NEW ZEALAND'S AID TO THE EMPIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 54, 19 March 1900, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND'S AID TO THE EMPIRE.

NORTH ISLAND SECTION OF TBffl! FOURTH CONTINGENT, f AN KNTHUSIABTIO SKHD-OIT, Wellington, March 17. The first item in connection with he send-ofi to the North Island section if tho Fourth Contingent was tb* r.teitaiuing of the men at luncheon his uftt-moon by the lostl txecutive of be More Men Futd. About 230 oembei a of the Contingent sit down. The Ma} or presided, and read several "legranis fioin various parts of tiw 'it-trict wishing the men God spaed. He also apologised for the absence ot be Governor.

After the umal loyal (Saaats, tb» Premier proposed the health of tb» Fourth Contingent, faying itwatMk ■ld maxim " Tho bettor the day tb* 'otter the deed," and, judging by thf weather, St. Patrick was >n them, which, be thoagbt, mm *. good omen for the meo. He did not like contrasting what bad bean done in New Zealand with what 'iad been done in the other colonic*, bat could say that in respect of. Jb» Patriotic and More Men Funds tht amount available was £50,000, wbm was more tban any other ookny, and was only exceeded by the Motfaar .•ountry. He was confidant Anttralasia could aend sufficient meo to South Africa to bold that counter and enable Gnat Britain to remove h«r regulaie to meat any other difficulty should the neoranty «»j#, Referring to the foe they had to meet* he mentioned the generous treatment ' of Cronje by Lord Roberta. There was no boasting, but every hospitality wa» extended, while British prisoners had received treatment which was a disgrace to any civilised country. After the usual courtesy toasta, tiiff men were dismissed. Cheers were given for the men, and the bugle sounded " Pall in." As the procession moved away the City Volunteers were in front, then came the " Fighting Fifth," as the next contingent is described* and after these the Garrison Band, i who headed ;he Fourth Contingent, [called the "Dandy Fourth* lb* whole route to Jervois Quay, what* the final farewell of the »en was to take place, was lined, and the utmost enthusiasm was shown, quite equal to that on the departure of the former contingents.

There was a vast concourse of people on the arrival of the men; in fact,tf)« j contingent had great difficulty in keep- J mg line, so great was the crush, not ■ only of interested spectators, but of I those who wished to say good-byo to J some of tho boys in khaki who ifflyHl never como back. After some difficulty, ™ the line was practically cleared, and then the Mayor, in a hiiti BflHJ^^

hoped the men would get safely to South Africa, and that it would not be long before they were at the front. The Premier also spoke. Hearty cheers were then given for the contingent and the Premier. The National Anthem was sung, and Mr. Seddon again spoke, calling for cheers for the Marquis of Salisbury. The result was spontaneous, and then the Premier said:—Now we will carry a resolution. I propose that we carry the following resolution: 'We here assembled endorse, on behalf of the people of New Zealand, the policy of the British Premier re the war, and will support him to the last man.'" The Premier then called upon the contingent to give their war cry, which they did with great gusto, and the march to the steamer Monowai, which takes them to Uunedin, began, Owing, however, to no special arrangements being made for keeping the route clear it was some time before the men got to the steamer, and when the public were allowed access to the wharf there was a great crush. The Monowai was nob long in getting away, and as she slowly steamed down the harbour was saluted by the warship Tauranga. [Owing to pressure on our space, we have been.compelled to excise a great, portion of the lengthy account sent by the Press Association.] Mr. R. Seddon, 19 years old, son of the Premier, has been appointed Lieutenant in the Fourth Contingent. Ht has been trying to get away with every Contingent, but Mrs. Seddon, as naturally may be supposed, was averse to his going. However, this time bis entreaties have prevailed, and, as the lad Jairly put it, " Father is sending other people's sons, why should I not be allowed to go ?'' In this opinion Mr. Seddon acquiesced. The amount of money collected in the colony in the aggregate for the Patriotic and More Men Funds is .£50,000. Of this £29,000 is for the Patriotic Fund, and £13,000 has been remitted Home, the balance being retained for the More Men Fund. The appointment of a commander for the Fourth Contingent is not yet settled. Those suggested are Colonels Frances (South Canterbury) and Newall (Wellington), and Captain Davies, who is in command of the No. 1 Company of the First New Zealand Contingent now at the front. The Defence Minister feels that Captain Davies would be loth to accept the position, seeing that he would have to leave the contingent which has had such signal success in South Africa. The question, however, will be settled in the course of a day or two, and if either of the first-named officers should be selected they, of course, would bave to be reduced to a majorship, as the Government is determined that in no case will it place any officer in South Africa who would

hold a higher rack than Major Rabin. Wellington, March 17. One of the Fourth Contingent from Auckland was s rrested at midday on a warrant from that town, charged with failing to provide for hie illegitimate ' child. March 18. The trooper arrested on Siturday has been remanded to appear at Dubedin on the 21st. Doneois, March 18. About 100 of the Otago and Southland men are away on leave te say farewell to friends, and but little drill was done on Saturday. Nineteen men and 100 horses arrived from Wellington on Saturday. They were met by Lieut.Colonel Webb and Captain Stronach, and conducted to camp. A church parade was held this morning by the Bev. W. Curzon Siggers, and was largely attended. Showers of rain fell this afternoon, and reduced the attendance of the public at the camp. CAPTAIN DA7IES TO COMMAND A SKOTION. Wellington, March 19. The Government has decided to divide the Fourth Contingent into two sections, and Lieut.-Oolonel Francis, with the rank of Major, goes in com mand of one, and Captain Diviep, now at the Cape with the First Contingent, will be promoted to the command cf the second portion. Lieut.-Oolonel Newall goes to command the Fifth Contingent fs far as Capetown, and will hand the men over to the Imperii! authorities in accordance with arrangements arrived at. MB. WINSTON CHURCHILL. ON j PRAYER. j Mr. Winston Churchill, has published in The Morning Post a graphic description of his adventures when he «ecaped from Pretoria. Much the most remarkable passage in his letter is that in which he desciites his experiences in a wood, with a vulture as his sole attendant. It was the first day after his escape. He says:— " Tl'e elation and the excitement of the previous night had burnt away, and a chilling reaction followed. I was very hungry, for I had had no dinner before starting, and chocolate, though it sustains, does not satisfy. I liad scarcely slept, but yet my heart loeat so fiercely and I was so nervous and perplexed about the future that I could not rest. I thought of all the

chances that lay against me; I dreaded and detested more than words can express the prospect of being caught and dragged back to Pretoria. I do not mean that I would rather have died

than have been retaken, but I have '• often feared death for much less. I found bo comfort in. any of the philosopLical i !ais which some men parade in their horns, of ease and 8t length and safety. They seem< d only fair weatiier friends. I realised, j 1 with awful force that no exercise of j my own feeble wit and strength could ; gave me from my enemies, and that, without the assistance of that High Power which interferes more often than we are always prone to admit in the eternal sequence of causes and effects, I could never succeed. I prayed long and earnestly for help and guidance. My prayer, as it seems to nie, was swiftly and wonderfully answered. I cannot now relate the strange circumstances which followed, and which changed my nearly hopeless p isition into one of superior advantage, lilt after the War is over I shall hope t> somewhat lengthen this account, aod so remarkable will the addition be shat I caouot believe *e reader will

THE AGENT-GENERAL'S FIGURES. General Buller's report to the War Office, giving his total casualties up to the date of the Boer flight and his successful entry into Ladysmith, enables us to approximately test the accuracy of those much debated, muchdiscussed, and irritating figures of the Agent-General. We ourselves briefly noted at the time that the figures supplied by Mr. Reeves could hardly be harmonised with those furnished from official sources, and we are afraid that the latest returns do not help the Agent-General. The statement of the latter gentleman was as follows: "The British losses number about 15,000, including 3,500 men whi are prisoners of war and 750 deaths due j to sickness." And we then said that from an official London return, "up to Saturday, the 17th ult, the British losses totalled 9,685, including 2,617 prisoners. If the Agent-General's figures are correct, then we must have lost over 5000 men at Koodoosrand and in General Buller's recent engagements." We have since been furnished by the Agent-General with Lord Roberts' casualties in connection with the relief of Kimberley and the capture of Cronje. These were " about 1,300," and General Buller's report gives 1,103 as his total for the rank and file, whilst we shall be correct in stating that the officers' loss from all causes was not more than 100. To these figures we must add our losses in the south-west during the fortnight under discussion. No official return of these has yet been given, but we know that they are small. Nor must we forget that we are including battles before Ladysmith that the AgentGeneral when he cabled could not know about. The net result will, we think, be fairly represented as under: Agent-Gene r aVs estimate 15,000 London cable to 17th alt. ... 9,685 Lord Robeit3™loss ... 1,300 General Eullei-s lose ... 1,103 General Buller's officers .... 100 South-west Frontier (say) ... 150 Deficiency on the A-jent-Geaeral's figures 2,662 Again, some little acrimony has been displayed |over Mr. Reeves' estimate of the Boer losses. " The Boers' total losses are set down at from 9,000 to 10,000 including from 4,000 to 5,000 prisoners of war." The losses in the field we cannot know, but we can form an estimate of the number of prisoners. eil'.miCe ... 4,000 to 6,000 Captured by Lord Roberta ... 105 Capl: ed b/ General French... 543 Surrendered at Kooloosrand... 4,300 Captured by General Baler... 160 He'd at Cape Town 428 Held at Mafeking, Ladysmith, Durban, Kimberley, anl I the Soulh-west irontier j ' (at least) 500 I —___6,o33

Excess on the Agent-General's figures ... 1,033 The statement was also made by Mr. Reeves that "the size of the force under Cronje which has just been captured confirms my previous advice ] to you on the subject, and goes to prove that the strength of the enemy's forces has been over-estimated." This also conflicts with previous testimony, but perhaps the explana-' t on may be found in what we think is an undoubted fact—viz., the disappearance of large numbers of Free Staters, I now that they recognise the hopelessness of their cause. But prior to this "break up "the Cape Times published the following as a reliable and practically official list, obtained mostly from Republican, church, and other annuals. This gives the following as the strength of the Boer forces ; Transvaal. Church members, 40,000. Mercenary troops, 4,500. Foreigners naturalised between 1897 and 1899 ,3,000 Foreigners previously naturalised, 5,000. Fbee State, Dutch Church, 27,500, Others, including non Dutch, 2,500. Cape rebels, 4,500. The above excludes the artillerists in both States. For ourselves, we think that there is absolutely no ground in the offensive charge, made from the Bluft'to tho Bay of Islands, that Mr. Reeves is a pro-Boer; but we think that he has not been altogether happy in the choice of his terms. A fact may be stated in two ways, like everything else in this world, and our Agent-General has selected the ii»oct matter-of-fact and unenthusiastic form. Hence our pardonable indignation. — Evening Btar,

FACTS AND FANCIES. MORE LIGHT ON THE WAR. The Kev. Charles Phillips, Congregational minister at Johannesburg, writing to the Daily News after eleven years' absence in Africa, deals in a trenchant way with the Anglo-Boer war. After thanking the Daily News for the magnificent way in which it has advocated the claims of truth and righteousness, Mr. Phillips adds: — Had some of your correspondents been equally earnest in ascertaining the facts of the case before writing, their letters would have been more convincing than they have been. But the appalling ignorance displayed by some of them, who have been most -eager to rush into print, not only prejudices their cause, but fills South Africans with feelings of intense indignation. The Rev. J. Hirst Hollowell, for example, in a communication addressed to you on December 30, amongst other things hardly more correct; says: " It has been shown again and again that in some parts of Cape Colony the Natives are treated with the same {severity as in the Transvaal." With all clue deference to Mr. Hollowell I aliinn this has never Leen shown at all, because it is impossible. Stubborn facts are absolutely opposed to such an idea. But even if it were so demonstrated it would not help Mr. H., for who is responsible for the evil treatment of the Natives in Cape Colony ? Not the English, but the Dutch party, that in reality has ruled South Africa ever since responsible government was ■ gran'ed. As I hope to' have ample opportunities, in days to come, of showj ing how the Natives have been treated , in the Transvaal, I will leave the subs ject for the present. I wish, however, it were possible to raise a fund to send 3 Messrs, Hollowell, Hocking, Clifford, j Stead, etc., to South Africa to study $3 eubieQl) fa? twelve?! \M sejjj

might cease to deluge the puidic with the flood of inaccuracies at present flowing from their pens. Mr. Hollog well endeavors to prove that the war is due to a capitalist conspiracy, In that he differs from the Transvaal Government, who believed that the fons et origo of all the ills to which their Government was heir was the South African League, and offered to redress many of the capitalist grievances if they in turn would endeavor to destroy the League. And that the League and the capitalists were not synonymous terms was so apparent that ne who runs could read. Mr, Wybergh—e.g., the chairman of,the League—was consulting engineer to the Consolidated Goldfields. He was asked to choose between his politics and his position, and resolutely chose the former and surrendered the latter. And I know that their clerks even feared to attend League or general political meetings lest it should be to their prejudice with their masters. Mr. Hollowell must go deeper before he gets to the bedrock cause or causes of the present war. There is one remarkable fact to which I would call the attention of your readers. In South Africa there are some hundreds of ministers in Free Churches. They are akin in training and creed, in feeling and sympathy, in politics and religion, with the ministers of the Free Churches at Home. They are on the spot, and have had practical experience of all that has led up to the present war. They may therefore be supposed to understand it better than the same class of men in England. It has involved the Transvaal section of them also in very serious consequences. We are houseless, and homeless, and salaryless. Our people are scattered ; our houses, furniture, books, as well as churches, are exposed to devastation, and I fear there is little prospect of any of us finding them as we left them. Our interests, therefore, were all on the side of peace. And yet (and in this we may exclude Episcopalians) there is in reality no dissentient voice among us. We all believe that this war was inevitable; that whatever may be the defects of our diplomacy, it did not cause the war; that the object of it has been the dream of a quarter of a century —a dream that seemed likely to be only a dream, until the Uitlanders provided for them the sinews of war; that since then there has been steady, persistent, unfaltering preparation for the present conflict. " Africa for the Afrikanders "; a united Dutch Republic from the Zambesi to the Cape; the exclusion of the English from South Africa—that is the true explanation, and the true inwardness of our present conflict. Mr. Chamberlain's diplomacy has been bad enough. lam not anxious to de fend it. But if it had been the very best conceivable it could only have delayed this war till the Boers had completed their preparations, till they had entirely undermined the loyalty of the Cape and Natal Dutch, and until some European complication had so tied the hands of England that it would have made their victory certain. The Boers have not only been preparing for the inevitable since the Raid, The R:iid was largely the consequence of the preparations which preceded it. It only accentuated their aim and strengthened their determination. On my first visit to Pretoria, in June, 1895 —and therefore before the Raid ' his was made abundantly clear to mo by one occupying a high position at that time in the Government service.