New-York tribune., 1900-01-30
At WESTMINSTER; AND ELSEWHERE.

The British Parliament reassembles to-day in
circumstances the most sad and depressing
known TO any Parliament in the Queens long
reign. Neither the Crimea nor the Mutiny in
fiicted upon British hearts such pain and upon
British pride such humiliation as have come to
them from the banks of the TugeIa We shall
not speak Of peril, nor of the situation as omi-
nous, because it is simply unbelievable that even
woes such as these are serious menace to the
Empire The scorn which more than a century
ago Mirabeau poured upon those who pro-
claimed "the fall of Britain" may well be re-
called to-day for the restraint of those who see
in the defeat of any army the collapse of a
realm and the ruin Of a race. Nevertheless,
there must to-day be gloom at Westminster.
Side by side with the Queens Speech, in deadly
parallel, will be the bill of costs of the price
that will stagger humanity" A British army
defeated with great slaughter and a British
garrison abandoned to its fate within sight of
the army that tried to relieve 1t the salient
facts presented for the consideration of the
Lords and Commons.
They will be worthiIy considered That is the
redeeming feature of the case. We have hither-
to spoken Of the admirable temper of the Brit
ish public in the face of disaster. Never was it
more admirable than now. No matter how
we're may be the final reckoning, all that is for
the present laid aside. There is-we assume
there will be to-day at Westminster-no clamor
of despair, of rage, Of censure,
but teeth set fast, low whispers. and black
frowns
the one thought being that the one sole duty of
the hour is to retrieve disaster to vindicate the
integrity and the authority of the Empire True,
the shrill voice of Mr.. William O'Brien is heard,
demanding that the Shannon shall be made
other Tugela; and that of Mr.. Patrick OBren,
confessing that he sides with the Beers, not for
love of them, but for hatred of England. But
these are mere advertisements, quite over
matched by Mr.. Edward Blake's frank declara-
ton that, should such vaporings lead to an
Irish insurrection, he would be the first to get
gun and shoot down his brother Home Rulers
for the Empires sake. There will be to-day at
Westminster only one authoritative voice, as
there is in all the Empire. That is the voice
that speaks for grimly pressing on, at whatever
cost, to victory.
What answering voice will come from South
Africa is vet to be heard. We imagine that
there will henceforth be little about the "blood-
| est battle of the century, mo order but to
advance" or the glory of being able to retreat.
More bullets and fewer bulletins will serve the
purpose best. Or perhaps we should say better
directed bullets. 1t must be time for British
| commanders to have learned that it is an error
to seek battle the ground chosen by the foe,
and that a small force cannot operate on a large
circle as effectively as can a large force on a
small circle. 1t may pretty safely be reckoned
that there will be some change of plan by
which the British army will be enabled 10 op-
crate TO better advantage than it at the
fords of the Tugela or among the hills of Natal.
1t must now be realized on all hands that the
whole campaign in Natal eliminating at Lady
IL.
dictated by political, not by military, considera-
tions. If political considerations are to-day laid
aside at Westminster, in union for the uphold
ing of the Empire, we may expect that they
will similarly be laid aside in South Africa, In
a rational movement for military success.