From the diary of William Watson, Ladysmith, February 1900:
Farquhar, the mayor, is not in favour with the townsfolk, who say he is too servile to their highmightinesses of the army. — One of the colonels, says the Ladysmith people have been very selfish all through the war, and I say he is a liar, to use Dan O’Connell’s favourite phrase. Four hundred pounds will not compensate me for the havoc our troops have wrought on my place, and the compensation, if any, will be merely nominal. One per cent of the damage done, may be. The Soldiers don’t care how much damage they do to our houses and other property, because they know that most of them will be withdrawn after the war. The Boers would have treated us better, for they have to remain here and trade with us, and they would see the bad policy of making bitter enemies of us by wantonly wrecking our town. The soldiers have got most of our best houses, and have pulled them to pieces finely. — they have seized our ornamental plantations for fire wood. — they have pressed our men and women, as servants in their hospitals — they have completely stripped our gardens and orchards —they have seized our private property, and wrecked the town generally. The Tommies steal anything they can lay their hands on, and their officers rob us under the pretext of martial law. There is much sickness in the town, and our whole town is being poisoned by the horrible, rotten mealie meal bread. (I have just heard that this beastly composition has been condemned by the Doctors). We are to have ships’ biscuits in future. We are under no obligation to the Queen’s troops, and it would have been better for us if they had continued their fight instead of stopping here. No doubt we should have been robbed a bit by the Boers, but not as much as we have been by our sworn defenders. Beside we should have received compensation after the war, for damage done by the enemy. All the troops have done for us, is to wreck the town, starve us for four months, and draw the fire of the Boer cannon into our streets, by which many people have been killed. It needed the example of bur volunteers, before they would attempt to silence the Boers’ cannon on the hills around us. “Martial law,” sounds much better than “devilish tyranny”, but as a matter of fact, they are identical. — A few shells coming in from Bulwan. — I have great doubts about our so called victories, (except Lord Roberts’) and suspect they are not much better than Jamison’s at Doornkop, and when the Boers evacuate Natal, it will be for want of provisions, more than anything else. — Lord Roberts has won a battle in Cape Colony, or in the Free State, and killed 1700 Boers, and taken Cronje the commandant who routed Jamison’s raiders, and 8000 Boers, prisoners. — A column sent by Lord Roberts, to relieve Mafeking. — German artillery commandant, taken by Buller.
