The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-17
LORD ROSEBERY DISCREET
(Coutinued from First Page.)


 Concerning the governments conduc
 of the war, Lord Rosebery was severe
 and scornful The complaint of the
 government that the Boers had no
 made war according to the recognized
 rules reminded him that the same thing had been said by the old Australian generals of the young Napoleon wher the latter was beating them. He was , particularly sarcastic at the expense oi the explanation of the Earl of Hals- ! bury, the lord chancellor, that "only 8 | sort of warfare" was now going on and ] he strongly condemned the scandalous l misrepresentation by which the gov
 ernment had precipltated the last gen | eral election.
 i Lord Rosebery strongly blamed the | government for it's tactlessness, which | had produced unparalleled ill., will to- wards Great Britain in every European | population and which he attributed largely to the provocative oratory of | Mr. Chamberlain, the colonial secre- tary.
 Whilst he was emphatic on the ne- cessity of vigorously prosecuting the war and expressing the fullest conf | dence in Lord Kitchener. Lord Rose bery said he thought the government should be prepared to listen to peace overtures and contended there was nothing degrading or abasing in recog- nizing the exled Boer government for the purpose of making peace. The three greatest civilians who had waged war in the past century, said the speaker Pitt, Bismarck and Lincoln, had not disdained such efforts to secure peace.
 No sane Boer he said, now hoped for anything but annexation, he said, and for many reasons it was urged that the war should be ended, The Boers should not be unnecessarily humiliated. The former premier protested emphatically against treating the Boers in the field as banditti, and to Boers swearing al legiance, he said, he would give the largest possible amnesty and the fullest civil rights. The 10000 prisoners must be resettled in South Africa, and harsh treatment of the Boers would be like applying sparks to gunpowder
 Scornfully rejecting the idea that such an empire as Britain could not provide an alternative government to the existing ministry, Lord Rosebery said that in all his life, from all the bitterest foes of Great Britain he never had heard such disparament of her as that doctrine implied. If that were true, he continued, the nation was more fit ted to control cabbage garden than an empire.
 In conclusion and amid loud cheers, Lord Rosebery declared his services were al the disposal of the country in anything he could do to further the policy he had just expounded, He said it was not party that he appealed to; party in this matter could avail little or nothing. He appealed unto Caesar from the parliament with it's half hearted but overwhelming government supporters, and from distracted and disunited opposition to that silent but supreme tribunal which, in the long run, shaped and controlled the des- tinies of the British people; namely, the tribunal of public opinion and com- mon sense.
 Lord Rosebery spoke for almost two hours and was received throughout with the greatest enthusiasm. He af-. forwards addressed an overflowing meeting of two thousand people in an other hall. Here he spoke but briefly as he was very hoarse.
 London, Dec. 17.--Lord Rosebery's speech was keenly discussed in the po- litical clubs last night, and until his remarks were received it was not regarded as of a startling char | acter His final words however, put . an almost new complexion on the mat ter. and although most varied opinions of the speech have been expressed both bJ the press and by political men, there is general agreement that the former prelnier's address was bid for the formation of an entirely new party, lVerthrowing home rule and the Irish It is interpreted as direct invitation to the liberal unionists to en- ter the ranks of the new party, and a brief speech by H. H. Asquith, M. P, liberal imperialist), who followed Lord Rosebery and interpreted the eX-pre- nier's appeal as revocation of hs 'ormer declaration that he would with lraw from public affairs. is regarded IS confirming this impression. Conse- luently neither of the extreme parties $ satisfied with the speech,