Omaha daily bee., 1900-01-29
GOODBYE, LADYSMITH
Surrender of the Bssieged Town is Now
REGARDED as Inevitable,
=
BULLtR'S RETREAT SETTLES ITS FATE
General Roberts Believed to Have Advised
surrendering the Placs,
WHI1E MAY TRY TO CUT HIS WAY OUT
Supplies in the Beleaguered Town Will Very
Soon Be Exhausted,
BULlER'S MEN DISCOURAGED BY DtFEAT
His Force Is PnraIyzcd for ~ Lonrcr
Period Than white Can Endure
Week in London opens
i'm Deep Gloom.

! Copyright 1900 by Press Publishing COS
/ LONDON, Jan. 2S.-(New York World ca
blegram-Specal Telegram THE surren-
! der of Ladysmith is now generally regarded
! as inevitable. With Buffers retreat across
the Tugela the game of relief is up. II
| was with information of Buffers retreat
! before them, together with exhaustive dis
/ patches from Roberts, that the cabinet
| committee on defense deliberated Saturday
! on the question Of ordering White to lay
down his arms. 1t is fully believed this
suggestion originated with Roberts and
Kitchener as the cabinet committee could
not take the responsibility of directing
| surrender on its own initiative.
Special inquiries by the World at the
! War department tonight failed to elicit
confirmation or denial of the reported de-
| cision to abandon further effort to relieve
White. Permanent Under Secretary of
War Fleetwood Wilson only vouchsafed.
through his private secretary. the stereo-
! typed reply that he had no information on
the subject. but the World learned that
the members of the cabinet committee
were sitting in the War department again
tonight in consultation with Wolseley and
that further unpublished dispatches from
Roberts and Butler were under considera-
ton.
Buffers plan is now deemed quite hope
less and a further grave complication in
his position is feared owing TO the rumored
cutting off of Dundonalds mounted brigade
on the upper Tugela. 1t took Butler a
month to recover from the Colenso dis
aster and this fresh catastrophe, coming
with cumulative force on his command,
already shaken by defeat must leave him
paralyzed for a period longer than White
can hope to hold out, even If he had any
reason to believe that relief could then Le
certainly effected,
Deep Gloom In London.
LONDON, Jan. 20, Ais a. m.-The week
has opened with the utmost gloom for the
British public and the reaction is all the
stronger because of the high hopes that were
reposed in General Butler u turning move
ment and of his announcement that there
would be mo turning back
At the very moment when Dr. Leyds is
being received as an honored guest in
the highest circles on the continent, Great
Britain has to face the worst disaster in
campaign thus far disastrous. Open talk is
heard of the absolute necessity OF abandoning
Ladysmith to it's fate while Lord Roberts
reverts to the original plan of an advance
over IHe oTduSt TlNeT upon blOcllllOHlclH.
To Ladysmith the disappointment must be
very bitter. dispatch from the Boer laager
near the town, dated January a. describes
the garrison as very evidently preparing
desperate coup in order to effect a junction
with General Buffers advancing army" 1t
may be regarded as a certainty that in the
confident hope of early relief, Sir George
White has lately been issuing extra ratiOns
and this fact has given rise to an eXag-
gerated idea as to the length of time the
provisions would last. Even should it be
decided to send General Butler reinforce
ments and to attempt to reach Ladysmith by
a movement through the still more difficult
country east of Colenso it is extremely
doubtful whether the garrison could hold
out long enough, as such a movement would
occupy at least a month"
Movement Entirely Fails.
The Times says: THE most carefully
planned and executed movement of the
whole campaign has entirely failed and 1t
can hardly be necessary to dwell upon the
extreme probability that we shall learn
little sooner or little later Of a catastrophe
almost without precedent in our military
history, catastrophe, indeed without par
alel except in the surrender at Yorktown.
I'VE are checked at every point OF the
campaign. In fact, the campaign is still to
begin. We wish we had clearer proofs that
even now the government has any adequate
comprehension of the situation. The utter
ances of responsible ministers have done
nothing to reassure the country this
point.
Heavy or light, the thing has to be done,
and the government ought to prepare for
the immediate dispatch of $4,000 men and
to take steps to send yet another $4,000 if
l. ut
tempts to carry on the campaign with four
widely separated columns, each unequal to
it's task, must be abandoned for concen-
traton of force and OF purpose"
All the editorials this morning breathe the
spirit OF calm determination. Not one will
allow that any reverse could deter the coun-
try from the object it has set itself to at
tain whatever the sacrifices which may be
involved,
Government Is Criticized.
Very frank criticism of the government is
beginning to be heard even in quarters that
have hitherto refrained.
The Dali Mail boldly throws all the blame
on Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Lord Lans-
downe and Lord Wolseey 1t points TO
President Lincoln's dismissal of Simon
Cameron from the post of secretary OF war
as a precedent for getting rid of incom- !
petent ministers"
The Morning Post dwells upon he danger
OF further rebellion at the Cape and OF pos
sible European complications. 1t urges that
the navy should be prepared for amy emer- |
gency."
The Standard and other papers reflect the |
anxiety OF the public to learn how much |
truth there is In the Boer accounts of the |
fighting at Spionkop. General Buffers OBJ
scurity IN his dispatches is rather bitterly |
criticised, as well as the evident fact that !
the censor is not only heavily delaying. but .
is cutting out all important matter from
the few newspaper dispatches. To judge /
with any accuracy of the extent OF the dis
aster is virtually impossible.
Troops Engaged.
II appears that General Butler had alto
gether five brigades wholly or partly en-
gagged General Cookies, General Hidyard's.
General Harts, General Woodgate's and ,
General Lyteton's, and the 27O casualties