Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-04
Feeling Over Disclosures.

Those are typical instances of the indIg-
nant comments heard in the political clubs
The feeling aroused by the disclosures is so
overpowering that Mr.. Balfour will not be
able, In spite OF blocking motions. to resist
full discussion on the report when parlia-
ment reassembles. There is determination
that the ''nebulous civilian personalities
mentioned in the report will not this time
be allowed to evade the punishment they
richly deserve.
While there still remains much to be
cleared up, the responsibility of the war
office Is already established. The depart
ment must have known, or at least ought to
have known, of the scandalous doings at
Pretoria. They were common talk in South
Africa and current gossip in military circles
at home. Yet nothing was done to stop the
fragrant squandering of public money, and
no steps were apparently taken to arrest
the flow of stores into the cape ports while
the army was being brought back When
the truth at last became known, the war
Office appears to have used every effort to
hush up the whole affair. and only after the
lapse of two and half years, and under
the compulsion of the public accounts COM
mittee, has it assisted in the efforts to sad
die responsibility on the guilty parties
The position of the government has been
immensely weakened by these disclosures.
The army policy was one of the strongest
points in the liberal attack. but the case Of
the opposition has been vastly strengthened
come to light. They have given a damag-
Ing blow to the reputation of Mr.. Arnold
Forster who will be promptly called to &C.
count when parliament reassembles. But
the responsibility must be shared by the
whole ministry as fully as in the case of
the Elgin report. Its war office record
alone should be sufficient to drive the gov
eminent from office. They attempt to
shelter themselves behind the screen Of
laundering officialism. but they will find 1t
difficult to convince the country that the
ultimate responsibility rests on other
shoulders than their own.
I understand that already two or the per-
sons mentioned in the Butler report have
formally appealed to the secretary Tor war
for special inquiry into their conduct
According to my information. they DO not
disclaim all the assertions made by the
committee. but they deeply resent the de-
auctions that have been drawn as TO their
conduct. =.
ever its political bias. calls in earnest Ian
a1,age for further investigation and punish
ment of the guilty parties or course. tne
radical papers are strongest ON the SUBJECT.
Perhaps the most violent is the Star, an
evening journal owned by the Morning
Leader Company. 1t says In part
.'It Is a damning exposure of a damnaple
pbase of a damnable business. Sir William
Butter is a strong man, with an ugly gut
of righteous anger He was hunted ana
bounded out of South Africa by the Rhode
slams there and the yellow press mere +,e-
cause he dared to tell the truth about the
scoundrels who engineered the war
Robbed Right and Left.
The very ruffians who worked for the war
sucked the blood of England during the
war and after the war. The report speaks
of the many questionable contractors
who are as ready to follow their avocations
In the wake of a war as they are also
willing to be it's pioneers"
There was a dramatic propriety In the
fact that Sir William Butler should be the
instrument of dragging these vHltures and
vampires of imperialism into the light.
The unexampled impudence of these vast
frauds takes our breath away There mas
been nothing like them i'll modern annals.
The Russian grand dukes may well be
ashamed of their petty peculations. They
are but amateurs compared to the British
contractor who finds In the Union Jack
Commercial asset and In the British Off
Ger only q clumsy pantaloon In putties"
or an '.agiie harlequin In a helmet" with
gift of ignorance or collision.
We do not wonder that the theme sharp
ened Sir William Buffers power OF irony
and scorn and satire He knows his war
Office, his politician, his Rhodesian. He
knows his South Africa ana the supple
oriental patriots whose name ends In eft
and "ein." He knows that nobody Will be
broken, nobody will be imprisoned. nobody
will be punished. He knows that the ma
tion's millions have been stolen, and that
our accused system will hush up the whole
deviltry until the next war. when vine, the same ne
the same abominable malebolge OF patriotic
endorsement.
Here Is just one specimen OF the way
they have in the army:
"As already stated, on or about January
TO- 1908. Meyer was formally declared the
purchaser OF q vast quantity OF forage
throughout the Transvaal and Orange
River Colony. Ten days earlier ne had al
ready beRilu to SUNNY the trOoDs af rates