The Press. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1901. BRITAIN'S CONTINENTAL CRITICS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11131, 25 November 1901, Page 4

The Press. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1901. BRITAIN'S CONTINENTAL CRITICS.

Throughout the Boer war a section of tbe German Press, inspired by Dr. Leyds and his fellow conspirators, bas showered abuse on England's methods of warfare. A comparison made by Mr C__mberlain the other day between these methods and those taken in previous -wars, ind-ding the Franco_e-r__n campaign, bas furnished some of the more respectable of the Ger- | roan newspapers with a pretext for criticising in a very unfriendly spirit the policy of Great Britain in Sooth Africa. Racial j dislike, intensified by the wilful inisrepresentsticns of pro-Beer Press 4 has apparently iiiiplaa-twd on tbe Continent the firm belief that Great Britain has conducted this war with Impious cruelty. Our Continental enemies cannot, or wiH not, | realise that if the British hare erred at all, it has been on the side of leniency and clemency. Had the war been waged with more severity on oar part, bad sterner measures been- taken to punish treason and stamp out rebellion in d_affected districts, it is more than probable that the wax would ere this have been ended, and such measures might have proved the more humane, everything considered. Bat that is a point an which the Continental papers which attack,our policy so bitterly have no wish to be act right. It suits their purpose better to suppress the (roth.

There is evidence, however, that the bostile attitude adopted by these newspapers, and the agitators whom they have inspired, do not by any means represent the undivided public opinion of the German nation. "The Times" not long ago published a commonai cation from a German field officer on the active list, which forms an effective antidote to the "overflow of "hatred and hysterical indignation 11 upon which he comments. He points out that it is exceedingly unwise for the German Press to challenge, for instance, a comparison between Lord Robert- and General W&ldersee, as one paper undoubtedly did when it asked: "Have German commanders "ever arranged to be brought home and "loaded with decorations before the end of ''the war?" As for the concentration camps established in South Africa, over -Which Great Britain, has endured so much , abuse, his defence of British methods is ■ 'very convi—cintg. It is true that Germamy

established no Concentration camps for French women and children in tbe war of 1870-71, hot the reason simply was that such measures were not necessary. The German officer referred to, writing with a "vivid tfeooMeetaon" of that period, declares that if the guerilla warfare organised by the bad assumed larger dimensions, "then assuredly the German " headquarter*» would have shrunk from no " methods of warfare; would have destroy"cd hoi—es, farms, and every kind of pro- " pex-ty; would hare forbidden aU freedom "of intercourse; would not have hesitated"to inflicrb tbe severest form- of punish- " ment, even; the punishment of death," in order to ensure the safety of the' GermArmy, and end the war more rapidly.

But although the French did not adopt the tactics by whioh the Boera have prolonged the present war, tbey were given to understand very plainly that Germany would brook no disturbance of any kind in conquered territory. Our German o_cer copies from his notebook into hia letter to "The Times" a proclamation, one of many similar documents issued' during the Fra_eo-G_m_n war, which read-:—"Notice "is hereby given to the inhabitant- that

'' -martial. law, is proclaimed, fl>nd that, "therefore, any inhabitant found wit— a " weapon in his hands will be shot.—

" Headquarters of the 3rd Getmao Army." Here is ample indication, surely, that Germany would not have hesitated to adopt

the severest measures had they been deemed necessary. For clemency Great Britain's methods in the present war will challenge comparison with any that her critics may cite against her from the recocds of history. Take, for instancy the orders is—i«*d by General Sherman in 1864, with the object of ending the American Civil fv»r. " You maiy ocrder all your post and district " commanders,'" ran his directions, "that " guerilla- are not soldiers, but wild beasts, i "unknown to the usage of war:" and! the measures he adopted were in keeping with ! that idea. The point to be borne in mind is that the present war differs greatly in its character from such a one as the FrancoGerman, and a comparison is therefore futile. The latter was decided by battles, engage ments, and sieges between uniformed armies; the Boer war has become a contest between an army and a scattered force which, ununiformed, unorganised, has had to fall back on the worst guerilla methods to prolong a.senseless* resistance. Th* misrepresentationa of the pro-Boer Press have long been ignored by Great Britain, but. the serious developments which have occurred of late have rendered it necessary to repudiate the baseless accusations of cruelty levelled against her., It is surely the height of irony that while the moral scrupulousness of the British leaders has so often been mistaken by the Boers for weakness or lack of moral courage, the proBoer Press should continue to stigmatise our methods of warfare as barbarous and