The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-09
Circulation sta cment-
Eng1nnd'z south African struEgl

During the last year much has been
said concerning England's loss Of pres
tige through her failure promptly to
crush out the Boer resistance Tn
doubtedly she has suffered in that way
When a first-cIass power engages IN an
armed struggle with 4 Zoe greatly infe-
Tior in numerical strength the stronger
power is bound to lose in prestige If II
does not speedily and successfully ter
inmate the war. In such cases people
usually consider merely the disparity
of force and disregard The conditions
which may operate IN favor Of the
weaker party
The truth is, though, that Great BT1-
tain has put forth a tremendous eff
fort According TO the latest advices
she has now in South Africa more than
q quarter OF d million of men. and. Of
course. many more than that number
have been sent These. il must be re
membered, have been transported by
water some SIX or seven thousand miles
and then moved inland many hundreds
OF miles more. All of the supplies for
this great host, including perhaps a
hundred thousand horses and mules,
have been transported equal distances
and in some instances much farther
BY every known rule of warfare this
has been gigantic undertaking. 1t
may be doubted whether any other Eu-
ropean Power could have equaled II, or
whether it would have been any more
successful IN bringing the war TO a
close.
The British failure has been owing
mainly. 10 the extraordinary character
OF the struggle There has never been
any question as TO the bravery of Brit
ish soldiers, and in the South African
fighting they have SHOWN no lack of
grit Nor during the last year does
there seem TO have been much serious
laundering on the part Of the British
commanders If the entire Boer force
could be brought TO d stand in the open
field and made 10 give pitched battle
the war would probably De ended at a
single blow. and 50 it would have been
at any time after Lord Roberts took
the command
But the BoeT tactics do not cOntem-
plate any such warfare as that They
have broken up into small bands scat
tered over an immense area Of country,
and the British must scatter In pursuit
Not long ago il was stated that Of all
Lord Kitchenar's immense army only
about twenty-seven thousand were
available for speedy concentration al
one point The Beers are practically all
mounted. They are as elusive as Arabs
Of the desert, and at long range they
are the superior fighters because they
are better marksnen. \ rowing band Of
Beers IS at home wherever it camps for
the night. and even in Cape Colony il
is generally among friends Under
such circumstances II is really no Won
der that the bUrghers have not been
exterminated- It is not at all imprOb-
able that in their raids they pick up re
endorsements nearly or quite equal TO
their losses, and, If 50, the end Of the
war is still far in the future.
The question then Is. how much long
er viii the people Of Great Britain con
sent 10 the continuance Of a war at
such cost and with SO little promise
Of gain in the event Of success. Sir
Michael Hicks Beach states that 1t has
cost Great Britain twice as much as her
tOldl Btl4t4A Il VI - All csAtyltlA u TIE
Crimean war The Empire, to be sure,
is rich and under pressure can raise
more money; but the British people
seem to have gone about as far as they
are willing TO in the payment Of taxes
to meet the expense, and the money for
its continuance must be raised largely
by borrowing. Besides, there has been
q great abatement in war enthusiasm,
both in the United Kingdom and IN the
Colonies, and henceforth there may be
considerable difficulty in obtaining men
for the army by voluntary enlistment
As matters now stand 1t seems not i'm
probable that the British Government
will have to make even more substan-
tial concessions than any yet rendered
il an early finish is TO be hoped for.