Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-04-05
THE FUTURE or TIE WAR;
London Speaker, March Sd.

The surrender of Cronje and the re-
lief of Ladysmith have engrossed, and
rightly engrossed, public attention dur.
ing the past week, to the complete OK
clusion Of other topics. and no differ
ences of view as to the Justice or neces-
sity of the war can prevent subjects Of
the Queen uniting in national and
rational satisfaction at the success OF
Lord Roberts tactics. Ten days of
strategy, conducted with brains and
resolution, have turned the tables on
fortune and changed the whole face Of
the war. Whatever be the future in
store for us land Of this we shall have
something to say in moment, we
have got rid of the "entanglement''
into which our politicians, who talked
so glibly of free hand,' entrapped
our soldiers. And the manner OF our
reloicings has been, on the whole, as
legitimate as their occasion. OF course
there are exceptions. In the absence
OF Mr.. Justice Grantham, it was in
evitable, We SUPPOSE, that the Lord
Mayor should inform his fellow citi-
zens, we are now satisfied that at last
our sacrifice of blood and treasure is not
in vain" The truth is. that up to the
present all the lives and all the money
have been wastefully squandered In
enterprises that need never have been
undertaken at all had it not been for
the commercial genius Of Mr.. Rhodes in
going to Kimberley, and the military
ineptitude of certain unmilitary adj.
ministrators in insisting on the occupa-
tiun OF 1.adysmith. But let that pass;
the pluck of Ladysmith s defenders and
the persistence Of its deliverers must
atone for the folly Of its defence There
is another criticism of greater import
ance which the dispatches of the past
week must have brought home to all
sensitive Englishmen, whatever be
their feelings as to the war. Surely it
is a pity that Lord Roberts did not
spare us the reference to Majuba.
"Majuba avenged is howl that we
expect from evening newspapers in
search of circulation; it is utterly
unworthy of a great nation blessed with
an established church and a sense of
PROF ortion. If it takes the capture Of
Commandment Cronje and OF 1000 Beers
to avenge Majuba, how may Paardc-
bergs will be needed to wine out
MagersfonteinP 1t is devoutIy to be
hoped that we shall hear no more Of
Wis ahuB'ouo iahtiuS We hTb luCluB u
foe as brave as ourselves who is i'm
mensely outnumbered and who believes
he is fighting for his liberty and his
home, and that ought to give self
respecting men quite enough to think
about without indulging in ignorant
parrot-cries. Let us leave this detestable
rakiDg up of perverted history to those
chivalrous non combatants at Cane
Town, who, according to a telegram in
thursdays Times, are indignant at
the excessive Difference paid to Gen.
Cronie. "
Now that the first feelings of national
relief are subsidlng it is time to ask
what may be the bearing of our recent
successes on the problem which the war
presents. That problem is essentially
one, though it has both its military and
its political side. From the military
point of view there is little reason to
think that the determination of the
Beers to fight to the end will be affected
by Cronje's capture and Ladysmith's
release. The Orange Free State may
waver: but we hear of extensive and
elaborate Notifications al Pretoria, and
we may be sure that if the Transvaal
is left with its present conviction that
Mr.. Chamberlain started this war for
the purpose of adding its coveted terri
tory to the Empire then the serious
struggle has yet to come and the
bloodiest battle will be the last And
this is where the political aspect
merges into the military. Not merely
the future Of the war but the whole
future of South Africa depends upon
our success in modifying this present
conviction of the Beers. Hitherto, with
an enemy investing British towns and
occupying British territory, an Eng
lishman could hardly have been ex-
pected to pay much attention to the
enemy's point Of view. But now that
the border is crossed and the turning
point has come, everything depends
upon the ordinary citizen having
enough of mental detachment to ask,
and enough of Just Imagination to
answer, this simple question: "How
does the Boer regard this war? II
imagine myself in his place, what
would be my legitimate and natural
FEELINGS with regard to the vast empire
ranged against me?" If We want to find
a speedy and satisfactory termination
to the conflict, this question must, We
repeat, be asked and answered. 1t
does not so much matter now what the
exact facts really are as what they are
reasonably believed by the Beers to be.
II Mr.. Chamberlain has SO acted that
no foreigner, preiudiced or uEpreju-
diced, doubts that the Colonial Office
were as privy TO the Raid as to the war,
what does it matter whether at really
was SO or not? And as long as the
Transyaal is left tic suppose that Eng
land is united in desiring its extermi-
nation, SO long will it fight as men only
can fight who are defending their
homes from the attacks of an invsder.
If the Transraal is deceived, the way to
undeceiye it is easy and the necessity
to undeceive 1T is urgent, and Liberals
must not rest till every generous citizen
repudiates a policy which, however
grateful to Jingo journals and divi-
dend-hunters, is certain to prolong hos
tilities almost indefinitely and to rem
der the peace which should follow the
war even more dangerous than the war
itself. Something more is wanted from
the government than the reInforcements
Of 10000 troops promised by Lord
Landsdowne. 1t is due to the Beers, to
ourselves and to humanity that they
should make known the objects for
which they are preparing to invade the
Republics.