Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, OCT. 17, 1899. The War.

Manawatu Herald, 17 October 1899, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, OCT. 17, 1899. The War.

No one likes to hear of the Boers trespassing upon British territory, and the news that Newcastle was not going to be protected caused a howl in English newspapers. We bilieve it will be found to be a park of a echeme of the attack soon to be made by the British to encourage the entrance of the Boers on Natal and on British ground to the west of the Orange Free State, in fact to tempt the troop 3as far away from the Boer capital as possible, so as to leave another road open to the new avmy corp3 which is about to be despatched very shortly. The cable k mws, under date of 28th of September, informed us that 25 companies of the Army Sarvice Corps would leave for South Africa the following week, and that this was looked upon as an indication of the early dispatch of a complete army corp?. Now it may not be generally known that an &rmy Corps is compwd of several, generally three, divisions of the army, and embraces every arm of the service, thus forming a complete army in itself, and is paced under the oommand of a G .'neral Officer of higher rank than a divisional officer. It is ateo known that a larger number of transports have been chartered by the British government;, and are ready for enbarking the soldiers, and for the protection of which, we presume, a flying Fquadron of the navy has been f>rmpd at Portsmouth. There has never been a suggestion as to what p*rt of South Africa this Army Corps is to be despatched, and v/a thus believe that the port is not definitely settled unless the arrange ment with Portugal has been satis faotorily settled. At; the beginning of this month reports were current in Paris that Great Britain wa? sacretly negotiating with Portugal fir the purchase or annexation of Lorenzo Marques, the port at Delagoa Bay, the point whsre the railway runs direct to Pretoria. There are many reasons for Britain desiring possession of this point, one as an easy means of access to the Transvaal, and another to make sure the Transvaal did not seize it. As a neutral Power Portugal would not allow munitions of war to be imported for the Transvaal now war is declared, but to keep faith she would be put to much expense to prevent the Boers adopting a high-handed policy. Now should Great Britain have secured Lorenzo Marques is it not very possible that this complete Army Corps will be landed at Delagoa Bay and proceed at once direct by the railway to the Dutch capital ? The railway may be destroyed in places, but it is bound to be a good road and there are no deep rivers to ford and the British army could move up the 298 miles between Delagoa Bay and Pretoria as quick as the Boers could retrace their steps from the positions they have taken up, as the nearest point by Ladysmith is as far from Pretoria as Delagoa Bay and the other positions on the west boundary, such as tbat near Mafeking, are not quite so far in mileage but are without railway communication. We think this is the course most likely to be pursued provided the difficulty of the purchase or annexation of Lorenzo Marques is overcome, as it would be the shortest way for an army to reach Pretoria, and would aleo be practically surrounding tho Boers. We hope that Delagoa Bay is by now British territory.