SLANDERS ON BRITISH TROOPS

Gisborne Times, Volume VIII, Issue 544, 14 October 1902, Page 3

SLANDERS ON BRITISH TROOPS

Mr R. Barwiek, of Ormond, writes : Please find enclosed a cutting from the Weekly Times of Natal, August Bth, 1902, which will go a long way towards confirm* ing Trooper Davitt’s and my own statements in your paper some little time ago. I take the letter to apply to Colonials as much as the British troops : His Worship the Mayor, Town Office, Pietermaritzburg. Slanders on British Troops.—ln oonsequence of slanders on the British troops in tho Continental papers, a publio meeting was held in tbo city on 3rd March last. The meeting was convened by me at the request of a large number of citizens, and was well attended. The following resolu-

tions were unanimously passed and forwarded to tbo Right Hon. the Secretary of Stato for the Colonies by his Excellency the Governor :

Resolutions unanimously adopted at a publio meeting bold in the Town Hall, on Monday, tho 3rd day of March, 1902. 1. —That the burgesses of Pietermaritzburg, in public meeting assembled, desire to repudiate in the most emphatic manner tho slanders upon tho British forces in South Africa that have appeared in the German and other Continental papers, and to proclaim their conviction that such slanders are utterly false and unjustified, and that the conduct of the British army

towards the enemy in the field has been ebaraeterised by humane treatment consistent with the traditions of oivilised warfaro and tho British Empiro. 2.—That this meeting desires to express its continued confidence in tho Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for tho Colonies, and fully endorses the policy that has boon pursued by him and Lord Milner since tho commencement of tho war, and declares its conviction that it

is only by steady adhesion to such policy that the blessing? of good government, peace and prosperity can bo secured to South Africa. And this mooting requests His Worship tho Mayor to forward tbo above resolutions to His Excellency the Governor for transmission to the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for tho Colonies,

In our opinion, the whole transaction, as it affects tho Midland Railway, is scandalous in tho highest degree. This money has not been voted because New Zealand was either legally or morally liable to the debenture-holders. On tho contrary, no liability whatever exists. Tho actual reason for the payment is easily understood. New Zealand requires more loan money, and must borrow at onee, and these debenture-owners hold an advantage over us in so far that they aro able to block onr loans. It was solely for this reason, and not because of any real or imaginary liability, that this JJ150,000 waa squeezed out of the colony. —Observer.