system of loans was to be instituted, but the amount
to be advanced in this manner was not specified. It was not
stated out of whose pocket the free grant was to come,
and this omission led later to one of the most interesting,
humorous, and instructive debates on Parliamentary pro-
cedure to be found in the annals of the House of Commons.'-
It would appear reasonable to suppose that if the three
millions were styled a * free grant,' South Africa would not be
called upon to pay it. But it was understood by His Majesty's
Government, when the conditions of peace were arranged,
that this grant was to be given, not out of the Imperial
Exchequer, ' but that it should be part of any Transvaal Loan
which should be fioated on behalf of South Africa.'^ This
was not, however, the interpretation put upon the article by the
Boer Generals, and was certainly not that accepted by the
general public. It might have satisfied the letter, but it
M'ould not have complied with the spirit, of the Terms of
Surrender. ' It was urged,' said Mr. Ritchie, ' and I think
with considerable force, that a free gift by His Majesty's
The following was the form of the declaration made by Boer prisoners
interned in oversea camps : ' I adhere to the terms of the agreement
signed at Pretoria on May 31, 1902, between my late Government and the
representatives of His Majesty's Government. I acknowledge myself to
be a subject of King Edward VII., and I promise to own true allegiance to
him, his heirs and successors, according to law.'
^ ' There can be no better illustration of the spirit in which we have
treated our late enemies than the way in which we have carried out th
I'epatriation of the Boers. According to the terms of peace, we were to
devote ^3,000,000 to this purpose. No one could have found fault if we
had deducted from this sum the cost of the administration of the fund.
The i;3,000,000, however, were left intact ' {The Times, October 28, 1903).
^ Vide The Times, November 5, 1902.
^ Mr. Eitchie in the House of Commons, November 4, 1902.
40 THE AFTERMATH OF WAR
Government meant that the money would be found, not out
of Transvaal revenue, but out of the revenue of the United
Kingdom.' It was felt that it would be unwise to give the
Boers any cause for dissatisfaction, or ' any solid ground for
the contention that we had got them to agree to terms of
surrender under false pretences.' It was therefore eventually
arranged that the British taxpayer should bear the expense of
repatriating his late enemy. At the same time the amount to
be advanced in loans was limited to .£'8,000,000. It was
decided that this sum, to be advanced immediately from the
funds of the Imperial Treasury, was to be made repayable out
of the Transvaal Loan when it should be floated.
The terms of Article X. are practically confined to ex-
burghers of the two Boer States. It was not unnatural that
rebels and foreigners should be excluded from benefiting by
its provisions ; but it is remarkable that, although it applied
to the population generally, no mention is made of British
subjects resident in the late Republics previous to the war.
In a fit of generosity to our recent enemies the British
Government was suddenly reminded of its friends. ' I am
sure,' said Mr. Ritche, in the debate above referred to, ' the
House would certainly not be satisfied with any arrangement
by which the Boers were to receive a considerable sum for
repatriation and other matters under the terms of surrender,
and the loyalists would not receive a corresponding advantage.
After consideration, we have come to the conclusion to appro-
priate to the loyalists two millions in a similar manner, and
that this will meet the justice of the case. It therefore
follows that if a free gift should come out of the revenue for
the Boers, then the £'2,000,000 for the loyalists should also
come from the revenues of the United Kingdom.' These
^62,000,000 were appropriated to claims for compensation,
and British subjects were not dealt with under the scheme of
repatriation in the Orange River Colony.
Every burgher was, presumably, entitled to free transport
to his home. Further assistance after arrival there would
depend upon his ability or inability to help himself. The
AETICLE X. OF THE TEEMS OF YEEEENIGING 41
class to be assisted was ' those unable to provide for them-
selves '; the amount of assistance to be rendered was that
' indispensable to the resumption of their normal occupations.'
This being so, each case had to be dealt with on its own
merits, and the greatest care had to be exercised to avoid any-
thing and everything which might have fostered pauperiza-
tion of those receiving aid. Article X. was not intended to be
a replica of eighteenth-century English Poor Law served up as
a ' Speenhamland Act of Parliament.'
It is probably unnecessary to point out that the repatriation
scheme was not framed to deal with pauperism, for destitu-
tion, as understood at home, is unknown in South Africa in
ordinary times. It was only the exceptional circumstance of
two years' drought following on three years' war which neces-
sitated the institution of a Government Belief Department.
But the absence of absolute destitution only serves to em-
phasize in South Africa the pitiable condition of the * poor
white.' So far as the Grant Fund is concerned, it is evident
that those who were to benefit by it belonged chiefly to what
is known as the bijwoner class — ' a landless class, who,
previous to the war, led a tolerated existence, under which
they enjoyed the use of a portion of the land to grow food for
their maintenance and run their little stock, in exchange for a
somewhat indefinite amount of service rendered to the land-
owner, generally without any formal lease or security of tenure
whatsoever.'^
' The bijwoner problem,' wrote Lord Milner, ' is not in any
sense the result of the war. The rapid growth of a large
landless class {anne hoeren, or " poor whites ") had been a
growing source of the greatest trouble and anxiety to the
Governments of the late Eepublics for a good many years.
It was the natural consequence of the rapid increase of the
burgher population, unaccompanied by any appreciable
increase in the productivity of the soil. Except in a very
few districts the occupations of the rural population had
remained purely pastoral. But if he is to live by pasturage