WAR NOTES FROM LONDON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7154, 19 July 1901, Page 1

WAR NOTES FROM LONDON.

[From Oub Corbsspondknt.] LONDON, Jt»« 8. BOER .VERSION OF THE CONFERENCE Bsfl»E^^^^ ■ ■.■-'.■ ."■ ■ : 'MENDERS. ." "■ ,■ n - '' ' "

: "Vsl»t! no soa^? so ih© died and ffl» very imprudently married the "barber j and they all fdi to paying the game «* catch a« .catch can, tali ran out : «t**th» heebbf their boots."' This quotation cornea involuntarily to the lips on the perusal of the account given at Haarlem of the peace conference between Kitchener and Botha by Dr Kerens de. Haan, who had charge of the ambulance at Botha's headquarters. *' The last bit of soap in the camp," •says the doctor, "was used to clean down Botha's white horse before he set out for Middteburg. But- va the Boer camp "What! no 6oap?" could hardly be expected to lead to the tragedy narrated by Foote, although at Middleburg there was pwsent the #*at panjandrum himsesf, and after the negotiations had failed they did very truly all f all to playing the game of catoh as catch- can, and it is hoped most of the gtenpowd* has. by this time run out of the heels of the Boers' bootß. Many *>f the Boers, Dr de Haan tells us* go barefoot, and only put on their shoes at* the «e«nmencement of a fight, and the only clathwtiiey have are -uniforms Btripaed off J.the.Engliah. - Nevertheless-, '>:they are to fight to tie last. The doctor, is at pains to point out that the Sftgotaations came , from the' • British;. «rid that-ri(lj The meeting took place at Kitcheners request; (2) no further meetings took place; (3) an armistice was never concluded j (4) Botha never thought of surrendering, and told Kitchener this plainly ; (5) the, Government of the South African Republic, as well as Steyn and De Wet, fully agreed with Botha's views, aad the statements made by him to Kitchener; (6) that the Commandant-General had a meeting near Vrede with De Wet; who declared that the conclusion of peace on Lord Kitchener'j conditions was impossible. All commandants, field-cornets and burghers are of the same opinion. Dr de Haan gives the following version of the interview .between the two commanders:—"At headquarters, Botha Tfaa received by a staff officer. Kitchener approached and" shook hands, took ihts arm, and led him into a room. Botha summoned his two secretaries, but Kitchener was ak*ae. Botha declared th«b the independence of the Republic must be placed in the foreground of the discussion. Kitchener said that the English Government would sever consent to this. Kitchener further declared that Sir Alfred Milner had been appointed Governor of both Republics, and that it would be a good thing if Botha had^an -interview Witih Milner. Botha answered- that he had no desire for" such a meeting. 'But he is a'; pleasant man,' said Kitchener. Botha answered: 'That may be, but I won't have anything to do with him. I- know the history of Souths Africa, and know 'more than, you do" about the action of Sir. Alfred. Mi!rar. All Afrikanders have lost confidence in this man, who, more than anybody else,, has hejjped^ to work our ruin. I can't understand Jiow'the English Government could make ; such a g?&t {political mistake as to send this, man, iw^» vlias i'.^majs sown hatr»d and discoid between the , two -peoples? as xtfjughiest, .^epießentatiya' to Pretoria/ : ' . - - "BbtSa complaiaea! of -die bad treatment of the Boer women, and mentioned names and dates. Kitchener caidithafche would make an inquiry ixfto- thes^ cases. In certain instances he had given, no orders. He saw no chance of ending the war without taking away the wometai and children, as every house was a Boer magazine. The burning of the farms had taken place in many cases without cause. Officers, not officially responsible^ were- to blame. The bad treatment of women and- children taken prisoners was also discussed. Kitchener asked why Botha and -other tope* Generals were w> h^rd Jtowards the mesnbe* of -the Peace Committee. He had leient to know -and respect one of them, iiotha declared i&at -this -man had elways -refused to go on active service during 'tihis -wari would only take lucrative "posts, and finally' -laid dowa Iris *rins; 'It is possible that you respect iam. for this. I cannot.' *No nioire dp I MfyAxm^Ty' Kitchener said; Botha remaiked: 'You cannot expect me to ne--gotfate fb* peace Witt "i traitor to the good cause.' Kftchener said niftbxng, .but- seemed to agree with Botha on this point. Kitchener is a regular eoldier-^fltraightforvrard w=*(rt a» pdlifcician. v '— ' "Botha further complaaied about the Efigkah arming Kaffirs. Kitobener answered straight out that this Was by his orders.- The Britißh' troops were not strfficlenHy acquainted wi& the couwtry. Botha "saidlfchftt he thought that tire troops had been long enough in the country to know the ground. After the -conversation, which endted with Botha's refusal to oon'■eeht to Kitchener's proposal*, an excellent lunch was served. It tasted better than mealies, porridge and bjltong, Botha said "

LIEUTENANT JOSS'S PETS. In a recent letter from the front, Mr Butleigh writes:— "The New Zealanders' Confoingent had a oyolast corps of fifty meto/Wonderful fellows, under a marvellous leadter, lieutenant Wanyard Joss, •wiioi-wien.not -<ypling over impossible treks and 'careering for, three, score amles in a daypdevcted this leisure to trapping insects aad -reptiles. I do no*- mean tto : smaller class of insects, they are easily ootainid, J.bat . gigantic JocMts,;: : ,graw- : toppers, wh& Ttasetles and (tarantulas as bag, as - cnriqrt-balls. tte foas made a discovery, "that ifo'baboon is inordinately fond of the tarantula. The monkeymed cteatures seize them with avidity, tear the spider demon* hairy legs oif, and devour the body as a great dainty. I have seen Lieutenant Joss with a pet chameleon upcn. Iris wideawake, a tame tortoise upon a string, and a stock of dead and live snakes stowed away upon his person or in his cart. These cyclists of his used to carry despatches daily between PJumer's camp and the thirty-five miles distant post' of Commissie Drift. I can cycle a toit iaiyself, but I would Dot attempt What they did. Tbe first bicycle matte use of in war was ridden, by me m the A&l&nti campaign. Nwer have I seen. *ucb a body &l determined trundlers as those vrko followed Plumer's column %on> Pretoria to Pietifersbtirg ated ba*k. ! Sand, rocks, Mulders, /scrutsu veidt, they tried Wan ail, fcucMng at no x»terti&cles; f^om kopjejj to rivers, lii this ym, fin|>i*^ble; backless coiimity ■&&■, achieved toarvels. About twenty ' bicycles and t&eir tattered and torn riders Survived -Ac road enccxunterS. pay. By.. day men . ttpon ; cyctes, wilted, succumbed, disappeared from tlis .iafeck7y**j ivett fcvm tfae iovr-pa&s be- ! Mnd carts. And tiis is a secret: som» of tfcenS have iieen knbwh. to let th«ir machines fall in front of ox-waggon wheels, and when the poor bicycle has been all crumpled up\ with the passage over it of the heavy vehicles, -been fcvetheard to «ry, •Thank God! that bike's done for. forever} and thereafter cheerfully tailed afoot with :the ccwivoy/' A TRAINING GROUND FOR AN ARMY.

SIR JOHN COLO&B'S SUGGESTION. Consolidate and organise the British 4giiting power, not of England only, But of tie whole Empire that now • ii<s .dormant, - and while we yet ' have peace with pur Continental noj^Dpurs, make our eeouiMtnd <>i -tie «eas co doiniifiaft, toa our imperial 'temji so «ia«'bile aad ;^re«jy_

that our position will be impregnable. So 1 wise counsellors tell us without cessation, but the opportunity that the South African war lias given, us seems to be gradually slipping awayy and, so far as English statesmen are concerned, our preparation fox Imperial defence being confined' to England. The bogey of invasion seems to be leading our- Government*' to fc*g*t 'that- so long as we the seas an ihvasi^j* is .impossible, and : that, onoe our - ; naval supremacy is gone no army concentrated. in Great Britain alone could save us.' To make! the Empire invulnerable* what do we require? First and foremost, tie command of the sea. .Then, a mobile and well: equipped .army, ready, to go" anywhere at . a. .moment's^ notice, and to strike a' rapid blow at the enemy in his own territory, and not to sit down, and await hid arrival in our own. Such an army would be most conveniently located in the centre of- the Empire, l&irdly, an effective .organisation and co-operation of the voluntary forces of the daughter nations and tlnwe of the Mother Country's,; with a clear programme as to the -number and nature of the troops that «ach will supply if the Empire be threatened by a foreign power. When toe foe is knocking at our gates; it will be too late to extemporise a scratch army. ' Mr Brodrick's scheme propose* to concentrate and train our Army in the thickly populated United Kingdom, where it is almost impossible to procure large areas of -country for manoeuvres except at prohibitive prices, where there isjittle variety, of topographical features to' be found at our principal «amps and where private interests and private property hamper the effectiveness of the operations of the troops at . every turn. The big camps grew into military towns, and Tommy Atkins is exposed to an accumulation of temptation*, that even plaster saints could scarcely.be expected- to resist, with results most prejudicial to tfoe. health of the Army. And our mobile force, the Imperial Yeomanry, is not liable to service outside the United Kingdom! The policy of training our Army at Horn*/ says Sir John Colomb; is frightfully costly, and has failed to produce in the field what we want.

Sir John propounds in the "Times" a sample course that has already found favour with many thinking men. Consolidate, he says, the Imperial Army in South Africa. "With *he sea! safe, an army corps in transports in Simon's Bay commands the free exercise of application of its power at any point in eit&er hemisphere with certainty and in space of time counted by days." The advantages of South Africa axe its strategic position, its climate favitujable to the promotion of physical development, the huge areas available as .training grounds for the troops ami the variety of manajivring grounds obtainable at a low cost, and the ease with whioh long ranges for riifes and guns alike could be provided; The Sons of, England and the, colonies alike, willing to serve with the Imperial Army, wculjlgo to this Imperial school by water. **«S\ would learn the much-needed lesson .that British military effort depends upott freedom of sea transit and also to veustafft themselves to ships, a fundamental nectttsity in a British mobile, army, which cannot go anywhere or do anything unless it first, cromes the sea, . .. . The establishment -of such a system of training our Army would involve the creation of a squadron pi transports adapted to the'eopveyance of troops. That in itself would be jcA jfemptege^kir tin Empire.*' ' : ; Tie abolition oi the insular theory is,; says Sir Join, "the first step necessary to banisi from the minds of the colonies that mistrust' of the Mother Country • created and nurtured by our clinging too long to that theory. Possibly by coming into frank conference over awangementfr, ' f or British security in war, the territories of, South . Africa, which all British; coininiuiities have, baptized with their bipod, may Hfi| found to be from every point of view- the real and best, site: on -which to create by joint effort tfhe primary school of war -train? ing for Imperial military voluntary '.service." , . ■

But -when is that frank conference for Imperial defence coming off?

COLONIALS AtfD THEIR HORSES

The veteran campaigner and correspondent, Bennet Burleigb, who has been . accompanying Plumer's column, up north, finds a word of iau'.t with' the Queenslanders and New ZealaodteTß in that column. "Horses,*' he says, "being cheap and j readily procurable in the colonies, they, as a rule, are careless master*. Whilst the troopers have, lost, since we came here, from 15 to 20 per cent of their horses, the batteries have hot lost an' animal. Out of 500 mounts, Colonel Jeffreys has les& than 360 left, so .that many of ihitf men must march- afoot, unless fresh horses are. brought into camp. 1$ is' much the same with Colonel Colyin's command. The 'New Zealanders' horses were but new, unacqimatised .arrivals, brought over with the last contingent. Still I have se*n the Abb^ tipodeans neglect all that experience teachfß for the care of horses in this region. They should not be allowed to drink or graze before 9 a.m., when the sun is well up, and never after sunset or wh?n the dfew lies upon the grass. It is better also when camping out that their nose bags be left on all night. Bat though our colonial brothers are a lree-and*asy/ crowd about casnp, tkey are ardent fighters. And they are respectM wi^ioujt. .being Bcbsement,. alert and «bedi«i* ia the performance, of; 4?heir. mHitaTy duties. :, lf :*be day ;evef was[ •when *h©:-offic^s heb-nobbed and drani( with l^eir men, that tiaie has quite' gone: by, nor left«iy.trac^ y vwM^,i to Britis'ht'adeas, is of all discipline." Mr Burledgh's testimony does not seem

ut all in accordance W*' what we have hitherto heard as to the 'ie»"nent of their Lurses by colonials. So far all tie evidence rather went to show that while the colonials spared and nursed their horses in every way, often getting off and walking to giv-e their beasts a rest, seeing that their saddles fitted and so on, it was the regular cavalryman who was careless of his steed. What Mr Burkigh means is pTori>ably that ! the colonials <io not take the precautions which the peculiarities of the South African, climate render essential.

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR OFFI-

CBRS

, The irregulars and their officers in South Africa form the theme of an article indited by the "Times" special correspondent at Pretoria, while waiting for something jn the shape of copy to turn up. He utters a warning against the national danger of our believing that we can enlist, . equip and make trustworthy regiments out of war material in a month. While he comes to the coW.usion from his study of the colonial forces in South Africa that halftrained a*id raw" men of the right class can be rapidly turned into efficient soldiers when well led, yet he insists that the training of the officers who make and lead these men must be complete, if the nation- is to depend upon its volunteer resources to defend it against a disciplined enemy. In other words, the irregular f^ce, to be thoroughly efficient, must, he thinks, be led, by. the despised Imperial officer. . *' tjfl&at," k e - ;*sksv "has been; wrong with the Imperial Yeomanry , all 'through the campaign? What • has • prejudiced the sue- ; cess of the colonial corps, and tie name of "the latter is legion. . ..-.'. The officers hava not known their work. > . Every man that is a thinking man, ' especially , among the Australians and New Zealanders, though tfcey loathe discipline as it is understood by the King's regulations, has an admiration for the British professional soldier which he has no wisk to conceal. At the commencement of the campaign the 'Regular and Irregular officers did not understand each otter. The one had to learn to what degree rigid discipline can be relaxed with independent men, the other that success in war does not lie altogether; in the initiative of the individual. They understand each other now, and the combination is magnificent in its results. Here is a hard fact. The colonial corps which have reaped the largest measure of success, and have suffered 4he least disaster, are those which have had the largest leaven of Imperial officers in their official ranks. The most dismal failures — and they are more numerous than the public believes, especially BO at~the present stage of the operations— -are those which, have vaunted the tactless . creed, "We will have no Imperial officers!"

There is another hard fact and) that is •this : The corps that have suffered the greatest disaster and surrendered enpaßse with a comparatively light proportion- of casualitieß. were those not only composed entirely of Imperial troops, "but commanded entirely by llmperial officers. I mention this hard fact not for the purpose of decrying the properly trained Imperial officer, but because I think the "Times" correspondent pushes his arguments just a little ; too far. The keen Imperial officer, . who loves his profession and inspires his men with a devotion to him., is unequalled by any officer, in the world as a "leader,, of; men)- What he has' aj^qmalkhedr ia^ rjfiswded fof"~all"time ii& tfie p&fe» of history. AU Anstr^asians, I feel sure, will agree with tnjp statement or the "Times" cwrrespohdfint that the professional . sbldier will beat the amaiteur nine times out of ten. They admit as much by obtaining whenever they can the professional soldier to train and lead their irregular forces, and by sending Home, as eoreral of the colonies do, their artillery officers to go through the long course of gunnery. But the crusade against the British officer referred to by the correspondent, was a crusade against the practically untrained British officer, who did not know his work — the. man who looked upon the army as v an athletic club and disdained all "shop." Some suoh officers there undoubtedly were in South Africa, and small wonder if the colonial irregular officer,, who had taken up soldiering with enthusiasm in his spare time, on coming into contact with such men,, and finding that he, the amateur, really knew bis work better than suoh a professional, was grievously disappointed with the Imperial from whom he expected to learn. And among the irregular forces the^ were many- good amateur, officers who ] had really worked at their hobby of- soldiering, and were better than bad pro- J fessionals, who were in reality professional eportemen and amateur "We have," says the " Times " corres- j pondent, "the material for a very magnificent colonial auxiliary force, but, unless this force is put upon some sort of permanent footing, which will allow for the training of the officers, the country will be again rocked in a false security." Precisely. But fvho proposes that the force should be put on a permanent footing? The colonies themselves. And what has been the fate of Mr Seddon's proposal for- a' real Imperial Yeomanry? What inducement is offered to the colonial youth to enter the Imperial army? How many good men all over the Empire are forced to remain volunteer .soldiers because they do^ Bo>posse» the private income that 'Htm. , remains the math- essential for the profession*! .soldier? So long as the army; is confined to the rich, so long will there be found- ainpzig our .colonial and irregular ; soldiers officers';: equal ia all respects, if not superior, to a large proportion of the professional soldiers.

towr.s at the expense of the country. After t!i«*e, soriie northern members came to. the assistance of their comrade, who, when his turn came for reply, calmed the tears, of the enemy by explaining, (1) that the same principle" is* working with great success in England and America; (2) that no objections have been received from any ■district; (.3) that thfe object oi cyclists being to get out into the country, the country must benefit; (4) and he iagreed to amend in committee anything that migiht offend. The Bill, therefore, was resui the second tan© on the voices, and 1 Mr Fowld* was made happy, likewise mamy cyclists within these seas.

The Hon W. J, Steward got- a dice of goodfortune with his i Bill for the compilatioin of statutes, in the shape of unstinted eulogy from two lawyers, Mr Wilfo.rd and, Mr Jackson Palmerj and second reading without further debate. The venerable member looked less distressed than he did last night when the Executive Bill was under fire. Mr Houston scored the duck of the afternoon with his Hawkers and Pedlars Bill. The House recognised' the goodness of the northern man's motive, but feeling, that even so good, a thing as the saving of simple country, residents may be exorbitantly paid for, more especially at the expense of other equally innocent and deserving people, such as butchers, and bakers, and commercial travellers, and sat on his Bill by 30 to 24. After this short dftspatch honourable (members .went off witih sharp appetites to dinner.

The first of *he JEvening Sitting , ma 'given to the ContpuJßory Drill in Schools 'Bill, and that measure was given up to its mortal, enemy, with the result that it emerged some time after- supper, shorn of everything of military purpose. Then 'the adjourned debate on the Eight Hours Bill, with Mr Russell waiting eageriy for a chance of reply, but the House had its eye on the Libel* Bill, next in order, attd .realised that its parent, Mr Fisher, was in splendid form, so the talk, went on. Presently it flagged, and midnight was not too near, and Mr Russell was ready for a brief spring to the second reading. It was true, Mr Arnold, speaking with the double authority of Labour., and Democracy, had stigmatised the measure as worthless, and characterised the debate as a thing fit only to draw the attention: of the Government to the question. This, in view of the Premier's statement the other night, *w*s pregnant with meaning. Still, th* moment was desperate, because if division dam© then there would be room fox libel and Mr Fisher, but *Mr Atkinson .sprang up and talked, Mr Fraser followed, and tjid situation was saved, the. Eight Hours Bill getting to division just before midnight. Mr Russell was Tnief in reply, and the, second reading passed by a fair majority. It wanted two minutes of the. fa'tefur htyur and there wae. mooted speculation in the galltry. Then a message came in from the Governor and was disposed of on the strike of -twelve, and; Mr Fisher gracefully acoepted the situation, fixing another date for his Bill, and the House adjoiirntd.