THE COLONIAL FORCES AND THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 106, 23 May 1901, Page 4

THE COLONIAL FORCES AND THE WAR.

An official retina relating to colonial Contingents despatched to South Africa appears in the hi test Loudon papers U) hand, and is of considerable interest to this colony. The information given shows the manlier of men sent hy each colony lip to the end of last, year ; the number of members of the contingents who have returned from South Africa, or gone on to England ; and the present strength of the Contingents in South Africa, The figures are as follow : I H 1 If Canada .. 3059 2219 117 N.S.Wales.. 2640 861 878 N. Zealand.. 1787 373 1352 Victoria .. 1429 361 625 ! Queensland .. 1127 324 500 '«. Australia.. 574 107 306 '•W. Australia 474 173 310 Tasmania .. 302 1.5 206 It will be seen that the details of the whereabouts of the troops in some cases leave, a subtantial number ttnacounted I for. This is explained in a footnote to j the return, -which states that the information in regard to the nmnbor of men (who have left South Africa is incom- ' plele; while the present strength ' stated is approximate. These omis--1 sions, however, do not in any way de- . tract from the satisfaction which must |be felt in the colony at the place New j Zealand has taken in the muster roll iof honour. It is third on the list ,in point of numbers sent, and the I position, of course, is more creditable still' when viewed on the pupulation basis. Perhaps an even more striking feature of the return is the statement as to the number of New Zealanders continuing on active service, for it cannot be said that the troops from this colony have not undergone a " fair share of the hardships and dangers of the campaign. Since the above figures were compiled further contingents haye been despatched by most of the colonies, and New Zealand has ■ sent her full quota of these.