New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-04-09

composed Of men Ike Rsss could t Saye 5o Es as
counterbalance the elaborate training OF Euro
pean army? They have by means always been
- tbe investment of General White at Ladysmith
and the incursion into Natal as far south as the
Moot River hardly be called purely defensive
movements. The moment our force at Rensberg
weakened 10y he w1thgTawal OF Troops Tor tne
concentration al Orange River the boers. turned
he tables upon il and drove II back upon Arundel
N n,rarIcfled positions is true but the same
niles with hardly less force 10 ourselves. II is by
M means certain that, supposing for moment the
-oles inverted twenty thousand British troops
would have been able to capture ten thousand
3oers IN I.adysnith while az the same time resist
ing me advance Of another thirty thousand Beers
The success Of the Boers-after all allowance has
been made for the extreme difficulty or the TASK
FAR In south Africa, the enormous area of opera
lions the lack of provisions and the scarcity OF
water-has been the success OF their IL.aty s, EYE
ten against ours The Beers have undoubtedly
military system Of their own naIuralg aeEsioPtI
-f,,as-s system IN many ways admirably adapted
warfare by the long riflg5 quICh -
military system ii is still very rudiInentary; II
'ng YET rudimentary and unorganized as 1t Is, 1t
has had no slight measure OF success. hat the
cameo Oh boer me- - @ aoI1hf that the Foer svs-
any case there can De no oouDt Ia --I0 49, J1
araw lessons Of the utmost yal9e, aud e-ac+,ng
changes Of breastvorzs Of stone, and putting them
n the position where they are most efrectually
concealed from any advancing force, seems also 20
come naturally 70 the ordinary burgher- There is
no reason TO suppose that the Beers have learned
ANYTHING IN this matter from foreign instructors.
Another feature Of the Beer army Is its extreme
mobility The whole force IS mounted. The Beers
have been thus able naturally TO throw their
strength 10 any given point. leaving other vital
positions = irnost undefended for the moment They
have hardly anywhere met Us IN equal nurnoe
but they have almost invariably been superior Ia
al the actual point Of contest in n battle A
sti more important feature in TIE Bo@r system
T. The individual initiative allowed 70 each blrgher
and me knowledge each burgher possess or what
IS going or. far as possible the plan or an IN
tended bartle is comInu ted 10 the whole Boer
army beforehand. each man Knows the general
plan. and each also has In himself a clear
iCea u The right thing 70 do IN the ordinary eX-
igeaeies which arise the rae parts OF scat
tered battlefield IN the British army very few
men except the generals have much idea Of what is
intended 70 happen. The fact j. such tactics as
ere possessed hv the Boer amy are possessed bE
each individual soldier But the british army 81
today has no system Of tactics n irs own The
only tactics possessed by the British soldier CON
ss1 the performance Of certain slow. cuTnDrous
evOlutons. all Of them wholly and entirely useless
IN action.
The truth Is that system. with It's preslpDosl-
ton Of unrea soning intelligent obedience with rs
promotion By seniority and not by merit. mil
itates against the DEVELOPMENT OF good generalshO
The importance Of mobility and Of intTenchrg on
The field among the chief lessons taught by this
war but the important Of al Is the value or
Individual skill energy and initiative as against