The herald., 1896-05-10
BRITISH SOLDIERS UNDER ARMS
1oTe Ten In Active Service Than Since the
Sepoy Mutiny


LONDON, April ls-The most warlike
Brltlsh J1ngo can no longer complain
that things are dull. Each London pa
per has from four to six columns daily
now from the headquarters of the Brit
ish armies in the field or the points where
British subjects are in hourly terror of
their lives, and it is practically admit
ted by the government at last that be-
fore autumn there will be more of the
queens soldiers under arms in active
service than before, since the Sepoy mu-
tiny was put down, nearly forty years
ago. Even without any European en-
tanglement or rupture of peace, England
has enough fighting on her hands for
1876 to make the year conspicuous in
her records.
1t is known that 10000 British troops,
with three battalions of the Household
brigade and Redvers Butler in command,
are to go up the Nile as soon as the
foods render an ascent in force practi-
cable. No one is making headway
against Chamberlain's aggressive jingo-
ism today, and, now that blood has be-
gun to flow, the chance of England's
listening to arguments of any peace par
ty is hardly worth discussing. Only
some overwhelming catastrophe in the
desert campaign could work that mir
acle now, and the war office is going to
try all that caution, large preparations
and unlimited force can do to avert this
danger
The Matabele rising furnishes for the
moment much more exciting theme
for there appears to be a genuine danger
that BuluaWayo will be sacked and put
to fire and sword before help can reach
it. The beleaguered garrison could hold
the place against indefinite odds, so
long as provisions and ammunition
lasted but these both are pretty short,
and worse still hundreds of natives are
inside the laager whose loyalty is more
than suspected. Every day brings bull
letins of new massacres in the outlying
mining territory of prospecting parties.
and among the victims an exceptional
proportion is of young men of we'll
known families.
Exciting as all this is. it is not unfa-
miliar experience to the English, and, in
ordinary conditions. they would not
dream of borrowing trouble about it: but
it happens that something much
more important than smashing
mutiny of savages is involved
and uncertainty of Just what this
is makes people nervous. The
whole Transvaal problem is darkly mix
ed up with the Matabele difficulty, and
all England's steps toward restoring or
der in Rhodesia have to be picked care
fully in order not to tread on Kruger's
toes. This makes the Tories impatient
here, and they are beginning to cry out
to Chamberlain to go ahead regardless
of the Beers, and whip them, too, if they
insist on being disagreeable This is all
reported at Pretoria, where pre-e isting
prejudice has been intensified to somber
rage by wholesale lies cabled to and
from South Africa by agents, parasites
of Johannesburg and gold field syndi-
Gates. AS a result, England is perma-
nently increasing the garrison OF regu-
lars at Cape Town. and will probably
find herself sending out still other forces
as the summer advances. A} 4F
The Times this morning says this
doubling of strength at Cape Town is
done because, in case ca European
war, the Suez canal would be blncked,
and all traffic would have to go round the
cape. and the security of this splendid
British harbor and base Of supplies
would be IN imperative necessity. If