New-York tribune., 1906-12-16

that Mr. Rhodes wished him to disregard the
telegraphic orders. but he certainly had ground
FOR his expectation that he would enter JONAH
nesburg unopposed for he nearly got through. II
he had not waited at krugersdorp for well
coming escort he would have covered the re-
naming twenty miles in safety ana might nave
held johannesburg until Lord Rosmeads ar
rival Intervention might have been secured
and South Africa saved for the empire without
a war at the cost of 10000 lives and f22O.OOO.OOO
sterling Lord Rosmead's part in these trans
actions is not clearly explained. The current
idea among South Africans has been that Mr..
Rhodess purposes were known to him, but
that he finched when the crisis came 1t is
more probable that blind hints had been thrown
out which Mr.. Rhodes supposed were ineligible.
but that he had not drawn the natural infer
ences Mr.. Worsfold does not attempt to probe
this mystery, but comes to the only possible
conclusion that the methods employed by Mr..
Rhodes were questionable that High Com
missioner could have allowed the imperial gov
ernment to have derived any advantage from
them. ITO have gained" re remarks sententious-
", 1.-The franchise for the Uitlanders as the re-
suit of violent and INSCRIPTIONS action would
have inflicted an enduring Injury upon the
British cause in South Africa for which the en-
franchisement itself would have been small COM
pensation."
Lord Miners work when he succeeded Lord
Rosmead was rendered wellnigh impossible by
the disastrous consequences of the raid Ihe
entire Dutch population was alarmed and ex-
asperated: Mr.. Rhodes was out of office and tenn
porarilv dscredited and his hollow truce with
the Bond was at an end: the two republics were
bound together by formal alliance and the
racial party IN sympathy with them was In
power in Cape Colony. The magnitude of the
tac ok nv Tor Njlner and 10
sources of courage, patience Skill firmness and
faith which he displayed in enforcing respect
for the rights of the Transvaal British and in
fighting the battle for the empire clearly
and forcbly revealed in this volume A single
luminous sentence contains summary of his
work: ITO save England in spite Of herself; to
keep South Africa a part Of the empire in spite
of ignorance at home. in the teeth of armed
republic and an Afrikander Ministry. required
not merely an iron will and mastership in stage
craft but a reasoned and unfaltering belief in
the justice of the British cause" He knew that
a stand could not be made for British supremacy
without dangerous risks of war, and repeatedly
warned Downing Street that adequate reinforce
ments must be sent to the Cape: but his chief
military adviser Sir William Butler disagreed
with him: the Colonial Ministers per-
sistently frustrating his plans; the home gov
ernment drifted into war without having an
army corps on the ground: and he was forced
to stand and wait until the Boer utimatum found
the empire utterly unprepared for a terrible
crisis. The facts marshalled like strong
battalions in the chapters on the military opera
tions, and there is escape from the conclusion
that the disasters at the opening of the cam
paign and the prolongation of the conflict
mainly due to the neglect of the imperial gov
ernment to heed Lord Miners warning and TO
keep command of the colonial situation by ade-
Quate preparations for the gravest contingencies
An almost pathetic figure is this brave pro-
consul, in an atmosphere of treason and suspi-
cion. with colony in revolt against him, strug-
Cling TO England and the empire from
pers of which they would not be convinced!
This book without pretensions, eulogy or blare
of trumpet, proclaims him as a high minded
yiceroy, patient, farsighted and great like Lord
Lawrence. The record is made and the portrait
drawn when the working stock of administrative
genius I'm England seems TO be heavily depleted.
Has Lord Miners work ended, or has it barely
begun? l. y. F.