The Anaconda standard., 1899-09-06
IN CASE OF WAR BETWEEN
ENGLAND AND THE TRANSVAAL
From the New York Herald.

From the New York Herald.
II war between Great Britain and the
Transvaal should come. it's declaration
would be attended with an exodus to
which history affords but one parallel
the flight from Egypt. The good folks
at home" as a Pretoria correspondent
of the Daily Telegraph recently pointed
out, can scarcely realize the situation.
If England were approaching hostilitles
with European nation, an insignifi-
cant fraction of people would have to
clear out of the enemy's country. In
the Transvaal whole towns would be
nearly deserted.
Practically the nearest place of re-
fuge would be Durham, 4S3 miles away
from Pretoria, while Capetown is LOLA
miles away. The railway fare to the
capital of Cape Coloney is s+3 for a
single man, and the British Outlander
workingman with a wife and family
would find the cost of removal come
very high, particularly if. as is prob
able, he had to sacrifice his household
goods. and had no prospects of immedi-
ate employment on arrival in British
territory. During the last Boer war,
in 1881, many Englishmen remained in
the country. Now, however. feeling is
embittered, and only those would stay
who absolutely could not get away.
To large section of the Outlanders,
therefore, war would spell immediate
disaster. According to the authority
already cited the Beers also are seri-
ously afraid of war. A new generation
has arisen which has learned that the
400 men defeated at Majuba Hill were
not the whole British army "They
have" says the Telegraph's correspond
ent, just and not dishonorable ap-
prehension of war with England. I
must not disguise, however, the truth
that they have pretty generally a proud
belief in their invincibility. The Beers
have been wonderfully fortunate in
their military history. Their enemies,
the Zulus and the British, have done
exactly what .hey would have wished.
One of Dom Paul's earliest recollec-
tions, when he was mere boy. was the
fight of Vechtkop (Battle HID, when
5000 Matalxale were repulsed by a hand
full of the foretrekkers. He there
learned how easy it was for men ac-
customed to the rifle to NOW down the
naked Zulus. At Weenen English,
"eepinSJ, IN natal, a little later, oUU
Beers achieved their crowning victory
over Dingaans forces by acting in the
same way, purely on the defensive.
THE English have been equally ac-
commodating. So far as l can learn.
the Beers have never faced over a
thousand of the 'rooineks,' as they call
the British. When Sir Harry Smith
beat them at Boomplaats, in 1S4S bare
ly 400 We're engaged Sir George Colley
had scarcely one thousand when he was
driven back in the attempt to force
Laing's Neck. still fewer at Ingogo,
and less than 500 in the miserable fiasco
of Majuba. To good nrarksmen, strongly
posted as they were, these were easy
victories. Against the Zulus they
laagered, against the British they got
behind shelter"
An Englishman who has been in the
country good many years says: ''T
estimate that the Transvaal, without
any assistance from the Free State, can
now place $4,000 well armed men in the
field. They may not be such dead shots
as their fathers were, but, in the event
of war, if We pursue the same tactics