De Wet's War Story

Extracts from Boer Leader's Book on the Transvaal Struggle.

Perhaps the most significant statement in General Christian Rudolf De Wet's "Three Years' War," the title given by the author to his book on the Boer war, published recently by Charles Scribner's Sons, is the declaration that from the very outset of the war and all through the hard fought struggle the Boers knew they were fighting in vain, says the New York Mail and Express. They knew their cause was lost, but fought as God fearing patriots until every resource was exhausted.

He describes Cronje as an "intrepid hero," but declares he was too obstinate to abandon his position when trapped in the laager near Paardenburg by Lord Roberts. His capture is characterized as the catastrophe of the war, in that its disheartening effect on the burghers was felt throughout the war.

Kruger is referred to as "the statesman grown gray in his country's service," and Gladstone as the "greatest and noblest of English statesmen." General De Wet calls upon God to witness that independence was all that was asked of the British government on March 5, 1900, and Lord Salisbury is accused of misrepresenting the facts.

General De Wet complains bitterly of British breaches of faith, but declares that the result was not all favorable to the "invaders." He cites the promises given General Prinsloo and his men when they surrendered, safety of property and permission to return unmolested to their farms being guaranteed. Instead of this the prisoners were deported to Ceylon, and old people were levied on for hundreds of pounds because British railroad property was destroyed in their neighborhood.

As a result of this, he says, 3,000 paroled Boers took up arms again and fought to the end of the war. He describes Lord Roberts as his (De Wet's) best recruiting sergeant because of his frequent breaches of faith.

General De Wet's state of mind throughout the war and after it is expressed by a sentence in the book:

"Everything is as it must be, and unless one is a sluggard one has no reason to complain."