New-York tribune., 1901-10-13
NEWS OF TWO CAPITALS.
LONDON.
ruF POLITICAL SITUATION DIsHEART-
ENING.
r,z ryrNG EXPECTED TO DIsPLACE GEN
rRAI BULLER-THE AUTUMN SEASON
BEGINS IN THE WEST END
NEWS OF THE THEATRES.
f-opyraght: 1901: BY The New-York Tribune.)
1py cARIE 10 THE TRIBrNE.l

rordon Oct 1.-THE political situation il
ost disheartening to loyal and highminded
r-,glishrnen It may be summed up in a single
ntAnce: The weakest Ministry with the
.-onpest majority is protected and saved by the
saeblest opposition, while the country cannot
-emain otherwise than patriotic The three
,.odine Liberals have been addressing provin-
,oI audiences in hesitating tones Mr.. Asquith
r.iu under the restraint imposed by Sir Henry
campbell-Bannerman' discipline, enforced al
-. Reform Club meeting. and has lacked cour-
oa. Mr. Herbert Gladstone would like to see
tbe Liberals return to power. with majority
.,5enendent of the Irish vote, but respects the
a.b commandment and faces both ways; Sir
17awsrd Grey substitutes fine irony for vigorous
aonunciation. describing the government pos
sea5 bv A large and comprehensive fatalism
,bicb oonduces more TO bearing troubles with
.stqnation than to getting the country out of
them. This is a neat sarcasm. but II is pistol
ebot fired in the air. The Liberals themselves
oan he as easily convicted of slackness and want
of grin as the ministers of the day. There is
NOT strength enough in the Opposition bow.
c,r Henry Campbell -Bannerman. Mr.. John Nor
,av and Sir William Vernon-Harcourt are in re-
serge but they are hardly likely TO raise the
signal for q popular revolt against a govern
ment which has mismanaged everything con-
nected with the war.
current Radicalism is content to leave the
ministers to clean up the mess they have made
and sbirks the responsibility OF conducting the
war and settling or unsettling everything IN
South Africa
Meanwhile the ministers, relieved from de-
structive criticism by the Opposition side. are
not deeply concerned with the querulous fault
finding of their own party press. and are carry
ing their burdens with meekness. Some of them,
rske Lord Salisbury and Mr. Brodrick affect an
cir Of iocular optimism. Others, like Sir Michael
Hieks-Beach take refuge in political fatalism;
hut most OF them are indolent and helpless. The
country looks on with increasing discomfort and
impatience and no longer seeks TO forecast the
end Of the war, which has been fatal to military
careers and ministerial regulations.
The ministers seem to consider themselves
soldiers Of fortune, who are doing the best they
can and must be chivalrously treated. fellow
feeling may have made them wondrous kind in
dealing with General Sir Redvers Butler, who
also says that he did the best he could in South
Africa but had rank bad luck After letting
him down easily when Lord Roberts was sent
out to supersede him. they overlooked his dis
patch TO General White advising the surrender
Of Ladysrnith and singled him out for the COM
nand of the First Corps Of the reorgantzed
army The press criticism was fierce, but Alder
shot could have snapped its fingers at it if Cen
eral Butler had not "spatchcocked" himself into
after luncheon oratory. The country now de-
nands deliverance from talking generals who
have not learned the saving grace of silence.
The best defence which the military journals
make of his amazing indiscretion is that he had
been shot at more than any other general. and
was finally reused to speak in his own defence.
ita fbayy
praise it halfheartedly as a chivalrous intima-
ton that he was prepared to accept the re-
sponsibty for the surrender of 1900 British
soldiers They neglect to explain why General
Butler was not better informed respecting the
garrison's resources for endurance and why he
was willing 90 abandon the relief of Ladysmith
after a single badly planned battle. General
Butler in truth was too ready to allow others
TO do his work and then draw blank check
himself for responsibility for all consequences
General CIery planned the battle of Colenso
General Warren was in charge at Spion hop'
and General White empowered to surren-
der Ladysmith. and the commander-fn-chief
was magnanimously prepared to shoulder the
entire responsibility. Chivalry like this might
be magnificent for the messroom, but 1T was not
war. The Aldershot gang was on trial two years
ago and failed. The reorganized army ought not
TO be remanded 10 the control of generals whose
Incompetence has been demonstrated, especially
when trained veterans in the field are fighting
most calamity as has been shown by the de-
feats Of General Botha and Commandant De La
Rey and doing the work surely, If slowly, as Is
proved to-day by the capture of Scheepers, one
Of the most resourceful and desperate Boer
commanders
Genuine army reformers are now looking
for the direct intervention of the King in the
displacement of General Butler. 1t would be
popular act, and would be a fresh proof that
monarchy has resources for saving the situation
when ministers are sluggish and Indifferent 70
public opinion. The King only needs TO take no
tice Of the fact that General Butler considers
campaign dispatch carried in his own pocket
private property, and charges that magazine
editor is wrongfuIy in possession Of another I'M
portant military dispatch. An official inquiry
would seem indispensable when public docu-
ments are hawked about and loosely referred to
in post-prandial oratory- The Kings chief mill
tary adviser is the Duke of Connaught. who is
believed to share the old Duke Of Cambridge S
opinion Of General Butler That sturdy martinez.
who was once General Buffers warmest ad-
nirer, is now his sternest and most intolerant
critic
The Aldershot gang has been dependent upon
social support. and for this reason Vanity Fair
is Intensely interested in the fate of General
suier after he has been convicted of being in
shocking bad form. Otherwise the talk of the
West End runs upon preparations for the coro-
nation, the length OF the trains which the Earl
Marshal has prescribed for each order of no
biity. and the technical distinction between
9ewelled coronets and coronets which are jew
eled heraIdically. Duchesses, countesses and
oarons' wives have been highly favored since the
opening OF the new reign but they will not be