The Transvaal from Within Part 16

It became necessary to form some organization for the protection of the town and the maintenance of order; since, in the excitement caused by the news of Dr. Jameson's coming, serious disturbances would be likely to occur, and it was evident that the Government organization could not deal with the people without serious risks of conflict.

The Reform Committee was formed on Monday night, December 30, and it was intended to include such men of influence as cared to a.s.sociate themselves with the movement. The object with which it was formed is best shown by its first notice, viz.:

'Notice is hereby given that this Committee adheres to the National Union Manifesto, and reiterates its desire to maintain the independence of the Republic. The fact that rumours are in course of circulation to the effect that a force has crossed the Bechua.n.a.land border renders it necessary to take active steps for the defence of Johannesburg and preservation of order. The Committee earnestly desire that the inhabitants should refrain from taking any action which can be construed as an overt act of hostility against the Government. By order of the Committee,

'J. PERCY FITZPATRICK, 'Secretary.'

The evidence taken at the preliminary examination will show that order was maintained by this Committee during a time of intense excitement, and through the action of the Committee no aggressive steps whatever were taken against the Government, but on the contrary, the property of the Government was protected, and its officials were not interfered with.

It is our firm belief that had no such Committee been formed, the intense excitement caused by Dr. Jameson's entry would have brought about utter chaos in Johannesburg.

It has been alleged that we armed natives. This is absolutely untrue, and is disposed of by the fact that during the crisis upwards of 20,000 white men applied to us for arms and were unable to get them.

On Tuesday morning, December 31, we hoisted the flag of the Z.A.R., and every man bound himself to maintain the independence of the Republic. On the same day the Government withdrew its police voluntarily from the town and we preserved perfect order.

During the evening of that day, Messrs. Marais and Malan presented themselves as delegates from the Executive Council. They came (to use their own words) to 'offer us the olive branch,' and they told us that if we would send a deputation to Pretoria to meet a Commission appointed by the Government, we should probably obtain 'practically all that we asked for in the Manifesto.'

Our deputation met the Government Commission, consisting of Chief Justice Kotze, Judge Ameshof, and Mr. k.o.c.k, member of the Executive.

On our behalf our deputation frankly avowed knowledge of Jameson's presence on the border, and of his intention, by written arrangement with us, to a.s.sist us in case of extremity.

With the full knowledge of this arrangement, with the knowledge that we were in arms and agitating for our rights, the Government Commission handed to us a resolution by the Executive Council, of which the following is the purport:

'The High Commissioner has offered his services with a view to a peaceful settlement. The Government of the South African Republic has accepted his offer. Pending his arrival, no hostile step will be taken against Johannesburg, provided Johannesburg takes no hostile action against the Government. In terms of a certain proclamation recently issued by the President, the grievances will be earnestly considered.'

We acted in perfect good faith with the Government, believing it to be their desire, as it was ours, to avert bloodshed, and believing it to be their intention to give us the redress which was implied in the 'earnest consideration of grievances.'

There can be no better evidence of our earnest endeavour to repair what we regarded as a mistake on the part of Dr. Jameson than the following offer which our deputation, authorized by resolution of the Committee, laid before the Government Commission:

'If the Government will permit Dr. Jameson to come into Johannesburg unmolested, the Committee will guarantee, with their persons if necessary, that he will leave again peacefully as soon as possible.'

We faithfully carried out the agreement that we should commit no act of hostility against the Government; we ceased all active operations for the defence of the town against any attack, and we did everything in our power to prevent any collision with the burghers-an attempt in which our efforts were happily successful.

On the telegraphic advice of the result of the interview of the deputation with the Government Commission, we despatched Mr. Lace, a member of our Committee, as an escort to the courier carrying the High Commissioner's despatch to Dr. Jameson, in order to a.s.sure ourselves that the despatch would reach its destination.

On the following Sat.u.r.day, January 4, the High Commissioner arrived in Pretoria. On Monday, the sixth, the following telegram was sent to us:

'Pretoria, January 6, 1896.

'From H.M.'s AGENT to REFORM COMMITTEE, Johannesburg.

'January 6.-I am directed to inform you that the High Commissioner met the President, the Executive, and the Judges to-day. The President announced the decision of the Government to be that Johannesburg must lay down its arms unconditionally as a [condition] precedent to a discussion and consideration of grievances. The High Commissioner endeavoured to obtain some indication of the steps which would be taken in the event of disarmament, but without success, it being intimated that the Government had nothing more to say on this subject than had already been embodied in the President's proclamation. The High Commissioner inquired whether any decision had been come to as regards the disposal of the prisoners, and received a reply in the negative. The President said that as his burghers, to the number of 8,000, had been collected and could not be asked to remain indefinitely, he must request a reply "Yes" or "No" to this ultimatum within twenty-four hours.'

On the following day Sir Jacobus de Wet, H.M.'s Agent, met us in committee, and handed to us the following wire from his Excellency the High Commissioner:

'HIGH COMMISSIONER, Pretoria, to SIR J. DE WET, Johannesburg.

'Received Johannesburg 7.36 a.m., January 7, 1896.

'Urgent-You should inform the Johannesburg people that I consider that if they lay down their arms they will be acting loyally and honourably, and that if they do not comply with my request they forfeit all claim to sympathy from Her Majesty's Government, and from British subjects throughout the world, as the lives of Jameson and prisoners are practically in their hands.'

On this, and the a.s.surance given in the Executive Council resolution, we laid down our arms on January 6, 7, and 8; on the 9th we were arrested, and have since been under arrest at Pretoria, a period of three and a half months.

We admit responsibility for the action taken by us. We frankly avowed it at the time of the negotiations with the Government, when we were informed that the services of the High Commissioner had been accepted with a view to a peaceful settlement.

We submit that we kept faith in every detail in the arrangement with the Government; that we did all that was humanly possible to protect both the State and Dr. Jameson from the consequence of his action; that we have committed no breach of the law which was not known to the Government at the time that the earnest consideration of our grievances was promised.

We can only now lay the bare facts before the Court, and submit to the judgment that may be pa.s.sed upon us.

(Signed) LIONEL PHILLIPS. FRANCIS RHODES. GEORGE FARRAR.

Pretoria, April 24, 1896.

I entirely concur with the above statement.

(Signed) JOHN HAYS HAMMOND.

Pretoria, April 27, 1896.

An incident which occurred during the reading of this statement enabled the prisoners to realize how poor would have been their chance of a fair trial before a Boer jury. On the right hand of the judge seats had been reserved for higher officials. Several members of the Executive were present in this quarter, and amongst them in a very prominent position and facing the quarter reserved for the burghers sat Mr. Wolmarans, a member of the Executive Council. When Mr. Wessels came to that portion of the statement referring to the negotiations with the Executive Council, Mr. Wolmarans at first smiled superciliously, then turned and addressed a remark to one of his colleagues, shrugging his shoulder at the same time, and at the conclusion of the reference looked across the room to where the jurymen sat, still smiling and shaking his head slowly and continuously for half a minute. To men accustomed to the decencies of British Courts of Justice this incident was rather revolting. When it is remembered that the Government refused to produce the minute referred to, and that through their representatives they claimed 'privilege' for the interview at which it was given, in order to absolve themselves from appearing in Court, and that Mr. Wolmarans himself sent the message to the Rand that the Government by the withdrawal of its police gave practical evidence of holding out the olive-branch, his conduct appears the more unprincipled.

The State Attorney in a purely formal address, in consonance with his promise to Mr. Wessels not to seek exemplary punishment, asked for punishment according to law. Mr. Wessels in reply made an eloquent appeal on behalf of the accused and recited the circ.u.mstances which led to their seeking redress in the manner in which they did. He referred to the negotiations with the Government, to the part played by the Reform Committee in the maintenance of order, to the fidelity with which they had fulfilled their undertakings with the Government, and to their att.i.tude towards Dr. Jameson. His references to the Government and to the existing abuses were made as judiciously as possible. He referred candidly to the relationship with Dr. Jameson, especially alluding to the efforts made to protect him from the results of his own action and to stand by him even at the cost of personal sacrifice, and claimed that such action towards their former colleague within the limits set by them did not necessarily imply treason against the independence of the State, but should fairly ent.i.tle the prisoners to sympathy for their efforts to save a quondam colleague, however wrong he might have been. On the point of law, Mr. Wessels claimed that the Thirty-three Articles formed the basis of the State's law, that there was specific provision for such cases as this in those Articles, and that the punishment to be meted out to the prisoners should be in accordance with these statutes, modified as the Court in its judgment might deem fit. No sooner had Mr. Wessels resumed his seat than Dr. Coster, as was then thought, repenting the fulfilment of his promise and casting off all disguise, or, as is more probable, carried away by an over-mastering excitement and strong personal and racial feeling and stimulated by concentration upon one aspect only of the case, claimed the right to address the Court again after the advocate for the defence had spoken. Dr. Coster has the reputation among those who know him of being a thoroughly honourable and straight-forward gentleman. As a Hollander no doubt he felt deeply in a matter in which Hollanderism was the casus belli; as public prosecutor it was his duty to prosecute, not to judge; and one prefers to think that in peculiar and trying circ.u.mstances he forgot the pledge he had given and remembered only the cause of his party. In a short but very violent speech he depicted in the blackest terms the actions of the men against whom he had agreed not to seek exemplary punishment, and pointing out the provisions of the Roman-Dutch law, claimed that the Court should apply it in this case in preference to the statutes of the country, and demanded from the Court the severest possible penalty which could be imposed under that law and under the Thirty-three Articles and the Gold Law as well. With reference to the last-named, Dr. Coster having mentioned the provision regarding the confiscation of property, said that upon this point he would not speak but would leave the matter to the judgment of the Court. The Court was then adjourned until the morning of the 28th, ostensibly in order to enable the judge to consider the evidence and make up his mind.

The majority of the prisoners, utterly unsuspicious of what lay before them, made all necessary arrangements to return to their homes and avocations upon the conclusion of the trial, believing that a nominal fine would be the penalty imposed. Many of them had taken return tickets from Johannesburg available for two days. The public throughout the Transvaal and South Africa antic.i.p.ated nothing more than a nominal punishment upon the majority and a fine of a few thousand pounds upon the signatories to the letter of invitation.

Some of the prisoners however were better informed. News had been obtained some days before the trial commenced that extra accommodation was being prepared in the gaol, avowedly to provide for the Reformers. Two of the accused visited the gaol and verified this. Others of the accused, few in number, were informed by personal friends who had special means of getting information in Pretoria that imprisonment would be the lot of all and that the punishment on the leaders would be extremely severe; and they provided for this contingency accordingly. The manager of the Government newspaper in Pretoria informed two or three of those interested that the sentence of death would be pa.s.sed upon the four leaders, as this had been arranged; and men closely a.s.sociated with the leaders themselves had been confidentially informed beforehand that it was the intention of the Government to pa.s.s sentence of death, and that the matter was a cut-and-dried one. The information was given with a view to preparing the prisoners for what awaited them.

On approaching the temporary Court-house (the Pretoria Market Buildings having been altered for this purpose) on the morning of the sentence, it was perfectly evident that some serious development was afoot. The town was thronged with mounted burghers, State artillery, and mounted and foot police. Every approach to the Court was guarded and the streets were patrolled. Most of the population of Pretoria were gathered in the Market Square, endeavouring to gain admittance to the Court. The prisoners were arranged in their former places in a special quarter of the building railed off for the purpose, with the exception of Messrs. Phillips, Farrar, Rhodes and Hammond, who were separated from the rest and placed in a special movable dock, which had been carried in over the heads of the people after the hour appointed for the sitting of the Court. The appearance of this dock was recognized by all to be ominous, but some relief from the feeling of foreboding was experienced when Judge Gregorowski after taking his seat was observed to smile several times and to make some jocular remark to one of the officials of the Court. The faces of the officials however damped any hopes that were built upon the judge's genial appearance.

Many of these gentlemen were personal and intimate friends of the prisoners: some were connected by closer ties; and one of the most trying experiences for the prisoners was to witness the complete breakdown of the minor officials employed in the carrying out of this tragic farce. The judge's first order was for the removal of all ladies. The wives and relatives of many of the prisoners had been warned by them beforehand of what was likely to happen and had accordingly absented themselves, but there were nevertheless a good number of ladies present. Judge Gregorowski then took the case in hand, pa.s.sed in review the circ.u.mstances, and dealt with much of the evidence, including that taken at the preliminary examination and the doc.u.ments put in by Government which had not yet been seen by the prisoners' advisers. He made no reference to the statement of the princ.i.p.al accused, subject to which their plea of guilty had been made and accepted. He reviewed the law, and by a method of reasoning which has not commended itself to others he justified himself for setting aside special statutes and applying the Roman-Dutch law instead. In conclusion, he stated that he held the signatories of the letter to be directly responsible for the shedding of the burghers' blood at Doornkop, that he would therefore pa.s.s upon them the only punishment possible under Roman-Dutch law-namely death, and that whatever hope there might be in the merciful hearts of the Executive Council and in the President's great magnanimity, they should remember that in no other country would they have the slightest grounds for hope. The usual question as to whether there were any reasons why sentence of death should not be pa.s.sed upon them having been put and the usual reply in the negative having been received, in the midst of silence that was only disturbed by the breaking down of persons in various parts of the hall-officials, burghers, and in the general public-sentence of death was pa.s.sed, first on Mr. Lionel Phillips, next on Colonel Rhodes, then on Mr. George Farrar, and lastly on Mr. Hammond. The bearing of the four men won for them universal sympathy and approval, especially under the conditions immediately following the death sentence, when a most painful scene took place in Court. Evidences of feeling came from all parts of the room and from all cla.s.ses of people: from those who conducted the defence and from the Boers who were to have const.i.tuted the jury. The interpreter translating the sentence broke down. Many of the minor officials lost control of themselves, and feelings were further strained by the incident of one man falling insensible.

Sentence was next pa.s.sed upon the other prisoners. They were condemned to suffer two years' imprisonment, to pay a fine of 2,000 each, or as an alternative suffer another year's imprisonment, and thereafter to be banished from the State for a period of three years. It was added that the question of confiscation of their property would be one for the Executive to deal with.

The action of Mr. Gregorowski has been variously described, but at no time more graphically than at the time of the sentence, when a sergeant of police who was guarding the prisoners exclaimed in the peculiar Dutch idiom: 'My G.o.d! he is like a dog: he has bitten and chewed and guzzled!'

After pa.s.sing the minor sentences the judge gave a short address to the burghers, in which he thanked them for their attendance and made allusion with evident signs of satisfaction to the manner in which the trial had been brought to a conclusion. A long delay followed during which the judge proceeded to note his judgments. Once his attention was drawn by a remark of an official to which he replied promptly, at the same time breaking into a broad smile, but suddenly recollecting the circ.u.mstances and the presence of the men sentenced to death, placed his hand over his mouth and wiped the smile away. The incident was of course noticed by many people in Court and helped to strengthen the impression which a limited but sufficient experience of Mr. Gregorowski had already created.

If the belief which now obtains, that the Reformers were enticed to plead guilty and misled as to the probable consequences of that plea, should outlive personal feelings and leave a permanent mark in South African history, it will be because it survives a searching test. In South Africa-as in many other countries-it is the invariable practice of the Courts to decline to accept the plea of guilty to a capital charge. The prisoner is informed that as the plea involves capital punishment it will not be accepted; and a formal trial and sufficient evidence of the crime are required by the Court. That is done even in cases where the prisoner knows what the punishment will be! In the case of the Reformers the State Attorney had, it is true, informed Mr. Wessels that he would be obliged pro forma to put in certain evidence, but the reason was not given, and Mr. Wessels regarded it merely as the quid pro quo for accepting unquestioned the written statement of the four accused! Mr. Gregorowski in defending his sentence has stated that under Roman-Dutch law he had no option but to pa.s.s sentence of death. Yet contrary to the custom with which seventeen years' practice had made him familiar he accepted the plea of guilty-and accepted it without a word of explanation or of warning! Is it surprising that people should want to know why?

The men were removed from Court under very heavy escort, the condemned men being conveyed in a closed carriage and the rest of the prisoners being marched through the streets to the gaol, the whole party moving at a foot pace. A little incident at the start did not fail to attract attention. The officer commanding a section of the guard having issued his orders in Dutch and some confusion having ensued, the orders were repeated in German, with a satisfactory result.

One more incident-trifling perhaps in itself but leaving an ineffaceable impression-occurred during the march to the gaol. As the prisoners slowly approached the Government buildings, Dr. Leyds accompanied by one friend walked out until within a few yards of the procession of sentenced men (a great proportion of whom were personally well known to him) and stood there with his hands in his pockets smiling at them as they went past. The action was so remarkable, the expression on the State Secretary's face so unmistakable, that the Dutch guards accompanying the prisoners expressed their disgust. His triumph no doubt was considerable; but the enjoyment must have been short-lived if the accounts given by other members of the Executive of his behaviour a month later are to be credited. The man who stood in safety and smiled in the faces of his victims was the same Dr. Leyds who within a month became seriously ill because some fiery and impetuous friend of the prisoners sent him an anonymous letter with a death's head and cross-bones; who as a result obtained from Government a guard over his private house; and who thereafter proceeded about his duties in Pretoria under armed escort.

It is stated that the death sentence was commuted the same afternoon, but no intimation of this was given to the prisoners and no public announcement was made until twenty-four hours later. In spite of the vindictive urgings of the Hollander newspaper, the Volksstem, few could believe that the death sentence would be carried out and most people recognized that the ebullitions of that organ expressed the feelings of only a few rabid and witless individuals among the Hollanders themselves and were viewed with disgust by the great majority of them. At the same time the scene in court had been such as to show that the Government party-the officials and Boers then present-had not regarded the death sentence as a mere formality, but had, on the contrary, viewed it as a deliberate and final judgment. In such circ.u.mstances therefore it can be believed that the prisoners themselves were not without misgivings.

Footnotes for Chapter VIII

{33} Died in prison.

{34} Unable, owing to illness, to stand trial with the others. On recovery, Mr. Curtis returned to the Transvaal, and decided to plead 'not guilty,' whereupon proceedings were dropped.