Horses for South Africa - by: BereniceUK

It occurred to me that I hadn't read anything about the acquisition and transport of horses for the use of the military in South Africa, so here are some newspaper reports I've compiled.

'Theirs Not To Reason Why; Horsing The British Army 1875-1925' by Graham Winton, and 'A History Of The British Cavalry: Volume 4: 1899-1913' by Lord Anglesey, are relevant to the ABW.
A number of horses of the Tickham Hunt (Kent) have been requisitioned by the Government for use of the troops in South Africa.

Sunderland Daily Echo, Tuesday 14th November 1899
A busy scene was witnessed for hours at Malton on Saturday. Lord Helmsley, the agent appointed for North Yorkshire to purchase horses for the volunteer Yeomanry, Mounted Infantry, etc., had announced that he would attend Malton for the purpose on that day, and no less than 55 were sent in for inspection. The conditions were that the animals must be sound, under 6 years of age, and not more than 15.2 high, and to show the good judgment of the "horsey" district around, we need only state that only five out of the number sent in were rejected. The inspecting veterinaries were Mr. Pickering, of Scarborough (an Army representative) and Mr. Tom Snarry, Veterinary Surgeon, of Malton. The animals accepted were a hard "cobby" lot, with fair breeding. Prices ruled from 20 to 40 gs.* each.

The Yorkshire Herald, Monday 8th January 1900 * Gs. = Guineas, i.e. £40 and 40 shillings (£42)
SELECTING HORSES FOR THE YEOMANRY . - Captain Callender, of the Lothians and Berwickshire Yeomanry, accompanied by Mr Campbell and Mr Henderson, V.S., Edinburgh, was in Kelso on Saturday selecting and buying horses for the Imperial Yeomanry being formed for service in South Africa. Over 50 animals were shown, and after careful scrutiny nine were bought. Three other horses, belonging to men who have volunteered, were also passed as suitable.

The Southern Reporter, Thursday 11th January 1900
It will be remembered that, in the advertising columns of our last issue, we announced that fifty small horses were required by the Imperial Yeomanry for service with mounted forces in South Africa, and that purchases would be made close by the Station Hotel on Monday. To this call there was a large response by tradesmen and farmers anxious to dispose of their horses, the purchasers - on behalf of the Yeomanry - being Captain Charles Garnett, of Bromley Cross, Mr. Heap, Master of the Rochdale Hunt, and a Veterinary Surgeon. Some one hundred horses were brought forward, and inspected in a field belonging to Mr. Thomas Beck, with the result that the number was reduced to about fifty. later on, these were again exhibited, this time in King Street, where they were put through the usual trotting tests on hard ground. The prospective buyers then made their offers, and the owners of the horses appeared to be well satisfied with the prices. At any rate there were no refusals to sell, some thirty-seven horses being disposed of at prices varying, mostly, from £25 to £35, though, of course, there were a few exceptions, some superior animals going for more than £35, and a number of inferior ones at less than £25. The horses were despatched yesterday morning.

The Clitheroe Times, Friday 12th January 1900
According to a Phoenix telegram, British agents have been purchasing cavalry horses in Arizona, and are contemplating further purchases in the Middle and Western States.

The Yorkshire Herald, Thursday 8th February 1900
A telegram from New York yesterday gives the report that the British Government has purchased 50,000 horses in New York State at an average price of a hundred dollars apiece.

The Western Times, Tuesday 10th April 1900
The steamer Tactician has left [for] Cape Town with 1,000 horses for the British army in South Africa.

The Shields Daily Gazette, Monday 11th March 1901
The tremendous energy recently displayed by the Boers is responsible for the shipment of 20,000 horses and mules to South Africa last week, and the magnitude of this movement is best realised when it is stated it is equal to one-tenth of the total exports of 200,000 animals since October, 1899.

When Boer sympathisers made unsuccessful efforts to get the courts to stop shipments last April, Colonel de Burgh, representing the British army here, ordered the last animal to be shipped by May 1. The course of the war made it necessary to rescind this order, and small shipments aggregating 5,000 animals were sent in May and June.

By Saturday next the grand total of animals shipped will reach 250,000.

Aberdeen Journal, Wednesday 17th July 1901
Lieutenant-Colonel Dent and Major Gore, remount officers in the British army, who have been buying horses for South Africa throughout Canada, have had a narrow escape from being mobbed by angry horse-dealers at Quebec, where a local veterinary surgeon collected and provisionally accepted several hundred horses for final inspection. The rejection so incensed the dealers that the officers, by advice, resorted to a hasty departure to escape violence at the hands of the crowd.

Nottingham Evening Post, Friday 31st May 1901
"Some astounding disclosures were made in the House of Commons, on Monday, in connection with the War Office contracts. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman pointed out that the total expenditure, actual and estimated, under those contracts, up to the end of the next financial year, amounted to £120,000,000, and he said that the contractor had done, was doing, and meant to go on doing a colossal profit out of the war. When it is remembered that the war, in all conscience, has been and is such a heavy drain upon the taxpayers of this country, in blood and treasure, it is surely a scandal of the deepest dye that foreign financial vampires should be allowed to enrich themselves at our expense in such an unscrupulous manner. It has been well said that as the Empire expands its friends "contract." That is the way the Government seems to have chosen to lubricate its "wheels within wheels" in order to make its progress as smooth and easy as possible. They give contracts for shipping to people who have no ship; contracts for land transports to people who have no waggons; and contracts for cordite to people who have not even a shed wherein to make it. War is a paying game for some people, especially to those who form syndicates to supply the wants and to make up for the deficiencies of the War Office. A few samples of the manner in which the Government has been flinging away the taxpayers' money were given by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, on Monday, in a quiet, matter-of-fact manner that was more effective than any amount of rhetoric. In one case there were 3,800 Hungarian horses bought for £111,000, and of that sum no less than £45,000 was pocketed among the various buyers. That one instance was enough to make out a case for an inquiry, said Sir Henry, but it did not stand alone, being really only a sample. There was also the meat scandal, in which the Cold Storage company had in a little more than a year made £4,773,000 profit on meat - and was able to pay its shareholders 30s. in dividends and bonuses on each 20s. share, and put by one million to reserve, for a rainy day. As to freight and land transport there was a similar tale to tell - fabulous prices, enormous profits, and, in regard to remounts, meat, freight and transport, the name of Houlder cropped up eternally. It mattered not whether the transaction was in the Argentine, in Canada, Australia, or South Africa, the eternal Houlder was always in it. Mr Labouchere, in calling attention to the Argentine and the doings of Messrs Houlders, said that General Truman and Major Peters had gone out to that part of the world to buy horses, and had sent 26,672 horses to the Cape. The average freight charged by Houlders on those horse was £14 5s 3d each, though as much as £20 was paid in some cases. Yet the freight from Argentina to London (a longer distance than to the Cape) was £6 10s. Mr Labouchere added the interesting statement that General Truman had five shares in Houlders' firm, another member of General Truman's family had a larger number, while a nephew of General Truman was a clerk in Houlder's office holding a position of importance. He further announced that Major Peters held 200 shares in the same firm. Mr Labouchere then turned the attention of the House to something called "Bergl (Australia), Limited." Here, again, the enterprising Bergl was acting the part of a dummy, and here again the ubiquitous Houlder turned up. Horses were shipped from Australia to the Cape at £16 to £18 freight per horse in 1900, and at £18 in 1901. At that very time it happens that a merchant named Bertram, of Melbourne, sent 5,000 horses for Baden-Powell's police, the freight being £8 a horse for the same voyage! Thus, instead of giving £7 per horse (what they e worth), and paying £8 freight, with perhaps £2 for incidentals, we had paid £14 per horse with £18 freight - that is to say, we had in thousands of cases paid £32 where £17 would have been ample. In addition to all this the horses were miserable old crocks, and all the money paid for them and for their freight was thrown away. When the Government is guilty of such gross and colossal scandals as these little wonder that it dreads and shirks investigation. This is one way in which the taxpayers have to pay for the large and unwieldy majority they have given to the present Government. The Government know their full strength and they use it. A strong, united Liberal Party - whether in Office or in Opposition - is one of the best assets the nation can ever have; and had the Opposition been able to deal more effectively with the Government, the burden of the country would be much lighter and its prospects would be much brighter to-day."

The Welsh Gazette, Thursday 20th March 1902

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was the leader of the Liberal Party, and was Prime Minister of the UK from 1905 to 1908. www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime...y-campbell-bannerman
Henry Labouchere, a Liberal M.P., doesn't seem to have been a pleasant person, and had himself been accused of share-rigging in 1897.
The shipping company of Houlder's still exists. www.houlderltd.com/our-company/houlder-history/
cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-Y-00308-M/1

Major-General Truman was Inspector General of Remounts, and was to face a Military Court of Inquiry; he died in 1905.
hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1902-02-17/d...itionOfGeneralTruman

books.google.co.uk/books?id=YOHNAwAAQBAJ...ounts%201900&f=false