ilitary tents, and there is no
sign of leakage. I know they all want tents when they come here, if it
is possible to get them. On the whole, the inmates are contented, and
the children are particularly happy. They skip and play about from morn
till eve.'

The Rev. R. Rogers (Wesleyan minister) writes:

'What is the use of persons ignorant of the life and customs of the
Boers coming to investigate these burgher camps? I have seen, and do not
hesitate to say, that most of them are better housed, better clothed,
and better fed than in their own homes of wattle and daub, and mud
floors.'

Mr. Howe of the Camp Soldiers' Homes says:

'We do not pass judgment; we only state facts.

'When the first concentration camp was formed we were on the spot, and
also saw others spring up. We admit that there has been suffering, but
we solemnly affirm that the officers in charge of the several camps
known to us were only too anxious to make the helpless people as
comfortable as possible. We have seen the huge cases and bales of
comforts for the inmates, and know that, in order to expedite the
despatch of these things, military stores and ordnance have been kept
back.'

The Rev. R. B. Douglas (Presbyterian minister) writes:

'I am glad to see that you are not giving credence to the tales of
brutality and cruelty which are being freely circulated by disloyal
agitators about the treatment of the Boer refugees. But one point on
which you ask for more information is worth being noticed--the
difference of treatment between families of those on commando and
others. I am in a position to state that the whole difference made
amounted to two ounces of coffee and four ounces of sugar per week, and
that even this distinction totally disappeared by the middle of March.
As a set-off to this, the local Dutch Committee, in distributing some
sixty cases of clothing, &c., sent out by the charitable, refused to
give any help to the families of some who were not on commando, on the
ground that these articles were for the benefit of those who were
fighting for their country.'

Mrs. Gauntlett, of Johannesburg, writes:

'I have read certain statements you sent me from English papers on
cruelty to Boer refugee families. I am amazed at the iniquity of men who
circulate such lies, and the credulity of those who believe them. The
opinion of Germans, French, Americans, and even many Dutch, here on the
spot, is that the leniency and amazing liberality of