New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-20
THE BRITISH WAR OFFICE.

mn sbo,,,po nm at the headquarters or the
D-,tish army which we anticipated last week
.,,,oors ~ no we'll under way Certainly IL -
~ t,me The British nation Is not hysteri-
Ill, olomoring for n change of administrator
rrbot ,s not its manner. 1t Is supporting Tue
Government with splendid patience ana ioy"n!.
Nevertheless. il expects every man 10 40 MS
1rtv,, now as much as at Trafalgar, anu 1t 10
ohio 70 make that expectation potent Tor us own
ru,elnont without SMASHING windows or screaii-
to-, i+solf hoorse We may be sure that alteI 'io
,r,nIo disaster of last week there VIII De IL per
formanco of duty without fear or FAVOR anu
+bot Mr. Wyndham the Under Secretary loi
Wor who is n man Of fine military experience
,,dgment and zeal. will have free hahu III
roieing the service TO the highest degree ol u"
ciencv With whatever staff jealousies OF la'oi
,tism there may have been we need not concern
ourselves Such things are not uncommon III
othor armies than the British. Nor is IL htuns
at long range to pass Rhadamanthne sentences
unon every man who fails TO accomplish al lha'
is expected of him There are some obvious
features of the case. however when are "sl'r
mate objects of criticism
There is, for example, the slowhess vi many
Of the transports and the consequent uei"! !"
getting troops and supplies to the scele vi ."
ton. For that, at least, the war oince u no' ~
,o h,or,od II was the Admiralty that hired the
slow boats Certainly 1t seems relevant W IL"
oulre why the fastest steamers were ho' c"'i
tered. especially since the Admiralty HIS al
elaborate and costly system or options upon 'i'e
swiftest liners for precisely such use ecouiu
not of course, suspect the Admiralty OIL any u"
willingness to do its best for the army hor vi
carclessness concerning the welfare OF the en-
pIre. The remaining explanation, then' IS the
one we have mentioned before, to Wit, oVercon
fdcnce of British prCwess ana underestimate Vi
Boer prowess arising from imperfect lhlorina-
lion of the actual state OF affairs III Sou'h
Africa At the present time, at heavy COST thoSe
estimates have been corrected and that lnIorihh
ton has been increased With due appreciation Oh
the urgency and gravity Of the situation, 1t Is 10
be assumed. the errors Of the past Will not be re-
heated Had the long range howlzers WHICH
the War Department supplied been rushed 10
the Cane by the swiftest steamers, so as 10 ne
available in the earliest advance or Brlush
troops the military situation would to-day be
nrobably far more favorable for the British
arms.
II is also apparent that the British have sur
fered from lack of cavalry and OF mounted III
fantry capable of coping with the Beers IN mo-
bility A few more regiments of lancers ana
few more of mounted infantry would have am
pllfied scouting ability and would have enabled
the British to strike, now here, now there, WIN
something OF the suddenness and efficiency that
have characterized the Beers attacks. 1t IS
true that such branches OF the service are
costly and that so far as they now exist, they
are sorely overworked. Nevertheless, an army
must be suitably balanced in all its parts, no
matter what the cost, II II Is to be effective IN
action And it will not escape notice that
considerable body of cavalry was deprived or It's
horses and thus made ineffective by strange
bit Of Acknowledgement in the transport service
The comment that the British army should have
been modified far sooner than 1t was has al
ready been made and replied to with the re-
hinder that such action would simply have pro-
! voked the Beers to declare war so much earlier
than they did, which is probably true 1t would
be unjust to ignore the fact however, that when
the order for mobilization was finally given the
task was effected with admirable promptness.
Mr. Wyndham's present programme, TO which
he has set himself with characteristic zeal and
efficiency is n formidable one. 1t Involves send
| ing to the scene Of war two OF the three lore
most commanders in the service, with by far the
largest army ever assembled under the British
flag in any war, and the enrolment OF nearly
| half a million men with the colors over and
| above the entire standing army. That VIII place
| Great Britain among the great military Powers
! on land as we'll as on sea. Some are saying that
! II is unnecessary, and that in the panic caused
| by disaster the Government is losing its head
and rushing to extremes. We should rather say
! II has found its head. 1t realizes that the force
| attacking a fortified position should be numeri-
| cally much superior to the defending force, and
It proposes 10 send to South Africa an army that
will sustain that relation to the Beers. II real
ICES too that it is desirable for Great Britain TO
| show the world that she is not taxed TO her ut
most to suppress the Afrkander instruction,
| but has an ample force still in reserve. That Is
| Mr. Wyndham's policy, with which we may be
sure neither red tape personal jealousies will
be permitted TO Interfere. It is a policy which
means victory and victory is what the empire
most mperatively needs
|