Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-06-20
iiews Of an English NObleman and
military Man.
BoERs SPLENDID SOLDIERS.


chicago. juno 2O.--Lord Cecil Doug
lass Compton. an English chaplain OF
I,nccra. after brief stay In Chicago,
isn FOR the East last night with his
wife. Lord Compton served In South
Africa for ave years. lie ala not par
t.slpatc IN the Jameson rnid, but he
,na In the country nt that time and
immediately after that untoward cntcr-
rrlsc he entered the Tranavaal country
and travcuod much Of Il. He knows
,b. Beers ana their country. and he
considered both critically from the
.i,ndpolnt Of "a military officer and stu
dent. lie spoke of the rnnsynnl prob
i.m entirely as military man. lie
sildi
There are motives Of fair play and
humanity which make Great Britain
exceedingly reluctant 10 Interfere In
south Africa by force. hut Il H. only
candid to say that considerations Of "a
military character also operate to make
us chury about rushing into a cam
pairn which must put the most formld-
able obstacles and involve questions of
transport. supply and strategy that
might staggcr military experience.
In the first place. the Beers from
the Tranavnni are magnificent guerrilla
soldiers Their history has proved Il
and they are fully up 90 their standard
today. They are expert mnrhmen,
born rough riders such uH your own
cowboys. ana their courage and tcnucl-
tv are undcninhlp Individually they
Ore as good military stun ns the world
Possesses. They also urr thoroughly
convinced Of the Justice Of their cause
and would die 10 a man at the word Of
Dom Paul.
hut aside from their morals and
their fitness. the TrauHyuul country is
one admirably adopted Tor the purposes
~ defense. II Is a land with large uuin-
hbhltcd space, An army invldlng u
must have distant base and lts sup
plies must be- brought through SEMI
tropical country under tar most dis
advantageous conditions. CapctoWn
o. thousand miles from the Nnul river
and u an attack We're 10 be made from
Natal there would be- mountains o.
work through and much tropical
growth.
The question Of transportation would
be serious. We would need thousands
of mules. which must be brought from
south America. The ocean distunc,
and the adverse climate would XIII IA,
NNlNlAAN Nl ny Alf NNNNl'AN anu wv
actual work would entail even greater
losses.
There Is question of strategy o.
we'll. The Beers would be difficult &
hit IN n mass. Indeed. they might no
be- mobilzod In European sense a
an. In an arid. rocky country flle,
with splendid shots. with no real oh
icctlve point To capture, with q dis
affected or actively hostile population
on your tank or rear, the conquest o
the Trnnsynal would BE- one ~ tn
most nrduoua undertakings we ever on
tered upon In my opinion, no les
than sixty thousand men would be re-
quirod. Your own Philippine war ~ no
20 dlnicult, Indeed, Il IL folly 10 under
estimate the military strength of IN
Trnnsvaal. which proceeds not alou
from the material character N the pop
ulntlon but also from the nature of IN
country itself,
And the Beers are armed 10 IN
teeth. The money realized by tnNutiu
OF ultlnndcrs has been spent IN arm
and artillery, NO that the republic a.
pcats on small scale the mllltur
camp which the continental powers ca
hlhlt on a great scale"