COMBATANT NON-COMBATANTS.
[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Smn,—I have read your article on " Combatant Non-Com batants " in the Spectator of January 4th with great pleasure, particularly the references to the services of the engine- drivers, firemen, and train-guards employed in South Africa. I have always thought that the courage, and in some instances heroism, displayed by these men, whether soldiers or civilians, has not been adequately recognised, either officially or by the public. I would like, however, to draw your atten- tion to another class of " combatant non-combatants" whom you have omitted to mention in the above-named article; I allude to the native scouts, to whom our Army owes so much. They have been compelled by both sides to serve in the war, and have had no choice in the matter. From the Boers they received more kicks than ha'pence, and from ourselves, whatever their monetary reward may be, they have received no other recognition, nor are their heroic services mentioned. I say ' heroic," for their risks when scouting for us are far greater than those of any other non-combatants, since the Boers do not hesitate to shoot them on sight, and on mere suspicion, and moreover, being the worst mounted men in the whole country, their chances of escape when once sighted by the enemy are extremely small. These unfortunate natives are verily " between the Devil and the deep sea," and their lot is hard indeed. The value of their services is beyond dispute, since our " intelligence " depends mainly on the information acquired by them at the incessant and deadly peril of their lives. It is surely right that their services should be recognised, and also that more provision should be made than is at present the case for the families of all the natives whom we employ, and for the protection of their cattle' and stock in their absence from their homes. The families and property of those men who have been killed in our service should be specially protected. The Government has established native concentration camps in some districts, but these do not afford sufficient protection to all the families, nor can all leave their homes and go to them. There are many families in distress in districts where planting is ihnoit impossible from scarcity of seed, and reaping still more difficult and hopeless owing to
devastating visits from the enemy, who ruthlessly destroy native "gardens" or rob them to provide food for themselves or fodder for their animals. Cannnot we devise some means of protecting and assisting all the loyal natives, and prove to them that we value their lives, their services, their fidelity, and their sacri- fices, and teach them thus that loyalty " pays "P—I am, Sir,
H.
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