Daily inter mountain., 1900-06-01
WITHOUT A STRUGGLE.
BOER WAR IS ENDING WITHOUT
THE PRICE "TO STAGGER
HUMANITY"

HUMANITY
Kruger's Words Have Not Been Full
flled-Theories as to the Peaceful
Conclusion of Hostilities.
Tribune from London says: THE war is
closing with something like an anti
climax, but with logical consistency.
johannesburg has been occupied without
a struggle. and Pretoria either has been
or will be taken without siege. The
| last stage of the march between Bloem-
fontein and Pretoria has been hardly
! more than holiday promenade and
President Kruger's prediction that the
, price would ''stagger humanity has not
! been fulfilled. A brigade of English
prisoners has virtually been released and
| the war ends without the scenes of car
mage and despairing Dutch valor which
| have been anticipated.
London was dazed by the suddenness
| of the collapse Of the Boer and the quiet
| ness and precision with which General
/ Roberts had worked out his purpose.
i Flags We're fluttering from house tops
, but there was no revel of public rejoie-
! ing in the streets The popular enthusi-
! asm was smothered by the anti-cimax
of the tame ending after an eight months
campaign filled with startling surprises
and dramatic incidents. Yet there was
something logical in the coincidence
! which brought Ian Hamilton's column
within a few miles within the zone OF
! Jameson's surrender which was likely to
prove the last battle of the war was
| fought. The campaign so far as actual
j hostilities are concerned. has ended with
! in gunshot of Jameson S final stand after
he had been beaten back from krugers-
! dorf.
The story of these imposing scenes is
| incomplete. and there are missing links
inthe official chain. Hamilton's column.
| which was supporting French's cavalry
brigade was confronted on Tuesday
with a Boer force strongly entrenched
among the kopjes west of Johannesburg.
Hamilton attacked the position with Wig
or. although 1t was defended with two
! heavy guns and other artillery. The Beers
! fought with persistent courage, but the
kopjes We're cleared by nightfall. The
Gordons. who were nearly cut to pieces
at Magersfontein. showed how we'll they
could fight by capturing one position
after another, and the City Imperial vol
! unteers, at the opposite end of the line.
! displayed equal gallantry. Hamilton's
column. after clearing the hills, ad-
vanced to Florida, on the railway be-
| tween johannesburg and krugersdorf.
and halted there Wednesday night,
! while French was on the road to Pre-
! toria, few miles distant. General Rob-
| erts had deferred for "a hours his entry
! into Johannesburg, but the seventh di-
! vision was holding the hills north of the
! city and portion Of Hamilton's column
! was guarding the western approaches.
) Johannesburg was defenseless and the
! local authorities had arranged for the
| British citizens and protection of the
mines. They had to surrender and Gem
eral Roberts and Commander krauss
were cooperating to prevent an outbreak
of violence ana the destruction of val
liable property.
The CHEZ breaks in the continuity Of
! this story were caused by the lack of in
formation respecting French's cavalry
force and Pole -Carews position with the
guards brigade. Both forces We're
known to be moving in the direction of
Pretoria, but not so rapidly as Lord
Rosslyn's imagination had pictured. Pre-
toria was at the mercy of the cavalry
and infantry and arrangements had been
made for the surrender of the capital
and the release Of the British prisoners,
but there was no official news respecting
these two events at midnight. Johannes
burg had been occupied on Thursday,
the British troops under General Rob-
erts having marched in, and the flag hav-
ing been raised over the gold reef city.
The occupation Of Pretoria is a foregone
conclusion, even if it has not occurred
; already.
There are two theories here respecting
the complete collapse of the Dutch de-
fense.
, One was briefly summed by promi-
nent officer in these words yesterday:
kruger has been forced out The peo-
| pie of Pretoria are unwilling to follow his
, unfortunate lead longer and have taken
measures to protect the city against a
siege. He has gone to Lydenburg in a
final attempt to rally the Beers in that
mountain stronghold and the burghers
are now saving their property and separ-
, ating themselves from lost cause. Jo-
hannesburg has looked after it's interests
. in the same way and the Boer generals
, are not disposed to sacrifice their bust
| ness investments"
: The other theory has already been re-
ferred to in these dispatches as support
} ed by members of parliament and mill.
= tary men. 1t assumes that Kruger
Botha, and other Boer leaders have en-.
$ tered into secret engagements with either
Sir Alfred Milner or Lord Roberts by
r which the march of the British column.
e has been expedited and the Boer com
mandos scattered and kept under re-
. straint with a view to the protection O.
). i property and the prevention of needless
4 bloodshed. If President Kruger has mad,
e terms Of his own it has been the deepes
game ever played by him, but there arr
s members of parlamnt who believe tha
n this had been done and that he has re
n tired to Lydenburg for the purpose O
n concealing his own arrangements 70
i bringing the war to an end and obtainin,
e guarantees of personal security and i'm
e munity from imprisonment
e The Boer powers of resistance hav
t weakened SO Unexpectedly and the Britis
e successes have been so rapid and com
: plete that this theory helps. to explai
d what is happening in South Africa
t Possibly more accurate summary O
the caseVSould be the simple statement
e that from $4,000 to 10000 burghers hav