The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-08-06

sitting on the committee. His presence
lnsures the fullest light being shed upon
the raid.
Sir William Vernon Harcourt, the lib
eral leader in the house of commons.
may also be II member.
No decision has vet been announced
regarding the action to be taken against
Mr.. Cecil Rhodes. If he is tried he will
be the hrSt privy counsellor who has
been crlmlnally prosecuted since 1905.
when Lord Nelleville was tried on the
charge of misappropriation of public
funds.
The news from Rhodesia is far from
rosy. Sir Frederick Carrington's forces
seem to be little more than capable of
holding their own. In fact, some of the
recent engagements look like reverses.
An official dispatch received from Rho
desia yesterday say that Capt. White
with 200 men had gone to the relief of
the Hartley laager and the latest news
from the column was that Capt White
had taken up Il position on the top of
kopJe, which he was defending, and
asked for food and ammunition. Thus
it appears that this strong forces is only
able to hold its own, owing to the al
lied tactics of the enemy.
Sir Frederick Darlington admits that
he needs more troops, but he is unable
prevalence of the rynder pest
The latest adviccs from Rhodesia re-
port increase in the number of cases
of trcacheiy among the friendlics. The
authorities have abandoned the idea of
driving the insurgents out of the MatOp-
20 hills and decided instead to build Il
chain of forts around them and starve
the enemy. Forts have already been
commenced. These will remain after
the revolt has been queled rs Il refuge
for settlers in the event of another out
break. In addition II permanent police
force of 1000 is to be enrolled.
The result of the naval maneuvres just
concluded has been II shock to English
men who imagined that Great Britain $
naval bulwark was impregnable. The
idea of the maneuvres was that Il for
eign fleet was trying to reach Il port and
that British fleet, which was much
stronger and faster, had to prevent it.
The foreign fleet met off Torbay and the
British net was spread from Lands End
to Cape Close but the foreign fleet did
around the west coast of Ireland and
succeeded in reaching Lough Willy un-
mOlcstcd. This was complete reversal
of what was generally expected and is
held to prove that the landing of an i'll
vading force in Great Britain is quite
possible, even though greatly superior
naval force were trying to bar the way.
The color question had suddenly come
into prominence in France by the recall
of Gen. Dodds, the hero of the Dahomey
campaign, from his post OF brigadicr
general in Indoo-China and it is gener-
ally believed that this step is due to the
fact that he is Il mulatto, having been
bern i'll Senegal. 1t appears that great
opposition exists in the ministry of the
colonies against mulattoes, who, it is
claimed, are obtaining too many posts i'll
the colonial service and it is difficult to
deny this in France, which, before the
colonial expansion brought Frenchmen
in close touch with the blacks.
NJ Greville-Reach, the mulatto deputy
from Guadalupe, intends to bring the
matter into the arena of politics by
questioning the colonial ministry on the
subject. This will be the first time that
the race question has been introduced
into the chamber of deputies.
The recent career of Gen. Dodds is
interesting. His able conduct of the Da-
honey campaign scared the government
who feared he would become Il popular
idol. sort of second Boulanger. There
fore he was placed in the background
| and was not given command OF later
expedition, for which he was well fitted
but was sent off to Indoo-China and is
now recalled and exhibited to the public
as Il coored man.
Mr.. Poultncy Bigelow arrived in Eng
land from Cape Town on Saturday last
and has sailed from Uavre. He had
unusual opportunities Of inquiring into
the situation in the Transvaal and talked
with President Krucger and others. Hc
says that Russia's police spies are
everywhere and that their ears are open
etc.
One of the distinctive American feat
urcs of the present season has been the
extraordinary, popularity of Sousa !
| Washington Post march. Although
heard before. it has taken front rank
in every band and was played at tho
Princess Maud's wedding. Every street
| boy now whistles it.