Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-03-03
THE EVE OF TERMINATION,
SAY NEWSPAPER CRITICS,
HAS ONCE MoRE BEEN REACHED
IN THE WAR IN SOUTH
AFRICA.
WAR OFFICE NOT CONFIDENT
THAT AN EARLY PACIFICATION OF
THE BOER REPUBLICS CAN
BE COUNTED ON.

LONDON, March 2.-The war In
South Africa has again reached a stage
where the British newspaper critics
are pleased to call the eve Of the ter
miEation. Tire rtmors OF the surren-
der of Gen. Botha and the collapse Of
all Boer resistance flourish, to the
great benefit of South African stocks.
That those who are most responsible
for carrying on the var do not share
this optimism is perfectly evident
from Mr.. Broderick's official utterances
and the conversation of his colleagues,
including Lord Roberts. Their care
fully prepared campaign of thorough
organization which has been quietly
maturing during the past six months,
is beginning to have its first results,
and they are perfectly satisfied. The
new concentration of troops referred to
so systematically by the correspondents
at the front is only one of the many
steps for which Gen. Kitchener has SO
long been preparing. That 1t will
lead to the complete disintegration of
~ hlOlC AAuPoi Ill " QhIto IA
possibly, to the personal surrender Of
Gems. Botha and DeWet, the British
war Office earnestly hopes.
But it does II go SO far as to ex-
pect it. Gen. Kitchener is almost as
reticeGt towards his chiefs in Pail
Mall as to the general public. When
he has taken Gen. Botha into his camp
the war Office expects to hear of it, but
not before. AS an official said to a
representative of the Associated Press,
grimly:
"AIrmistices are not in Gen. Kitch-
ener's line"
The meeting of Gen. Kitchener and
Sir Alfred Miners at Pretoria, prob
ably occurring Sunday, is generally
taken as likely to result in the estab-
lishment of a more permanent form
Of civil government, in which the Sc
~verities of martial law will be some
what tempered in several sections of
the country. But neither in London
nor in South Africa are the British
olcials shutting their eyes to the fact
that they have a long job ahead Of
them, which can only be lightened and
by no means solved through the vic
tories over the Boer units.
The glory which the British press
sometime ago showered on General De
Wet has departed from him. In dis
patches and editorials he is now be-
Titled as a disappointed raider, de-
| serted by his own men and venting
his fruitless anger by jamboking his
reluctant handful of followers. Calm
err observers, especially of those who
have returned from the front, are in
clined to fear the elusive Boer leader
is merely under a temporary cloud,
from which he may be expected at any
moment to emerge, accompanied by a
force which though not formidable in
numbers Will be particularly formid-
able in execution.
The false announcement OF Gen.
Botha's surrender Thursday, will be a
matter for discussion in the House Of
Commons. especially the fact which ac-
companied the observation that it was
official. The latest fake has given
rise to many editorials commenting on
the deterioration and unreliability Of
sections of the British press, compar-
ing the latest example with the motor
ious Pekin massacre reports.