Evening star., 1899-11-04
have developed surprising military and
strategic qualities.
Every Garrison Nearly Surrounded.

| They have nearly surrounded every gar
| rison we hold. and have invariably occupied
! almost unassailable positions. fighting with
| great courage. Against such fighters our
| little force, left Isolated far from our base
| and without hope of relief for days to come
| has not only done splendid work. but has
! gained successes which we venture TO be
leve other soldiers in the world. placed
| in a similar position and in similar unfor-
tunate conditions. could have achieved
| Although this may fairly be said to rep
| resent conserI ative military opinion, its
| reference to the action of the opposition as
| preventing the sending of troops in good
| time is entirely erroneous. Since the first
| news of the Ladysr1ith disaster reached
| England there has been a storm lowering
| over the head. not of Sir George White. but
| Of the secretary of state for wa, the Mar
| quis of Lansdowne, and this emanates net
| so much from the opponents of the govern
| ment as from its warmest supporters. Some
| of the ablest of the latter have no hesita-
| tfon in saying privately that almost GRIM
| inal neglect has been shown in not sending
| at least 10000 more troops before or by
| October 4. and that, If Lord Lansdowne's 8
| hands were tied by higher powers he ought
| to eNculpate himself beyond the shadow of
| a suspicion.
|
| cannot be charged to the opposition, for
| parliament was not then sitting. If there
| were any intention to hold Natal at all
| costs, an adequate force should nave been
sent cut by October 4, when the excuse
] that such reinforcements might be taken
by the Beers as a menace no longer held
| good. as the Indian troops were already
on the way.
Statement of a High Official
Hearing these criticisms In unexpected
! quarters. the CORES spondent of the Asso-
| ciated Press repeated them to high gov
| ernment official. While non-committal re-
| gardinS the failure to send reinforcements
/ earlier, this official declared that the broad
| lines Of policy affecting Natal had been
| much misunderstood
We are often asked" said he why we
sent Sir George Stewart White I'D the Neck
/ OF Natal unless we We're sure he could hold
IT. Considering the tremendous reinforce
ments now ON the way to him. 1t occurs
to almost everybody at first sight that he
ought to have retired without riskfng en-
gagements but it is forgotten what would
happen in Natal unless we made vtgor-
Gus stand there.
Natal has risked her little all on be-
half of the empire, and the least we can
prevent the overrunning of her prosperous
towns and rich fields by hordes of the
enemy. Purely military considerations, 1
admit, might point to the fact that we
ought Immediately to have Withdrawn from
our advanced positions; but purely mill
tary considerations have sometimes to be
subordirated to the interests of the en-
plre, and, although many good lives have
been lost in such a cause, they have not
been wasted
The acceptance Of the offers of Sir Will
liam MacCormac, DR.. Frederick Treves and
other eminent civilian surgeons for service
in South Africa has drawn attention to the
serious understanding of the army medi-
cal staff. The total strength of the de-
partment is only $40. which is 20 per cent
below the figures of forty years ago, and
actually fifty officers below the absolute
minimum decided upon in 1891.
| This state Of affairs is due doubtless to
| the insufficient compensation offered De
| scrters from? both the amy and navy con-
! tinu@ to give themselves up in order to be
! returned to their regiments and ships for
| active service. Scarcely day passes with
| cut the London magistrates having to deal
| with half dozen or SO cases of this char
| actcr; and, as the dcsertcrs walk out Of
! the dock in charge of a military escort,
they often turn to the magistrate with a
| hearty God bless you" or Thank You,
| sir" Many of them come from foreign
| countries, including the United States
Ieomanry Going Out.
/ Several small detachments Of county
/ yeomanry are going out, Independent of the
| war office, 10 the seat Of war, on the chance
/ of joining the imperial light horse Lcri
| Lcnsdale and Lord Harris, both yeomarry
! officers, are aiding this ovement.
The heavy losses among the British Off
! GERS in Natal have led the Military Journal
! to suggest that the sword be abolished, not
| Only on account of its uselessness. but also
| because its glitter attracts the aim of an
| enemy and indicates the officer.
| Her majesty. 1t is reported, has person
| ally conveyed to Field Marshal Lord Car
| net Wolseley an expression of her gratifica-
| ton at the manner In which the whole
| military machine has worked since it was
| first set in motion by the Boer ultimatum
| especially in the matter of mobilization.
| Apparently the queen has not forgotten the
| existence of the commander-in-c chief. as a
| lapse OF memory to which the public is
| now rather prone. and which. SO it is said.
| the Marquis Of Lansdowne committed IN
| tentionally.
Although agreeing that the mobilization,
| so lar as IL mas been carried, Is well done,
| the foreign military attaches are anxious to
see the effect of a more severe test. Said
one of them to the correspondent of the
| Associated Press today:
| when England calls out a second and a
/ third army corps. as I believe is quite pos
| sible, 1t will be time enough TO say whether
| the mobilization system is excellent, as at
| present seems to be the case. Should a
| third corps ever be wanted, think you will
/ find the percentage of reservists who an
| swered the first call reduced by nearly 90
| per cent"
| More Warships May Be Needed
| Although no orders have yet been re-
| ceived for the commission of additional
| warshipS, there IS little doubt. Judging from
/ the activity on board them, that the first
| class protected cruisers Amphitrite, Ariad-
ne. Argonaut and Blake and the second
! class protected cruiser Charybdis will soon
| hoist the flag. In addition to these there is
| now at Chatham powerful reserve fleet.
| consisting of two battle ships three first
| class cruisers, six second-cIass cruisers
| two third-class cruisers, six torpedo boat
1 Il