THE TRESENT POSITION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6730, 27 February 1900, Page 4

THE TRESENT POSITION.

...OPINIONS OF AN EX-MILITARY OFFICER. (By RHAJHABIDIKWLJ NOTES. . The news, for which we are all anxiously waiting, of some decisive outcome of the Xitanic- struggle that has now been going on some four or live days in the neigh* bourhood of Kordoosrand, has , unfortunatety, not yet arrived; but in spite of the disappointing delay, there is little doubt that the British forces are being handled in a masterly manner, and it is to' be hoped we shall not have to suffer much longer the pangs of hope deferred. The shelling of Cronje's positicn was continued the whole of Thursday, and the cordon of British troops drawn closer, the Shropshires having, advanced two hundred yards nearer, so ti>Sb the guns would be hurling their njeasages of death from a distance of cnly. % trifle. over a mile. How long this terrific fusillade, oi probably about seventy guns, will require to be kept up, it is difficult to -judge, Bab as both banks, from all accounts, are being thoroughly enfiladed by .the fare, we must suppose that the Boer losses wjll.be something appalling in proportion to the number engaged, as although they are veritable, moles at taking cover and.: aiding themselves, a ll cover of the nature of bushes and trees that may have , clothed^h& sides of the gully will be .sv^ptiaway, and blown to splinters. : According to President Kruger, communication , with Cronje is not actually ;seyered, ; but with the investment drawing •in clqser,.hbur by hour, 'any possibility of ..this continuing should '.be put -beyond all .feanner of doubt'.' Dr. -te^xis's "statement th.at" .Cronje had broken through the British 6brdcn is probably not wcrrby of second coru!iderafibn7*l^ it is useless to ; ."disguise the fact that every day that passes --without our "object being attained makes the possibility of relief through the pres- ' sure of larger reinforcements greater. No doubt; Lord Roberts will be fairly well informed of the numbers and measures of any approaching force, and will make his dispositions accordingly ; and should it become absolutely necessary at the last, may endeavour to carry their positions a t the point of the bayonet. The cables are said to persistently attribute to Cronje a pre--concerted plan ci compelling the attention . the British with a view to detaching them while the concentration of the Boer ..forces at Bloemfontein and Pretoria is effected. Possibly, in the earlier stages, when he fought three successive battles in six d,ays, he . had. some such idea ; , but, it I seems extremely unlikely that he intended j to allow himself to be over-taken, though he possibly hoped, by dint of sheer hard fighting, with an overwhelming vanguard, to hold. the British at bay, to lead them a considerable^ dance about the country. If this was "his object, he must have forgotten, or under-estimated, the strong mbuiited force under" the command of General French ; and, as is usual with jthe old style of Boer, held the fighting prowess of the ; British ebidier'in contempt. - While 1 admitting that 'every 1 - day's ; fighting, in which" he 'succeKsfully holds the at bay Trtay give Kim an ■. increasing chance of relief, stiir.bnthe other hand, his continuing a struggle which in all human probability is helpless, simply means an unnecessary and unjustifiable sacrifice* of life, and the Boer prisoners captured at Koc^ doosrand may well describe Cronje's persistent resistance as "murder." As anticipated some few days ago would be the case, Lord Roberts has made an announcement for the guidance of British troops Vhen the enemy show the white flag in future, and tells the troops in so manvi words that, owing to the frequent violation t»y the Boers of the rules usually observed with regard to the whit© flag, they are not compelled to accept it. In other words, it is left very much to the discretion of the officers what they shall do under any given set <6i circumstances." ' ' ' la. Natal, the attempt of General Buller, to j^resa forward to the i«iie£ of Ladysinith \ :' ■ ;' : '■ ■'■■■•■••■-■■■■ '-■ "• • • ; •_ "'■'••, ■ /; ;

"K^%4ift lt>efe\tnfetA^tV%t\4bVqtn-re6rstan6!ei-on the part of the B^ats, Last we*& we heard that the Pt^tish had- tVossed-the, Tugela ftncl -occupied tTle township of Colensq, *nat our big guns had been got across' to -the iV&rth side of the river, ftn<i tlm General Buller was gradually advancing, fighting cautiously. Fighting, it appears of a desperate character apparently i took place on Friday ta«t in the neighbourhood of GrobeierV Kloof. The British commenced operations by a tremendous and susteined cannonade after which the. Fifth ' Brigade, under General Hart, slowly fought its way forward to within two hundred yards of the first entrenchment*) where they bivouacked for the night, From' this it wouid seem as though - General Buller intended to endeavour to- catty the place by assault, whichy considering the previous re* ports we have had as to. its impregnability^ seems almost like a forlorn hope* Still we must hope that, having thoroughly re con- , noitred. the place, he has now advanced upon it after satisfying himself as to- the probability .of success,., and we trust Bincerely; Vhaths *ri«y have better luck next time, 5 Baron . von Dam, and chief of y the Boer artillery* hftsboen captilred by': theßritish>troops r but.\veare not informed whether "this took place ttear Grobeler.'s Kloof-, or in -the fighting- 6n Thursday. last f near.; --ster's Stating. According "to the Boers,' the KrmfeVsi and Middleberg commandos re-\ jmlse^ the . attacking force under General Bailer ..-oft Thursday* the British being reP°;red to have suffered heavy loss. Whether <m* la! true- we -'do not know, but < General Stiller has Said nothing about it, beyond 1 Reporting that, owing to continuous fightSb§y it is impossible at present to give a list of the casualties sustained by the rank and file. It is with sincere regret we again ,>ear of the heavy casualty list amongst the officers, thirteen of whom were wounded "and three' killed/ AtLadysmith, also, the ; Boers seem to have been again very active lately, and as yet We have heard.no further explanation df "the heavy- cannonading which was repotted to. have taken place on Thurs- j •fl&y last. The Ladysmith • garrison, htiw fever, are Sported, to have captured two fefmed Uerman spies, wearing the red' cross, \y£s were caught in the dot of seekinsr de| tails of the town from the. natives, arid>it is to be hoped General White gave these ■ gentry short snrift.' Ladysmith, apparently, is still cJosely invested, ana the enemy seem' , to hav£ by no means given up- the hope of feufeiSss in this quarter, as there has been Ho general retirement of the besiegers as • yet, although it seems clear that the bulk of the Boers from Spionkop, AcTbn Homes and other places are trekking northward, . ns the Dundee Road is covered for miles with Boer waggons. Evidently,. General Buller still has "a big task in front of him before Ladysmith is relieved. Still a constant 6tream of German recruits is filtering through \ Delagoa Bay to assist the Boers, as it ny pears that on Wednesday last 100 Germans and 150 of mixed nationalities were landed " at Delagoa Bay and .passed on by rail to ; Pretoria. How much longer will the farce j go on ? Portugal has repeatedly broken | the rules of neutrality, and there is not the slightest doubt that the British would be perfectly justified in seizincr and holding Delagoa Bay. Advices received from Pre? toria state that fighting is going omin the neighbourhood of Fetrusberg, the result of • which .they admit is still doubtful. This place is about seven or eight miles east of , Emmaus, and is situated about half-way between Jacobsdal and Bloemfontein, 1 and news will probably come very soon now, J throwing fuller light upon this. I LATEST CABLES. I The information conveyed . in the latest messages is of a distinctly encouraging character. First of all, we hear from Pretoria that Cronje's position is considered hopeless. The British troops have been • gradually closing in on all sides, the Boers . being now confined to a portion of the river- I bed two miles' long,' 150ft wide and 50ft deep. Ohirnside's Brigade holds the upper end of . this ditch, while Smith Dorrien's force occupies the lower end. High banks, | irf Some parts overhanging, and numerous dongaa intersecting, afford the enemy some ] shelter. Their food supplies are said to be abundant, but ammunition failing. General . Roberts offered a safe conduct to the women , frort Cronje's laager, but this humane act on the part of the British was curtly ro- ' fused. The proffer of medical aid was also rejected by the enemy, unless they were allowed to retain the doctors. The bombardment of the laager, which was of an intermittent nature on Thursday, was resumed on Friday in great strength. General French j has again been doing grand work, as he ! succeeded in expelling reinforcements from ! 1 a fortified kopje to the eastward of Cronje's position, which service is doubly useful, as 1 the kopje is at a point at which the British can make a splendid defence against the advance of any relieving column. He captured 540 prisoners, including several hun- ! dred mounted men, who had escaped from Cronje's laager during the night, as well as numerous sheep and cattle. From the captured deserters from the laager, information was received that Cronje himself was now willing to surrender, but was overborne by the headstrong determination of the younger Transvaalers. From Pretoria we learn that consternation prevails. Louis Botha has telegraphed from Natal that the Boer forces besieging Ladysmith are knocked up. and he advices Kruger, to sue for peace. President Steyn also wired President Kruger that the Free State burghers refused to continue the fight, and strongly advised immediate overtures for peace, recognising that a rout was imminent. General Roberts cables congratulating Queensland on sending further reinforcements, adding that he could find employment for any more mounted men the colony, cared to send. • This, taken as a whole, is the most satisfactory and cheering news that we have heard for a very long time, and we sincerely trust, for the sake of the Boers, as well as the peace of the whole of South Africa, and the lives of our gallant soldiers, that Kruger, whose ambition, greed and pig-headed hatred of the British dre mainly responsible for all the trouble, and bloodshed that have occurred will be brought to reason. If the Boers sincerely desire peace, by all means let , itbe granted, but it must be absolutely un-" conditional. . The Free State and Transv vaal portion of the map must all be painted' red}, and if any arrangement is come td^'at. this stage, it must be of such a nature aswill entirely preclude the possibility, of oc-' currence of any future trouble. Anything • like weakness or too much concession on the part of Great Britain would be entirely misconstrued by the Dutch as well as the natives. Any terms of peace that may be ' granted must be a clear and distinct objectlesson for. all time, and Great Britain must be paramount. Before anything is done, however, a strong commission should visit all the farms of the western province of the Cape Colony, and discover how many of the younger Boers in each, family are. absent, and besides being punished in ariy^other suitable, manner, , they should be denied the franchise until the permission of the Brit- . ish Government should remove the embargo, as it would never do after the misuse they have made of their liberties and power, to allow the Afrikander Bond to continue to rule the roost in the Cape Colony, supported in power by the votes of disloyal men, Who took up arms with the object of overthrow-: ing British supremacy. Such men as

,"St.ht^dner,. ; . Jan. Hofftiieyer and;,. Merritnah j should be severely punished. j