The New York herald., 1879-02-12
England In south Africa-The Zulu
War.

| nity thousand lines IN which poiitlcai
| geography is sacrificed to the principles OF
defensive strategy England has urgent
need of a frontier of that sort just now for
her South African<possessions for IT the
calamity reported was not consequence OF
foolish bravado on the part of the officer
in command, and if the Zulus push their
movement with the energy shown in its
initiation, the remainder of Lord Chelms-
ford's command will be hard pushed before
the reinforcements ordered can possibly
| reach him. Help is ordered IN
liberal spirit; for the reinforcemonts,
of which the detail is given in our de-
spatches, will probably aggregate larger
body than that originally assigned for the
whole operation. Undoubtedly the govern
ment is candid enough when by thus
doubling the force it originally sent on this
service it emphatically declares how made
quate were its own conceptions of what was
to be DONE 1t is candid and energetic now,
but the country could afford to spare that
energy for which an occasion is made by
the previous incapacity that puts five hum
dred gallant fellows up to be slaughtered
by ten thousand savages. 1t would have
been q wiser energy to send enough men at
first
An attempt will be made to put the re-
sponsibility for this slaughter upon the
officer in command of the annihilated
column, and Lord Chelmsford's hint that
the troops were 'enticed out of their camp"
already leads in that direction. This would
be repetition of the blunder of underrat-
ing the warlike spirit of the Zulus, as it
assumes that force of these natives could
not have destroyed this column of British
troops unless they had in their favor some
other advantage than that of overwhelming
numbers. But the Zulus are not an ordi-
nary race Of African negroes. They are a
superior breed of men; superior physically,
mentally and in that temper and spirit
which distinguish the men who are born
warriors from those who are born victims.
And their original warlike quality is i'm
proved by discipline, for they are parts Of
rigid military machine. In fact, the
Prussian system, with all it's severity, has
been in existence in this South African
,
Zulu princes, one after another, have main
tanned it for their own advantage despite
the revolts against their predecessors on
account Of it. Chaka, the founder of
the system, was assassinated by chief
tains who were the organs Of wide
spread discomfort They revolted at the
oppressive nature Of his discipline, which
was sustained by the same cruel readiness
to murder any number of men suspected
of i'll will that is now noted as one of the
characteristics of Cetywayo Before Chakas
time the Zulus were like other men Of the
Caffre race and lived in separate tribes sub
ject each to its own chief; but the con-
quests of one after another of these by the
savage warrior first created the unity of a
powerful State on that part of the coast !;
and thai this system has been maintained
against repeated internal conflicts seems to
imply that it finds congenial soil in the
nature Of the people. 1t will not do,
therefore, to count fierce race of disci-
plined savages like these contemplate
enemy, and to imagine that q regiment can
go through their country.
England's tendency, however, is that
way, and her great error in dealing with the
savage races with which she comes in con-
tact is similar to our own error in the same
circumstances-she is too apt to send an
insufficient force, to underrate the resist
ance, to count too confidently and broadly
on the superiority of her own ''happy
breed of men" over any savages whatever,
to require that superiority to count for too
much in combinations where it would be
wiser to substitute supplementary force
With US it is policy to put ten men
against q thousand Indians, but it is
forced upon our government by parsi-
monious Congress and by clamor
against the army. In the days when the
et-baggers ruled in the land, and were
the only part of the Southern population
that could make themselves heard at WASH
ington, some of their outrageous projects
were assisted by orders to commanders of
troops, and it became from that time O
quasi democratic policy to clalnor for the
reduction of the army, and this is kept up
in the face Of difficulties in the Indian coun-
try that would make it q good economy to
put there three times the force Of our whole
army. Against race of men who for fight
ing qualities have no superiors in the
world we use q force the very numbers of
which assumes that our enemy is very in
ferior race, and SO base our policy on gi-
gantic blunder.
England pursues everywhere the same
policy, though it is not forced upon her by
niggardly spirit in Parliament Economy
is OF course the ground of this system, but
it is not an economy that imperils the life
of the soldier to save few pounds. It as
sumes that the pounds may be saved and
the life of the soldier be just as little
perilled as it would be if the expenditure
were three times as lavish md the force