THE SOUTH AFRICAN REBELLION

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2294, 30 October 1914, Page 5

THE SOUTH AFRICAN REBELLION

BEYERS'S COMMANDO ROUTED GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S ANNOUNCEMENT . ' Pretoria, October 28. Official. —General Botha, commanding the Union forces, lias gone to the front. The Prim© Minister of Now Zealand (the Right, Hon. W. F. Massey) has received the following report from tho High' Commissioner:— Ths Governor-General of South Africa has informed the Secretary of Statu the Monies that the tjcioji Ciovernmect, has issued ths followitiE *aJWjmse»Bat;-»

, .. '! "The Government announces witli deep regret that, at the instigation of £ ' i certain prominent individual, a number of burghers in the .Northern Orange ! State and Western district of the Transvaal have been misguided; enough to V.j defy the authority of the Government and make preparation for armed re- ' j sistance and rebellion. The Government, although they have been for some i ; days awaro of these rebellious preparations, and have been taking steps to ] deal with tho situation, have spared no efforts to preserve peace without j 'bloodshed. Now, however, the Government learns tliat in the Northern ■ -i ' Orange Free State burghers' military requirements are being commandeered under the authority of General Christian Do Wet and in Western. Transvaal under the authority of General Beyers. "Armed rebellious commandoes aro already in existence, and the town' of : Heilbron has been seized. Government officials have been.made prisoners; a ; train was stopped at Litz and an armed citizens' defence force taken therefrom and disarmed. In these circumstances' the duty of the Government is 1 clear; they are determined to deal with the matter with a firm hand, and are ;j taking necessary steps •to this end. A very great majority of the citizens of « overy province in the Union aro thoroughly loyal, and detest the very idea of rebellion. When aware of the situation, they will undoubtedly • give tho Government every assistance in restoring order, and will bo careful to abstain from giving the rebellion movement encouragement or support. 'AH loyal citizens of tho Union must therefore bo specially alert and prepared to'give the Government all information when called upon, and every assistance in their j power. Citizens, who have been guilty of disobedience under the Defence Act j need not fear any action against:them on that ground on the part of the Government so long as they_remain quietly at home, and abstain from,acts, of 1 violence or hostility against the authority of the Government."- - ? i BEYERS'S COMMANDO ROUTED BY BOTHX ~, ' j CReo. October 29, 8.20 p.m.) , j Capo Town, October 2a. / '! General Botha has routed Beyers's commando, talnng eighty prisoners. A message to the Prime Minister of New Zealand states:—The , General of South Africa reports that General Botha left Rustenburg on Tuesday morning, came in touch with General Beyers' men during the forenoon, and drove them in. headlong rout the whole day. He captured 80 fully armed. The pursuit continues. MUTINY 'AMONGST PRISONERS OF WAR, j (Roc. October 29, 8.20 p.m.) ' . Cape Town, Ootober 28. Some of the several thousand prisoners of war interned at Pietermarite burg mutinied on Monday. The guards quelled tho outbreak and captured tltf v ; fugitives. BOER GENERAL'S STIRRING ADDRESS. , "j (Rec. October 30, 0.45 a.m.) •. _ Cape Town, October 29. Major Brand, an ©x-Bepublican Gonsralj in. oommand of twelve hundred men at the Temple Camp, called up his commando and announced that a ' rebellion, had broken out. He recalled the Verecniging s Treaty, to which the rebels Beyers and De Wet wore signatories, and said that however bitter the war, he would not take up arms against liis own people. It was his holy, duty to stand by the Government. Ho offered a free pass to any member of the commando desiring to return home instead of proceeding to Germar_ 1 South-East Africa. Only four applied, PRESS COMMENT ON THE REBELLION.- ! London, October 28. x j The 'Morning Post" is optimistio regarding General Botha's ability to early suppress the outbreak. _ The "Daily Chronicle," in a deprecatory article, says it iB a civil war, which it likens to that in the United States fifty years ago. The "Times" says tho rebellion is nowise as serious as may seem at first ; glance, from General Botha's enormque personal influence, tho weight - of Dutch opinion is solidly against the rehelsi If the latter are relying on 1 German aid they will be rudely'disillusioned. { Johannesburg reports that owing to so many criokoters volunteering, all 1 tho fixture's have been postponed. ( ; • Sydney, October 28. 1 The "Sydney Morning Herald" says that though the South African news ! is disappointing to a degree, it should not cause either surprise or alarm. I There is no reason to suppose that the rebels have made any preparations comparable to those of General Botha. / They cama out, no doubt, because their : complicity with Maritz had beon discovered. , ■ ' ■ j The "Daily Telegraph" expresses a similar view k _. j / • ~ BEYERS AT THE GERMAN WAR MANOEUVRES. London, Ootober 28. General Buyers, who has rebelled, visited England in 1912, when he spoke ill public of the deep appreciation of the Boers at the confidence reposed in them by the Imperial Government, and said he was certain the Boersi would ~ prove worthy of such confidence. He attended tho German war, manoeuvres as" i the Kaiser's guest, and studied the German army methods. _It was well known in South Africa that strong opposition, existed to the . taking of the offensive against German South-West Africa, not only among the i Hertzogites, hut- the burghers supporting the Government, particularly in the western district of tho Transvaal, Orangia, and some of the Cape districts. • " ; This scction declared .they would fight to the last if the Germans invaded the j Union, but saw no reason for taking the field themselves. ' PORTUGUESE WEST AFRICA INVADED; j Lisbon, Ootober 28. ! German troops have invaded Angola, 1 Portuguese West Africa, a large Portuguese territory on the .West Coast of Africa, north of German South-West Africa, south of Congo State, and west of. the Congo State and Rhodesia. ' 1 Portugal is sending warships thither immediately. : : ;