The evening times., 1899-12-23
The Sonth African Mar.

II is very difficult to form any indspend-
| cnt opinion regarding the military situation
in South Africa today on the strength of
! the news. The views OF The London mill
| tary critics as expressed in the leading
British papers present wide differences, and
! there seems TO be IN agreement among
| them, more or less inspired. to look on the
bright side of things. The encouraging
feature OF the dispatches from the seat of
war consists in the information that the
troopships are arriving daily. about half of
| the re-eIfcrcements being landed at the
| Cape or Port Elizabeth. and the remainder
| being sent 10 Durham. Beyond this, the
| public is kept in the dark as TO actual
| movements and conditions.
There is an evident desire to assume that
Lord Methuen's position is safe and we do
| not know enough about the matter in de-
tail to question the justice of such an as
sumption. 1t is admitted, however, that
| the extension OF Cronje's flanks TO the
| river. thus enveloping Methuen, probably
puts an end to any hope of a forward move
ment by the latter; and that, even if re-
ing movement by JacobsGal. he would have
TO recross the Modder River, and cross it
again at some fresh point. We do not hear
anything of Boer operations in his rear.
French and Gatacre are marking time
They should be strengthened by the receipt
of new battalions within 4 few days Sir
Charles Warren, it is reported did not re-
main at Cape Town, but sailed eastward.
He may have gone to join Butler, as seems
TO be believed in London; or he may have
gone TO Port Elizabeth or New London to
get Oh the line connecting with Gatacre's
position at Cypher Cat.
II will be observed that all these hits of
Intelligence are of Indifferent Importance.
They have triekled out from the War Office
in a way to increase the probability that
the authorities have a great deal more
to publish. This popular suspicion natu-
rally leads to much suppressed anxiety
concerning Kimberley. II is argued that
as Cronie has Methuen safely in check,
the former will now be able to concentrate
a relatively heavy force on Kimberley and
perhaps attempt to carry it by assault
Such movements are not in accordance
with past Boer tactics in this war, but
We should not. therefore, conclude that
Cronie's troops are incapable of attempting
them. The famous Boer attack on Majuba
Hill was a clean cut and successful as
sault by inferior upon superior numbers
in a remarkably defensibIe position. If
Cronje has twenty thousand men, rs re-
ported, the chances that he could compel
the caDitulation Of Kimberley ought 10 be
good. The idea is held out in London that.
In the event of a determined effort to carry
k;mberley. Lord Methuen might help the
garrison by strong attack upon the Boer
right The theory does not seem to us a
very tenable one. The battle of Megars-
fontein was Just such an attack on Cronje's
right, and 1t did not succeed.
The interesting item in the DAYS budget
from Natal is the evidence that OF The six
teenth or eighteenth instant, Sir George
White made, or attempted, a sortie or
reconnaissance from Ladysmith. The War
Office casualty bulletin of yesterday con-
tanned the names of seven men killed and
fourteen wounded on the dates stated, all |