The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-10-07
B0ERS on THE WAR-PATH.

olHSe our last issue we nave been
daily expecting a deadly conflict be-
:wcen the British and the Beers OH the
borders OF the Transvaal but up to the
present moment the first shot has not
been fired, or if it has it has not been
heard round the world like the mem
orable shot at Lexington. The Beers
are ready. however, ard appear to have
the British ION the hip" so to speak
Chamberlain tried to gain time by pro-
tracing diplomatic negotiations in or
der to get his troops ready, but his
willy antagonist, Dom Paul. has taken
time by the forelock, and by his prompt
action has left Chamberlain no alterna-
tive but to fight or "cut bait The
Beers are massed on the frontiers to
guard their country from the Britons,
and it is supposed that the first engage
nent will take place at Laing's Mex,
in the vicinity Of Majuba Hill. 1t is
conceded by the British themselves that
the Beers will be victorious in the be-
ginning, but that ultimately they will
be conquered by an overwhelming force.
General Joubert is in supreme COM
lnand Of the Boer army and is assisted
by able officers. He it was who routed
the British SO disastrously at Majuba
Hill, and he is confident OF routing them
again with heavier loss at Buffalo river,
the Potomac OF the war, in the neigh
borhood OF the famous plateau on which
Major General Colley. fell in 1881, and
where twenty OF his officers and ESQ
redcoats were killed and wounded in
almost the twiniling of an eye. The
rest of the British fled precipitately
down the hill, and at roll call 100 OF
the survivors we're missing. Whether
the Boer sharpshooters have lost their
cunning in the use of the rifle is yet
to be learned Their artilerymen are
reputed to be among the best in the
world, and the English are painfully
aware OF the fact that they have to meet
foes worthy OF their steel.
a dispatch from johannesburg, the
metropolis OF the republic, brings the
pleasing intelligence that an Irish corps,
commanded by Colonel Blake, an Irish
American. is ready to go to the front
for Paul Kruger A manifesto was is
sued to all the Irish residents OF the
Iransvaal to take UP arms for Boer
independence. and Illustrate the designs
OF their hereditary foes in the Dark
Continent. At an open-air meeting in
Dublin last Sunday resolutions Of SYM
pathy for the Beers were adopted, and
Michael Davitt thanked the Irishmen
in Africa who joined the Transvaal
forces, aid condemned the enlistment OF
Irishmen in the British army.
1t is needless to discuss the cause of
the war between the British empire and
the Bocr republic The Chicago Trib-
une states the case in nutshell when
it says: III the United States were to
begin bullying Canada as a prelude to
annexing it it would be doing neither
more nor less than what Great Britain
is doing as regards the Transvaal. That
small republic interferes with the geo.
graphical continuity OF Great Britain in
south Africa. That republic has arabic
and pasture lands which Great Britain
wants. 1t has rich gold mines which
are too good for Beers. There are not
SO many reasons why Great Britain
should covet the Transvaal as there are
why the United States should covet
Canada"
The same paper takes no stock in the
argument that the Boer must give way
to the Anglo-Saxon, because the latter
will develop Africa and introduce mod
ern civilization among the barbaric
tribes that inhabit it. In the same ar
ticle it says: The Beers are not a
savage or semi-civilized tribe. They
are white people, who will have behind
them the sympathy of the whole civil
lied world. A war with them will be
the most serious one Great Britain has
embarked in since the Napoleonic wars.
1t will be no simple, inexpensive matter
to subjugate an independent, spirited,
freedom-loving people, when all the SOL
diers who are to fight them must be