bell-tent)--no water supply--no soap--no beds or bedding--no fuel
supplied--no utensils--barest rations--sanitary staff inefficient or
non-existent." In "The Brunt of the War" Miss Hobhouse writes on page
118 of Bloemfontein Camp: "My request for soap was met with the reply,
'Soap is a luxury.' ... Finally it was requisitioned for, also
forage[36]--more tents--boilers to boil the drinking water--water to be
laid on from the town--and a matron for the camp. Candles, matches, and
such like I did not aspire to. It was about three weeks before the
answer to the requisition came, and in the interim I gave away soap.
Then we advanced a step. Soap was to be given, though so sparingly as to
be almost useless--forage was too precious--brick boilers might be
built--but to lay on a supply of water was negatived, as 'the price was
prohibitive.' Later on, after I had visited other camps, and came back
to find people being brought in by the hundred and the population
rapidly doubling, I called repeated attention to the insufficient
sanitary accommodation, and still more to the negligence of the camp
authorities in attending to the latrines. I had seen in other camps that
under proper administrative organisation all could be kept sweet and
clean. But week after week went by, and daily unemptied pails stood till
a late hour in the boiling sun, and the tent homes of the near section
of the camp were rendered unbearable by the resulting effluvia."

A sentence at page 120 has a bearing upon other wars and other helpers
of distressed "enemies":--"It became clear to my astonished mind that
both the censorship and system of espionage were not merely military in
character, but political and almost personal, so that even to feel, much
more to show, sympathy to the people was to render yourself suspect....
Everyone knows what class of men accept the work which means spying upon
neighbours, and can draw their own conclusions as to the value of such
reports."

As regards the food ration it has been seriously contended by others
besides Miss Hobhouse (_e.g._, T. S. Haldane, M.D., F.R.S.), that it was
totally inadequate. Dr. Haldane considered that "nothing but seething
discontent" and "an enormous death-rate" could be expected from the
dietary allowed. (_l.c._ p. 159.) But those who wish to learn more about
this and many other matters should consult Miss Hobhouse's remarkable
book.

The truth is, the prisoner's lot is always hard, and all nati