The evening times., 1899-10-27
The situation in south Africa.

The situation in south Africa.
In times of excitement it is always diff
cult to keep the public from jumping from
the heights of undue jubilation TO the
depths of disappointment on very slight
occasion. When news of the first engage
mert at Dundee reached London there was
nothing but joy and condolences if u
great and decisive victory had been wen.
Now. when it is realized that. for any rur-
pose CT stopping the Boer advance. the
fighting at Dundee was as useless rs one
CT Otis Manila excursions j. to discourage
the Malay rebels. the British public is
down in the dumps, and half inclined TO
mob the War Office.
We think that Lord Wois,lsy made z Sc
IiCTs mistake in allowing til pGpuIaca 10
believe a grsaI success had been achieved.
The impression did no, spread beyond The
bulletin crowds il English cities. Certain
iy it did not touch military expsrts il
Europe Or America. Even though Symons,
and. later, Yule did STRIKE a gallant ami,
ocEsi6sring its force. effective blow at Duu-
de. the next move on tae board, which
was inevitable rstreat, was as plain as
tie trunk OF an elephants face 10 any man
Who ever got as far in the art of war. as
the school of the soldier. Bur the Eng
lieh masses take the retreat on Ladysmith
which was really as crsditahls to General
Tule as 4 successful battle would have been,
in high dudgeon. OF course the govern
Iaent is in a delicate position, since the de-
velopmsnts Of the past week only emphasize
the horrible blundzr it has made in not be-
ing prepared for the eventuaities it had
every reason to look for in South Africa;
and certainly thsre was time enough dur
ing the year preceding the war 10 place
thirty thousand extra troops where they
could have been moved 10 Agoa Bay. the
Cape, or Durham within a couple of weeks.
1t is useless to cry over spilled milk. The
situation is what it is. and that is not say
ing much in the way of encouragement.
General Sir George Stewart Whites com
mand at Ladysmith is. for the moment,
probably safe enough; but, as seemed ap-
parent yesterday, not safe enough to en-
courage an idea OF offensive tactics on his
part. Our dispatches last night, via Lon
don. spoke of large endorsements which
had started from Durham for the front;
and of infantry and artillery that had
reached Ladysmith from Pietermaritzburg
The former of these reports is probably
misleading. A single transport with
thousand men had landed and
they may have been at once
entrained and forwarded in the direction
of Ladysmith; and another transport or
two with thousand or two thousand
chance that any such small forces would
be able TO join the beleagured garrison !
must be considered poor indeed. If, as is |
10 be presumed, Joubert has appeared in |
the vicinity of Ladysmith it is morally |
certain that he will have thrown strong |
force in Whites rear and cut off his COM
munications with his base
Naturally, the logic of the situation new |
would dictate to the Boer general the pol !
icy of preventing the reinforcement of the !
Ladysmith garrison. and of starving it into
surrender. If a force of ten or twelve !
thousand men could be moved from Dur
ban for Whites relief, and he were ap- !
prised OF the fact, it might be possible for |
him 10 cut his way through the Beers to- |
ward Petermaritzburg and effect 4 june |
tion with it. But, under the most favor |
able conditions as far as We can see, ii |
will not be practicable to provide such a |
column of succor in less time than three !
weeks. Whether the British have ammu- I
milton and supplies sufficient to last that |
long or not is a matter of which we are |
in ignorance; but it is to be feared that |
the negative represents the correct view
All cur opinions, Of the situation at Lady !
smith today, are based upon the theory |
that Joubert must have followed Yule's /
retreat more or less closely, though not |
necessarily by the same road. Instead of
moving down the railway from Glencoe |
Junction, it is seen that Yule took the
route southeast from Dundee to Beth and
thence west-southwest to Ladysmith This
left the line of railway open to his antago
mist, disposes of any idea that it could have
been anywhere wrecked, and renders it
at least as far south as Elandslaagte So
it ought to be evident that Joubert would
have moved by that parallel with the line
Of Yule's retreat, as soon as he discovered
the evacuation of Dundee, and should have
been present In force, in front OF Glands.
laagte, half day before the junction OF the
two British forces Before now. he should
be investing Ladysmith and in touch with
the Orange Free State command. lately
between that position and Tintwa Pass
He should also have occupied the railway