ccasion he informed individual members of this
party that the 'petitions would have to be signed,' that they would
have to 'go down on their knees to the Government,' otherwise they
would 'rot in gaol.' All this undisguised eagerness to obtain the
signatures naturally only strengthened the resolution of the men who
stood out. They had already against their wishes and judgment signed
one application, and more than that they refused to do. When it was
found to be impossible to induce the men to inform against each
other, some modification was made in the demands of the
petition-hunters and some prisoners were asked and induced to make
statements concerning their own part in the late movement, making no
allusion to the part played by others, and, for reasons which it is
impossible to divine unless it was designed to lead to something
more, this was regarded by the Government as a desirable step.

The suspense and disappointment added to the original sentence upon a
man who was never even mentioned in evidence and who took no part in
the Reform movement, beyond associating himself with the
organizations for the protection of property in Johannesburg, told so
severely upon one of the prisoners that his mind became unhinged, and
in the course of the following period he developed marked signs of
homicidal and suicidal mania. His condition was so serious that
strong representations were made to all the officials connected with
the gaol--the gaoler himself, the district surgeon, the commissioner
of police, and the landdrost of Pretoria. The prisoners themselves
organized a system of guards or watches over their comrade, pending
the result of their representations to the officials. On the fourth
day however the unfortunate man, driven out of his mind by the
constant and cruel disappointment of purposely raised hopes, eluding
the watchfulness of his friends took his own life.

The news of this event was received with horror throughout South
Africa, the more so as for some days previously the newspapers had
hinted at some such impending catastrophe. In the course of the
inquiry which was held evidence was given showing that the gaol
surgeon had reported the state of affairs to the proper authorities
some days before, but in a formal and half-hearted way. Evidence
however was forthcoming that four of the prisoners (themselves
medical men) had forcibly represented the extreme seriousness of the
case to the gaoler, the gaol surgeon