WHERE THE AMERICAN BOER RELIEF FUNDS WENT.
(To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.")
Sut,—The enclosed paragraph from an American newspaper may be of interest to your readers, and certainly goes far to disprove the "solidity" of the pro-Boer sympathy in the United States. The smallness of the amount raised is indeed amazing,—my own city alone raised over 2600 for the British Soldiers' Fund, and much greater sums were realised in the larger cities. The sympathy for the Boers was certainly a very cheap variety, even if they had been able to profit by the whole of it, instead of most of it being deflected into the channels herein indicated.—I am, Sir, &c.,
"Contributors to the fund of $1134•88 which was collected at various pro-Boer meetings held in this country during the visit of the Transvaal and Free State envoys, for the benefit of the widows and orphans of burghers who had fallen in the fight, will doubtless be gratified to hear that $18 at least of the amount con- tributed will be forwarded to the intended beneficiaries. Some who subscribed (and paid) may be pained to hear that the word' unpaid' appears opposite their names on the subscription list. The fraudulency of the gushing sympathy for the liberty-loving Afrikanders displayed by the Tammany politicians who engi- neered the pro-Boer demonstrations is clearly shown by the diversion of the greater part of the benefit fund to the purchase of fireworks and wine and the payment of hotel bills and hack hire—Philadelphia Record.
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