New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-10-15
PUSHING TO THE FRONT.
VAST PREPARATIONS FOR A SHORT AND
SHARP CAMPAIGN
STERN CHARACTER OF SIR REDvERs bull
LER-MANY OFFERS OF SERVICE
ARMY AND NAVY DISPUTES.

ARMY AND NAVY DISPUTES
London. oct l4-War so often predicted In
these dispatches as being the inevitable climax
TO hopeless negotiations. has come at last and
ls now in full swing for the subsection OF the
little republic whose military sun sets and rises
at Majuha Hill Grea, Britain has set going
machinery more powerful that that which
crushed Napoleon and twice as strong rs that
which gave to her Egypt and the soudan. Cen
oral Sir Redvers Butler has gone and already
the Boer bullets have sung q song OF desperate
defiance
That the next few weeks will he marked by
sharp fighting can almost be taken for granted.
That the result will probably be for a time not
too favorable 70 the British Is also TO he adj
mitted The main question s. How Ions are
hostDit,ea 10 lastc Ultimate English victory IS
almost assured D. virtue Of overwhelming
strength
4 forecast Of the length and nature OF the
campaign should not be ventured without
knowledge Of an extraordinary circumstance
communicated to The Associated Press on most
reliable authority. though hitherto not printed
In England: namely. that General Butler mas
gone 10 take entire control Of the South African
situation He Will be as absolute as was Wei
ington and less hampered than was Kitchener.
Therefore. NOf
in his discretion but also virtually the future OF
all South Africa. and no representations are
~ any value without first taking into considera-
ton hts personal character for obstinacy and
frankness. traits responsible for the supremacy
he has attained
SIR REDvERs N SUPREME CONTROL.
Two months ago the Secretary Of state FOR
War the Marquis OF Lansdown". offered 10 sir
Redvers command Of the projected army corps
Sir Redvers gave a point blank refusal uniess
the War Office would guarantee him between
sixty thousand and seventy thousand men. lie
Is quoted as having said on that occasion: l
shall not he handed down in history as another
Sir George Colley." The reference. OF course. was
70 the defeat at Maiuba Hi. He also said that
y he were TO 60 IL must be on the distinct I'M
Outstanding that he could select HIS own stan
and would BE- entirely uninterfered with by the
War ONCE
HIS request regarding the staff. Il IS said. was
rrornute4 by his suspicion that Lord NoIseley
vyo,ld attempt 70 pay off old scores by foisting
upon him staff officers antagonistc 70 MN
Lord Lan.doune Gemurred. but the stronger
man prevailed and Sir Redvers having gained
all tie polnts he coveted accepted the supreme
command Prior 20 Lord Lansdownes assent
General Butler freely expressed the opinion 'I4'
when he had driven the Beers into corner MS
har1 ,,irht he STAYED hy a peace loving Caoi-
net or a well intentoned War Ofce-a cona-
ton Of things he could not tolerate FOR as ne
EXPRESSED f. his hand mot one az those
that. once put 20 the plough, releases its eI'p
II appears that both the queen and the CABINET
practically acquesced IN his demand. aitnous"'
Of course retaining nominal coHOoi sca'0-.'
worth the name Sir Redvers IS pretty certain
f-t.. or,I 10
touch with London at critical moments ior
fear the Cabinet might change IT'S mind.
LEADERS DETERMINED CHARACTER.
It is this man, then whom some Of his own
officers DO not hesitate to call brute however
much they ADMIRE his determination. VINO hoius
the destiny II the Transvaal and the orange
Free state r. his hand. He knows the boeTS
,,4 80 batos thor,. He has campagned over
TIE whole present battle ground and Is above
all . colder from head 10 foot. As soon as he
reaches south Africa he VIII open campaign
~ euch argressiveness as the world has seldom
e.en. but which he believes justihable by virtue
NJ his own superior force The sterneet meas
rres WIFI rot be too stern for him, and until
the last vestige Of Dutch power, whether in the
rr-ars,aaf the Orange Free state or the Cape
Colony ia swept out he viii not stay his hand.
The idea rs we'll illustrated by Sir John Ten
riers cartoon in this weeks Punch" repre-
so-ting John Bull saying. "As you will fight. you
shall have it this time il IS fight to the
finish"
General Bullor's mission Is nearly in keeping
with the spirit Of the Colonial Office
R.pbtlv or wrongly believing war TO he the
only poesible method Of solving the Transvaal
trouble. those officials have made no attempt
% conceal their satisfaction at receiving an
rltuatum from President KRUGER. thus en-
abunc them 70 place the onus Of the war on
Ill. Beers. England may or may not have just-
fcafon for her contentious. but the Government
orsaus. watch must know the real feelinge Of the
anti oer party IN England, have made pitiful
rvrocrites u themselves IN printing Jerem'ades
upon Mr. Krager's perverseness in sending an
ulnmaum.
SURPRISE AT KRUGER's INERTIA.
The only thing that surprises an impartial
observer Ia that the Transvaal President did
not adopt this course weeks ago, before British
endorsements arrived The only explanation
~ his failure to do so lies in the report that
he overestrnated the strength OF the British
pence party.
once Sir Redvers gets 70 work It IS believed
here tie Bocrs Will offer little organized re
s!starcc Something depends Of course upon
the success they may achieve in the interim;
but the life Insurance companies are only ask
ing an extra premium oS = per cent as a war
risk-in other words. placing The odds at ~ 10
This does not apply to South African Irregulars