TRIAL OF DE WET

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2388, 18 February 1915, Page 6

TRIAL OF DE WET

f OPENED IN BLOBMFONTEINv [,■ Bloamfohtein, February 16. ! ; ' De ./Wet's trial has opened, I ' ' THE LATE REBELLION l\ ■' ••• "" : MORE 'ANTI-BOTHA THAN iANTI- • BRITISH. ; (Ree. February 17, 9.40 p.m.) , Vancouver, February 17. [■"" Major Sir Hamilton Goold Adams ; ; (Governor-designate of Queensland, and sometime Governor of the Orange River ; Colony) was intorviewed here on tho I . subject of the South African rebellion. [. Hie outbreak, he said, was more auti- , Botha than anti-British. The death of : Geneial do la Rey was most fortunutc, as he was en route to Pocliefstroom to incite the burghers to rebellion with i 1-he object of marching to Pretoria to I seize the war stores. The .rebellion i would clear the air and improvo the outlook for the future.

INNER HISTORY OF A REBEL PLOT. The "Potchefstroom Herald" of December 11 contains an account of what is described as tho "inner history of a damnable plot," and of how near Pot'chefstroom was to falling into the hands of the South African rebels through tho treachery of General Beyers and' his accomplices on the night of September 15, the day on which General de' la Rey was killed. It is unquestionable (states the "Herald") that Beyers, who was forced to admit that he was on liis way I to Potchefstroom when the accident happened, was to have started an attempt to overthrow the Government with the aid of the men, over 1000 in number, •who had just finished their period of three weeks' training in the Active : Citizens' Camp at Potchefstroom. Both lie and Kemp had resigned their positions, . and,: knowing the treacherous , mission upon which lie was setting out : tbat night as _the : emissary of. the, German. enemy,' little wonder; was it that : at . Langlaagte Beyers cowered with' fear and lost his nerve entirely, because he ; thought his own arrest was at hand.

That evening a meeting of Britishers took place in Potchefstroom to discuss the situation (says the "Herald"),'and '/it'; was agrped 'that its seriousness was such as to necessitate direct communication with General Smuts, 'which was duly carried out. For one thing, practically all Britishers were unarmed. How critical was the position, or how near Potchefstroom was to complete disaster, was hot then, fully,.realised. On'that night, top, there was. another and more sinister meeting in the town: It was at a certain, house .in'., Berg" Street, whero a number' Presidents, male and female, who can" be .named, expected the arrival of the chief conspirator. Then, too, at the Force headquarters, Kemp had stored .'a' quantity of ammunition that was altogether, out of proportion to the- requirements of -his district, and, during that-week,-there had been frequent communications with the Lichten-' burg "prophet." Beyers lad arranged t'o reach the Defence Force Camp a b 9 a.m.y where motor-cars, awaited.

Later he was to' have marched upon the-town with all the armed-men -he could bring under his influence, knowing' full well, by previous arrangement, that :he could 'rely on thle aid of the. rebels within Potchefstroom itself. So intense "was the feeling of danger in camp that night that 'loyal officers slept with loaded revolvers at 1 hand,'and all the spare ammunition uuder the beds. The Union Jack was to be supplanted, and the new : republic..,was ; to be declared, with: the Vierklcur. flying—or would .it have been the German flag? That was the '.morning of. September 16, and, as showing the concerted character of the traitorous plans, it should be noted that the proclamation • sighed by ; the- Governor'Gen«al of German South-"ffest Africa, the "scrap of paper" used as a sop for •the Boers, was dated, for tho self-same day. ' The armed revolt to have taken place at Treurfontein ou August 15, details of which were also known in Potchefstroom had been thwarted, and "The Day" was postponed for a month. But that motor-car tragedy in. the dark-at La'nglaagte was the second blow to this damnably criminal plot (continues the paper) ; and wheii Beyers, trembling and unnerved, spoke through the telephone at midnight on September 15, telling of the fatal shot, and that his journey had been cut' short,. tliGse who had waited m the camp and in town knew that, for the time being at any rate, the .little game -was up. Kemp, of course, at once tried to withdraw his resignation, but luckily General Smuts gave the snub direct.

I THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA," ; INCIDENT AT SWAKOPMTJND. I * " : London, February 16. [■ With reference to the German, statet taent that tho British bombarded the unj . defended town of Swakopmund, tlie comi . niander at' Simonstown states that on f the,date in question the German force ! from' Swakopmund raided the British . settlement at Walfisch Bay, employing [ dynamite in- the attack. The British i auxiliary cruisor proceeded to Swakop- ; nuind and fired shells at the outer crane : on the pier.

UNHAPPY BELGIUM REPORT OF THE ROCKEFELLER COMMISSION. , London, February 16. The report of the Rockefeller Commission, which made inquiries in Belgium, states that there are 320,000 Belgian refugees in Holland and 100,000 in England, but many who were driven out of their homes arc still in Belgium. Tlio Commission found people living in cellars, lofts, and cow-stalls, and saw children that had been born in fowlhouses and pigsties. No estimates could be obtained of the total German military requisitions, but they, must bo enormous, and covered all classes of goods and live stock. The people were denied the use of the telegraphs and mails, and had no means of communicating with the outsido world except through German channels. Alleviating circumstances noted were that -all classes took a share of the national trouble, the burden being automatically distributed. Poor tenants did Hot pay rent, though tho landlords were almost as impoverished as the tenants. The sale of intoxicating liquor had bcon stopped. .

A STATE GOVERNOR'S INDISCRETION - SIR HENRY GALWAY EXPRESSES ■ REGRET. CRec. February 17, 9.40 p.m.) Adelaide, February 17. Sir Henry Galway(Governor of South Australia), replying to Mr. Fisher's (Federal Premier's) queries regarding his (Sir Henry's) coloured labour speech, stated that the speech ,in question was correctly reported by the newspapers. In making the remarks he had neither the wish nor the intention to comment adversely on the Commonwealth's policy, Hid now saw that it would have been jetter to omit his .reference to a muehaebated colour: question. Ho regretted having said anything on the subject. [The Governor (Sir H. L. Galway), who was speaking on the White Australia policy, is reported to have severely criticised it, saying that he was unable to conceive how the Northern Territory could ever he- developed by white labour alone, aiid suggesting, owing to, the services of the Indian troops and the gallantry of our .Japanese allies, that the feelings of Australians on the .subject should undergo a considerable channc.t . .