years it was the symbol of the most barbarous acts of devastation and the most ruthless policy of denudation that have disgraced the annals of modern war. It was under the shadow of that flag that 20,000 children and 5000 women whose homes had been given to the flames were done to death in the concentration camps. For three long years that flag meant arson, burglary, highway robbery, and murder. No wonder they hated it, that Boer women would avoid the sight of it as a pestilence, and that many Boers refused to enter a building over which it was flying. But although it will be years before they forget the odious associations of the flag of the invaders, the Boers are far too shrewd and practical politicians to allow their sentimental preference for their old Vierkleuer to stand in the way of the restoration of their right to govern the country which they reclaimed from the wilderness. They accept the flag as the outward and visible sign of their readiness to form one of the congeries of independent republics which make up the British colonial empire. It does them no harm. In their internal politics there will be, as Sir Richard Solomon declared, flag-wagging," but neither will there be any attempt to pull down the flag. 66 no PRO-BOERS AT THE FRONT IN ENGLISH POLITICS. When we ask how comes it that the Boers who but four years ago were fighting against the British Government are now accepting office as the King's ministers in the Transvaal colony, the answer is that this blessed transformation has been brought about by the political revolution which took place in Great Britain at the beginning of last year. General Botha, the Boer commander-inchief, is now Prime Minister of the King in Pretoria, because Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, the pro-Boer who denounced British "methods of barbarism," is Prime Minister of the King in Downing Street. It is somewhat difficult for Americans to understand the extraordinary completeness and suddenness of the change in the position of British political parties that took place at the last general election. Never before has any political party which exposed itself to the charge of treasonous sympathy with the enemy been placed in office at the very first opportunity, in order to make amends to that enemy. The pro-Boers were denounced as false to their country, as traitors to their whom the King's soldiers were fighting in the field. They were mobbed, their meetings were broken up, and but for police protection. it would have fared ill with their lives. But the moment Parliament was dissolved these much-despised, much-abused pro-Boers were installed in office at the head of the largest majority returned for seventy years. The men who made the war were swept from the field, and the men who hated it, who had denounced it and opposed it from the first, took their places. Hence it was that as proBoers were supreme at Westminster, the Boers have taken office as King's ministers at Pretoria. THE BOERS' SUSPICIONS ALLAYED. At first the Boers were suspicious. They feared that the influence of Lord Rosebery's three vice-presidents, Sir E. Grey, Mr. Haldane, and Mr. Asquith, might paralyze the pro-Boer sympathies of the Liberal leader. President Steyn was frankly distrustful. "I don't see any signs," he said, to my daughter, in 1904, "of your father's Englishmen coming into power." "Wait," I replied, "till we get the chance." The chance came, and "my Englishmen," Liberal Englishmen, faithful to the principles upon which the British colonial empire has been built up, came into office on a great tide of national enthusiasm. Mr. J. G. Smuts, a young and determined republican, who was state-attorney of the South-African Republic and assistant commandant-general during the war, came to England, twelve months ago, to take soundings. He saw most of the new ministers, and met many members of the new majority. He was more than satisfied. He was amazed and delighted. He told me just before he started for South Africa that he had never expected to return with a heart so full of confidence. "Some of your ministers," he added, are more pro-Boer than I am myself." Certainly the hatred and loathing with which the majority of English Liberals, in and out of office, regard the South-African War is quite as intense as anything I have ever heard expressed by the South-African Boers. After Mr. Smuts came Dr. Engelenburg, editor of the Volksten, formerly President Kruger's organ. He also went home delighted. "I never dreamed," he said, "that so soon after a long war a British Government could be so sympathetic with the men they had been fighting. You have women had votes the celibate miners of the With three important exceptions, the con- THE ALIGNMENT OF PARTIES. When the electoral battle began it was not anticipated that the Boers would carry all GENERAL SMUTS, COLONIAL SECRETARY. before them. They did not expect it them(Botha's right-hand man in the new government.) selves. All that they hoped for was that mission of four to South Africa to examine they would be able, together with the Naand report as to the best way in which the tionalists, to form a majority over the Prorepublics could be restored to the Boers. gressives. A word here may not be out of That was not the precise terms of their in- place as to the political nomenclature of the structions, they had "to prepare a scheme parties in the Transvaal: The Boers form of responsible self-government for the new a solid homogeneous party known as Het colony." This they did. Their scheme was Volk, "the People." Opposed to them are submitted to the cabinet. After a good deal the Progressives, so-called. They are the of discussion the Lord Chancellor, Lord men whose political ideal is the ascendency Loreburn, one who was and is the bitterest of the Johannesburg Chamber of Mines. enemy of Milnerism in the government, They are Milnerites, jingoes, advocates of drafted a new constitution for the Transvaal. the racial ascendency of the British over While they were framing it the Milnerites the Dutch. Their leader is Sir Percy Fitzdispatched two of their number, Sir Percy patrick, who played a most mischievous part Fitzpatrick and Mr. Abe Bailey, to Eng- in 1899 in precipitating the war, and with land to set forth how serious would be the consequences of giving responsible government to the colony. They did their best to make the British jingoes' flesh creep. But it was all in vain. The ministry proclaimed the new constitution, which gave the government of the country back to its inhabitants. They refused female suffrage, for which the Boers had asked, for it was felt that if the them are nearly all the great capitalists of Premier of the colony, is Sir Richard Solomon, formerly chief legal adviser of Lord Milner. When Lord Milner fell Sir Richard Solomon lost no time in worshiping the rising sun. In his election address he declared "his policy was based on trusting the Dutch, reconciliation, co-operation, true imperialism, no flag-wagging, and no placing of political power in the hands of the financial houses." In addition to the Nationalists there were a certain number of Independents and Labor candidates. THE ELECTION AND ITS RESULTS. The electoral battle was waged with much spirit. The Milnerites appealed almost entirely to the mining community, although, taking advantage of a split in the ranks of the Boers and Nationalists, the Progressive leader captured the seat for South Central Pretoria. They predicted the certain ruin of . the mining industry if the Boers were returned to power. They declared it was their mission to defend the policy of Lord Milner. On the other hand, the Boers proclaimed with thoroughgoing emphasis their desire for co-operation with the British. "At Vereeniging," said General Botha in a message to the British at home, "I signed the treaty of peace; I then solemnly accepted what is so dear to you, your King and your flag. They now are our King and our flag." Mr. Smuts declared that "they had had enough of 'ructions'; he was on the side of the imperial government," as against Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, who was talking of eliminating Downing Street from South Africa. Dr. Krause, who had spent a long time in English prisons on a political charge, declared that the British lion's paws were strong enough to crush anything that was going to oppose it, but if their assistance was wanted it would willingly be given." As to the alleged danger to the mines, General Botha was no less emphatic. He said: We simply object to the men who run the mines also running the country. As I protected the mines during the war, so I shall see that they are not injured now. The talk of wholesale Chinese repatriation regardless of consequences is nonsense. I say emphatically that nothing shall be done to embarrass the mines so far as unskilled labor is concerned. Party feeling ran very high, and down almost to the opening of the ballot boxes the Progressives professed that they were confident of victory. They were destined to a cruel disillusion. It was masked for the moment by their unlooked-for success in 141 72 69 The Boers had General Botha Totals. The result was decisive. come to their own again. was sent for to form a ministry. He chose The General Smuts as his right-hand man. old commandant-general, the assistant commandant-general, form the nucleus of the new government, which has among its supporters General Delarey, General Beyers, and Mr. Schalk-Burger. It is the old headquarters staff of the republic installed in office as ministers of the King. In the midst of the rejoicing that followed some little annoyance was occasioned by the publication of a list of the names of those persons who had been nominated by the crown as members of the upper house. There are fifteen of them. They are for the most part nonentities. The Progressives are in the majority. General Botha and Mr. Solomon promptly published a protest against the nominations and called upon the crown to revise the list. In reply to the protest of General Botha and Mr. Edward Solomon, Lord Selborne takes upon himself the responsibility for the selection of the members of the Legislative Council, a selection which has given almost universal dissatisfaction. He declares that the members will deal with all questions in a spirit of strict impartiality, with an eye single to the welfare of the Transvaal and of South Africa, irrespective of race or party, from which it would seem that Lord Selborne has discovered not men but angels. This is merely a case of special pleading by a High Commissioner, who has to justify himself as best he can. From many points of view it was deplorable that Lord Selborne should have been allowed to remain in South Africa. He was a member of the government who made the war, and it cannot be expected that he would be very enthusiastic in undoing the work of his own hands. From a practical point of view the composition of the Legislative Council is a matter of very little importance. The British ascendency party has not got a majority of more than five votes in the council, and, therefore, can easily be outvoted when the two chambers vote together. What has been done in the Transvaal will a month or two later be accomplished not less thoroughly in the Orange Free State. In the Transvaal the Milnerites thought that they had at least a fighting chance. In the Orange Free State, which Lord Milner christened the Orange River Colony,-as if a British colony could not be a free state, the Boer majority is admittedly overwhelming. The program of the Orangia Unie party is a reform of the Education law, compulsory knowledge of English and Dutch in all government offices, the reduction of the constabulary, the abolition of the InterColonial Council, and the division of the South-African railway pool. President Steyn has resolved not to re-enter public life, but he will for years to come be the power behind the throne, whoever is Prime Minister. It is probable that the Orange Free State cabi net will be presided over either by Mr. Abraham Fischer or by General Hertzog, both good men and true. Thus out of the smoke and flame of a wicked and wanton war there have come peace, loyalty, and contentment. It is a magnificent illustration of the advantage of a party system. The Boers would never have trusted the jingo party that made the war, but, when the pro-Boers came into of fice, nothing was more natural than that they should co-operate with their old allies to settle the country and efface the traces of Milnerism. THE GOVERNMENT'S PROFITS FROM GOLD MINING. Before concluding this article I would refer to one element not political, which will probably do as much as anything to secure the tranquillity and prosperity of the Transvaal. That is the extraordinary profit to the state which results from the successful development of the Premier Diamond Mine. This mine was discovered five years ago in the neighborhood of Pretoria, when a company was formed to work it, with a capital of $50,000, which was afterward increased to $400,000. The development of the mine was so rapid that it has in the last four years earned a net profit of $10,000,000. Half of this has been spent in opening up the property, the shareholders have received $2,000,000, or five times the amount of their original investment, and the Transvaal has received as its share of the profits over $3,000,ooo. By the new mining law, which is probably the only valuable contribution which Lord Milner made to the welfare of South Africa, the government is entitled to 60 per cent. of the profits. Last year from this one source alone the Transvaal Government received the sum of $1,800,000, and it is probable that its annual income from this single diamond mine will amount to $2,000,000 a year. There is probably no other state which claims so large an amount of the profits of the minerals found on its soil. There are other mineral deposits in the Transvaal which have as yet hardly been exploited. The brilliant success of the Premier Diamond Mine does much to justify the confidence of the Boers in the prosperity of their country, even after Chinese labor has been dispensed with. (Children with minor ailments of the eye, skin, etc., are treated and instructed in the care of their bodies by the nurse. The boy in the chair is about to have a simple lotion applied to his eye.) THE DOCTOR IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL. THE BENEFICENT RESULTS OF A MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF CHILDREN. BY JOHN J. CRONIN, M.D.* ONE NE of the most important duties of the Department of Health of the City of New York is to prevent the spread of contagious diseases in and through the schools. Nearly all epidemics have their origin at school, and the spread of contagion among children usually takes place through the intimate association of a large number of pupils representing different strata of the population. In 1897 the Department of Health appointed a corps of medical school inspectors, -physicians chosen after a rigid competitive Civil Service examination. The duties of the inspectors consisted in visiting their reIn the preparation of this article, and particularly in the securing of photographs, the author ac knowledges his indebtedness to Dr. De Santos Saxe, his colleague n the medical inspection staff of the New York City Health Department. It is proper to spective schools every morning at a stated hour and in examining any children sent to them by the teachers for suspected contagious diseases. The inspectors excluded children found to be affected with such diseases, and readmitted them only after a second examination and after the premises where these children lived had been disinfected. This phase of the work is still continued in all the schools of the city, and the result has been a greatly diminished number of cases of contagious disease. In 1901, under the Low administration, a corps of nurses was added to the corps of inspectors. The duties of the school nurses consist in promoting the cleanliness of the children and in treating minor ailments of the skin and eyes, under the direction of the inspectors. The corps of physicians was also |