New-York tribune., 1900-01-02
THE pROGRESS or TIE WE.

The chief progress of the war in South Africa
since the great week of British disaster has been
of a negative character. The opposing armies
have chiefly been standing still We have had
news of few sOrties from the beleaguered
camps and of some small shifting of positions,
but none of these have been significant Of
change Of campaign or productive of important
results What the next movement will be and
when it will he may not be confidently f0retOld.
The present Indication appears, however. to be
that the British will await the arrival Of Lord
Roberts and Lord Kitchener. and that then the
march to BloemfOnten. by way of Colesberg.
Aliwa North. some point between them. will
Ec resumed. If that is done with sufficient force
and with tactical skill one Of two things Will
happen. Either the BoCrs will be forced to
abandon the seges of Ladysmith and Kimber
ley and hurry in TO the defence of their southern
capital they will he taken in the rear by the
British army which invades the Orange Free
State. Either will amply serve the British pur-
pose The Supp0sition is of course. that Lady
smith and Kimberley will he able to hold out so
long say three weeks more. If recent adyices
from those places are correct they are amply
bic to do
The inactiOn of the British armies being thus
for the present explained what is to be said of
that of the BOer armies? Certainly they appear
to have been checked 1t must be borne in
mind that they assumed the aggressive invaded
Natal and the Cape. and expressed the inten-
ton of driving the British into the sea and es-
tahliShing Boer governments at Durham and
Cape Town. For n time it looked. on the face
of affairs, as though their boast would he full
filed Their advance was for a time irresistible.
In one week they inflicted what were practically
disastrous defeats upon the British. But with
that week of triumph they stopped their aggres-
sivP movements. They have made no attempt
to follow up their victories with further ad-
vance. but have stopped in their tracks, and are
now engaged in fortifying their camps rs if TO
sustain a protracted siege. This seems to ind-
cate that they realize their limitations. They
have succeeded admirably in attack upon in
ferior British forces and in defence against
practically equal British forces. But to take
the field against British forces equal TO their
own would be another matter They have not
tried it yet and do not seem TO be disposed to
do So Or so far as they have done they
have met with no success. At Mafeking. AT
Kimberley and AT I.adysmith the Beers have for
weeks been beSiegng British forces from one
fourth to one-tenth their own size, and they
have thus far been held in check In view of
that they are not likely to advance upon forti-
fed British camps nearly quite equal in gar
rison 10 their own armies.
II is reasonable TO assume, then. that the
Beers will remain upon the defensive, except for
continuing their attempts to take the three be
seged towns. and will await the British adj
vance. The British may either renew the
frontal attacks which Lord Methuen and Gen
eral Butler tried with poor result. or they may
try to find point at which they can break
through the Boer line without serious trouble.
The latter should not be hard 10 do. 1t is a
physical impoSSibility for the Beers 10 fortify
the whole line of the Orange River. a they have
fortified the crossings Of the Modder and the
Tugela And once across the Orange. upon the
rolling plains of the Orange State, the British
advance upon Bloemfontein would not easily be
checked or even hampered.