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Show IT GENERAL JOTJBERT. . Next to Oom Paul, the most popular man in the little Boer Republic is General Gen-eral Joubert, the military commander of the Boer forces. GeneraP Joubert is not, as is commonly supposed, of a quarrelsome disposition, but believes in peaceful arbitration rather than a resort re-sort to arms. He is vice president of the Republic, and twice has been defeated de-feated by a small majority for the Presidency, running in opposition to President Kruger. General Joubert holds much more liberal lib-eral views concerning the Uitlander franchise than President Kruger. Jle believes that the applicant for privileges privi-leges should be put to a test of three or four years' fidelity to the country, placing plac-ing himself under oath to defend it in peace or war. If, after that time, the applicant has shown that he ha(S been true to the national interests and its laws, General Joubert believes that the Uitlander should enjoy equal rights with the native burgher. .The diplomacy of General Joubert is almost as much a subject of comment as that of President Kruger. In fact, there are numerous stories told of his success in accomplishing many things wherein Mr. Kruger failed. Among others, is an incident which occurred immediately after the Jameson raid, and which will be given here exactly as related by -a participant in the af-, af-, fair, who related the same to one of our j American travelers. The story illus- trates the general's method of dealing with his own people. "Shortly after Jameson and his officers offi-cers were brought to Pretoria, Presi dent Kruger called about twenty of the Boer commanders to his house for a consultation. The townspeople were highly excited, and the presence of the men who had tried to destroy the Republic Re-public aggravated, their condition, so that there were few calm minds in the capital. President Kruger was deeply affected by the seriousness of the events of the days before, but counseled all those present to be calm. There were some in the gathering Who advised that Jameson and his men should be shot immediately, while one man jocosely remarked re-marked that they should not be treated so leniently, and suggested .iat a way to make them suffer would be to cut of their ears. "One of the men who was obliged to leave the meeting gave this account to the waiting throngs in the street, and a few hours afterward the cable had carried car-ried the news to Europe and America, with the : result that the Boers were called brutal and inhuman. President Kruger used all his influence and eloquence elo-quence to save the lives of the prison-ers prison-ers and for a long time he wa3 unsuccessful unsuc-cessful in securing the least amount of sympathy for Jameson and his men! "It was dawn when General Joubert was won to the President's way of thinking, and he continued the argument argu-ment in behalf of the prisoners. " 'My friends, he said, 'I will ask -you to listen patiently ' to me for several minutes., I will tell you the story of the farmer and the neighbor's dog. Suppose Sup-pose that near your farm lives a man whose valuable dogs attack your sheep and kill many. Will you shoot the dogs as soon as you see them, and in that way make yourself liable for damages greater than the value of the sheep that were destroyed? Or will you catch the dogs when you are able to do so and, carrying them to your neighbor, say to him: "I have caught your dogs; now pay me for the damage they have done me, and they shall be returned to you." We have the neighbor's dogs in jail. What shall we do with them?" "The parable was effective, and the council of war decided almost instantly to deliver the prisoners to the British government.". ' I |