The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-12-02
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP
The Task before General Kitchener
in south Africa.

LONDON, Dec. 1.-General Kitchener
appointment to the chief command
: South Africa. officially announced tn
4 morning, gives point and insistence to tn
: agitation as to the methods by which tn
e war is being hurried to a close. The ne
S Parliament meets next week, and no
that Mr.. John Morley and Mr.. Leonar
Courtney have both publicly committe
themselves to critical attitude, tn
Government is preparing to meet siren
opposition attack along this line.
General Kitchener has managed to con
, vey to the average Englishman the i'm
preston that he is soldier of the mos
, ruthless type, who stops at nothing t
attain his end, a kind of Weyler, in fact
His methods in the Sudan war. the whole
sale despatch of the Mahdi and his mas
ed followers. and subsequent unearthinl
OF his enemy's remains to scatter then
to the winds. have given this impress on
and 1t Will surprise no one If in his de-
termination to stamp out guerrilla var
fare in South Africa he makes Genera
Roberts recent attempts at severity lool
very mild indeed, and what is more i'm
portant General Kitchener will brook nc
interference.
amenable to pressure from home. Genera
Kitchener will go his way. however mucf
public opinion may howl and nothing but
recall Will stop him. 1t has been narrated
how he was offered, last summer. a posi-
ton Of authority at the War Office and
ffatiy refused because he could not get
| free hand. He would not be in com
mand in South Africa today II he thought
! the Ministry wanted to attempt interior
! ence from London.
| The exact position in South Africa at
| this moment Is this: General Roberts has
annexed the two Boer States, and the an
| nexation is SO final that today both States
| GENE within the penny imperial postage
| area, but it still remains for the occupa-
tion to be made militarily effective, and
this is the task put unreservedly in
General Kitchener's hands. There, how
ever. are fears as to the future. For the
present. despite pages in the public press,
the public is really without the facts nee
essary 20 final judgment. Allegations
as to farm burning and women marrying,
outside the limits of humane warfare, are
vague and unsupported, except one. That
exception is the memorial sent to Sir
Alfred Miner, by the Beer officers now
prisoners at Greenpoint, Cape Town.
They give ten specific instances of the
destruction. by British troops. of the
farms and property of the wives of pris-
oners OF war and OF widows. The Gov
eminent will be called upon to give full
explanation of these specific allegations.
and the evidence they have will go to
show that most of these burned home
steads were being used to harbor :mmuni-
ton or comba tants.
Another matter in. regard to which the
h oil cd in fhnr pfy,-
Ing Parliamentary session Is the alarming
assertion that the Political situation at the
Cape Is getting quite beyond Sir Alfred
Miners control. and threatens to develop
into the long-threatened wholesale rising
CT the Cape Dutch. In official circles these
fears are entirely discounted. Sir Alfred
Miner" they say. "has kept the governing
machine working fer twelve months OF I'M
paralleled difficulty: shis. firm tact will not
fail us now" The probability. indeed. is
that this alarmist talk. carefully famed as
1t is In the lingo press is designed to
force Sir Alfred's hand to suppress the
Afrikander Bond. proclaim martial law,
and generally squelch the Cape Dutch in
the interests of the Cape "Loyaiists.'' but
he has plenty of experience Of this kind of
political maneuvring.
The China situation as it appears to
Englishmen this week, may be put in a
sentence. America has adopted Bisnarck's
role Of honest broker" between China and
Europe. and Lord Salisbury is not sure that
be should not side with her and leave the
Kaiser 20 his bellicose Nominations Time
probably will show this to mean that il
China wins the game today. Russia wins
il tomorrow. The Kaiser must continue to
nurse his dream of becoming to the Chinese
what Attila was to the Germans.
1t is impossible in these martial times.
bar IN tail ga-in
interest In education. At any other time
Thursdays London school board election
would have stirred the country for II pro-
vides a battle-ground for the eternal war
fare between the rate-supported State
and the Church schools. and between
progress In education on non-sectarian
lines and clericalism. The Church sees
with dismay it's schools disappearing IN
der stress Of the competition of the better !
equipped State schools. and seeks to stop |
by controlling the school |
board and REFRESHING the developments of |
education Every London par |
ish has been made the centre of clerical |
agitation. but In spite of it all 225. 900 less |
electors voted than in 1897 and the Pro- |
gressives are left with a working ma
jority.
today from France. Although it is too |
soon to ascertain full particulars OF the |
vintage, the "Moniteur- Vinicole" states |
that the total crop will fall little IL any
thing below 1.460. 900 900 gallons and has |
been exceeded only three times in the |
century, namely, in 1866 1869. and 1875. |
The total yield of the French vineyards |
last year was 1,051. 900, 900 gallons.
London medical science is being earn
estly directed toward the calculation of
the problem of the causation OF cancer.
cancer research laboratory has Just
been opened at the Mddlesex Hospital. to
be entirely devoted to the systematic in
vestigation of cancer. The Mddlesex
is alone among the great London hospi-
tails in admitting inoperable cases of dis
ease where the only hope is that death
may come without much more Pain.
Some sixty Of these hopeless cases will be
now under close scientiflc SCRUTINY