Evening journal., 1903-09-07
BRITISH WAR SCANDAL
Revelations In Report Of Royal
Commission.
no PREPARATIONS FOR BoBR WAR

without knowledge OF Home or
Hostile Forces-CoIone1 Lucas De-
c1ared That the Rines would Not
Hit a Haystack-Boots of Brown
Paper For Soldiers.
The New York Herald recently pub
lished the following from its CORE
spOndent in London:
Revelations contained in the report Of
the royal commission on the conduct Of
the war IN South Africa have filed all
England with CONSERVATION and indig-
nation. From three volumes just Is
sued much has been suppressed 'in the
public interest" but enough remains
apparently to justify the opinion freely
expressed that the war Office at the
outbreak Of the trouble was in a state
Of incompetency which is nothing short
Of amazing.
The testimony Of General Nicholson
shows that the intelligence section OF
the war Office relating to South Africa
before the war was run with force Of
only two officers and one clerk. The
| treasury, against the united recon-
mendation OF the war office, had re-
| fused any increase, and hence It was
not surprising when England went TO
/ war that there was no effective map Of
the Orange Free State, the Transvaal
or Natal. To quote General Kitche
ner's own testimony, according to Off
cial memoranda, the field intelligence
| department had to be created from the
/ very beginning.
/ General Nicholson is responsible for
| the information that there was practi-
cally no valid connection between the
intelligence department and the defense
/ committee of the cabinet The British
/ local defense scheme was based on in
adequate forces. II was merely that
the generals reported how they could
make the best Of what troops they had.
The experts prepared plan Of mobili-
zation in the early summer, but the
government would not vote the extra
money until forced to do so. This was
/ the testimony of General Sir L. Stop
| ford
From official memoranda and Colonel
Althams testimony it is apparent that
/ LansdOwne, then war secretary, knew
| there were $4,000 mounted Beers who
could oppose the British. yet almost
without exception infantry was sent.
When finally the mobilization of the
! First army corps was ordered it was SO
late that it was not possible for Sir
Redvers Butler to be in a position TO
take the field until December The
Beers had invaded Natal the second
week in October. Hasty mobilization
on the part of the British then caused
Reorganization.
Nearly all the military witnesses, not
ably General Kelly-Kenny, put stress
on the fact that the representations OF
the commander in chief did not meet
sufficient compliance Lord Wolseley
emphasizes this and also the way Lord
Lansdowne treated him and his advice
in 1892 which was absolutely disre-
garded, refusing TO sanction even the
most urgently needed expenditure. The
war secretary's refusal delayed the ar
my corps Nor did he send out the re-
endorsements urged. Lord Roberts also
condemns the initial preparations in
South Africa.
The volumes TEEN with the war Of
fcers' shortcomings. The British had
no quick firing guns In South Africa
When the war started warnings from
the Cape were neglected, mobilization
was muddled. the war officers did not
even know that pompon guns could
be used for field purposes. 1t was not
known here until the middle of Octo-
Der that the Beers were using any
heavy guns in the field. There were so
few pontoons in this country that old
ones had to be sent out. Colonel Lucas
declared that the sights of some Of the
rifles were so bad tho soldiers could not
hit a haystack with them.
Sir Fleetwood Wilson, financial ad-
wiser 10 Lord Kitchener, found serious
avoidable waste Of public money in the
ordnance expenditures at Cape Town,
due to insufficient preparations before
hostiHties and lack Of forethought in
demanding stores. There was no evil
dence to show that any steps were TAX
en- at the Cape before the war to obtain
information as to the prevailing prices
and local sources Of supply. II was not
until four days before hostlities began
that any serious attempt was made TO
forecast probable requirements.
To what use provisions were some
times put is thus related by Lieutenant
Colonel Morgan:
1--WE had large stocks at our base
ports of timed meat and biscuits They
became such a nuisance in this way
that we had no storage for them. The
food had to stand out in the open, and
OF course some of it went to the bad.
Instead Of insisting on one pound tins
of meat. as was recommended by a
committee sixteen years ago, the war
Office bought six pound tins. These be-
ing heavy, the men often threw them
away"
According to Colonel Carr, the sol
diers' boots were distinctly bad in 1900.
They were of brown paper. at least not
much better Owing to the inability
of the troops to obtain soap half the
force in South Africa, Colonel Sir W.
Richardson testified, became vermin-
GUS
Press. comments censure Lord Lans-
downe and others Of the cabinet severe
liz. and some call for his resignation.
An Orange Experiment.
A commercial agent Of the Japanese
government is i'm California TO make an
I Ia