THE WAR.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 9940, 11 December 1900, Page 4

THE WAR.

Yesterday we commented upon the admission made by the Opposition in the House of Commons that they no longer differed from the Government

in regard to their proposed policy in South Africa Reference was then aiade to Lord Salisbury's and Mr Chamberlain's reminders that everything the Opposition asked should be done had been decided upon long before and embodied in Lord Roberts's proclamations to the Boers. Upon further looking up the details we find that the proclamation thus alluded to was posted in all public places throughout British Sonth Africa so longago as the 21st of September, was so far as possible lavishly distributed among the Boers, and within a few days afterwards all that was promised or threatened in this proclamation was published in the newspapers of the United Kingdom. We have in the facts, therefore, a proof of either the most studied and unpatriotic hypocrisy on the part of the British Liberals during the elections, or the most sudden enlightenment and consequent conversion of a political party ever recorded in history.

Mr Kruger finds his way barred at St, Petersburg and at Rome. The grimly humorous statement that Queen Wilhelmina advised him to rely upon her''when the time conies," and in the meanwhile to have confidence in God, may be true or not, but in any case it affords the Boers no hope even of causing trouble if they cannot procure intervention. x\t present, however, it is difficult to judge what is true or false. But for that we should conclude the Wilhelmina episode as related to be certainly false, seeing that a later message describes her as " displeased " at Mr Kruger desiring an interview. There is also the further statement that Dr. Leyds, who in his way is as unreliable as Henry Labouchere is in his, gave a false impression of Queen Wilhelmina's telegram to Mr Kruger by suppressing the fact that it was a formal reply by her to a message of " greeting " wired to her by the exPresident himself. Lastly we have the spectacle of the Netherlands Min-1 ister for Foreign Affairs apologising to Lord Salisbury for the pranks of some Hollander officials, and specially repudiating all responsibility for an extraordinary letter which seems to have been despatched to Kruger by the President of the Netherlands Upper House.