The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-02-05 00:00:00

THE NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA.

AMID the slow progress of business in the Houle
of Commons, questions occasionally arise telling
the Btitish public that there are other topics in
which we are bound to take an interest besides
Coercion and Lend Law reform in Ireland.
Ireland is but a small portion of a volt empire,
the whole of which requires the attention of the
L-gislature. It is true that we do not interfere
directly with the government of such a great
territory as the Canadian Dominion; but India
is ruled from London, and just now the question
whethf r Gondolier is to be retained, or allowed
ta lapse into the possession of the Afghans, is
regarded as a very vital one. It has been dis-
cussed in the House of Lords, and ought to
receive that attention in the House of COllllllOlO6
which its great importance demands. Again,
with respect to the news from the Cape, although
that Dependency is governed by its own Parlia-
ment, it has been found twice within the past
two years that in the frontier wars in which the
colonists occasionally become involved the rein-
forcements necessary to secure success have had
to be supplied from the mother country.
The idea of Canadian confederation, which
was carried out half a generation ago, has proved
so successful, that when it was proposed to be
applied to our South African possessions, nearly
four years ago, there were high hopes and great
expectations concerning it. The old principle
that unity is strength was once more practically
acted upon, and for a time all seemed to go well.
The annexation of the Transvaal has proved,
however, that the elements of strength which
go to make up the constitution of unity were
not in existence. During the Zulu war the
Dutch settlers in the Transvaal, ordinarily
known as Boers, showed, by their menacing atti-
tude, that our acquisition of their, territory was
distasteful to them. It was hoped that, as time
went on, these hardy sons of toil would become
reconciled to English rule, which in no part of
the globe is ever an exacting one. Events
hare not justified these anticipations, and we
have lately had to face the fact that the Boers
have proclaimed their independence, and that a
Br tish force sent against them has .suffered a
repulse. It is the moral effect of this result
which deserves the most comideration. The
Boers are not a savage ignorant race like the
Zulus, the Kaffirs, the Baeutos, and the Pondos
Europeans themselves, and the descendants of
Europeans, they must know perfectly well that
the strength and power of the British empire
are not represented by the thousand men which
Sir George Colley had under his command when
he attacked their position at Laing's Tek. They
must be well assured that the reinforcements
prbvicusly on their way cannot be long in arriv-
ing ; that Sir George Colley will, with a con-
siderably augatented force, soon be able to re-
sume the offensive with far cotter prospects of
vie,ory than on the previous occasion; and it is
not likely that the Boers will be able a second
time to repel his advance.

The Boer leaders are said to have entered on
this struggle with a fall knowledge of its hope.
Less:nature. 1 hey know that the handful of
British troops in the Transvaal have the whole
resources of the Empire behind them, and that
the resistance of a small population of 40,000
souls is fore-doomed to failure. That this know-
ledge may not be widely spread amongst the
farmers of the Transvaal is, indeed, quite pos-
sible. They live an isolated life, and some idea
of the distances which must separate their hold-
ings may be gathered from the feet that this
ptipulation of 40,000 occupies a territory the size
of France. Consequently the intelligence of
what is going on in else far-off western world
must come to them on a very limited scale, and
much of it can never reach them at all. The
Boer leaders know very well what the might of
Great Britain means, and they have been forced
by the scattered farmers into this hopeless
rebellion. Their first success emboldened them,
and their second will in all likelihood encourage
them to dream of establishing their independ-
ence by force of arms. Yet the very atte nt to
accomplish this ensures their eventual defeat. It
would have been far better for their cause had
they been worsted at the beginning. But all
political considerations between ourselves and
the Boers are for the present in abeyance. No
negociations for a settlement can be undertaken
with a successful rebellion. The concessions
which we may make to the Boers must be the
generous gift of British power ; not an exaction
imposed on British weakness. There is no
question amongst any section of English poli-
ticians as:to the immediate work to be done in
the Transvaal. British authority must be estab-
lished in the territory ; British prestige must be
vindicated, and all armed rebellion must cease.
It will not be a long or a serious task to bring
about these results; it is a mere question of out-
lay. The resources of,the Boers are very limited;
ours are practically illimitable. The actual num-
ber of our opponents now in arms:is believed to
be between 3,000 and 4,0000; and it appears
that their total avtti.able force cannot exeeed
8,000 men. With such numbers they cannot
afford to fight. Every battle reduces them with-
out the possibility that their ranks can be at all
replenished ; so that a victory is for them prac-
tically as disastrous as a defeat. All that they
can hope to do after they have been beaten in
the field is to spread themselves over their
ample territory, and keep up a harrassing guer-
illa wartare, which would reduce the country to
anarchy ; and it seem not improbable that tbis
may be the prospect before us.