New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-31

seizure Of Delagoa Bay, either by the Beers OF
by the English Is inevitable and imminent.
| At the outset Of the war Portuguese sympa-
| thies were with the English, and for some
weeks before hostilities actually were begun
| the Portuguese authorities even went so far In
their demonstrations Of good will toward Grea!
Britain to stop the conveyance OF great guns
and war material Of every kind destined for the
Beers via Delagoa Bay. Their friendly Intcn-
/ tons however were frustrated by the Prime
Minister Of the English Cape Colony, who AT
the time when the Boer importation of war
! supplies being stopped at Delagoa Bay per-
! mtted President KRUGER to bring in all the
heavy ordnance, ammunition, etc, that he
wanted by way Of Cape Town; that is t. say,
over British territory.
This naturally served to discourage the PoTtu-
guese and the heavy reverses which England
has sustained since the beginning Of the war
have tended still further to diminish their ca
gerness to favor the British at the expense If
the Transvaa The atter's frontier is but
forty miles from Delagoa Bay. which moreover,
is connected by a line of railroad with tn Boer
ca pital, Pretoria, less than three hundred miles
away. There is nothing whatever to prevent
the Beers from taking advantage Of the rail-
road to sweep down from their border line at
Komat Poort upon Lourcnco Marques two
score miles away, and to seize Delagoa Bay by
means OF coup de- main The Portuguese
Government gives this danger as an cXcus. for
permitting at present the unrestricted Bocf i'm
pOrtation Of war supplies and If reinforcements
via Delagoa Bay. In fact, there is little or no
! attempt on the part Of the Portuguese officials
at Lourenco Marques to conceal these Migrant
violations Of the laws Of neutrality, and there
is no doubt that even if they We're not prompted
to act thus by apprehension of a Boer seizure
their scruples on the score Of the obligations
of neutrality would be quoted 10y means of Boer
gold For there is no more corrupt class Of
officials i'm the world than those to whom King
Carlos of Portugal intrusts the administration
of his unfortunate colonies.
ENGLANDs OCCUPATION NECESSARY.
In view Of the colossal interests at stake II
seems incredible that England will permit Della
goa Bay to be rushed and seized 10y the Beers
Now there is only one way England can guard
herself from this danger and prevent any such
result. and that is by occupying Deagoa Bay
herself The possession of the place offers her
untold advantages Not only would 1t have the
effect of cutting off the Transvaal from all in
tercourse with the outer world and entirely ar
resting the Boer source Of supplies, but it would
likewise place Great Britain within srik-
ing distance of Pretoria. According to the most
recent and reliable information on the subject,
that portion Of the Transvaal which lies between
the Portuguese frontier station of komau
Poort and the Boer capital is entirely unde-
Tended and denuded not merely of troops. but
even Of men, the farms being occupied at pres
ent exclusively by women and children. In
deed young Winston Churchill seems to have
experienced little or no difficulty in traversing
the two hundred and odd miles to Delagoa Bay
after making his escape from Pretoria. where
he was held a prisoner of war.
An English seizure Of LOurenco Marques
would therefore compel the Transvaal at once
to withdraw its forces from Ladysmith. from
Kimberley and from other points in the south
east and west of the republic in order to defend
the approach to the capital from Deagoa Bay.
In this way General Sir RedNers Butler. Lord
Methuen Sir George White and all the other
British commanders now confronted 10y superior
forces of Beers would be relieved Of the peril
by which they menaced. In fact, the
advantages which England would derive from
the seizure of DelagOa Bay. and the urgency
Of occupying it before ii can be rushed 10y the
Beers are so obvious that il is difficult 10 UNDER
stand why Great Britain should have waited
so long to do In fact, the only reason mat
can be conceived for her neglect to adopt such
"A measure is that she had underestimate the
power of the Transvaa and expected to be
able to bring the war to speedy and success
full issue without resOrting to any such eX-
tremty.
From an international point Of view England
would be perfectly justified in Selling DeIagoa
Bay. In the first place, Portugal since tho he
ginning Of the present war has been guilty OF
the most fragrant violations Of the laws % neu-
traty, her only excuse being the peril to when
she is exposed of having Loureneo Marques
taken 10y the Beers. Secondly, there are IN eA-