The times., 1899-10-28
Greot Rrttatn,s Position.

Great Britain's Position.
Successive students of world affairs for
generations have not failed to notice
marked and lamentable deficiency in what
We may term the brain of the British En-
pire It has been as characteristic of the
Government under Liberal as under Tory
ministries. and of all recent reigns from
George III to Victoria. 1t was exemplified
at the outbreak of the American Revolu-
ton. in the assumption that ten thousand
redcoats could annihilate as many as forty
thousand Yankee farmers; hence that Gage,
the British general in the colonies, did not
need re- endorsements. In every war since
a similar inability to grasp the initial
necessities of the situation has been OBJ
trusively evident This was true of the
Indian mutiny: of the needless sacrifice of
Gordon at Khartoumi of that of Hicks and
his ten thousand soldiers in the desert; of
the former Transyaal war, when Sir George
Colley was sent to encounter an army with
only few weak battalions, and of the be-
ginning of the Zulu war. That the lessons
OF experience have been wasted on the
present controlling power of the Empire
would appear to be a reasonable deduction
from the history of the Transvaal difficulty
to the present time.
1t is doubtless true and probably is
demonstrable that from the moment the
Jameson raid into the Witwatersrand dis
trict collapsed there has never been any
question in the minds of Lord Salisbury
and Mr. Chamberlain on one side, or of
President Kruger, General Joubert, and
the Boer council on the other, that war
would be an inevitable consequence of the
differences between the South African Re
public and its suzerain. Perhaps neither
party had any clear conception of the pc
riod which would elapse before an appeal
to arms would be no longer avoidable.
Kruger. at least, could not have placed the
limit very far in the future, else during
the past three years he would not have ex-
erted himself as he has. in supplying his
country with improved artillery and infan-
try arms, and in other ways preparing en-
ergetically for hostiIities.
In the light of recent developments, it
appears passing strange that these open
and extensive preparations did not lead
TO. as they certainly invited some corre-
spending preparatory movement on the part
OF Great Britain Political or diplomatic
considerations, indeed might have rem
dered it inconyenient or impolitic at once
to meet the menace from Pretoria with
large army in British South Africa; but il
would have been practicable TO have a
couple of divisions in India which, on oc-
casion. could be quickly landed at the Cape
or Durham. Why this was not done during
the year past, at any time within which
the outbreak OF war must have been rec
ognized as a moral certainty, and not long
to be postponed, is a mystery. Failure to
adopt some such precauton has resulted
as might have been expected in the use
less sacrifice Of the seven hundred brave
officers and men who make up the gazette
of killed and wounded at Dundee, Glencoe,
and Elsndslaagte.
When the situation between the Beers
and the British Government became acute,
and it was evident that the latter was only
playing for time in which TO effect prepara-
tions that should have been completed
months before, President Kruger, who was
in a condition of readiness, forced the issue
and. 10 speak the plain truth, has shamed
his adversary For, in spite Of the two
/ British successes in Maitland they were
successes only in the sense that Bunker
/ Hin was q British victory-the net result
/ of the campaign so far has been practical
/ reverse; and one that there is no military
reason TO believe can be retrieved for weeks
to come.
/ Nor is the imperial cause in any more
/ satisfactory condition elsewhere in South
! Africa Mafeking and Kimberley. the two
/ important points to the west of the hos
! tile States, are closely invested. at pres
ent cannot be relieved, and barring a mira
Gle, would seem to be doomed to capture.
How can the British Colonial and War
Offices justify their failure to provide
against these calamities, which the public
Of South Africa and army experts every
where have seen impending since June:
The damage does not alone consist in the
depIorable destruction of gallant soldiers
and the loss OF towns. The detriment tc
British prestige involved not only in the
facts OF the situation but in the incon-
ceivable absence Of preparation for it, is
a factor not lightly TO be passed over.
The European enemies Of Great Britain
are watchful and anxious to see the Boer,
succeed. Should the latter win battle
or turn Sir George Whites position anG
spread over Natal, we are afraid that the
chances for foreign Intervention would b,
greatly increased. Even the fall Of Mafek-
ing and the capture Of its little garrison
probably would promote the antl-BritisE
movement on the Continent, while Trans.
vaal victory at Ladysmith, which. how
ever. we do not anticipate would be very
apt TO bring foreign complications to a cri.
sis. The worst feature Of the situation i.
that a month must elapse before it car
be effectually mended Vi ct armis.
Queer Lawsuit.
A West Virginia man has brought sui
against a fellow-citizen for an offence un-