The Transvaal.

Manawatu Herald, 2 June 1900, Page 2

The Transvaal.

REPORT FROM LORD ROBERTS. Lord Roberts, telegraphing to the War Office on Tuesday evening from Germiston, a suburb of Johannesburg, says : — "My arrival was not seriously opposed. There were no casualties to the main column, and I trust few amongst the cavalry and mounted infantry. " The enemy did not expect us ' until to-morrow and, therefore, had noi removed all their rolling stock. " We are in possession of the railway junction connecting Johannesburg with Natal, Pretoria and Klerksdorp. " Johannesburg is reported to be quiet, and I understand that the mines are uninjured. " I shall summon the Gomman- . dants in the morning and if, as I expect, we are to be unopposed I will enter the town with all my troops at noon." ENGLAND'S POLICY. In the course of a speech last night at a dinner given by the Conservative Club Lord Salisbury paraphrased a speech delivered by him at the end of last year in which he declared that " Great Britain sought no territory in South Africa." " It was no good," remarked his Lordship, "to say that a desire for territory led us into this war — that was one of the atrocious calumnies spread under the favouring influence of Dr Leyds." " The desire of the Imperial Government had been," he proceeded to say, " to stop oppression." The context of the words used in the speech under review showed, said the speaker, that he was unpledged to such terrible sacrifices as had been implied. Continuing, the Prime Minister asserted that war would never recur in South Africa. "No shred of the former independence of the Republics would remain. So far as the terms of settlement were concerned they largely depended on the temper and attitude of the enemy in the future. They had sfl acted in the past that every severance of class and race had been intensified by every measure they had taken. Reconciliation would, of course, be difficult and would require much time to secure, but Great Britain would endeavour to cause recollections of the war to perish. The traditional policy of seeking i an appeasement of bitterness and the attainment of affection and mutual co-operation would be followed, in the hope that before many years had elapsed the affection uniting the South African colonies would be equally keen as that existing in Canada and Australia. BRITAIN'S ARMY. Speaking in the House of Commons, the Hon. George Wyndham, Parliamentary Secretary to the War ! Office, stated that at present there are 221,000 troops in South Africa, while in Great Britain there are 122,000 regulars and reserves, the militia being 77,000 strong. PRETORIA ABANDONED. Intelligence has just been received that the Boers have left Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal. The garrisons in the forts' around the city have been dismissed by the commandants. The Burgomaster has summoned a meeting of the Town Committee to take steps to preserve order and receive the British. The people are quiet and expectant. Lord Roberts despatched a force from Johannesburg to Hatherley, but President Kruger had in the meantime fled. The President travelled eastward along the Delagoa Bay Railway, and the latest intelligence reports his presence at Watervalboven, ninety miles from the Portuguese East Africa frontier. The Portuguese authorities have closed the line to all goods traffic, and have ordered all their available troops in readiness to proceed to the frontier. The Portuguese warships have also been directed to concentrate in Delagoa Bay. There is a Boer commando at Komati Poort, the point where the railway line leaves Transvaal territory and enters Portuguese land. Earl Rosslyn has cabled to the Daily Mail that Mr Albertus Hay, the United States Consul at Pretoria, ( and others, fearing an outbreak amongst the British prisoners, obtained the release of twenty officers on parole, who reassured the men.

and announced their early relief. The committee appointed to preserve order in Pretoria inolude? Chief Justice Gregorwski, Mr A. K. Loveday, the spokesman of the outlander party in the Raad, where he represents the Barberton goldfields, And Mr Samuel Marks, head of a well-known firm. CAPE EEBELS UNDER ARMS. The bridge on the Delagoa Bay railway dossing at Eomati Poort is reported to be guarded by two hundred Cape rebels. JOHANNESBURG. Refugees report that the private houses generally in Johannesburg have been looted by the Boers since the exodus of British inhabitants at the commencement of the war. The sanitation of the city has been completely neglected while the war has been in progress, and is now in a shocking state. On the approach of Lord Roberts's column a great flight of foreign residents in the city took place. Some thousands of the fugitive outlanders, formerly in Johannesburg, are registering their names with the army authorities as desirous of returning to their properties directly the issue of military passes for such purposes is instituted. Johannesburg has surrendered to the British troops. The surrender of Johannesburg was made by Commandant Kruise. LANG'S NEK. The naval artillery attached to Lieut-General Sir 0.., F. Clery's division have commenced^bombarding with their heavy guns the Boer positions at Laing's Nek, in the northern angle of Natal, and at Pongwana Hill, just across the Buffalo river, in Transvaal territory. The British troops hold strong positions commanding the enemy's trenches, and the return fire of the Boer gunners has so far been ineffectual. THE FREE STATE. Major-General Pretyman, who was installed some weeks ago as Military Governor of the portion of the Free State then conquered, read the new proclamation annexing the whole of the State to the British Empire in the Market Square at Bloemfontein. The event was made the occasion for a striking military ceremony, which was witnessed by an immense concourse of people. The reading of the proclamation was received with enthusiastic cheers for the Queen. A CLEVER CAPTURE. An attempt was made by a party of a dozen Boets to surprise a British patrol in Muller's Pass, which crosses the Drakensburg mountains from Natal into the Free State to the west of Newcastle. The patrollers, however, turned the tables on their assailants, all of whom were either killed or captured.