The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-29
VAR ADTICES FROM LONDON.
Criticism of Govern COnttnues-
 Scheme to Com mnmd COlenso.

London, Dec 29-4:4O a. m.-During the continued Hull in the military opera
 tions in South Africa the papers are
 filled with letters and articles criticis- ing the government and the campaign, and suggesting remedies, improvements, alterations in the plans, and the like. The Times complains of needless cen- sorship and concealment." It cites the fact that nothing has yet transpired to show how General Gatacre came to lose six hundred men at Stormberg.
 The dispatches from the front all rep resent the Boers in a nervous condition and in constant dread of the British advance, but this is probably an exag- geration.
 The Modder river correspondent of the Daily Chronicle gives an explanation of a sudden rifle fire inexplicably opened from the Boer trenches. He says: 1.-The Boers have wires stretched along the ground in front of the trenches and connected with lamps If wire be touched a lamp is extinguished, thus giving warning. One night high wind extinguished a lamp, which resulted in a false warning. The fire ceased when the Boers discovered that the alarm was false
 A correspondent of the Daily News at Frere Camp announces that tramway is being constructed from the railway to hill commanding the Boer position and that along this the British will con- vey heavy guns. According to dis patch from Ladysmith dated Wednes- day December 20 the heat then was intense, being 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. There were many cases of enteric fever in the town at that time, but not enough to cause alarm. On the other hand, reports from Boer sources on the continent assert that typhoid fe- yer is epidemic in Ladysmth. The Transvaal government, according to in- formation supplied by Boer sympathiz- CTS, threatens to reduce the rations of British prisoners if Great Britain stops the entry of food by Delagoa Bay.
 The British government now evinces a marked change from it's attitude in the early stages of the war and shows a disposition to accept assistance from any quarter. The imperial yeomanry committee has issued statement to the effect that the government considers the formation and dispatch of yeomanry as one of the most pressing needs of the situation, and has intimated that it is now prepared to accept from 5000 to 10000 yeomanry instead of the 5000 originally asked for. It is expected that the first contingent of 1000 will sail about the middle of January.
 The government has announced that it will accept the services of battery from the Honorable Artillery corps. When these services were first offered they were declined on the ground that the corps was not affiliated with any regiment of regulars. It will now be attached to the City Imperial corps. | Lady Chesham and Lady Georgianna Curzon have issued an appeal for public funds to establish a field hospital for | the yeomanry.
 Cape Town dispatches complain of the inadequacy of the hospital arrange ments. It is now estimated that the war will cost at least G60,000,O00, and it is suggested that the sinking fund of the national debt should be suspended for five or six years in order to defray the cost.