The times., 1899-11-18
nere1onment, in NntnI.

The news from Natal today, though by
90 means ample is sufficient TO throw
some light upon the movements of the
British and Boer forces, and corroborates
the proguosis Of this journal in regard TO
the probable strategy to be pursued by
General Joubert in his efforts to defeat or
hamper The advance Of relieving column
from Durham.
While the development in this r4spect
strikes rs as being the most important in
cident Of the budget. popular opinion in
London attaches more weight to the cap
ture Of the armored scouting train, with
about a hundred men, including young
Winston Churchill, at Cheveley, four miles
south of Colenso There is much criti-
cism of what the public regard as foolish
recklessness in running this train into
trap evidently prepared for it very cleyerly
by the enemy; but il may not be just.
Scouting parties. whether on foot, wheels,
horses. or rolling stock, are compelled to
take risks varying with the ground, condi
tions. or emergency Of their service. and it
may well have happened that Brigadier
General Wolfe -Murray's need 10 know of
the Boer movements about ColensO was
great enough to justify the exposure of the
train and its guard to capture or destruc-
ton II may or may not have been prac
ticable for him TO move il always with
Ranking parties to cover its advance; it
may have seemed to him necessary that il
should make dashes and trust TO the luck
of the British army TO get out scathless.
should prove true, the honors would be
more than even in favor of the British 1t
may not be true and ordinarily would not
be readily believed. What seems to fortify
it Is the fact that Il leaked out from South
Africa through two independent avenues
and simultaneously. Whether the gallant
old Huguenot Dutchman has been killed or
not. the movements OF his army appear to
go on as he had planned them, and, if our
/ reports are to be relied upon. as we ven
tured to predict they would a week ago.
Generally speaking it is a race for time
On the part of both combatants The
Beers hope lies in their ability to reduce
I.adysmith before Lord Methuen can come
10 the assistance of its garrison. Every
thing that viii delay or weaken that move
ment. or cripple Sir George White will be
helpful 10 the designs and objects of the
enemy. The fall of Ladysmith would not
necessarily place the Transvaal general in
| a position to undertake new offensive or
even any operations in Natal. He. might
! find it necessary at once TO abandon the
colony and move TO the defence Of Bloem-
/ fontein and Pretoria. Still in that event a
brilliant victory over the British, from the
Boer point Of view, would greatly increase
the chance of foreign intervention and
certainly would inspire the rank and file
OF the allied forces to prolonged resistance.
On the other hand we <e inclined to
suspect that General Joubert has believed
il barely possible TO defeat White and then
with his whole army strike crushing blow
at the endorsements from Durham before
| they should be in force too great to meet
successfully on ground of his own choosing.
However that may be, Ladysmith being
the first consideration, il was and is obvi-
ously the Boer policy to obstruct Methuen's
advance as much as possible, and pound