The Saint Paul globe., 1899-12-10
THE SITUATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

THE SITUATION IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Owing to the altogether too rigid CEN
sorship of the British military authorities,
the situation in South Africa is rot easy
to understand. The movements of the
Boer forces are dark mystery except
at points where they are in contact with
the British and the fact has become
known by the permission of the censor.
The movements of the British troops are
occasionally indicated by the exceedingly
mcager reports which are allowed to
reach the newspapers. =
But the power Of the censor Is unable
! to conceal and suppress such informa-
| ton as can be derived from maps and
charts of the field of warlike opera
tions, and by Their aid the scanty reports
| made public assume a more cohers mt form
and the different movements become TO
a certain extent ineligible. Roughly
stated, the condition Of affairs is as fol-
| lows:
The Beers, from being the aggressors,
are now being steadily forced to assume
the defensive. They are, now assailed
in the cast on the Tugela river and III
the west beyond the Modder river. On
the south they are engag ged and occupied
by British columns which threaten Coles
burg and .Burgher's Dorp. There would
appear to be a fatal tendency on the
part of the Beers to dissipate their
strength by scattering their: force over
too great an area, when concentration q {
two or three controlling strategic points
might conserve their strength ana enable
them to deliver telling attacks at critical
moments: There is no doubt that BloeIn-
fontcfn. the capital OF the Orange Free
State. is the main objective Of the coll
| umns commanded by Gems. NTethuen,
French and Gatacre: Gen. Methuen. if
victorious beyond .Modder river will re-
fieve Kimberley, and Will then be at lib
erty to- threaten Bfoemfontein by the
road leading through Jacobsdal. The re-
suit of such. a Victory would be- to- compel
the, Beers. to raise the siege Of 'Mafeking,
and set loose the British forces at kim
berley and -Mafeking to- cooperate with
the British: forces northward as far as
BuIuwayo.
The advance of the British h4ceiunns I'm
der Gems. French and -Gatacre would, be
on the lines of railroad starting at Port
Elizabeth and East London respectively,
and d~'joining at Springfontefn Within the
Orange Free State about one hundred
miles south, of B!oemfontein, through
yhich-the railroad runs. The concentra-
ton Of strong Boer force at Jacob5dai
and another at Springfontein> would
seem to-be- the proper plan to meet the
threatened approach of the. three Brit
ish columns. and the recent reports, of
/ slirmishes at Nauwpoort Junction: can
only be between the advanced patrols
of Gen French and the patrols of the
Boer force at Cofesburg, stationed there,
probably, to delay the advance cf French
as long as possible. The advance of CAT
acre to Springfontein would place the
(Colesburg Beers between two fires, and
cut off their retreat by rail. -
If fortune should decide against the
Free State Beers, who appear to be Of
softer mould than their brethren of the
Transvaal, and the British are allowed
to enter Rioemfontein, the British OBJ
jeGtive becomes Pretoria. which would
be threatened from two directions. The
indomitable Joubert and the TransvaaI
Beers at the Tugela river and Lady
smith would be In danger of having one
of their lines Of. retreat neEthwardsf cut
off by British advance from Bloem--
fontein north to Kroonstad, where the
railroad running northwest from Lady
smith joins the railroad from :Bfoen1fon-
tein to Pretoria. This would only leave
Joubert the single line which runs north
and enters the Transvaal at Majuba Hill
and Laing's. Mex. The relief of Lady
smith can not be. achieved without a
5battle; and it is scarcely probable that
such crushing defeat will be inflicted
! on the British as to compel the strongly
reinforced columns of Cleary and Hid
yard to retire. 1t. is more probable that
the result of the inevitable battle will
! be to- so weaken Jouberts army as to
force 1t to fall back to the Transvaat
/ border, and if so, Gen. White, with his
troops at Ladysmith, will help to swell
the British force available for further
attack. 80
The failure of the Boer forces to cap
ture Ladysmith and Kimberley will prob
ably prove theiraandoing, and the British
strategian who devised the plan of hold
ing those two places in force undoubt-
| edly saved Natal and Cape Colony from
| falling into possession of the Beers. If
| the Boer armies had reached Durham or
even Pietermaritzburg. and had got with
| in striking distance of Cape Town. the
| Dutch Of Natal and Cape Colony would
| no doubt have risen. and South Africa
might have been lost to England.
| But the Beers dallied too long. 1t
| looked dangerous no doubt to leave two
strong British forces unconQuered In their