THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIII, Issue 12162, 28 March 1900, Page 5

THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

BRITISH PROCLAMATIONS.

THE OCCUPATION OP PHILIPPOLIS.

THE BOERS AT LADYBRAND.

THE ENEMY’S RETREAT PRE-

DICTED.

REINPORCEMENTS PUSHING

FORWARD,

A SKIRMISH IN NATAL.

THE DISASTER TO BRITISH OPPICERS.

NEWS PROM MAPEKING.

MILNER AND SCHREINER.

LENIENCY TO REBELS.

THE LOYALISTS DISSATISPIED

United Press Association—By Eleotrio Telegraph.—Copyright.

LONDON, March 26.

Lord Roberts’s proclamation calling upon the Boers to surrender, and recommending them to trust to the clemency of the Britisij, does not apply to rebels. The Commander? in-Chief offers leniency to the burghers who were misled by President Steyn if they will reconsider their action, and disarm.

THE OCCUPATION OF THE FREE STATE. THE BRITISH ENTRY INTO PHILIPPOLIS. PROMISES OF NEUTRALITY. LONDON, March 26.

The Tasmanians and Rimington’s Scouts, in the van of General Clements’s force, were the first to enter Philippolis. Later on General Clements entered the town, a party of dragoons with drawn, swords acting as his escort. After General Clements had read a proclamation, the burghers surrendered their arms and took an oath of neutrality. When General Clements entered Philippolis, he read a proclamation iri the burghers announcing that those swearing neutrality, if they bad taken no leading part in the policy of the Republics or in the hostilities, would be allowed to return to their farms. The late Government of Bloemfontein would never be re-established. The burghers listened carefully and then surrendered arms. The landrost and sheriffs were reappointed to their offices. A number of Colcsberg rebels, who had taken shelter in the town, were arrested.

A REPORT FROM LADYBRAND,

CONFLICTING INTELLIGENCE

THE ENEMY’S PLAN OF CAMPAIGN, LONDON, March 26.

Commandant Olivier’s force of Boers, supported by fifteen guns, is reported to occupy a position north of Ladybrand. Other reports from La4ybrand are to the effect that Olivier has desertej his laager, and that the enemy is flying wildly, with General Gatacre’s cavalry in hot pursuit. A Reuter’s correspondent states that the resistance at Kroonstad and elsewhere is designed to cover the enemy’s ultimate withdrawal to Transvaal territory. ARRIVAL OF TROOPS. THE POSITION IN NATAL. LONDON, March 26. The Duke of Norfolk is going to the front as an officer of the Sussex Yeomanry. General Forestier-Walker has arrived at Norval’s Pont.

The Eighth Division will be landed at Port Elizabeth and East London. Fresh troops are being pushed to the front as rapidly as possible. • Outpost skirmishes have taken place between General Bullcr’s troops and the Boers to the north of Elandslaagte. General Buffer has established a hospital of six hundred beds at Estcourt. THE DEFENCE OP PRETORLA.. LONDON, Marqh 26. Reuter’s correspondent explains that the long range guns are required for the defence of Pretoria.

TEE DISASTER TO COLONEL CRABBE’S PARTY. LATER PiARTIGULARS. - LONDON, March 26. Lieutenant-Colonel Cfabbe’s party, armed with revolvers, set out on a foraging expedition to farms north of the British camp at Glen Siding. In the course of their investigations the officers came to a siding where they examined the telegraph apparatus. Oil leaving they caught sight of five mounted Boers on a kopje. The Boers immediately wheeled and disappeared to the east. The British officers in their endeavour to catch the Boers divided and swept round each side of the kopje, but met a deadly rifle fire at short range. Lieutenant Lygon was shot through the heart. The Boers pretended to retreat, and wese joined by three others, and the eight marksmen lay in ambush. The men belonged to the Johannesburg police. Upon seeing their fire successful, the Boers left their ambush and rendered every assistance, washing and dressing the wounds of the officers and sending the news of the' disaster to the British camp. The three wounded men were

transferred to Bloemfontein, where they aro progressing favourably.

INTELLIGENCE FROM MAFEKING.

THE GARRISON “ALL WELL.”

THE BESIEGERS’ VIGILANCE RELAXING.

LONDON, March 26,

Colonel Baden-Powcll reported on March 13 that all was well at Mafeking, and that the cordon of the investing Boers was much relaxed.

A relief force, composed of the Kimberley Light Horse, under Colonel Peakham, advanced eighteen miles north of Christiana, or about forty miles north of Fourteen Streams, where the enemy is opposing Lord Methuen,

Another report from Majfeking, sent on March 13, states that the ga/rrison had captured twenty-six head of the enemy’s cattle. Many natives who are shut up in Mafeking, and refused to eat horseflesh, are starving.

OPERATIONS IN GRIQUALAND

A MOVEMENT AGAINST THE

REBELS

RECRUITS FOR THE ENEMY. LONDON, March 26,

A force of four hundred Trpnsvaalers reoccupied Griquatown. The Boers seized and imprisoned the loyal residents of the town. A column has left Kimberley to expel the invaders. The British vanguard, consisting of detachments.of the New Zealanders and Canadians, has left Van Wyck’s Vlei, and is advancing northwards.

Foreign steamers are landing 500 Boer recruits monthly at Bay.

The Free Staters threaten'to shoot Commandant Oliver for grossly deceiving them.

The halt made by Lord Roberts at Bloemfontein is due to a cautious effort to secure a peaceful transition of authority. A RAILWAY LINE DIVERTED. MILNER’S AND SCHREINER’S MOVEMENTS. CAPETOWN, March 26. The railway line has begn diverted so as to cross the Orange River at Bethulie by the waggon bridge. At Mo'lteno and Dordrecht Sir Alfred Milner, on his journey northwards, was welcomed, while Mr Schreiner was hooted. EXCITED LOYALISTS. DURBAN, March 26. The colonists in Natal are excited to a dangerous degree a* the prospect of the disloyal element of the population escaping punishment altogether.

LORD METHUEN’S ADVANCE,

THE BOER STRENGTH. (Received March 28, 1.5 a.m.) LONDON, March 27,

Lord Methuen is completing his transport arrangements with a view ~to a rapid and effective advance. The “Times” states that a moderate trustworthy estimate shows that two thousand Boers haye been killed in action. The total casualties, exclusive of several thousand Fred Staters who have returned to their farms, amount to fifteen thousand. The enemy henceforth Vil|jPOt muster above thirty thousand.

THE BOERS AT KROONSTAD: TRANSVAALERS’ DESPONDENT. (Received, March 28,1.10 a.m.) LONDON, March 27. Military authorities hope that the Boers will fight at Kroonstad, as the position is not naturally strong, and the plains beyond render pursuit easy. Ninety thousand sleepers {or the DundeeVryheid railway have been transferred from Dundee to the Transvaal. General French has received many submissions from the enemy and has returned to Bloemfontein. Many Transvaalers doubt the utility of further resistance. THE FUTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA. IMPERIAL FEDERATION. LONDON, March 27. 'iJhe “Standard” sayg that the leaders of the Opposition recognise that the extension of sovereignty over South Africa is the only possible settlement of the question, but they recommend that the several States should be formed into self-govern-ing colonies. The Imperial Yeomanry, numbering ten thousand, is complete. The Hon Brassey has issued a circular to Liberals. He urges that the war has advanced the question of Imperial representation springing from participation in the burdens of the Empire. The federations of Canada, Australia and South Africa will become important units shortly, simplifying the creation of an Assembly, wherein the colonies will be represented in matters dealing with foreign relations; and. military and naval expenditure, and facilitating Home Rule on local questions in Ireland and elsewhere.

(Received March 28, 1.10 a.m. SYDNEY, March 27,

The Premier has received a cable from the Viceroy of India stating that he will send a plague expert. THE PRESENT POSITION. OPINIONS OF AN EX-MILITARY OFFICER. (By RHAMABIDIKWL) NOTES. The news to hand in yesterday’s cables is of a nondescript character, and there is

' "■ ■' —v"l I no fresh forward movement, or any import-'" ant action to comment upon. The lull of the past few days is practically still con-'l tinuing, and therefore, until such time as there is something (to record, the notes_ of the writer of this column will be brief." In the Free State, Lord Roberts is still; endeavouring to pacify the 1 country south of Bloemfontein with as little friction as; possible. There is just a danger, however,of big treating the men who have recently been in arms against the British too leniii ently, which would be a serfous mistake,; Nothing short of absolute submission, sur-< render of all arms, deprivation of .the fran-( chise in any fresh arrangement, L°th inJ Cape Colony and the Free State, of all men who have borne arms against the British, will be of the slightest use- It would be utterly unjust and unfair to Gape, colonists and others who have been staunchly loyal right through the various, crises of \ several years, that the offences of rebels should be practically entirely condoned.' The loyal colonists in Natal are quite right to feel extremely annoyed and yntirely dissatisfied w'th any arrangement which should allow of men who have been in rebellion to get off scot free and be allowed; the voting power which they have justly' forfeited. The feeling amongst the loyalists in Cape Colony .will be even stronger and fiercer than in Natal, if rebels lately in; arms against the British are-allowed, tq exercise the franchise equally with them-] selves. Any such childish folly as thid would 1 simply mean perpetuating or pro-i longing the reign of the Afrikander' Bond, and no arrangement which fails to Utterly; break the power of that pernicious secret association will be satisfactory or accept] able to the colonial British loyalists. Thei, Bond machinations and resolutions continue ally passed have written on them, large—thd origin of the trouble —a disloyal, sneaking conspiracy for the promotion of a Dutch South African Republic, which would have meant the negation of justice and freedom.; Rapidly glancing at the course of events,] it is to be noted that General Clements has entered Plfilippolis, where he read ip, pro] clamation to the burghers announcing, that those swearing neutrality, if they had ’taker] no leading part in the policy of the Repub] lies or any hostilities, would bo allowed toj return to their farms, and stating that thei date Government at Bloemfontein would never be re-established. The cable goes oa to say that the Boers listened carefully, and then surrendered their arms. A number of Colesberg rebels, who had taken refuge in! the town, were arrested, and the proceedings terminated with the reinstatement to theiri ' offices of the landrost and sheriffs. Whether this latter was a wise concession to havd, made, time alone will show, and it depends greatly upon, the personal character of the men themselves and whether it is possible! for them to be loyal in the true sense of thei word.

The fight which was anticipated in the! neighbourhood of Maseru in Sunday cvcn-i ing’s cables, has not yet come off, and ap-i parently Commandant Olivier was able toi slip past Ladybrand before General French,; advancing from Thabanchu, could intercept}, him. The intelligence in reference to this fairly strong force of Boers is unreliable and conflicting. In one place they are reported to be occupying a strong position north of Ladybrand apparently waiting ; attack,i whereas another report from Ladybrand is to the effect that Ollivier and his force have 1 deserted their laager and are flying wildiy,j with General Gatacre’s cavalry in hob pur* suit. It now seems likely that until the' whole of the British forces now south of Bloemfontein shall have thoroughly and successfully dealt with the rebels, defeating,! capturing and disarming them, no forward move of any importance will be made by General Roberts from Bloemfontein against! the enemy now assembled in force at Krooni stad. When this has been successfully acl complishefi, the British wave of invasion, 1 practically extending in one line from east 1 to west across the Free State,...will roll! steadily forward. ... ;

In the meantime the thousands of 'fresh troops who arrived in Capetown to*j wards the end of last week are being pushed rapidly to the front, and a very consider-' able portion of them will very probably bai sent on to join in a strong flanking move-; ment to the northward of Christiana, Lord 1 Roberts’s fighting line will ■ also, scon bo strongly reinforced by the Eighth Division,! which will be landed"at Port Elizabeth and East London, and forwarded, by rail via l Norval’s Pont and Bethulie; where, the' bridges are now sufficiently repaired to cany! the rolling stock. ’ i At the latter place the railway line has: been for the time being diverted so as ts> (jross the Orange .River" by ilic waggon-' bridge, while the traffic bridge is being re* paired.

I According to the cables, it would seem!; very clear that in addition to the loyalists: in the north-east of Cape Colony, those late-i ly disaffected also sum 1 up Mr Schreiner ah 1 his true value, as when he lately accom-; panied Sir Alfred Miner in his progress: northward, he was hooted by the populace at Molteno and Dordrecht, while Sir Alfred':' is said to have been welcomed in a fri-en/flyi manner. The reported suppression of the/; rebellion in the north-west of Cape; Colony;; by Lord proves, as was antici- 1 pated by the writer in a previous article,-'; to have been incomplete, as the rebels lately; at Kenhardt have taken up a position som<B-j ivhere between that "place and 1 Van Wyck’s; Vlei, TJJien ,again, a distinct mistake wasnot hotly pursuing the body of the! Traifsvaalers who escaped over the riven! from Ppicska just previous to the occupa-j f tion of that place by the British, as we are! now told thst these 400 , Transvaalers, as! they retired north, reoccupied Griqua-j town, where they seized and imprisoned.! the loyal residents ; and now ithe work" was left incntuplpte by the force under' Lord Kitchener has to be finished'off by a! column which has left Kimberley to. expfll ‘the invaders. This is certainly; most unv satisfactory, as by the time the Kimberley! column is nearing Gricpiatown these Trans-*-vaalers will probably have made their; escape northwards. In addition.to this, wo are now told that the British vanguard,! consisting of detachments of New Zea-j landers and Canadians, has left Yan'Wyck’s' Vlei, and is again advancing northwards,-! which is a further proof that the operation it against the rebels were incomplete. Probably this 'time they are advancing against! the enemy, who, ten days or a fortnight; ago, were at Kpnhp-rdt, and ‘within the 1 next day or two wo may hear ,of a fight 1 in this direction.

, At last a force, said to La fop-tho! relief Of Mafeking, composed of the Kimber-<| ley Light Horse, under Colonel PeaMiam, is reported to b.e .advancing,* and when the cable- left, had already proceeded eighteen miles north of Christiana. From Matching we learn that about March 12 qr 15 the garrison bad captured 26 head, of the enemy’s cattle, and that the cordon of the investing Boers was much relaxed. This message, however, relates to a' time antecedent to the light between Snymaa andi Plumer’s force, which it will be remembered again had to retire, so that;it as quite likely that after the Boers had succeeded in driving off Piumer, the invesljp.enfc.jnighh 1 become as vigorous ever. • : The news from Natal can be put in w nutshell, as ajl we know |s that General; Buffer has lately got up 600 stretcheri bearers, has established a hospital of 600. beds at Estcourt, and! that outpost skir-| mishes have taken place between Generali Buffer’s troops and the Boers to the north of Elandskagte, Whether Major-General Warren’s force was actually, again shipped at Durban, and if so, whan portion of the field of operations -they will! be sent ‘to, seems uncertain, and possibly' We may Ivave further news on this subject.] Up to the time of sending these notes' to press, this was all the matter to'hand! that required comment. ' — —. >’Sg£*SS»-l THE WAR FUND*. The sum of £1 has been received from Ms H. Patterson, per Mr J. Patchetfc ? Prebble-J ton.