The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-04-26
what will the British DO Now In
Iululand

Zululand
According to the dispatches by cable.
Lord CuELMsFoRps column of relief CON
trived TO reach Ekowc and bring of COL
Parsons force I'm safety. Tho ominous
word, retreat. is not mentioned in the tcle-
gram. but the unpleasant fact Is plain enough
on the most cursory pcrusal. The British
troops have abandoned the advance into
Iululand they have fallen back to the Tu-
gela River, that is To say. to the Natal hor-
der. I'm other words. Sir BARTLE FRERE
and his military supporters stand just
where they did some months ago, when they
began what is now known to have been an
unprovokcd and unsanctioncd war BY
what means, violent or pacific, will they
gupplc with the problem whose import and
difficulty they 50 signally failed to measure ?
And this inquiry, suggested 10y the actual
crisis, opens a sti,l wider question rs to the
policy which England will be- likely to pur-
sue hereafter toward her South African
possessions.
That the British commander. however
strengthened 10y the rccnforccmcnts re-
ceived or on the way, will bc able to enforce
submission to the onerous cNactions whose
statement forced CErYwAYo TO arm in self
defence, is extremely doubtful 1t is posi-
bic that the English might overrun the Zulu
country. though IL must be- owned the
course taken by Lord CHELMSFORD after
relieving Ekowe scarcely points to any pres
cnt purpose of strenuous aggression. They
could burn score or two Of kraals. and lay
waste the fields adjoining those fenced en-
closures; but they could not overtake the
Zulu army, and an attempt TO reduce 10y
starvation force Of 10000 men would sim
ply constrain the latter to make raids into
the Transyaal They might hope, indeed,
To profit 10y discussions i'm the Zulu camp. il
IL were not probable that discipline and 10y
atty had been fortified 10y the experience Of
the campaign. There remains the altcrna-
tive OF compromise and peace; nor shall we
be surprised To hear of overturcs to that
end plauslbly represented in the dispatches
a. concessions To- the British claims. but
really tantamount TO a waiver Of the sole
substantial point at issue. But for Sir BAR
TIE FREEZES abrupt summons to disband
the Zulu army within thirty days, there
would have been no war at all; and there is
little reason To suppose that CErYwAYo
would reject terms of peace involving "a
withdrawal of that propostcrous demand
1t will be remembered that the present
| Zulu King a. well as his father and uncle,
! had at all times shown the utmost Difference
10 the English, and had carefully rcfraincd
| from incur7ions into Natal or British KAT
! iraria. They had always claimed, on the
other hand, part of the Transvaal, and
have often washed their spears in the blood
~ the Dutch settlers ON their western
/ frontier. Yet even this question Of owner
ship they were glad to submit to British ar
! hitratiou. and. as il we'll known, the award
! of the Natal Commissioners was recently
! given I'm their favor But when the ENJOYS
! of the Zulu chief expected the execution Of
| the sentence, what was their establishment
To find the delivery OF land adjudged their
own saddled with the most arduou- and iu-
solent stipulatious. They We're informed
that the great army on which their national
existence depended must be forthwith dis
organized and discharged, not to he again
called into the field without the consent Of
! the British Government. Under the circum-
stances, this demand has been properly
stgmatized boy Lord BLACKBOARD and others
as the acme of arrogance and injustice. It
Is, they say, as if the Emperor Of
Germany, in concluding with Great Britain
a treaty of commerce, suddenly annexed a
notice that he would make war in six weeks,
unless before the expiration of that time the
English burned their navy.
1t appears, moreover, that in sending
this remarkable ultmatum, Sir BARrLE
FRERE acted upon his own responsible
ty against the spirit and obvious in
tcntion Of his Instructions, and fairly cX-