The State Attorney, Mr. Smuts, informed the Acting British Agent, Mr.
Fraser, that it would be better to bring a charge against Policeman
Jones, for "culpable homicide" than for murder, but that he considered
the chance of his conviction by a Boer jury to be very small. The word
"culpable," says Webster (English Dictionary) is "applied to acts which
have not the gravity of crime." In this instance, it made Jones' action
excusable on the grounds that Edgar struck him with a stick, at the
moment of his entering the house.

A journalist, Mr. J.S. Dunn, Editor of _The Critic_, commented upon the
action of Dr. Krause, the First Public Prosecutor. Dr. Krause took
criminal action against Mr. Dunn for libel, and, before proceeding with
the murder trial, appeared as witness in his own case, and swore that he
did not consider that Jones had been guilty of murder; he not only made
this statement on oath, but called the Second Public Prosecutor who gave
similar evidence. Nor was this all. He brought forward the accused
himself, as witness to state that the First Public Prosecutor was right
in not committing him for murder!

When this ghastly farce had been performed, which is much on a footing
with the examination of Esterhazy by Pellieux, the murderer was free to
present himself confidently before a Boer jury. Not only was he
acquitted, but the presiding judge, Kock, who had claimed a judgeship as
a "son of the soil," in pronouncing judgment added this little speech:
"I hope that this verdict will show the police how to do their duty."
This amiable conclusion did not seem very re-assuring to the Uitlanders.

At the same time Mr. Krüger suppressed two newspapers, _The Critic_ and
_The Star_. (See Blue Book C. 9, 345.)