FEELING IN NATAL

New Zealand Mail, 15 February 1900, Page 51

FEELING IN NATAL

PEOPLE DISGUSTED WITH THE MILITARY INACTION. GUERILLA CORPS WANTED...=... (London “Chronicle” Special, Correspondent.) - - . i ;"1 DURBAN, November r2ej;~ * ra t; 18 we , s neW9 of the militfirYoperations, so far as they have-been/alio wSnL™ m by the Pressa depressing effect on I stifr- ° f Durba]l - The censorship eLISt g Amorously exercised, and most tn, to took for the KLS ° rthy formation regarding P ai S'i reaching them through the SfiSfflfi T L°se who at firs? Were led^ictL the C0I ?soi-ship, and eotinselof some , Pe “e mg the development Sir ' t “ r ' T ■scheme of which lieved Whites inaction was bei«S their hliS' “VZ d ‘ SC “ d ' a 'iisT fV 8 pp a»d by the Dntr.li have been occupied gristed. ’ as we i as others, are distil beea drifting, by the J pect of Gon or r l PP. ear there is a proses- making Jou hert and his burghChrisS fn to S P end itzburg. h r former capital, Marha^ma^^F3,lßll opeued . the Dutch Nital’®rafl|£ r sec , ure . 239 * miles of still . leaving the colony ° miles of the and Port Natoi ning Ar° ut 1 *° MaritSburg si de of . M?aawhi l e , °h either ration, with it=° r ? Ue i r F me communinf r ked ' Up f °rces, the mercy 0 f the cou , ntr - v is at the drive off cattle Wl ° are free to Free State and « th £ P*®s&.into, the tjon of affai>F d _Ji be vTransvaal—-a posirheering for th« f acb ls anything . but of ’Natal. Both ana merchants are freely criti-

cising the inaction and apparent helplessness of the military. Had tliev been allowed to form guerilla corps, sa‘v the farmers, cattle raiding through the country would not have been carried on to the extent it has, ss many farmers axe as good shots and horsemen as the Boers themselves. Talking to-day .to a magistrate who f understands, native mind perhaps better than any other man in the eolo- ■ ny, I was told of the deplorable effect which the unrestrained raiding of the Boers throughout Natal was likely to have upon the natives. So far the natives of iSatal and- Zululand have remained loyal, but how long that lovaltv will be maintained it is difficult to‘ sav. the natives had got accustomed to look tor'protection to Great Britain as the supreme Power But now they see British subjects fleeing from their homesteads before handfuls of Dutch scouts, v bile the thousands of British- troops are apparently helpless to prevent the advance of these Dutch. Power the natives of Natal and Zululand respect weakness they despise. Thev see the invaders overrunning the country while the British appear to lock themselves up m towns, unable to stop the incursions, while the arrival of transport after transport with troops produces no eftect. Each army that arrives, like its predecessors gets promptly invested, while the Dutch .advance and possess the country. . Apparently the Government is- beginning to dread the effect upon the natives of the wholesale desertion of homesteads. Soinertdays ago it issued a notice expressing deep concern at colonists- fleeingsfrom their homes in country ■ places. So far as.it had a ble to learn, the Government stated that only deserted homes were looted by the Boers- and that those who remained at their homes, were safe, and would be subjected to no personal illtreatment. In the face of reports resolved from refugee colonists, this statement of the Government is not believed, nor that the Boers would be likely to respect the property of those farmers who were in the field fighting against them. While it is admitted that the Boer officers had issued instructions prohibiting tb ,° Noting of farms, it is manifest that there is an amount of looting which they are powerless to prevent. The Boer forces comprise a large number of mercenaries and Johannesburgers. and from their guerilla methods of conductmg a campaign, it is evident that a good deal of looting could take place without the knowledge of the Boer officers. Altogether Natalians are disgusted nnth the result of the campaign. At the time of writing, the Dutch are with- . in-two days’ easy march of the capital, and in possession of a large part of the colony.