SPEECH BY DE WET.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 15 April 1901, Page 4

SPEECH BY DE WET.

Raider has Arranged for a Sue cessor if he is Caught.

We have had a fairly full report of tho impassioned speech which ex-President Steyn delivered at Klerksdorp at the end of November last year, but only a brief summary of the remarks of Commandant Christian De Wet, who was also one of the speakers.

The mail brings a full report of the raider's speech, and from the excerpts given below it will be seen that he is as lively and ns vigorous a speaker as lie is leader of fighting men.

There was a great deal of talk about him all over the world, saidDc Wet, but a great many heroic deeds attributed to him were quite untrue. Some papers stated that lie had a European education, and learnt strategy in Europe, and many other things equally untrue; the fact was that he was born and educated in the Free State, and that his education had been a very meagre one. It was reported in one paper that he was known driving pigs to the market in Bloemfontein, but this was not correct, although lie would not be ashamed of doing so if the pigs were his own property. The fact, however, was that lie often did drive pigs to market, by his servant, but he himself sold them.

He would exhort his hearers to change their Christian belief to " your neighbors, but hate the English." He was teaching this to his children. Only Knew One Good Englishman. It was said that some good Englishmen were born, but they must all die young, for he did not know any. He only knew of one good Englishman, who was a friend of his. They need not be afraid of the ultimato result; they must and would conquer, and drive the English out of the country. The capitalists would come to these Republics, conquered or not; tbey were like pigs after pumpkins, and thus they would come after the gold to the Transvaal and. after diamonds to the Free State. The English were after him 26,000 strong, and lie only with 2000 men, but could not catch him, and would never succeed. It was reported that if ho were caught the war would be at an end, but this was not so, as ho had arranged for a successor. Tbo enemy had tried all in his power to bribe his people to deliver him up, but all in vain. The campaign is not lost by any means.

Should they bo short of foodstuffs they would j ust go to the Colony and get from their friends and sympathisers what they wanted, "And if they won't give, well, then we take what wo want, and give a receipt for it, to to paid after the war." He was now on his way to the Colony. 'There is no neutrality possible among the Afrikander, nation; they must be either with us or against us." He would not say anything about Uitlanders.