Opposition to the war - New Zealand in the South African ('Boer') War

The home front

Particularly in its early stages, New Zealand's involvement in the war enjoyed overwhelming public support in New Zealand. Opposition was confined to a small group of radical members of Parliament, religious leaders, and others who condemned the war as an aggressive act of imperialism designed to seize control of the Transvaal's gold mines. Such views had little impact on public opinion; New Zealand's political leaders and the community in general were rather intolerant of opposition to the war.

Wilhelmina Bain's opposition

Wilhelmina Sherriff Bain was one of those who opposed the war. She spoke to the National Council of Women's annual conference in Dunedin in April 1900 on the topic of peace and arbitration, wryly acknowledging the untimeliness of the topic. 'With all the ardour of its young, strong nationality,' she said, New Zealand

'had thrown itself headlong into the melee of old-world turmoil. We had selected from our young men those of the very finest physique . and we had sent them across the Tasman Sea and the Indian Ocean to slay boys of 16 and old men of 70, or be slain in the attempt. our poor British boys were led through the black night. that they might bayonet to death Boers slumbering within their tents, and the horror was justified. . When the Boers committed any special atrocity, our language failed to express enough reprobation.'

(Otago Daily Times, 11 May 1900, p. 2)

Not all the delegates at the conference supported Bain's arguments, but they did unanimously pass a motion condemning militarism and supporting international arbitration.

The press condemned Bain's speech. The Lyttelton Times, in an editorial, felt that she had 'cast the most atrocious aspersions on her own countrymen', (14 May 1900, p. 4) and the Otago Daily Times took the time to argue for the necessity and basic righteousness of the war. Bain was unrepentant, arguing that 'human warfare has done service in the past; but one believes that the race is now capable of developing competition into emulation, and that the battlefield has ceased to be necessary.' (ODT, 14 May 1900, p. 2)