anything approaching an impartial survey. Miss Hobhouse's
report had excited an emotion only comparable to the publication of Mrs.
Beecher Stowe's famous novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Miss Hobhouse came to South Africa inspired by the most generous motives,
but her lack of knowledge of the conditions of existence common to
everyone in that country prevented her from forming a true opinion as to
the real hardship of what she was called upon to witness. Her own
interpretations of the difficulties and discomforts which she found
herself obliged to face proved that she had not realised what South Africa
really was. Her horror at the sight of a snake in one of the tents she
visited could only evoke a smile from those who had lived for some time in
that country, as a visitor of that particular kind was possible even in
the suburbs of Cape Town, and certainly offered nothing wonderful in a
tent on the high veldt. The same remark can be applied to the hotels,
which Miss Hobhouse described as something quite ghastly. Everyone who
knew what South Africa really was could only agree with her that the
miserable places there were anything but pleasant residences, but the fuss
which she made as to these trivial details could only make one sceptical
as to the genuineness of the other scenes which she described at such
length. No one who had had occasion to watch the development of the war or
the circumstances which had preceded it could bring himself to believe
with her that the British Government was guilty of premeditated cruelty.

Of course, it was quite dreadful for those who had been taken to the
Concentration Camps to find themselves detained there against their will,
but at the same time, as I have already remarked, the question remains as
to what these people would have done had they been left absolutely
unprotected and unprovided for among the remnants of what had once been
their homes. It was certain that Miss Hobhouse's pamphlet revealed a
parlous state of things, but did she realise that wood, blankets, linen
and food were not things which could be transported with the quickness
that those responsible heartily desired? Did she remember that the British
troops also had to do without the most elementary comforts, in spite of
all the things which were constantly being sent from home for the benefit
of the field forces? Both had in South Africa two enemies in common that
could not be subdued--distance and difficulty of communicat