The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and Echo. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1900. THE OCCUPATION OF BLOEMFONTEIN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 64, 16 March 1900, Page 4

The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and Echo.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1900. THE OCCUPATION OF BLOEMFONTEIN.

tnined

For the causa that lacks assistancß, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the futuro in the distance, And tho good that we can do.

Lord Roberts has entered Bloemiontein unopposed, tlie enemy having1 entirely withdrawn from the neighbourhood of the place on his approach. It would, of course, be a mistake to lay very great weight on the ease with which the occupation was finally accomplished as an indication of Boer weakness. Lord Eoberts, as we know, had paved the way for a clear advance on the town while yet ;i considerable distance away from it. The hard work had been done before the troops marched light-heartedly along that last sixteen miles to the inspiring music of 'the bag-pipes. And prior to that the enemy had recognised the uselessness of attempting to make a stand in that quarter. A stubborn defence of the Free State capital was quite out of the question. The town itself was, we understand, incapable of being held against a strong force, and notwithstanding the Boers' reiterated determination to dispute the British advance inch by inch, when once they were driven from the hills commanding the town, the only course open to them was. to retreat northwards. The moral effect of the fall of. Bloenrfontein is doubtless of more value than the military advantage that has been gained. The position, from a strategic point of view, lias nothing particular to commend it. There must be many other places where the enemy can make a belter stand, which they will be much more anxious to hold, and from which it will repay us much better to dislodge them. But the news that Bloemfontein is in British hands cannot but diminish still further that confidence in the issue of the struggle which the Boers at the outset enter-

Presidents Kruger and Steyn may speak brave words about the Boers being prepared to fight to the last and: die upon their native soil, but we do not believe that these are the senti-

rnents which actuate the great body of the enemy at this moment. We should not be surprised if many among the Boers were secretly rejoiced at the occupation of Bloemfontein, while there appears to be not the slightest doubt that in the Orange Free State that feeling is widely distributed. The circumstances of the surrender of the

town are an object lesson in this respect. As they approached the place the troops were met by a member of the late Executive, the Mayor and other officials, who presented Lord Roberts with the keys of the public offices; and the inhabitants gave a cordial welcome to the soldiers. Reading the account of the occupation one could readily forget that Bloemfontein is one of the capitals of the enemy. The behaviour of the people suggests that the town 3iad been relieved, like Ladysmith, not captured by the British. Of course, it would be natural for a community really hostile to their conquerors to pretend, under the circumstances, a satisfaction, ihey did not feel. Cheerful acquiescence in the changes wrought by the fortune of war would be a wise policy in view of the inevitable ending the war must have. But, from other things, we judge that, there was no little sincerity in the attitude of the people of: Bloemfontein towards Lord 'Roberts. They were actually glad to meet him.

If the burghers of Bloemfonteiu regard the invasion of their town in that lig-ht, it is more than probable that throughout the Free State the news of the falJ of the place will 3iot be. entirely distasteful to the people. From the beginning- of the war there have been many signs that the Free Staters were drawn into the struggle much against their will. That was. the viewtaken in the famous proclamation, of Lord Roberts, where he absolved the people of the Free Stale from blame in connection with the war. and held President Steyn responsible for the part they had played. The proclamation, we understand, had an excellent effect, reassuring as it must have been to men who had been unwilling participators in. this bloody quarrel; and now that the British have gained a firm footing' in the Free Slate the inhabitants will feel the more encouraged to openly renounce alle-gla-nee to a cause which .never had their whole sympathy.

The fall of Pretoria, which President Kruger assured the world will never come to pass, wouhi not have the same effect throughout the Transvaal as the occupation of Bloemfontein is likely to have jii the Free State, because the Boers did not enter into this war in the same unwilling- spirit as the Free Staters. Yet we have a. strong" belief that among the people of the Transvaal the presence of the British in the capital would ho welcomed by not a i'ew, as putting" an end to a. coniiict they must now regret having" entered i into. Public opinion, which has been ■very confused in regard to many questions affecting- the war, is gradually evolving" one clear fact, viz., that the nreli-tzflfenders have been Presidents Kruger and Steyn. Kruger first, and, after him, the President of the Orange Free State, are the two jnen who have involved their countries in. a struggle that will be disastrous to them in a hundred ways. The caricature of the day depicts Oom Paul as a second Napoleon. The comparison, not flattering: ns a whole to the exile or St. Helena, is true enough in one particular. In both men the principle of an abandoned absolutism and tyranny are embodied. A writer in Blaekwood's Magazine declares that President Krug'er represents fn his own person the spirit of intense hostility to Great Britain. Prompted by that spirit and by an inherent aversion to the British pi-ineiple -of freedom, lie set about preparing" for this war years'ago, iinnly believing' in his heart that, with, the assistance- of- the .Dutch throughout Africa, he would drive the .Rritish into the sea. His belief in his scheme must be sadly shaken by this time. There has been no general rising- of till? Dutch; the foreign Powers are deaf to his appeals :the Free Staters are hailing" the invaders; and the Boers are tired unto death of the struggle. Ultimate ruin and defeat stare him in the face, and lie and Steyn both know that when -the reckoning" comes to be made, the burden of payment will rightly fall on their particular shoulders. The defiance they have hurled at Great Britain and the insolence of their overtures for peace are alike born of personal despair; and it is a part of the .selfishness and hypocrisy which have characterised President Kruger ali along that in order to gratify his own vanity he should be prepared to waurtonly sacrifice valuable lives. But it may be doubted whether his followers will consent to be guided by him as far as he would lead them. It is probable that recognising" the ultimate fruitlessncss of resistance to the British advance, they may refuse to prolong the struggle to the very last, as he now declares they intend to do.