BOER PLANS IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 15000, 22 November 1899, Page 2

BOER PLANS IN SOUTH AFRICA.

IF THEY HAD SUCCEEDED. The discovery of the South African Re- j publican flag in various places in the hands of the Boers is a further proof, if any were needed, of the deep designs of the Transvaalers and Free Staters, or rather of an ambitious oligarchy within these States It was to embrace, the whole of- South I Africa in one powerful republic. Depend 1 upon it, Sir A.fred Milner has not had his | eyes shut for the past two years, and that , he saw plainly enough whither things were tending. He applied a very simple test in I the proposals which he made. It there was , ' no lurtive designs underneath, then a settlement was possible, which, if not quito satisfactory, would give peace for some time, and tend for changed conditions, by the influx of further European population. He probably bilievcd with most |>eople that the Boers would shrink from risking hostilities, but he saw that he must be pre- ' pared -for the worst. I now ask the question—What if they had succeeded in their designs ? 1. In the first place, Britishers would throughout the Cape Colony and Natal have been placed, in', subjection to the Dutch burghers, andS'Bechuanaland, Rhodesia- and all adjacent territory would have been absorbed. With ports available, further armaments could have been poured in, and with the concurrenie of the Cape' Dutch an army of 100,000 men might have been organised within six months. And if the Little England .party 4 could have got the upper hand at Home we should not have interferred to prevent them during that momentous six months. ;- %. With the immense wealth of the country'it would very soon have become too strong to attack with impunity except ou the sea'coasfe' . ',- ' • 3. We have seen by" their treatment of the British refugees how they could have treated the despised and hated Outlander when once they had the upper hand: 4. Practically, then, a- vast, rich and fertile fenitory would have been clpsed against Briltish interference and- British colonisation of. an inferior and non-pro-gressive type would have been set up. 5. AH the possibilities of future expansion by British immigration would .'have como to nn end. The country womd no longer have attracted any but a comparatively few gold-seekers. 6. -Then the' native races wouM have lout all hope of the amelioration of their condition and gradual advancement, under mild British rule, in the scale of civilisation. They would have been ruled with a rod of iron and treated like dogs. 7. If at length England was driven to make war to recover what she had lost, the task.in, a few years would have become herculean. And yet there are some who say we ought to have left the "poor. Boers" alone, and quietly given up to them what was our proper heritage, a country capable of feeding and- enriching millions of British subjects in. the years to come. If only they had succeeded:- llhank heavens they are no longer likely to succeed, and that we have men of courage and foresight at the head of affairs at Home ready again to take up the white man's burden. By such meaua alone can we fulfil that manifest destiny which as I solemnly believe for wise and beneficent purposes makes us (ir. conjunction with our American brethren! tie all-conquering and all-civilising race of the world — a position which we shall continue to hold only so long as we use our power well, and co-operate with the de signs of an all-wise providence for the advancement and well-being of mankind This sharp and bloody war will, I firmly believe, end in a long-enduring peace foi Southern Africa, and the rise of a mighty British Federation, possibly greater even than those of. Canada; and Australasia. And if so British blood Vill not be shed in v.am. . 'r-f ... , Tho British War ; Office, Js apparently, ft very wide awake institution. Some tinn ago it asked the famous fjrm of Krupp to, send some sample field guns, such "as we're' Supplied to tho Boer artillery, for experimental purposes. at Shoeburyness, the great school of gunnery. The guris were duly sent, and closely studied' at the new ranges there. Finally, a battery of Royal Artillery were put to- practice on. them, and fitting drill was devised. The object may be understood from. the fact that, the batteiy in question is now on its way to the Transvaal.- The idea- of Colonel Barron,' the head of the school, was that, when the Boer guns were captured there would be men on the spot who knew how to handle them and could turn them on the enemy. A telegram in the Cape Times from Volkhurst, ; dated October 10th, states that experiments have been made which show that armoured trains can be pierced like tissuel paper by La, Creuzot guns— the new quick--1 firing French weapon, of which the Boers I have a number. , t