The CONDUCT OF THE WAR.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 265, 18 November 1901, Page 3

The CONDUCT OF THE WAR.

Mr Geo. Bartley, M.P., in a letter to the London Times on the duration of the war, says : Arc we not trying the impossible—naffiely, to carry on a war and treating our enemies as if we were at peace at the same time ? Take Cape Colony. Would nay nation in the world treat its own subjects who wero caught fighting against it m the way we do 2 They take up arms, shoot our men, and then return to work, pick up information that is used against our armies, and repeat the process. If caught, they are tried, sentenced, and either lot off or their punishmont reduced to almost nothing immediately. Has not this led to hundreds of our men being killed or ivounded 2 I ask as a means of stopping this bloodshed, why not announce, and act on it, that Cape rebels found under arms will be tried, and, if found guilty, shot 2 Had this been done at first the war would probably have been over long ago, and thousands of lives saved.

Take the Transvaal and late Orange Free State. Here the residents are, of eourso, in a different position, and are our fair enemies. What, however, do we do 2 We take their wives and families, look after them, feed them, educate them, supply them with recreation, and inform tlie husbands and brothers, as has been naivoly observed, that wc reliovo them of all anxiety that they may fight us and kill and wound our soldiers with greater ease and freedom.

Wc render it impossible for the colony to got sufficient supplies to return to its normal state, owing to tho wants of the wives and children of our enemies. We even stint our own soldiers to supply them. If wo had made peace this might be our duty, and we should be glad to relieve our enemies even at some sacrifice; as it is, howover, it may be magnificent, but it is not war, and does not tend to end the war.

Take the loyal subjects of His Majesty in South Africa; many have fought for us, many died for us, and their wives and families have suffered as much and more than our enemies. They have had some charity, it is true, but not overmuch; and the idea of the Government treating them even as well as the wives and children of those who are shooting our soldiers is not thought of. Does such treatment to our own people tend to make our enemies anxious to become loyal ? Again in employment—permits back to their own homes, and other restitution of rights and privileges, who get them Socalled converted Boers, foreigners, enemies, men who have spent tho war time in England, and those whom it is desired to conciliate, but the loyal rarely, and those who have fought are absolutely forgotten, neglected, and oven barred, “ Loyalty does not pay,” one of your correspondents states, and that expression “ Loyalty does not pay,” is almost becoming a proverb or an axiom in South Africa. Docs this tend to end the war'?

Y’ou referred recently in one of your leading articles to the hot and cold way the Government seem to act in connection with the war. Surely this has much to do with it. We have an immense army out, and war going on, yet the Prime Minister is abroad and the Cabinet scattered. We have continued “ incidents ” involving loss of our brave men, and we seem to get no further. This is not a party question ; it is far too serious, and the only Opposition worth the name is as keen as the most hearty supporter of the Government to end the war. Is the Government afraid of the few pro-Boers, or of the Continental press ? The English public do not care two straws for either. They require the war to be finished, and they should approve of any legitimate steps, however strong, being taken to end it. In spite of the large area over which the, war ranges, the public is beginning to think that, with twenty of our soldiers to one of the enemy, if the game of war was played in earnest an end woujd soon come. We surely have a right to demand that the Government should at once take steps to secure that end in the interests not only of ourselves, but in a less degree of the Boers also.