The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1902. ENGLAND MUST "STICK IT OUT."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 31, 6 February 1902, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1902. ENGLAND MUST "STICK IT OUT."

After discussing the improbability o f the United States Government leading the European Powers in a policy of intervention between Great Britain and the Boers, the Spectator of November 30th says: —During the last six months of the civil war the impatience here for an end of the struggle was very great, and was by no means always felt by those who considered themselves on the side of the South. Many parsons who sincerely believed themselves Northern in sympathy held that the North must make peac« on ■reasonable terms, and dechred that if not either the North would bleed to death or else there would be a European coalition to end the struggle. For example, at the end of September, 1864, only six or seven months before the struggle was virtually over, we find Punch publishing a cartoon called "Mrs. North and her Attorney," representing a young widow in deepest mourning sitting in the office of Liwyer Lincoln, and addressing him thus: " You see, Mr. Lincoln, we have failed utterly in our course of action, I want, peace, and so, if you cannot eftect an amicable arrangement, I must put tbo case into other hands." The cartoon represented the very widely-held opinion that it was impossible to maintain the original position of the N. rth of no terms but unconditional surrender, and that therefore all wellwishers of the North, as of the South, should desire peace on reasonable terms, But happily Mr. Lincoln knew better, and hence no attempt at a compromise was ever favoured by him. He realised, like the supreme statesman he was, that the point of view of the North and of the South were absolutely irreconcilable, and be never believed in the possibility of making oil and.water' combine. Though many Americans cannot see the impossibility of any compromise with the Boers—though they see the impossibility in the case of the Filipinos—it is, we fear, most unlikely that the Boers will be willing to accept voluntarily any terms we can' offer them. If they were willing, we may be sure that they would long ago have made us acquainted with the fact. But instead of doing that they have assured us in the most impressive way that they will accept nothing short of, sovereign independence. Many wellmeaning people here —among the Westminster Gazette - appear to believe that this is only tin rhetoric of the political auction room, and imagine that thty would take a great deal less than independence if only the mitter were properly put before them. That we hold to bo an entire delusion. Mr. Kruger and the so-called Boer Government here, and Mr. Steyn io South Africa, will not agree to anything but independence. Why should they when anything less means to them political annihilation ? President Davis and his Government"showed exactly the same spirit. They had no sort of notion of yielding when Lea gave way, but would have fought on for another two years if they coulii, in the hope of something turning up. But Lee and the other commanders and their soldiers at last finished the war by a simple surrender, and on no political terms. So it will be here. The Boer Governments, such as they are, will never make terms. But some day the soldiers in the field will come in, and the war will be oyer. There is no other way in which a war of this kind, waged with a people like the Boers, can possibly end. We do not write like this because we are theoretically against any form of negotiations with the Boers. If we thought it would lead to a permanent cessation of hoSr tilities, we would gladly once more see the Government tell the Boers publicly on what terms they can make peace, and listen to any criticism of thoso terms from the Boers in case we might be able to make some modification of details which would render them more satisfactory from the Boers' point of view. But we do not believe that there is the slightest chance of the Boers considering our terms seriously. Ihey would, no doubt, not object to negotiate, in ths hope that later they could use such negotiation!) to prove weakness, or duplicity, or harshness, but that they would negotiate with a bona fide intention of ending the struggle we do not believe. The leading Boers at present do not want peace, but war, and to shut our eyes to this fact, and pretend that if our terms were only better dished up they would prove palatable, seems to us the height of felly. There is no solution possible

n,ow, as far as we can sec, except a I i military one, and therefore all we can j Ido is to fight on steadily and actively, j| and not allow ourselves to be alarmed by scares of intervention, or deluded by impossible ideas of compromise and negotiation. We have just got to " stick it out." " Fight and don't f übs "is the conclusion of tho whole matter. Meantime there is one thing which we can, and ought to rpmember to do—that is to make surrender on the part of the part of the Boer combatants in the field as easy ps possible. Let us, as far as we can, " save the fac<*" of the Boer officers and men, and n\Bke the transition from enemies to fellow subjects! as easily aB we possibly can. We want when the war is over, to have as large a number of Boerg as possib'e, proud to say: " They fought us without mercy while the war lasted, but when the end cune they treated us like gentlemen." Never " spoil the face " of those with whom you must some ('aykeep house, is a good rule.