THE ZULU WAR—ENGLISH OPINION.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1597, 2 April 1879, Page 3

THE ZULU WAR—ENGLISH OPINION.

The “ Times” says ;—“ Nothing can exceed the frankness of the recital, for it is clear that nothing has been held back. It would bo useless to deny either the sadness or the extreme gravity of the catastrophe. Whether there was or was not any want of vigilance on the part of our own force, it is clear that the Zulus are even more formidable than our military authorities expected them to be. It was known that they are well drilled, that great numbers of them were armed with breech-loaders, and that they could fight courageously. Wo now know but too well how large a force they can mass at one point. Sad as the loss of our troops is, still graver is the peril which must arise with defeat. The Zulus will be emboldened, and the colonists will be exposed to fresh and formidable dangers. In these circumstances, the duty of the Government cannot admit of the slightest doubt, and it is to send ample reinforcements to the Capo without the needless delay of a single hour. It may be that (hey can be more quickly sent from Mauritius or India than from England, but at all events no •il'orfc and na expenditure must bo spared

to save the colony from disaster _ and the power of the country from grave injury. It is a melancholy consolation meanwhile that the gallant troops of the 24th Regiment did their duty and died at their posts like Englishmen.” The “ Morning Post ” says;— “ Our reverse in South Africa inflicts a deep wound on the national pride, and in its details is of so shocking a character that wo may be certain that the Sovereign and those near to her, who had scarcely recovered from the affecting events of the close of the year, will feel deeply the blow which has suddenly spread sorrow through the whole country. The slaughter of 500 English soldiers, with all their officers, besides a number of officers serving with native levies, is an etent for which account will have to bo given upon the opening of Parliament. Wo may expect the appointment of committees of inquiry, now that it is too late, into all the defects of organisation and supply that have characterised the policy of English administrations towards the Capo. Mr Gladstone’s Govern ment did away with the Cape Mounted Rifles, and otherwise reduced the Imperial forces, to which, distracted by other claims nearer home, the present Administration have failed to add sufficient troops for the present contingency. Lord Chelmsford, it is well known, asked for cavalry and for more regiments than were spared to him. It was hoped that in a conflict with “ savages” his actual strength would suffice, and the estimates for the coming year were to have been framed on the plan of reducing the British infantry by 4000 men.’* The “ Daily News” says: “The Cabinet met on February 11th upon a fearful summons. The terrible news of the surprise, defeat, and slaughter of a detachment of British troops by the Zulu soldiers, which startled all England with a keen shock of pain, was no doubt an equal surprise to the Q.ueen’s Ministers. The decision was promptly come to to send reinforcements to the Cape to the extent of six battalions of infantry, two regimt n ! s of cavalry, two batteries uf artillery, one company of Engineers, three companies of the Army Service Corps, and ouo company of the Army Hospital Corps. The dispatch of these men now is a censure which the Government pass on themselves for not having sent them before. If it be true that representations were made to them of the inadequacy of the forces at the disposal of Lord Chelmsford, and tfcat those representations were disregarded, the country, and even the present Parliament—docile as it has shown itself—will hold them to a strict account. One thing seems clear. The authorities at the Cape had not means adequate for the prosecution of the enterprise on which they have embarked. Did they ask for more men, and did the Government at home refuse them the assistance which they demanded ? For the moment, these are only questions to be asked. When Parliament meets they will be questions to bo answered. Mr W. H. Smith, who spoke on February 11th at Westminster, used becoming language as to the gallantry of the officers and men who have fallen in the execution of the dangerous task assigned them. Everyone will sympathise with the tribute he paid to them. We can only hope that the universal grief at a terrible disaster will not be converted into universal indignation at criminal negligence. In the meantime, the reinforcements will soon be on their way to the Cape. But weeks must elapse before they can reach their destination. Who can say what may have happened in the three weeks which have passed since the disaster in Zululand ? Who can tell what may happen before the troops arrive at the Cape P It is not too much to say that the next intelligence from the seat of this calamitous ‘little war’ is awaited with an anxious suspense which has not been felt in England since the time of the Indian Mutiny. The loss is not only terrible in itself, but alarming by reason of its possible consequences—consequences which may have taken effect before the tidings of the first disaster have reached us.”