Transvaal (South Africa) -- History; Transvaal (South Africa) -- Politics and government
When this ghastly farce had been performed, which is much on a footing
with the examination of Esterhazy by Pellieux, the murderer was free to
present himself confidently before a Boer jury. Not only was he
acquitted, but the presiding judge, Kock, who had claimed a judgeship as
a "son of the soil," in pronouncing judgment added this little speech:
"I hope that this verdict will show the police how to do their duty."
This amiable conclusion did not seem very re-assuring to the Uitlanders.
At the same time Mr. Krueger suppressed two newspapers, _The Critic_ and
_The Star_. (See Blue Book C. 9, 345.)
4.--_The Lombaard Case._
Dr. Kuyper states that Edgar was in the wrong, that Jones acted within
his rights, that the Public Prosecutor and the jury fulfilled their
duty. As for Lombaard, "he too," Dr. Kuyper tells us, "was a
Johannesburg policeman, and like Jones a little rough in his mode of
action".... "He committed no outrage; the sole reproach attaching to him
was that he conducted his search at night, and without a special
warrant." And Dr. Kuyper is very contemptuous of any who may be disposed
to question such proceedings.
The truth is, that Lombaard, at the head of sixteen or eighteen police,
had taken upon himself, without warrant, to enter the houses of coloured
British subjects, men and women, to demand their passes; to send them to
prison whether right or wrong; to ill-treat and flog them. A mere
trifle; scarce worth talking about; they were only people of colour, and
Dr. Kuyper has told us his ideas on that subject.
The Edgar case was the origin of the petition of the 21,000 Uitlanders
to the English Government, to ask the protection it had undertaken to
extend to them under the Convention of 1884.
The facts which I have given in _Le Siecle_ of the 29th March, and those
I now give here, are sufficient to prove that under Mr. Krueger's
Government, police, justice and law do not exist in the Transvaal.
CHAPTER VII.
SECURITY OF INDIVIDUALS ACCORDING TO BOER IDEAS.[11]
1.--_The Amphitheatre Case._
Dr. Kuyper proceeds with charming serenity:
"The affair called the 'Amphitheatre Case' is more ridiculous still."
And this is his mode of telling it:--
"One day the _South African League_ wished to hold a meeting in the
Amphitheatre, and, through Mr. Wybergh, intimated to the State
Attorney that they preferred not to be hampered by the presence of
the police. In conformity with this wish, the State Attorney
telegraphed to the Johannesburg police to keep away. But scarcely
had the meeting commenced before the opponents of the League
invaded the hall; and the few police stationed at the door were
unable to separate the combatants quickly enough. There followed
complaints to London ..."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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