Eureka Reporter | 1904-12-30 | Page 3 | Kruger's Message to Boers

KRUGER S MESSAGE TO BOERS S in honors paid to the dead leader the body ot of paul kruger was laid to rest in pretoria on if it rida boers of all factions those who from the first supported aa as well as alose who did not commanders of kruger s armies and those who served in lit ili the ranks englishmen who fought against kruger and the british govern ment that overwhelmed him all par in the ceremony at the grave of the lion of the transvaal the most notable tribute paid the boer leader who organized resistance to british encroachment was the firing of a salute of twenty one guns by the order of the sovereign of the british empire under this order the former president of the south african republic received the salute that m would have been fired over his arve by his own people had he died in office and at the zenith of his power this recognition by the conquering nation of the rank and the services of the leader of a conquered people must have been very grateful not only to gen botha and his generals but to all of the humbler followers of the boer president in view of the fact that is 19 a factor in the transitional struggle in the transvaal the action of king edward in ordering the salute fired over the grave of kruger as not only gracious but politic no one has clearly defined what is in its application to the present situation in south africa but it if paul kruger s last message to his people urging them to preserve their national spirit la is then it must be dealt with mith in the spirit of the treaty of peace signed may 31 1902 in that treaty the fighting boer zene generals rals surrendered on the promise that their people should be given or should retain representative eions the boer contention was that the boers doers should retain their language and should constitute a self governing boer state under british sovereignty this is not inconsistent with kruger s last message to preserve their nation al or boer spirit chicago inter ocean