THE EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN.

Taihape Daily Times, 25 January 1919, Page 6

THE EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN.

SCANDALOUS MISMANAGEMENT

ALLEGED,

CAPETOWN, January 21

Now that the war is over, the prolongation of the East African campaign is becoming a subject of increasing criticism. A strong article In tho “Cape Times” by Owen Letcher, the well-known authority on Central Africa, demands the appointment of a commission of enquiry. It assorts that the total strength of the enemy at the time of General Northey’s departure scarcely outnumbered the motor-cars possessed by our mechanical transport. We had an overwhelming superiority in numbers, besides an organisation extending from Capetown to Nairobi, also two main headquarters at Daressalaam and Zomba, which employed a

much larger number of officers than the whole of von Lettow’s European force. It is commonly understood that the East African campaign cost much more than the Boer War. Only a strong committee of unbiassed men can give a satisfactory answer to the question, “Why was the campaign not finished months ago?” At the banquet speeches and congratulatory telegrams must not be allowed to obscure the issue.