THE BUTCHER'S BILL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12532, 20 June 1901, Page 4

THE BUTCHER'S BILL.

]SFo one mow speaks of the South African struggle as a "little war." The Budgets have brought the magnitude of the operations home to the taxpayer, and in the aiatfcetr of monetary cost Britain fe likely to find them the most expensive she has ever engaged in. It'is wot easy to realise what an expenditure' of a million and a half sterling a week actually means, and still less are we able to grasp the eigniflcanoe of the huge total *of *ne hTsnidred and fifty millions, which as certain to be reached before the campaign is at an end. It is useful to remember that £10,000,000 ,wau tha first estimate of the cost of tha war. But if the monetary cost is 'heavy, the sacrifice of human life must be considered' comparatively light. ; The following, table, issued by the War Office, gives the number of casualties in South; Africa

from the beginning of the war until April 30:— ' Officers. . Men. Killed dn action . ... 355 3,667 Died of wounds . . . . 115 1,230 PrisoivCTS' : -who have died in captivity . ■ . • . ■. .4 02 Died cf disease . . . .232 8,949 Accidental deaths . ~ . ,8 526 Total deaths in South Africa 714 1'4,G64 Missing and prisoners . 7 774 Sent ihome as invalids ■■ . . 1,977 , 45,762 Total (South African Pield Force . ... . 2,693 60,800. Grand total . . , 63,498 This of courle, does not represent tie actual reduction of the Empire's military forces, because* most of the men invalided home have been retained; in the service, and not a few have -returned to. South Africa. The following tabto shows the total reduction of the military forces through the war:— . ■ . Officers. Men. Deaths in South Africa . . " 714 14,264 Missing and (prisoners ... 7 774 Invalids sent homo -who h&ve, died ,••■,-.■ * 314 Invalids Ben* home -who iiava felt Ahe Service as unfit . —£ 2,493 725 17,845 Grand total . • . 18,570 The figures show once more that there are deadlier -weapons than the bullet. The fighting accounted for do more than some 5000 victims; disease robbed the Earjare of aJmcst twice as" many of its sons. But the most remarkable feature of the "bill is the small proportion of absolute loss to the total of casualties. It surely says something "for the humanity of the Mauser bullet and the excellence of the Army medical arrangements that out of 63,498 sufferers only 18,570 .should be rendered hors de- combat. If we compara these figures with the official lists of the FrancoPrussian war we find at once how merciful the South African campaign has been. The founding, of the German Empire in 1870-71 cost the lives of over 43,000 officers -and men, nearly three times as maaty as the British have IcstVini South Africa. Of these 17,255 were tilled outright, 10,506. died of wounds, and 15,340 of disease. The unwillingness of commanding officers in South Africa' to sacrifice their men has, of course, rendered tho casualty-list unusually light for eo long a campaign, but it has also caused' tihe war 'to-be protracted. The tactics of the Boers, too, have rendered decisive actions few and far between, and it is in pitched battles that the heavy casualty-lists are made. Brit the butcher's.bill is nob yet closed, and unless the war is prosecuted with the utmost vigour during the winter months we shall have another year, with its tale of sriipings and sMrmishee,. to swell the totals.