PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 428, 29 May 1902, Page 2

PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.

THINGS STILL IN THE BALANCE

By telegraph—Press AssociationCopyright.

LONDON, May 3■/. Generals De Wet and De la Rev are still at Pretoria.

Schalkburger and the other delegates have returned to Vereeniging. The Cabinet meet to-day to consider some financial claims advanced by the Boers.

The Boers at Brussels allege that the British Cabinet have again refused to permit the peace delegates to consult the European delegates. Mr Bennett Burleigh says that De Wet has realised that a great nation will not stoop to pettifogging persecutions for offences committed against the Crown during the turbulence of a war, and that he has exerted himself to the utmost to put the peace conditions

Honorably before his countrymen. He has severed himself from the malign influences of Steyn and Hertzog. It is understood that His Majesty the King, in a message to Parliaent, will announce peace when it is settled. Reuter's Pretoria correspondent says the optimism in regard to peace is hardly justified by the solid facts. The protraction of negotiations is not necessarily a hopeful sign. Though the delegates have abandoned their claim to independence, there are still many points of difference which may at any moment become accentuated, causing rupture. The Times states that a high authority in the South African Constabulary estimates the cost of re-building the burnt farms at fifV*n millions.

The Budget debate wgs postponed, Mr Balfour stating that it- was inconvenient to discuss the finances while things were in the balance. The statement is interpreted to mean that there will possibly be a reduction of the new taxation if peace is proclaimed. The Standard says that even if a temporary hitch has occurred, there is no ground for anticipating an unfavorable issue. Though the delegates nave acquiesced in annexation, much remains to be adjusted relative to the retention of arms for self-defence, the language question, and the re-building of farms.

The Daily Mail says that several well-known leaders at the Vereeniging Conference are irreconcilables and extremely noisy. It is necessary tor the leading delegates to exercise pressure to ensure a complete surrender. In Parliamentary circles it is believed that the vital terms of peace have been settled, but that Government are unwilling to announce it until the definite conclusion of negotiations. The Times says it is permissible to be more sanguine than a few days ago, though while a fairly strong minority continues desirous of war, ‘it is unlikely those who favor peace will throw up the sponge.