The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-05-24
ENGLAND AND BOERS.

Jean De Bloch, author OF The Fu-
ture of War" thinks that the time has
come when England will find her own
interests best served by hating her
armies and making peace with the
Beers. This recommendation he bases
on political military and moral con
siderations. Touching the military
reasons for putting an end to the
conflict, he says (writing in the North
American Review for May):
II say nothing now of the future
necessity Of the two races living side
by side in South Africa on the prin
ciples of give and take l pass over
in silence the powerful arguments
against the war which the compare
tive statistics of births and deaths
in the Transvaal supply. whence it
appears that the future is to the more
prolific race of the Beers. | rely
solely on the fact that weak as the
Beers are numerically. they are en-
abled by the most modern weapons
to hold their own while defending
their country against invasion, and
they will do so with such results as
to render the entire upshot of the
war utterly indecisive. If that be
true, do not the material interests
of England, no less than the ethical
mission which Great Britain is ac
complishing in the world, point to the
necessity of sheathing the sword?
From the moment the invasion of
the Transvaal proper begins, and Eu
ropean troops venture into the heart
of the South African Switzerland,
every hill and hollow of which may
be transformed into an impregnable
fortress. the fortune of war will ne
cessarily change once more. and the
gloomy outlook of last December and
January will dash high the hopes
and evoke dread fear anew. This is
not prophecy but logic: not clairvoy-
ance but insight. Smokeless powder,
quick-firing rifles and artillery, and
the scientific construction of en-
trenchments can be utilized by a
clever people to such purpose that a
determined force of defenders NAV
successfully hold its own against an
invading army eight times larger than
itself"
The New York Press, however,
takes very different view of the con-
fIct and its final result 1t says, re-
counting the benefits to come to Great
Britain from it:
"The war. in spite of early disap-
pontments. really has continued the
national i;fe of the British empire by
a century at least. 1t has recalled
the obligations or nationality to colo
MES that were drifting far from the
motherland. 1t has called the atten-
ton of her rulers to lax methods in
army regulations and to an ancient
armament the continuance of which
might have meant disaster in a con-
test with a foe numerically greater.
1t has cemented the empire. and in
the accomplishment of that the price
paid fades into insignificance.
And the St. Louis Republic drops
a tear for these brave people who have
struggled so manfully yet, many
think, so hopelessly for liberty:
1.-The final act of the crushing of the
two Boer republics and the establish
ment of British sovereignty through
out South Africa will be full of
pathos. The Transvaal and Orange
Free State have appealed in vain to
the worlds civilized nations for help
in their extremity. All that is left
them now is to die fighting. The
promised spectacle should be viewed
with humiliation by the Christian
powers 1t will reflect no credit upon
Christianity or civilization"