Tuesday's Westminster Gazette contains an interview with the Rev. P.
Van Heerden, of Ladybrand, the leader of a deputation from the Dutch Reformed Church in the Orange River Colony—the other member of the deputation is General Kritzinger—whose object is to enlist sympathy and financial support for an orphanage in the Orange River Colony, and
also for providing schools for the children of the inhabitants of Dutch race. With the first of these objects we desire to express all possible sympathy, and we trust that the deputa- tion will meet with a hearty response to their appeal. The burghers of the late Republic were gallant and steadfast foes, and no Englishman can have any but the kindliest feelings for the children of the brave men who fell in the war. As to the other object of the deputation we cannot speak with the same confidence. In the abstract their demand for local school management sounds reasonable enough, as does their plea for the Dutch language. As our readers know, we have never regarded the Dutch language with the slightest feeling of animosity. But though the question seems simple enough when stated in outline, we think that those who may be at first inclined to give support to the schools, which it is apparently proposed to run in opposition to the Government schools, should very carefully consider whether they may not be thereby giving help to a movement the effect of which, if not the intention, will be to introduce an element of unrest into the Orange River Colony.
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