Reursr has telegraphed out during the past few weeks one or two some-
67 ' what disturbing messages concerning the behaviour of Chinese coolies on {the Rand. The compound system 69/scems to have failed of its main object, at least in a sufficient number of instances to be alarming, and the coolies who have broken bounds have been guilty of serious acts of despera~ tion, Fuller particulars have now 74 renched us, by the arrival of Transvaal 75 papers, of what has been named the 75} Moubsvelden tragedy, and. as ill 75 trative of the condition: of affairs, we summarise the evidence given at Sri the avid
'195 Pretoria, The accused were charged 1i8 before the police magistrate at the preliminary trial of four Chinese
with the murder of a farmer named 76 Joubert ut Moabsvelden in the Bronk-78] horst Spruit district on the 16th of August. Enquiry was also made into the wounding at the same time of Mrs. Joubert, her ten-year-old son, anda baby. The principal witnesses were two daughters of the murdered 105 farmer, girls of thirteen and fifteen 16 years of age, who were sleeping together in a room adjoining the 106 living room of the house. At half-past eleven at night they were awakened by a noise of voices and struggling, and, pullingback the dividing curtain, saw their father grappling with a Chinese by the window, while three 2 other Chinese were in the room, one of them armed witha pickaxes. It was bright moonlight and the elder daughter said she was able therefore to recognise one of the prisoners as the man who was using the pickaxes.
The younger girl jumped out of the window and ran to her grandfather's house, 150 paces away, to bring up assistance, while her sister made her way round. by the outside to her 97 Parents' room, to warn her mother.
Mrs. Joubert had, however, disappeared. The girl heard the baby cry and found it lying on the ground afew yards from the door, while the mother was also lying a little further on, unable to rise unassisted, When help arrived the assailants had made off, and the father was found in a dying condition. The little boy who! had been sleeping' in the same room as his parents was able to give a few more particulars as to the actual attack. He himself was'struck upon the head with what he thought was an iron tent peg, but he managed to run away, pursued by a Chinese, and to arrive at his grandfather's, where his sister had already roused the hou-e. Neighbours from a farm five miles distant were summoned the same night. An armed police party was obtained and at daylight the "spoor" found about the farm were followed, with "the result that the accused, who'had blood. marks upon them, were discovered in a deserted kranz' A few petty articles, which had been stolen were also found, The accused protested that their party had consisted of six, and one of them said that the murder was committed by the two who had escaped, The defence was, however, reserved for the trial in the higher court to which the accused were committed, Standing "singly, lamentable as these circumstances, appear to be, they might have been regarded merely as an unlucky, incident in connection with the coolie immigration scheme. But they do not stand singly. Similar outrages were reported in several places, and some-, thing very like a reign of terror prevailed in the country districts, where the forms lie far apart. The Boer farmers, it must be remembered, have been totally disarmed as. a consequence of the war, and they fell almost helpless victims. Moreover the desertions from the. compounds were very numerous, and the coolies, knowing that no legitimate methods of supporting themselves in freedom were open to them, turned naturally to plunder and violence. So grave was the situation that a deputation consisting of General Botha, Mr. Smuts, and Mr. Esselen, had an interview with the Governor of the Transvaal, and as the result of their representations, Lord Selborne issued instructions to resident magistrates to grant permits to all white residents near the Witwatersrand area to possess firearms of any de-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.