New-York tribune., 1900-08-19

campaigns. Mr.. Bennett Burleigh, the best
Judge of military tactics among the English
newspaper correspondents, wrote OF him even
before he had added to his former feats that Of
breaking through Kitchener's Gordon: "Rundle,
Hunter ana Methuen are chasing him for three
months: he has held the former at bay. Thirty
thousand men are watching for him the bor-
ders OF Natal; he has swooped on the lines Of
communication, and, apparently, with paltry
seven thousand men, is keeping them all busy.
whole battalion of yeomarry a regiment of mil
stis and warm clothing for his whole army
have been captured. Honor to whom honor is
due, and the first time English cavalry leader,
acting under the same conditions sur
round De Wet, captures one thousand men. half
OF them cavalry; breaks up lines Of communica-
ton, and plays general Old Harry with force
OF something very near eighty thousand men.
then shall speak OF him in terms OF approba-
tion. Military students OF the future viii have
TO regret that the Beers have no Jomini among
them. for It is De Vets operations, and not an
others, which will form the theme of every
cavalry professor at every military school
abroad. His methods viii be studied and his
practice followed"
Not very much attention is paid TO the plot
against Lord Roberts, the atmosphere of Pre-
tcria was always thick with plots and counter
plots. with conspiraces and revelations. 1t is
interesting 10 observe that some Of President
Kriger's secret police have been taken into the
pay OF the British military administration, and
now engaged in unearthins reasonable prac-
tices against their new employers Cordua. the
German lieutenant OF artillery who by his own
admission intended TO carry off Lord Roberts,
seems harebrained young fellow, whose wild
enterprise could scarcely have been taken seri-
ously by the Boer leaders, even II they were told
OF Il. STILL as a prisoner who had broken his
~01o anS Tf0 zyfOf In disguise
OF British officer he is liable TO very serious
punishment IL the charges against him are
proved
Lord wolseiey has futtered the military dove
cotes badly and set everybody talking this week.
On Thursday he went down TO Aldershot to
witness sham fight. There were about thirty
thousand troops engaged, many Of them re-
servists and recruits, who have been In camp
for several months and ought by this time to
have learned the elements OF their drill and field
exercise; but the Commandments at the
close Of the operations publicly pronounced
most scathing censure both officers and men
He declared that the latter knew nothing OF
their work and the former were incapable Of
teaching them. The battalion commanders and
company leaders, he said, had notion Of what
was really required OF them, and did not know
how 20 perform the simplest manouvres There
are 70 be no more field days for some time to
come at AIdershot and meanwhile the officers
are to be made to go TO school, so to speak, with
their men and begin their instruction in ear
nest.
Lord wolseley's outspolIen words may do good
II they rouse Englishmen out Of the careless
optimism which has survived even the revela-
tions of the South African The British
subaltern officer has many good qualities, but
he does not take his profession seriously and
IS too likely TO regard il as an amusement II
Lord Wolseiey, whose tenure of office, by the
way, is rapidly running 10 a close, can induce
him TO mend his ways he will have earned the
gratitude of his countrymen. Whether it was
necessary TO deliver this general condemnation
in public and in the hearing Of reporters is
question hotly debated az military clubs, where
those who do not love Lord Wolseiey point out
that nearly all the active officers Of the British
army are now in South Africa or India, and that
many Of those whom he condemned so harshly
We're either raw young fellows whose comrnis-
sions have been hastily made out they came
fresh from the universities and public schools or
retired veterans who have been recalled to the
colors during the present emergency.
The determination with which the world Of
fashion and politics clings to its holidays is GER
tainIy remarkable With a Cabinet Of nineteen
members it might be imagined that few of
the Ministers would contrive to remain in Lon
don even in the dogdays. considering the critical
nature of public affairs, yet, with three cam
paigns on hand and a most complicated diplo-
matte situation 70 conduct there is not the
Premier the Foreign Secretary, the Colonial Sec
retary, the War Minister, the AttoTney-General
the Chancellor Of the Exchequer or the First
Lord OF the Admiralty available for consultation
sn a sudden emergency. Lord Salisbury is
buried in the Vosges Mountains; Mr. Balfour is
playing golf in Scotland; Mr.. Chamberlain has
gene to his orchids. and Lord Lansdowne and
Mr. Goschen are at their country seats. All
these hard worked Ministers thoroughly deserve
their holidays. but it to some people just
now that they need all take them stimuli
taneously.
The thousands Of visitors and tourists many
Of them Americans, just now passing through
London might imagine from the aspect Of some
OF the principal streets that the British metrop-
oils was preparing for a siege medtating a
revolution. Gangs OF workmen are engaged
with furious energy in intrenching the thorough
fares, and the roadways are encountered with
barricades or stacked with huge mounds Of paw
sng material. These engineering operations are
particularly in evidence in the streets leading
10 most Of the great railway stations. with the
result that II you want to catch train in a
hurry IL is rather better to walk than to take
cab The repair Of the roads is of course neces-
sary. but does not see why at the beginning
Of what is officially called the holiday season
that is, whon Parliament rises and fashionab Bile
persons shoot pretend TO shoot grouse-the
army Of excavators should swoop down on all
OF the most frequented streets at once Ap-
parently, the idea in the municipal mind Is that
by the middle of August society has gone out of
town. and the few millions who remain must
put up with the Inconvenience
London bor,a,,ep 5oli-n+o5 -u..s