THE COMMAND IN SOUTH AFRICA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11538, 24 November 1900, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE COMMAND IN SOUTH AFRICA.

The London correspondent of the New York Tribune writes: Sir Redvers Bullets return to England is a great surprise to military men here, who had expected that he would succeed Lord Roberts. It is interpreted as a sign that Lord Kitchener will be, left in command in South Africa. This result causes satisfaction in two quarters. The Aldershot gang is relieved, because it dreads the transfer of Lord Kitchener to London, where he might turn the military service upside down if allowed by Lord Salisbury to have a free hand; the South African community here is also pleased, because it is weary of what it describes as Lord Roberts' " softhearted leniency," and regards Lord Kitchener as a rough and resolute soldier who will not be swayed by sentimental considerations but will restore order in the two new colonies by drastic methods. This section is shared without doubt by a large section of the public, which reeds with impatience the accounts of raiding operations by General De Wet's burghers and the Transvaal train - wreckers. General Buller has been relieved of command and allowed to return in advance of Lord Roberts, in order that he may not suffer the humiliation of being set aside in favour of Lord Kitchener. As Sir Frederick W. E. Fores-tier-Walker, Lord Methuen, Sir Francis Clery, Colonel Willian G. Tucker, and possibly other generals outrank Lord Kitchener, other changes will be necessary. Lord Kitchener's promotion may be a short way out of the difficulty.