The Oskaloosa herald., 1902-05-29
IT LOOKS LIKE PEACE.
Belief Growing That End Of South
African War Is at Hand. (,

son TO believe that peace IN esatA
Africa il practically secured KosH
soon it will be annopncea drpxndn
apparently, more upon the conve1f-
ence OF the Boer leaders than upon ~
ina of the British governmcnt.
The private and Official advices eo-
celyed tonight in London from South
Africa all point 70 the same conclu-
sion. The delay is technical, and 70
END the long war seems to be the a.
sire OF both British and Beer leaders
The latter, however, are unable
convince all their followers of the VII
dom OF acquiescing to the te<mAk
peace. Information as to what tt1h-
spired at Fridays meeting Of the -
met IL closely guarded, but it l. ~
likely that the cabinet transast<o
were OF vital import. ne surm3
OF one well informed person places tAs
sum total Of the deliberations Of the
cabinet ministers at q decision regard
ing points of the peace agreemenA ON
entirely minor Importance. Anot1keR
surmise Is that the cabinet has raere4
~ sent a rather mock ultimatuu fot
South Africa, which can be used By he
boer leaders in explanations to their
forces. |
Both these surmises probablv cam.
tain an element of truth, but neitAer-
can in any way affect the Widespread
belief in the best informed quarters
that the n of the war has come.
In fact, those persons who are best
acquainted with the actual details of
the present negotiations only qualify
this optimistic expression of opinion
by guarded reservations CONCERNING
the extent Of the personal control Of
the Boer leaders over their COM
mands. Were the Beers a thorough
~ disciplined force, dependent upor
the action of their general officers.
peace would probably be proclaimed
at once, but Botha, De Wet and the
other generals seem themselves a
able to positively guarantee the de-
gree to which their example will be
followed. The delegates at yereenip-
ing, according to information in pos
session of the war office. are fairly
evenly divided. Consequently extreme
precautions are exercised both in Lon.
don and Pretoria to prevent any pre-
mature action or report which might.
adversely influence the burghers. The
most pessimistic forecast heard onlv-
admits that a few isolated bands of
irreconcilables may be left in The
field.
Thinks Terms Are Liberal.
A member of the house Of comnsAa
who is in close touch with the r.
eminent said that he believed eyex
thing was settled. and that the BvA
1sh terms would be found unexpected
ly liberal.
The appearance of Mr.. Broderieh.
the secretary of state for war. at fhc
volunteer service dinner FRIDAY pigbt
was watched eagerly in the hope of
gaining an inkling of the governments
private frame Of mind. But Mr.. Brod-
erick's listeners had to be contented.
with one brief and adroitly turned
reference to the present situation,
Responding to the toast, ssThe impers
al forces" the war secretarytsaid: ~
would go beyond nv duty should Z
enter. into details of the ommupicz
lions which are now passing. srF
which prelude. as we all hope, the sur
render of the Beers" Mr.. Brodcw-
lex then proceeded to reiterate the
oft-declared intention OF the goyesn-
ment not to be drawn into any compro-
mise which would ~jeopardize futnre-
peace in South Africa. o
Articles Ready to BE Signed.
Berlin, May 24.-The foreign once
here has been advised from Pretoria.
that peace in South Africa is PRACTICAL
ly concluded. The articles Of xurren-
der are ready to be signed, with the ex-
ception that the approval of the Brit
ish cabinet of the wording of the e
ondary provisions is awaited. The,
suspension of hostilities may be an
nounced at any hour. This intelli-,
gence, it is understood, reaches Baron.
Won Richthefen, the foreign score
tary, through a privileged cipher cable-
gram from the German consul at Pre-
toria.
A Hopeful Feeling.
Pretoria, Transvaal, May 22.-Thes
feeling here, which has been decidedly
pessimistic for several days, is now
more cheerful, though no real news Of
the conferences between Lord Kitch--
ener and Lord Miner and the Boer dell
egates has been allowed to leak out.
1t is known, however, that the deles
gates came to Pretoria as the result
of a complete deadlock at vereen-
lining, where the Free Staters held
out for independence and the majority
of the Transvaalers, though anxious.
for peace, refused to abandon their
allies. This is the cause of the Boer
delegation being now here. 1t was at.
first thought that the delegates would
merely report a refusal to accept the
British terms. Everybody expected
them to depart Immediately, and that
hostilities would actively recon-
mence. To the general surprise, how
ever. the delegates are still here and
the hopefulness is the outcome of the
general conviction that some arrange
ment is pending which may solve the
difficulty at Vereeniging.
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