The silver blade. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1895-1903, 1899-06-24
CONQUEST Of TRANSVAAL.
COMMENT OF AN ENGLIsHMAN
England IL Little Leary-The Beers Are
Hard Fighters-And Country Rough
Military Movements Would be Hard
No Base for Supplies.

Chicago, June 2O.-Lord Cecil Douglas
Compton, an English army captain of Ian.
caster, after brief stay in Chicago, left for
the east last night with his wife. Lord
Compton served in South Africa for five
years. He did not participate in the Jane.
son raid but he was in the country at that
time and Immediately after that untoward
enterprise he entered the Transvaal coun-
try and traversed much Of it. He knows
the Beers and their country, and he consid-
cred both critically from the standpoint Of
a military officer and student. He spoke
Of the Transvaal problem entirely as mil.
itary man. He said:
There are motives of fair play and hu.
manity which make Great Britain exceed
ingly reluctant to interfere in South Africa
by force. 1t is only candid to say that
considerations Of military character also
operate to make us chary about rushing
into campaign which presents the most
formidable obstacles and involves questions
OF transport, supply and strategy that
might stagger military experience.
"In the first place, the Beers from the
Transvaal are magnificent guerrilla SOL
diers. Their history has proved it and they
are fully up to their standard today. They
are expert marksmen, born rough riders,
such as your own cowboys, and their cour.
age and tenacity are undeniable. Individ-
ually they are as good military stuff as the
world possesses. They also are thoroughly
convinced Of the justice of their cause, and
would die to q man at the word OF Dom
Paul.
"But aside from their morals and their
fitness, the Hansvaal country is one ad-
mirably adapted for the purposes of de-
tense. 1t is land with large uninhabited
spaces. An army invading it must have a
distant base and its supplies must be
brought through semi-tropical country
under the most advantageous condi-
tons. Capetown is thousand miles from
Vaal river, and if an attack were to be
made from Natal there would be noun
tains to work through and much tropical
growth. The question Of transportation
would be serious. We would need thou
sands Of mules, which must be brought
from South America. The ocean distance
and the adverse climate would kill the
animals off by the hundreds, and the act
ual work would entail even greater losses.
"There is question Of strategy as well.
The Beers would be difficult to hit in a
mass. Indeed, they might not be mobilized
in an European sense at all. In an arid,
rocky country, filled with splendid shots,
with no real objective point to capture,
with disaffected or actively hostile pop
ulation on your flank or rear, the conquest
OF the Tmnsvaal would be one of the most
arduous undertakings we ever entered
upon. In my opinion, no less than sixty
thousand men would be required. Your
own Philippine war is not so difficult. In
deed, it is folly to underestimate the mill
tary strength Of the Transvaal, which pro-
ceeds not alone from the material character
of the population, but also from the nature
of the country itself. And the Beers are
armed to the teeth. The money realized
by taxation Of Uitlanders has been spent
in arms and artillery, SO that the republic
represents on small scale the military
camp which the continental powers exhibit
on great SCALE"