The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-18
LONDON IS ALARMED.
"BIack Week" Arouses Officials to
the Gravity of the Situation.

hIack week" ArOuSes Officials to
the Gravity of the Situation.
LONDON, Dee. H.-"Black week" as
last week is now universally called, has
evidently aroused the government and the
war office to q full sense of responsibility
and Of the magnitude of the task before
them. The papers unanimously applaud
this awakening, despite the fact that they
recognize that the heroic measures now
decided upon SAVIOR rather of weakness
than of strength.
Rumor has it that the question Of ex-
pense has really been at the bottom Of
the half-hearted measures hitherto adopt-
ed, and 1t Is not unlikely that Sir Michael
11icKs-Beach, chancellor of the excheoller,
ana other members Of the cabinet will
resign.
It was high time that something very
energetic was done. The British losses in
Killed, wounded, prisoners and missing
throughout the campaign now reach the
enormous total of 1880.
The tragic circumstance of the appoint
ment of Lord Roberts almost simultane-
ously with the announcement of the dea tn
OF his promising son excites deepest pub
lie sympathy.
Lieut.. Roberts was an only son and had
been his fathers aid-de-camp since 1Sa5
He served in Waziristan and in the
Chitral and Nile expeditions Such was
MS display Of gallentry on Friday in an
attempt to rescue the guns that he was
recommended for the Victoria cross.
Amid the gloom and grief which over
Wnelm England the confidence in the final
triumph of British arms throughout
South Africa remains unshaken The So
termination to win regardless Of cost ia
however. coupled with another grim re-
solve, namely, to fix and enforce the re-
spens1bil1ty for the disasters which have
Drought the darkest days to Great Brit
ain within the memory of the living
Ihls purpose is not directed so much
against the incOmpetency of the cornnoan-
ders In the field, which all agree is pain
fully obvious, but against some oficiaIs
who have plunged the country into a war
winch 1t was unprepared to meet 1t must
be admitted that there is some excuss
for one feature of the official Ignorance
which events have disclosed, but there is
only one. British authorities. both az
nome and IN Cape Colony, confess their
surprise at having been obliged to fight
both republics instead of one. and also
at the strength of the Boer armament
Inere is no excuse for the ignorance on
either of these points
one feature whereof they NAV fairly
plead surprise is the size of the rebn1Iio1
in Cape Colony itself. This IS now reach
ing appalling proportions. No cabla IN
eOOuL II is allowed rnaob
London, but there is abundant inte11i-
gence received by mail In London show
ing that the Cape Dutch and Afrikandars
in thousands have been joining the Roar
standard. 80
The dispatches indicating the numbers
of Beers engaged in the battles make ~
clear that the Boer forces are manv
thousands greater than the British and
show that disaster will almost certainl,,
spread the rebellion in a large mart or
the Colony, and then Gems. Methuen Cat
acre and French will be menaced almost
as seriously In the rear as in the front
This Is the most serious feature of the
situation. and one which most alarms this
distressed country
The Times, commenting on the situa-
ton, says: Neither the Crimean var
nor the Indian mutiny gave rise to great
er dangers to the empire than thai with
which we are now menaced, nor at either
Of those critical periods was Great Brit
ain so affected politically or regarded
with such dislike and suspicion as are
now almost everywhere apparent. Unless
the calmness which impresses the
foreign observer proceeds only from
apathy, or a want Of sufficient imagina-
ton to realize the imminent danger to
the whole fabric Of our empire, the great
efforts now urgently required will surely
be made before 1t is too late to retrieve
the situation. We are fighting not mere