The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-06-21
BoERs ARE WORTHY FOES.
Inc Almost Hopeless Struggle That
Faces England.

Chicago. June 2O.-Lord Cecil Doug
lass Compton, an English chaplain oe
lanceTs, after a brief stay in Chico ,,,o
left for the east last night with 5is
"l1e' Lord Compton served in Soutb
Alrica Tor five years---Es<-ts4sar not u4r43
ticipate in the Jameson raid, but he
was IN the country at that time. and
Immediately after that untoward on
trprlse he entered the TransvaaI
Touhtry and traversed much of il He
hH0WS the Beers and their. country
and he. considered both criticaIlv- T,-.1,,
the standpoint of a military office,- a, nh
student He spoke Of the TranS,-aa1
problem entirely as a military man Ba
said: --'<'ii- ne
Ihere are motives of fair pIay and
humanity which make Great Britain
exceedingly reluctant to Interfere T.,
South Africa by force. Rut If is o,i,r
candid to say that considerations Of a
military character also operate to make
US chary about rushing into q cam
palgn which must put forth the most
formidable obstacles and involve Jlt-s
tlons OF transport, supply and strategy
fence.
In the first place. the Beers from
/ the Iransvaal are magnificent guerilla.
soldiers. Their history has proved it
! ana they are fully up to their standard
To-Day. Ihey are expert marksmen.
Dorn rough riders, such as your own
cowboys, and their courage and tenac
lty is undeniable. Individually thew are
OF as good military stuff as the world
possesses. They are also thoroughly
convinced of the justice of their cause
and would die 10 a man at the word of
Dom Paul.
But aside from their morals and
their fitness
one admirably adapted for the ptr-
poses OF defense 1t is a land with
large uninhabited space. An army in
vadlng it must have a distant base. and
Its supplies must be brought through
a selni-tropical country under the most
disadvantage conditions Cane
Town is 1000 miles from the Vaal river.
and if an attack were to be made from
Natal there would be mountains to
work through and much tropical
growth.
THE question of transportation
would be serious. We would need
thousands of mules, which must be
brought from South America The
ocean distance and the adverse climate
would kill the animals off by the hun
d1-edS. and the actual work would en-
tail even greater losses.
There is a question of strategy as
well. The Beers would be difficult to
modified in a European sense at all
In an arid. rocky country. filled with
splendid shots. with no real objective
point To capture, with a disaffected or
actively hostile population on your
flank or rear. the conquest of the
Transvaal would be one of the most
arduOus undertakings we ever entered
upon. In my opinion no less than Co.
600 men would be required. Your own
Philippine war is not so difficult. In
deed. it is folly TO underestimate the
strength of the Transvaal,
which proceeds not alone from the ma
terial 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 re-
Deats on small scale the military
lamp which the continental powers
exhibit on a great scale