CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIII, Issue 12160, 26 March 1900, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

At the beginning of last the doer month a correspondent of collapse, the "Natal Mercury," aMr William Exall, who claimed to be a colonist of fifty years' standing, wrote to that journal, predicting that there would be a complete collapse of the Boer resistance to the British arms directly the winter fairly set in. This season will not commence in the Transvaal until the end of April, but already there are indications that Mr Exall's prophecy is likely to be fulfilled; The Free Staters, who would probably feel the approach,of winter before their northern allies, have practically abandoned the struggle, and many of the Transvaalers, if we may trust the reports appearing in the Cape newspapers, would bs glad enough to resume their peaceful occupations. Mr Exall expected that the enemy would fight very stubbornly so long as they could camp out on the open veldt without much serious inconvenience to themselves, and could find plenty of grass and water for their horses, but that they would lose heart when they were brought face to face with the prospect of passing the winter in the field. "In the winter time," he writes, "there will be no water on the kopjes, and continuous fighting from the splendid positions afforded by them would be impossible. There will be no grass for horses and cattle. The constant practice of the Boers of driving their stock to the low country in winter proves that it it. practically impossible to keep horses and cattle in anything like condition without this resource. They are bound to run short of remounts, and even those horses that are being used, and live through the summer campaign, will be utterly 'done up in the course of a month or two. The Boers will be utterly unable to withstand the cold among the hills with their inefficient camping accommodation. They always Avaifc for grass and the spring to start a Kaffir raid, 'as witness the Malaboch and Magato wars, not to mention the present campaign, when they deliberately waited for the opportune time in respect to the condition of the country. Then in the winter time they plant, their food for the following year, and this work is done on too gigantic a scale for the women to manage alone —especially in the Free State—and Kaffirs, without male supervision would never do the work." All this now seems probable enough, and it will not surprise us to see the Boer army rapidly melting away during the next few weeks. . But Mr Exalt does not think that on this account the British commander should relax his efforts to thoroughly subjugate the enemy.' " Here," he says, "Great Britain's advantage in the way of commissariat and reinforcements<-will tell, and it will be the time to nut on the screw, and exact full retribution for the events which led np to and have, characterised the campaign." This may not be the most admirable spirit in which to regard the misfortunes of our enemies, but it is only natural that a colonist who has witnessed all the horrors of the Tvar should desire some assurance of a permanent peace.

•An American paper has recenfcljT been clipping into history to show how great events spring from little

TRIVIAL CAUSER OF WAE.

causes. It estimates that in the wars of the nations,', at least a million lives, and many millions of poundis, have been, sacrificed as the direct consequence of a stolen petticoat, a broken teapot, and a trivia 1 , affront. One of the most terrible wars in China, had a ludicrous origin. A Chinese magnate was travelling with his retinue, in one of the wildest districts in the northern part of his country, and among his baggage was a small teapot, on which he set much value. He was attacked by a band of robbers, who promptly smashed the teapot. Its angry owner reported the outrage to the Emperor, and an expedition was despatched to punish the robbers. This led to a long and bitter war between the mountaineers and the Imperial forccls, which lasted the greater part.of a century. One of the fiercest wars that ever raged between the Spaniards and the Moors was due, it is said, to a petticoat-that belonged to a Spanish lady. The petticoat was trimmed with rare and valuable lace. It excited the cupidity cf a Moor, who, passing the lady's residence one day, managed to steal tho garment and use the lace for the adornment of his own uniform. He wais arrested, but escaped punishment owing to the evidence cf his friends, who swore-that the lace had been bought in Granada. \ A few days later the Moor was found dead in bed. His friends, in retaliation, seized a leading Spaniard and killed him. The feud thus started spread rapidly, and a. long and bitter war ensued. It is said that the Franco-Pruasian War, with its appalling loss of life, was precipitated by a few slight verbal alterations made in a despatch by Bismarck. Few causes of war, however, are as trivial as that which is said to have led to the war of the Spanish succession. The story is that, at a. great ball-at the Tuileries,. the Ambassadors of Great Britain and Spain were paying court to a grand dame, who begged them to fetch her a glass of water. When the Ambassadors, each carrying a glass of water, returned, they found that the grand-dame had been carried off to dance by a French courtiar. With a cammcsi grievance, the Aaibai.?sadors sought out the Frenchman and 'challenged him to a duel. The heated diplomatic correspondence that followed did much, .to accentuate the bitter feeling between the nations, and to hasten the final rupture.

The war in South Africa, the new has brought about the final TJNlt'oiiM- . extinction".of., the ".thin red . . - I'ins.v" of the-British Army: The absurdity of sending soldiers- into the field gaudily 'bedecked in. .glittering uniforms tlmt/.hia.ke aiitxccllant lnarl; for tiic^ncmyy lias been fully : recOgiiise(i>.in, the .-present war, it is in South. Africa, «o will;

it be in other parts of the world. But while the military authorities agree that there must be a new uniform, they are by no means unanimous with regard to its colour. A correspondent writing to the London " Times," points out that the general effect of a soldier's uniform and equipment should be neutral at a long range, and should be as much as possible blurred against the background. In South Africa, the exposure of a pair of aluminium field glasses, has provoked a hail of bullets from trenches, and even a dark green sword hilt has enabled the enemy to distinguish an officer from his men. Kharki has proved very serviceable on the field, but it is felt that the exigencies of recruiting for a volunteer army demand something smarter than the dingy, dust-coloured cloth that is worn at present. It is held that a uniform, to be invisible from a short distance, need not necessarily be of one colour, and the correspondent of the " Times" asserts that it would be quite feasible to clothe our soldiers in all the colours of the rainbow, provided that no one stripe exceeded, say, one inch in width. The general effect from a distance would be a neutral gray, due to the blending of the different colours. All that is necessary is that certain elementarv rules with regard to the blending of colours shall be observed. Something will also have to be done with the kilt. It is not proposed to do away with it altogether, but experience has shown that the dark pateh it presents is visible long after the kharki uniforms have merged into the background. The proposal is to devise a tartan with some lighter ground-colour, whose general effect at a distance will be the same as that of kharki. A similar application of optical rules will be necessary in the case of an officer's uniform, so that the wearer may be recognised by his own men without being conspicuous to the enemy. For dne thing, the officer's sword will almost certainly disappear even from the parade ground, to join the halberd, the mace, the battle-axe and other primitive weapons. Some of the suggestions appear revolutionary enough, but, as the correspondent of the " Times" says, they are not nearly so startling as some of the changes that will have to be made in many departments of the British Army in order to meet the requirements of the future.