The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-01-04
RENEWAL OF BoEE A, rlv1TY.


When Lord Roberts reached South At
RIGA he found the British army utterly
demo, allied. 1t was spread out over the
Orange Free State and the Transvaal
with necessarily long lines of commune
cation which furniehed a salts factory ard
acceptable advantage for attack of which
tho Beers were not slow 10 avail them
selves. However. Lord Roberts. by his ex-
t-ao-dinary genius. was unable to pro-
tect mis- communications and 10 capture
the important strongtlods of the Boer re-
Public. At that time it was p-ophesied
both that the Beers would continue the
war and that they would not. We re-
member sal wing ourselves that the COM
parison between tie Beers and the Con
federates was very just and that as the
Confcderates had said that they would fight
all the way to Texas before they gave
up. SO the Boery would inevitably be re
duccd in the face of the superior resources
of Great Britain. and yet to-day, just
:;ilen The British public are congratulating
themselves over the fact that Lord Rob
erts departure for England means that
his opinion the Boer war is a settled
affair the press dispatches SHOW that The
beers are increasing in their daring and
their attacks the British and have
even advanced into Cape Colony. The
between the Confederates
and the Beers is that the war in America
was between people of the same language
history. race and national ideals while
the Beers and British have from the foun-
dation OF South Africa been bitterly hos
tile individually and nationally. TIE re-
suit of this is that the Confederates
would necessarily be led to accept a
final decision a series of reverses that
:7ave only served to still further eNas
perate the Dutch. BY ali ordinary rules
OF warfare the Beers ought to have come
in and surrendered in toto when their
chief cities were taken, when their rail-
roads were in the hands Of the enemy,
when their President was a fugitive and
nothing was left in the form of visible
government with power or prestige. Blu
the strength of their hatred against the
British and the fact that the Beers az
n nation are composed Of individuals who
90 not care where they wake up in the
morning or go to bed a. night, has made
it possible for them to create a number
OF small commands which nave harassed
the British sorely and are at present
doing more than ever. The war has re
Gently been discussed by General Rat
zenhofer, president of the Military Hist
Court of Justice Of Austria. The Cen
eral has pointed out what ne considered
the most striking feature Of the war
namely, the transportation by Great Brit !
ain OF 25o,GH0 men ana 70.GGD horses and
mules over a distance thai required voy-
age CT twenty-six days at sea, with tho
necessity Of providing for feeding them
while on the voyage and preparing for
the commiSsariat and the maintenance
of the army and its communications in
the field. Man for man. General Ratzen-
hofer considered the B0er far superior
as a soldier, whom he regarded as the
ideal warrior into which military nstruc-
tors We're endeavoring to transform the
ordinary European soldier by means OF
discipline. That advantage was counter
balanced, in General Ratzenhofer's opinion,
by the fact that the Roer was not capab!e
of being led IN large masses. The Eng
lish troops We're the very opposite of the
Beers. They lacked individual initiative
on the part of the men. and they demand
ed great care from their government ana
officers. The officers, however, were ex-
cellent, and were imbued with a keen
sense Of the greatness of England and
inspired b. a spirit of enterprise and reck-
less daring The difference between the
artillery OF the two nations did not pro
duce as great an effect in General Rat
zenhofer's opinion as was to be expected.
The interesting question for the British
army, in view of General Ratzenhofer's
criticisms. is, viii ii be reorganized? 1t
is worth While to remember that the In
dian mutiny and the fearful suffering OF
the Crimean war both failed to produce
any great reorganization, and in spite
Of this Great Britain mas continued to
prosper and advance But VIII She con-
tinue to do 50 with her present military
needs, unless the military equipment and
methods are radically improved and
changed? Certainly in the continental
opinion Great Britain has made no friends
by her South African venture. and up to
November 50 she GAS lost u total of
2659l officers and men. killed, wounded
missing and prisoners Spon Kop alone
costing LBS officers and men.
In spite of General Ratzenhofer's pro
found discussion We doubt if any other
European nation would have Jared any
better or could check the Beers at pres
ent any more easily. Colonel Jo!lr S
-losioy, with command that never ex-
ceeded go men, kept General Sheridan's
whole army of $1,000 men occupied, and
General Kitchener will find a good deal
of trouble with the suerrillas who are
now attracting so much attention in that
part of South Africa that was thought to
be paciiied.
tU..Et.N Ippi ).
Mr.. NJ. L. Turner, formerly treasurer of