The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-01-23

an event, with a terrible increase In Its
| slaughter. The Beers might fall back on
their own territory and substitute for the
Observation-Disclosures campaign they are now
conducting a purely defensive war In the
Transvaal itself. The continuance OF such
n conflict would depend on the resources of
the Beers in food supplies and in munitions
Of war. With these in suflcicncy, they
| might maintain n long defence, but their
ultimate subsection would be well nigh
certain. II, however, Gen. BUTLER shall
be- defeated and Badysmith shall fall into
the hands Of the Beers, with the ~beleagucred
army of Gen. WHITE and its vast stores OF
munitions, the end of the wal would prob
ably be- reached. though Il would not be
the happy ending" for which the Cana.
dians are to pray. With L~adysmith would
fall also. il may be assumed, Kimberley ana
Mafeking, and the present British campaign
would end in complete disaster. Would II
be renewed by the British with the fresh
reinforcement sent from England and the
imperial colonies? The probability Is that
it would not be resumed, untlinching us
now seems to be the English determination
to carry it on, even 10 the bitter end ana ut
| whatever cost. Gen. ROBERTS would have
to make a new army and that would re-
quirc tedious delay and the probable cX-
haustion Of English patience. Every
British General in South Africa, including
himself, would have been discrcdIted. Tho
London financial market, all the financial
markets Of the world, would have been
thrown into deplorable agitation and tho
Parliament which is to meet on the goth
Of this month would assemble in gloom
and with angry resentment against the
Government.
A crushing defeat of Gen. BrLLER's pres
ent operations, therefore, could be taken
as implying necessarily that negotiations
for peace would speedily succeed. The
happy ending" would then be reached.
1t would not he the ending the Canadians
would pray for, but in reality it would b"
happy and could afford reason for thankful.
ness to COP on both sides, simply as con-
Guiding war with peace. Defeat OF the
Beers, would mean, OF course, their conl-
plete undoing, their extinction as an
independent republic, the absolute dcstruc-
| ton of their power in South Africa. The
| failure Of Great Britain to crush them,
however, would not imperil nor in any way
| affect the integrity Of the British Empire.
II SO slight a reverse could shake II that
imperial structure must hc a feeble fabric
doomed to an early fall however the South
African War comes out. II could gain by
| peaceful negotiations every substantial adj
vantage which could possibly he secured To
it by war, while victory over the Beers
would bring to Great Britain no glory AMI
would leave for the Empire an almost
endless problem of extreme difficulty in
, South Africa, requiring for its treatment
the maintenance of a large and costly army
of occupation for many years to come.
Thus, it may be that there would be more
danger and sorrow for Great Britain in
victory than in defeat.
II, then, our Canadian neighbors would
recognize and bow before an overriding
| Providence let them pray To COP for peace,
simply leaving it for Omniscience to deter
| mine where the happiness in peace lies,
| according to the Judgment Of the wisdom
TO which a thousand years are but as yes
terday and as a watch in the night. After
a few months nave gone by this whole
South African episode will have passed into
relative insigniflcance. Except to the
Beers struggling for independent existence
it Is OF small consequence.