Evening star., 1902-03-24
Made by Kitchener to Boer
ENJOYS.
10 MORE BANISHMENT
LITTLE HOPE IN LONDON OF AC-
CEPTANCE.
Official and Newspaper Comments on
the Situation Are in Cau-
tious Vein.

LONDON, March 24.-The Associated
Press has good reason to believe that Lord
Kitchener, in his interview with Mr..
Schalk-Burger. agreed to withdraw the
Punishment proclama ton issued in Septem-
Der If General De Wet and the other Boer
leaders surrendered
There is little disposition in London to
regard the news of the Boer governments
visith to Pretoria any too hopefully. Official
circles express the doubts, held throughout,
of the ability of the acting President
Schalk-Burger and the other civilian lead
erS of the Beers to induce such men as
Generals De Wet and Delarey to surrender.
Possibly. they think, the representatives of
the Transvaal government are desirous OF
suing for peace, but there is nothing to
show that they have any authority to inn
pose submission on the commanders In the
field. The most hopeful sign they see is
the announcement that Lord Kitchener per-
mitted Mr.. Schalk- Burger and his COM
panions to proceed TO the Orange river col
Ony, the contention being that unless the
British commander-in-chief in South At
rica. who is on the spot and therefore most
thoroughly converSant with the situation,
recognized the possibility of fruitful re-
sITits and believed in the good faith of the
TranSvaalers he would not have permitted
the visitors to continue their pilgrimage to
the headquarters of their Orange river col
Ony allies.
Newspapers Cautious, Too.
The same cautious reserve permeates the
newspaper utterances and the comment in
wcll-informed circles. Some significance is
attached to the fact that. in approaching
Lord Kitchener. Mr.. Schalk-Burger and
these associated with him have carried out
to the letter the advice given by the Brit
1Sh foreign secretary. Lord LanSdowne, in
reply to the peace note of the Netherlands
government. that the quickest and most
satisfactory means Tor arranging settle
ment would be by direct communication
between the leaders of the Beers and the
British commander-in-chief in South
Africa. There is no sign, however, that
the Transvaal mission received any man.
date from the fighting generals, or that the
latter are prepared To recognize the author
ity of their acting president, Mr. Schalk-
Burger. to negotiate terms for peace. Pre-
sumably the latter satisfied Lord Kitchener
that he had certain clearly defined pro-
posals to submit to his ally, President
6teyn. but the best information from South
Africa deprecates any belief in the likeli
hood of a Simultaneous surrender of the
burghers still in the field the order
of the Boer government. Almost the best
to be hoped for is that the present over
lures will SO modify the situation as to
bring peace nearer,
Some of the Comments.
The Westminster Gazette this afternoon
garded on its merits. pointing out that the
ungenerous assumption that the previous
Boer overtures We're signs Of weakness con-
tributed largely to the failures of the nego-
tiations.
The Pail Mall Gazette would like to
think that the brave, skllful commanders,
De Wet and Delarey, have arrived at the
height of moral courage. once attained by
Gen. Lee, and have realized that the tru-
est patriotism does not consist in the pro-
longation of a hopeless struggle The
paper confesses. however. that the military
situation is not ausDcious for such
change of mind.
The ST James Gazette extracts from the
unilluminative dispatches thus far received
from Pre- toria the theory tnat Mr. Schalk-
Burger and the other members of his party
have possibly already surrendered and have
been released on parole for the purpose of
seeing President Steyn and Gen. De Wet.
The news from South Africa had a gen.
orally good effect on the stock exchange.
THE HAGUE, March 24-Acting Presi-
dent Schalk- Burgers arrival at Pretoria
was a complete surprise in Boer circles
here. 1t was surmiseu that the step taken
was connected with the instructions sent to
Lord Kitchener to communicate the text of
the Anglo-Dutch notes to the Boer leaders
Mr.. Brodrick's Statement.
In the house of commons today the war
secretary. Mr.. Brodrick, announced that a
fortnight ago, Mr.. Schalk-Burger intimated
to Lord Kitchener his desire to be granted
safe conduct through the British lines
and back in order to see Mr. Steyn with
reference to the possibility of peace pro-
posas. Lord Kitchener with the consent
of the government, had acceded TO the re-
quest.
The announcement of the war secretary
was received with cheers.
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TAT