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Three districts of the Free State were promptly commandeered, and burghers swarmed to the border. About the same time President Reitz vacated his office, and President Steyn is now at the head of affairs. President Steyn has now conclusively shown his sympathy with the Transvaal, and his occasional interviews with Oom Paul were presumably for the purpose of ratifying the compact from time to time.
Elliott was wheeling round from Reitz through Vredefort and Klerksdorp and advancing on the line of the Modder River, behind which stood Bruce Hamilton. A considerable amount of transport and live stock was taken; also 500 Boers, among whom Smuts and his commando were not. He had succeeded on August 3 in wriggling by night through Elliott's driving line and was now in rear of it.
Owing to the publication of your reply, there exists no further reason for secrecy, and I shall hand my reply to the press. Your obedient servant, F.W. REITZ, State Secretary. The repudiation of Mr. Lippert's "official" character; the contention that the State Secretary, State Attorney, and Dr.
I ordered them, therefore, to go back after the waggons, and in the evening we camped to the north of Bethlehem. From here, on the following day, I sent the prisoners of war through Naauwpoort into Basutoland. On the same day I gave orders to General Michal Prinsloo to take the commando and to strike a course between Reitz and Heilbron.
F. W. Reitz, in the field, although the translation will hardly give an adequate idea of the peculiar treatment of the subject: "Hurrah for General Muller, hurrah for Ben Viljoen, They went for 'Lady Roberts' and caught her very soon. They caught her at Helvetia, great was Helvetia's fall! Come up and see 'The Lady, you Ooms and Tantes all.
The Government feels very keenly that it would no longer be right to allow things to go on as they have been going on, and that the time has arrived for taking some definite steps; it will, therefore, be glad to receive an answer from your Government as soon as possible. I have the honour to be, Yours, etc., F.W. REITZ, Secretary of State.
No doubt a decent Boer would be as ashamed of this as we are of some of our Jingo papers. But even their leaders, Reitz, Steyn, and Kruger, have allowed themselves to use language about the British which cannot, fortunately, be matched upon our side. Mr. Methuen is severe upon Lord Salisbury for the uncompromising nature of his reply to the Presidents' overtures for peace in March 1900.
My next task was the maintenance of the fence line between Frankfort and Reitz. A testing station had been established half-way between the two villages, consequently the communication was fairly good and there was not much for me to do. One day a message arrived from my chief in Pretoria, asking me to go thither, and accompany him northwards when the capital should be abandoned.
Save these two incidents, the fight at Reitz and the capture of a portion of Steyn's government at the same place, the winter's campaign furnished little which was of importance, though a great deal of very hard and very useful work was done by the various columns under the direction of the governors of the four military districts.
Not knowing at the time that State Secretary Reitz was an inveterate Bondman, that old Free State patriot had roundly denounced to him the wickedness of Bond aims, and added the remark that the establishment of a united Boer Republic apart from British supremacy in South Africa was a deceptive dream. England has a mission in Africa that of the Boers can only be subordinate to it.
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