THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4262, 23 January 1901, Page 7

THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

LOUD Q. HAMILTON - OX Ail.ViY HE FORM. Cord (X Hamilton, M.P., who prc- • rib-d on November 11 lust at the _au>.:i;ll diuu-r of t lie Acton Consti'utioa. Club. -::i< I faccording to the London “Standard”) it was i,>:<tn-cinll,y satisfactory to know Hint nut only bad tin'. Conservative party ;m enormous preponderance in (ho Home of Commons, fail tint it, numbered so many men liters 01 assured ability. Lord Salisbury bad !i;> (I to I'ocon ,1 ! 1 11 1 < • bis Government, nod there to il’,ninny able ycmi" men in t heir rank-;, oi;o o! bis (The speakers) v-i.lleaoia:-;.; I.ail s.-dd to bird tint it was bb-b time Hio rcciunl eleven bn'l tin in* nil!"-.. Well n. enn«i.|e-rnl>|e number of vomit: irifii Ind boon im-bided in the nm- j.iiih,,,,! > ;(11’I they uore men ot (be M-die t- prcmi-e -dnar. bear)—men n li*> !| t’d Mieeeefjed in almost, even’ dit-li.-üb, las!.' i!i n v bad undertaken. t(Jbeersi There iv? ~ bo believed, a very strung foolin'; that groat organic change:; -■ mould, take place in the army, ffe biniIhentj'.'!'. Doit some effort should bp nvidc to tiring up the organisation and the administration of the army to a par •'■i'b the unquestioned coinage amt dcterminatioii shown liv tin’ officers and the rank and file in thel- fight Ina. eanacity. ttlenr, bear.) But anny reforni was a very difficult and a very eompl,”-'d cl

•. nhjcct. ft sounded paradoxical, lad ,t was a fact, tb.al cur vr-rv fighting: power mu! canravre bad resulted in certain 1 branches of our oigauisaf km and training Icing behind those of oilier armies. Might be \ entitle to warn them against om- common sliiijiu sifiou. which be saw ■.cry frequently represented in the jaws ';' The >m thuds of organisation both uf 'be army and navy were partly ciiiJiavi, end pouplo ivere ratb-’r apt to assume, that if till the civilian -dement nc!i. driven out, and an unlimited expenditure incurred, ail iwnild go wed. lie did not bob! that view; and bo had bad excciitional opportunities of lookin'' info (be ijncstion. During the seven year; Jo was at the Admiralty he bad to reorganise and reforni almost, every branch, of naval and dockyard administration. Ho bad thou full opportunity of realising ilm H-iith of what bo had .tint staled. Whilst bo finite admitted that, (her" v, as loom for reform, if. was no; easy- fo recast, an old-cst nblisliod and lawpcidcd system of niililary organisation such as e.sided in Ibis country. He Had, however, great confidence in Mr Brotlriek and Lord Stanley. Mr Brod rick bad .'.pent, many years in office, and was full of courage and resource. Ho had mi doubt (be new Secretary for "War nimbi uliii.se. fo the very utmost ~his rare ex ocrii ncc and (lie opportunities which be would now enjoy, (Hear, bear.) But, without wishing to offer discouriigomait, be; wished - to make- it p’.dte clear that the process of army reform - must necessarily bo slow. Therefore, the country should not lie disappidnl oil if progress at first was note so rapid or as great; as could bo wished. But. the Hoterumeet was earnestly endeavouring to improve the training of officer-, and men, arid improve and recast the higher branches of military organisation ; and ho thought no Government could put its haml to a worthier task, or one which would more appeal to the sympathies of tho nation. (Loud cheers).

THU EX-P.REiS I D ENT’S' WJMILIATXON. President Kruger’s proposed journey from Paris to Berlin was interrupted in a manlier that ho little expected (says “.Lloyd’s Weekly”). Arriving at Cologne late on December Ist, ho found that ho preparations for any official reception had been made. An explanation was soon forthcoming, for President Kruger, was informed by the German Minister a o Luxemburg that the Emperor William would be unable to receive him if lie came to Berlin. Tho rebuff was a very unpleasant surprise for the President- It did not, however, prevent his secretary, who was in Berlin on private business, from laying a wreath of flowers on old Kaiser Wilhelm’s tomb in Chariottonburg. The wreath, which consisted of flowers corresponding with the colours of the bate Transvaal Republic, waa placed on the tomb at President Kruger’s request. Attached to it was a broad ribbon, bearing the words: “To the never-to-be-forgotten Kaiser, in grateful remembrance.—President Kruger.” The Public Prosecutor at Marseilles, at an inquiry into the Hotel du Louvre incident on the day of the arrival of President Kruger, decided to prosecute three Englishmen who threw coppers among the crowd on that clay for a breach of the police regulations. Iwo charges have been preferred—namely, creating a disturbance, and throwing hard substances in a public rtreot.

BOER TREACHERY. The following letter from. Dr Lawson, of iic New South Wales Imperial BuShinen, gives an account of liow Trooper J. 11, Murray camo by his death, and furnishes yet another example of the black treachery of the '“gentle Boer" : “Klerksdorp, November 19. 1900. My dear Mrs Murray,—You will already have heard the sad nows about your son. Ho was one of the advanced scouts. They had been told to be careful and not fire too hastify-, as we expected to meet Lord Methuen's They saw four men dressed like ours, and one with overcoat on very like our men. They rode quietly up, quite close, and your son got off his horse to speak to them, thinking they were some we expected to meet, when they suddenly fired and galloped away, wounding another man severely in the waist, and hitting your sen in the lower and left part of the abdomen. Death must have been almost instantaneous. There was an empty cartridge in his rifle, so I presume ho Jived Jong enough to pull a trigger. Ho was wel 1 liked by the men in lus squadron, who deeply felt his lass, and was a. good soldier. Ho was buried ju the little graveyard at Kaffirs Kraal.'

Tlio Acting-Premier yesterday received si- cablegram from Syuney stating that 1 90 1 rooper Warner and 465 Trooper ' ameron left Sydney by the Waihora on jlonday. Trooper A. Warner, of No. 5 Company, Third Contingent, belongs to Hawcra. Trooper 11. G. Cameron, of the Second Contingent, is a Pa tea man. The members of the United States ambulances who have been serving with the Boors in the Transvaal and Oraimo Free States, have'(says a “Central News” message) arrived at Now York by the North German Lloyd liner Trave. They ray Unit with the exception of the nurses and six doctors none of thorn ever lifted a stretcher m the Transvaal. They fought with the Boers throughout, despite the fact that they took the noncombatant oath prior to leaving the linked States for South Africa. They

declared that when they arrived at Delagoa, Bay Mr Hollis, tho American Consul, notified them that tho United States i'Vn-oign Office had instructed him not t i recognise them as members of the Rial Cross Society, and not lo do anything for (hem. the members of Hu, ambulances declare that they had consequently nothing else to do but fight. They blame the United Stales foreign Office for compelling them to violate their oath. FEES 3 AfefiOCIATIO;.. DUNEOfN, January -J-J. Tho Reception Committee to-day decided to carry out a slightly modified programme for the reception of the troopers returning by tne Orient. The sports, etc., at, Forbury Par!: and tireworks and illuminations in the evening have been given up.