Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-02-12
When the British ministry resolved that

the SOuQan, tney engaged Gen. CnaTleS
Gordon to undertake the evacuation of the
country with the least possible risk of life
or property. 1t was in spirit of liberia
the people with whom he had to deal were
fiery and sensitive set of Orientals, he
should have been given full discretion and
endowed with plenary power. lie was not
furnished with apowerful army; he should
have been left free to follow his civil course
as he had mapped it out That Gordon was
an eminently enthusiastic fellow, almost
fanatical in some of his methods, is well
known, but the British ministry understood
all that when they sent him out as govern"
or-general Of the Soudan. They should
have been prepared to humor his whims
and to follow up his plans.
The first mistake of the British ministry
was in vetoing Gordon's scheme to treat at
once with the Mahdi. He was confident OF
his ability to come to an understanding
with him by appointing him ruler and es-
tablishing the Soudanese in official station.
Foiled in this, Gordon endeavOred to erect
at Khartoum an Arabian chief, Iebher,
man of large following and great ability.
The idea was to assure the Arabian tribes,
by the appointment of one of their own
number ruler Of khartoum, that they
might furnish transportation to the evacu-
ating Egyptian forces without fear of suffer-
ing from such completely. 1t was pacify-
ing stroke which Gordon was endeavOring
to make, but again his home ministry frus-
trated his work. Zebher was the king of
the slave tribes; his elevation in the Soudan
would mean the re-establshment of slavery,
and the anti-slavery Society of England
protested against this policy. This pre-
iudice arrayed public sentiment against
Gordon, and the cabinet refused to allow
Zebher to proceed to Khartoum. Gordon
now asked for two squadrons of cavalry to
be sent to Suskim to protect the refugees;
these were denied him, and almost imme-
diately the government telegraphed him to
leave his garrison and come home. Gordon
declined to desert his men, who had braved
danger and faced death with him, and early
last fall, the'ministry were. shamed into a
measure for his relief.
The responsibility of the catastrophe rests
with the ministry who refused to allow the
Nile expedition, in spite of all the entreat-
les, to start until it was too late. The Pail
I'f0W Gazette seems to put the whole COM
ment in nutshell when it says:
The vote of Parliament in favor Of apprO-
prating E300,0 900 for the relief of Gen. Cor
don was deferred until August 5th. Even
then, if the expedition had been sanctioned
forthwith, a precious day would have been
gained, but it was not sanctioned until Au-
gust 12, when the government finally re-
solved that it must relieve General Gordon.
That period of hesitation sacrificed Khar-
toum. Islam is now victorious. Revolt
and the fall of Khartoum will permeate the
arch of the world, and unless the ministry
display boldness and warincss equal to their
former dilatori1ess, a catastrophe worse than
at khartOum will follow.
Such was the policy which has retarded
the mission of the SOudan and probably sur
rendered to massacre, with his garrison, the
hero whom Wolseley, the English General,
ranks in bravery and purity next to Robert
E. Lee.
Gen. Gordon was one month in reaching
KhartOum, and one year ago, after solita-
ry and perilous ride on drOmedary through
hostile tribes and over an arid desert, he en-
tered that city amid popular enthusiasm.
Thousands fell at his feet as the savior Of the
Soudan, and to them he said: 81 come to
you without soldiers, with God on my side
to redress your evils" The people turned
out in ecstacy, burning up the tax books,
demolishing their Jail and illCmining the
city. Gordon issued a proclamation declar-
ing home rule in the Soudan.
Gordon's mission opened brilliantly, but
the Mahdi either misunderstood or miStruSt-
ed him. He was compelled 10 do some
fighting in extricating the garrisons where
the insurgents offered resistance. His gum
boats piled up and down the Nile as long as
possible, defending khartoum and securing
provisions for the garrison, but the Mahdi's
hordes have been gradually gathering about
him and finally laid vigorous siege, ending
in his captuation before the rescuing party
arrived
The British cabinet, which met on Satur-
day, resolved promptly to turn the SOudan
into theatre of war. Troops from India
will be Immediately dispatched to Suakim,
and the garrison there will be reinforced by
drafts Of troops from England and the Med
iterranean. At last a vigorous and active
policy has been adopted. No demand of
Wolseley will be too great to effect recap.
ture of Khartoum, to secure the release OF
Gordon or avenge his death upon the Arabs
At best this process will occupy long
period. 1t has taken five months for the
Nile expedition to reach Khartoum, and
that city, even when besieged by an availa-
BILE English army, is strongly fortified and
will hold out stoutly as it did when Gordon
was there. A fighting force cannot be car
ried to Khartoum in day. The journey
I'D the Nile is a perilous one. The cataracts
have to be carefully and skillfully travelled,
almost like the rapids of the st. Lawrence.
The steamboats, are piloted through by a
series of locks, and the horses and camels in
many places are made to swim the river.
The journey through the desert must be ac-
complished by the slow and tiresOme gait
Of the dromedary, and the distance between
water supplies must be very great. Along
the Nile and through the desert hostile
tribes, infuriated by continued invasion and
emboldened by recent success, will contin-
ue to harrass the army and the path to the
prison or the tomb of Gordon must be mark
ed with blood. All the difficulties in the
way of Stewart and Wilson the reinforcing
troops must encounter and move. The vic
tories at Abu Klea and Metemneh must be
repeated at every point along the route.
The present expedition of the Nile, fitted
out with 10000 men, must be more than
doubled, and possibly year will pass be-
before the banners of Islam are torn from
the palace of Gordon. England has worked
herself into costly tangle. Vast quantities
of treasure must be expended and hundreds
of lives must be sacrificed before she can
advance with assurance, or even retreat with
safety and honor. The next expedition
must be fitted out and forwarded with swift
ness and completeness, and many vigorous
blows dealt in the Soudan before the Arab
is unhorsed or the False Prophet put to
flight.
MERE MENTION.
Nine convicts were whipped publicly at
New Castle, Delaware, last Saturday. .''''"A
London dispatch states that five Americans
have accepted service as officers in the Chi
nese army, and are now in England engaged
in making contracts for supplies. Or
the thirty-eight Governors Of the thirty
eight States of the Union, twenty-five are
Democrats, fifteen Republicans, and one,
Governor Cameron, of Virginia, is Ma