THE BOER WAR.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 14 March 1901, Page 2

THE BOER WAR.

The Boer hunt—for such it has now generated to—progresses slowly, but none the less surely. It seems apparent that the Boer is able, having a full knowledge of the country, to shift about more quickly than the British troops. Only the other day another gross mistake was made. De Wet was believed to be hopelessly entangled. Our cablegram recorded the occurrence in the following terms: “De Wet’s escape at Lilliefontein was due to a miscalculation, resulting in the column under Colonel Hon. J. Byng, operating in that neighborhood being temporarily but peremptorily ordered to proceed to Hamelfonteim This was the psycholigical moment of the whole pursuit. De Wet instantly seized the opportunity and crossed the river in Byng’s absence.” It does seem extraordinary that after a brilliant and rapid concentrati -n of men that the fruits of their action should be nulified by the stupidity—or something worse —of general or subordinate. But the history of the war abounds with like cases of incompetency. Yet notwithstanding all this, the end is nigh. To-day wo are told there is to be a conference of Boer leaders, to consider the question of surrender. A number of them are prepared to yield, but De Wet and a few others, who like himself have brought themselves perilously near the hangman’s rope hold out. As their followers are forsaking them, the actual war—even as a guerilla war-cannot continue longer. There was a time in the war when De Wot was admired by his foes, and hopes expressed that no harm would come to such a skilful leader. His recent actions, and now especially his barbarous treatment and subsequent cold-b'oodcd murder of the peace envoys, have placed a 1 his previous brilliant actions in the shade, and now hte stands, even in the eyes of his own countrymen, as a brutal murderer who has forfeited all right to be treated as other than an outlaw of the worst type. 'Tis perhaps the knowledge of this that causes him terrorise over his fo lowers and continue in revolt.