GENERAL BOTHA’S ANSWER.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 21 March 1901, Page 2

GENERAL BOTHA’S ANSWER.

The hope of an immediate surrender of General Botha and his troops is at an end—the terms o£ unconditional surrender being rejected. The guerilla warfare will therefore bo continued, wo fear, for many months to come. Botha, doubtless, in his refusal, has been influenced by the stronger mind of Do Wet, whose uncompromising antagonism to British rule is so well known. With the approach of winter, the British troops will have to face hardships quite equal to those of the previous year, indeed it more than probable that the severity will be greater. The Colonial detachments will possibly have to face the more severe ordeal, being constantly on the move from place to place, the foot soldiers being retained for garrison duty. It will, no doubt, bo said that the Boers will have the same hardships and difficulties to contend with, but this is not so. Already they have handed their women and children over to the care of the British, knowingfull well that they will bo carefully looked after. Divested, therefore, of all encumbrances, knowing every inch of the country, and possessed of ample stock, the Boer becomes practically a well supplied free lance or outlaw, having only himself to care for. Our telegrams some days ago informed us that the enemy’s supply of ammunition was falling short. This, however, only applies to the larger arms, which in the present warfare will be of little use. Possessed of the best rifles, well mounted, and finding sympathy at every farm-house, the Boers become in this stage of the campaign a more troublesome foe to subdue, than when they were in possession of the citadels. The war, as a war, is practically over, but the British troops have before them the Herculean task of capturing or shooting from twentyfive to thirty thousand well-armed bandits before there can be any hope of peace. When we consider that the bulk of these men, are brave but ignorant, are firmly convinced of the righteousness of their cause, and the injustice of that of their opponents, it will be realised that for years to come a large British army will be an essential to British supremacy in South Africa.