Daily inter mountain., 1900-01-27
The 'BoerS Have Not Lost
Anything Of Late.
ENGLAND IS DEPRESSED
And There is q Feeling That Worse
News Than That Which Butler
Has Sent is to Come in the Near
Future. " #

London. Jan. %. 4 a. m.-seven days Of
fighting have left the main Boer position
intact and General Butler 706 weaker.
according to the official casualty lists
which seemingly do not include the
Spionkop losses. as these last forwarded
do not mention General Woodgate's )
wounding. u
England is possessed by depressing
sense of failure, although not word In
criticism of her generals and soldiers
is uttered Not much effort is made to
place a happy construction upon Gen.
eral Buffers IS words. telling of the re-
uneasy impression abroad that worse
news is yet to come.
At one of the military clubs tonight
the statement passed from one person
to another that the war office had re-
ceived an unpleasant. supplementary
dispatch from General Butler, which was
being held up for IL hours. .
Spencer Wilkinson, in the Morning
Post. writes as follows of the Spionkop
losses: This is seriou matter and
an attempt will not here be made to
minimize it, for no greater wrong can
be done to our people at home than
to mislead them about the significance
of the events Of the war. The right
way is to tell the truth as far as we
know it,
But the facts from the neighbOrhood of
the Tugela are scantier than ever. The
censorship now is simply prohibitive,
and something is wrong with the ca
bles. The break on the east coast lines
l~.,A
tween San ThOme and Loanda, on the
west coast, is now interrupted.
More troops" is the only suggestion
here as to the way to break the Boer
resistance. Mr.. Wilkinson regrets that
Gen. Bulled ha need of 10000 more men,
declaring that if they would not make
victory certain, his enterprise without
them is helpless.
The Spectator, dealing with the nee
essity Of large additional military prep
arations, says: 1T may be that we have
yet another cycle Of disasters in front
of u.s.
The transport Assaye arrived at Cape
Town last Friday with 2,127 officers and
men, The first portion of the seventh
division is afiOat. Hence, with the 10,-
COO men of this division and 5000 others
at sea. it lies in the power of Lord
Roberts to reinforce General Butler
heavily. This course is advised by sew
elal military writer's.
Although England's nerves are Sc
verely tried. her nerve is absolutely
unshaken, and probably nothing that
can happen in South Africa can change
in the slightest degree her intentions
| She will continue to receive bad news
| If it comes. with dignity and will main.
tain her determination to win at last.
| The morning papers editorially ad.
wise coolness and judgment and care.
full avoidance of over-estimating the
Importance of the lost position.
The Times says: 1.-The natural dis
quietude of the public is increased by
the singular vagueness and inconsist
ency of General Buffers dispatches
There is, indeed, very singular ant
somewhat disquieting attitude Of de
tachment on General Buffers comment!
as revealed in the Gazette's dispatches
For instance, his comments as to the &C
ton at Zoutpan's drift. His remark
concerning the probability that British
officers would in time learn the valu
of scouting might properly have com,
from a foreign military attache, but i
is rather more than surprising that i
| should be thrown out in this casual
irresponsible fashion by the head of tn
forces concerning his subordinates
week or two, moreover after the los
of the guns on the Tugela.
| THE government would be we'll ad
vised to call out the militia and expe
dite the dispatch of the Eighth division
and of the Fourteenth cavalry brigade
No doubt Lord Roberts will strait
every nerve to enable General Butler t.
renew the attack in order to reliev
Ladysmith."
The military critic Of the Time
dwells strongly upon "the terribl
drawback to British generals in the alb
sence of maps in this hill country
The Standard, which thinks still NOR
troops will re required and which com
ments upon the astonishing manne
lin which South Africa swallows u
troops wholesale without any appreci
able result" goes on to refer to the cor
tinental jubilation and to the predie
tions regarding General Buffers chap
acter. It says: ut is humiliating to fin
that the Natal terrain has been more az
curately studied in Berlin than at OF
iown headquarters on the Tugela."
The position of the British army
Cape colony is virtually unchange
Lord Methuen forwards by mail the fir
official recognition of Boer .valor an
military art. He calls their tactics ar
their courage "indisputable" In defen,
ing frontal attacks Lord Met1,Uen say
'"The mobility OF the Beers Is such thu
they can change front in fifteen minute
SO that f1anking operation when stri
ing home simply meets a new 'front.'"
The Daily Mail, referring to Boer r
sistance and what may be necessary
Overcome 1t. alludes to a saying Of NJ
Ipoleon, that no position could resi-
800. 900 men.