The South African Campaign.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7886, 31 July 1905, Page 4

The South African Campaign.

A SENSATIONAL INDICTMENT. J Mr 11, \V. Wilson thus reviews in the London Daily Mail the third \yjl>imo ol The Times' history of tha South African War : The passages in this sensational Volume which will 1,0 most closely studied, all i which will provoke the. holiest contsoversy, are (hose dealing with tl:c tj/ialily of ihe Hritish .generalship anil thu conduct of the llritish troops. Vet it must not l>e supposed that Mr Auktv and his collaIjoi'Ktors. of whom Mr Lionel .lames deals with the siege of Ijadysmith and Mr llron Herbert with General lluller's operations in Natal, lav the iinlivided blame for the failures upon either officers or men. It is the sys- , tern, the Government, and the iitation itself that they impeach—the system .ihi.'h telegraphed "disiiioiutcu preleued' to the colonies ; which "iritlercd away" a "vast mass of patriotic cn:rgy which might have display ■d itself in personal service" ; the Goicrnn.ent who in the hour of extreme, dangir and defeat, could no moi c shale themselves free from their Mubitual attitude of party defence, face thi; facts, and stand forward us the rulers of n great nation, than the generals in the field had been able to shake oil the fetters ol I'all Mall and Alder.shot,and show themselves great military leaders : the Opposition, which, adinilubly typilied in their leider, Sir 11. t'ampbell-llannerman, wobbling flabbily hither and thither in their anxi-'ty to share the civ-1 (lit for patriotism of the one wing without forgoing any political capital that might be made by the methods of lhe other : the nation which had in recent generations become absolutely uiiwurlike. The most elc> mentary proficiency in the use of firearms wan practically eo.ifined H the 1111'iiiih'.-„s of the volunteer for, ces, ami it is only from men who feci tnat they can be of some service that volunteers can be expected even in the most (MitriotiC nation There call 1)0 little doubt that under an equal stress of patriota emotion a little people like the Swiss would have found many morvolunteers than tlie Knglish, for the simple reason that the number o! men who can march, skirmish, and shoot is larger in Switzerland than in the Inited Kingdom.

I'liese »w the factors ultimately responsible for the British failure it. the field, for the defeats of Deceinljor and January. IHtltl —1900, for the protraction of the contest, al.n. for the immense anil unpardonable waste of money and of life. —About Spion Kop.— It is the failure of the British troops to hold Spion Kop that provokes the severest Criticism from Mi tinery and hip •he height was seized, the men could not intrench through throughly, as he Japanese w: mid have done. The men. naturally;averse Votintrenchinent. wei e further tired out by j thti stiff climb anil tbe sleepless night, following after several days of lighting, ami would not or could not work harder. The fact is that neUh"r in liodily endurance nor in mental I'oresighL was the averag 1 Hritish soldier up to the hiuii stantlarl repiind by moileni war. When the mist lifted and the terr lie .rdeiil began, when the Hoit shell.. •egnn to senich (he summit and the Hoor fire to decimate the defenders a large part of the Uritish, force lost heart. Survivor.- of that seen: , who ay wounilela'l through the longiljj lave lold h>M\ above 1 he voal" of tile fire, their confused senses retained nost clearly the impression of Coltnel Thorn"yciMl't's voice, '"bellowing ike a bull" encouragement to !h< vaverers. and words of Command to lh" would-be fugitives: yet the pUiin a:,t, which Mr llron Herbert dots lot disguise, is that there were Mume .vholesJiie surrenders. and that only 'the timely arrival of the Middlesex .... avert d a sicond Majuba.' The generals conduit itg (he linttle ire (li'clarod to have shown "general '"eebleness, pal]>lible luck of will-pow-It is dillicult to discern iinthe conduct of iwy one of the senior oUlcers responsible for the general dispositions that day a trace of the lierce determinntfnn that 'means to win at all eosts. of the restless eagerness that leaves no stun-' 1111 turned to make victory certain, or eve» of that old-f.ishinned British obstinacy that refuses ever to acknowlnlgo defeat. On the contrary, in instance after instance. . . we lire struck by a half-he»ir'uid(iess by a fear of bold decisions and wholes',lie commitments, by a reluctance to exercise re*4ponsil»ility, l>y an indiflen-nce to the value of time or even an eagerness to find pre V*xts fnir washing it, liy a, BeAit}ness to leave things to chance, by an acijiiiesenee in failure, which are but the manifestations of a common cause—the lack of will. As were the generals', so were the soldiers who!*! lives were thrown away: Neither in skill with the rifle Uor in individual intelligence and Initia. five, nor in phyaiu.il and moral endurance, was -the Uritish soldier eipial to the terrible exacting demands of modern war. The constant reinforcement ol the sum-mit of Spion Kop 'only increased the ovcrcrowrlfnsi add|<l to the and 1 o the demoralisation of a considerable past, of the force. Yet. on the other hand, a small-r force of t,"n? same men would have been rushed off the summit by the Hoeis. Spion Kop might have been held against all comers by .'(Hi men. but not bv 000 ordinary Itritish soldiers, nor by r.ftfMi. —A Tribute lo Tommy AtkinsIt is to be in-marked that in other passages Air Hrotl Herbert |yiys high tributes to fleneral Huller*- infantry I men. 1 Ims. in bis account :of tin lighting at I ugela Heights, which opened the way lo loldysniith,'hi' speaks #if "Hollers magnificently imperturable in laritty. oi the equally splendid conduct of the Irt'ish regiments Connaugh|s, f'fliiskillings, and lltiblins—who ditplayejl all the lines! i|ualiiiis of gallant soldiers. Hut at th'Tugela tbe gvneralship was moderately good, whereas at Spion Kop Mr Herbert Hotihl ;iss«t( that it was fiiKTiijtl, jtnd this may writ ''lavo lnt'n ihe (,i the fJifTcrvntX' in thuconduct of the men. Throughout the Natal chapters t>eneral Holler j s iL central figure, and his generalship is criticised in t!v most unsparing leenis. nil.- Vatul campaign shows no glimmering of th,. recognition of the ordinary -ta'rtdai-ds by which generalship can be measured. It is of a kind by itself, conditioned not only by the defects of a single personality, but by the whole constitution and character of the British Army. _ '' he real cjue to Holler's generalship and t|o his whole attitude is to bo slought in the'fact that he was applying to a whole army and against serious opponents the same methods wllich lie had been

accustomed In apply to small col- i »""is in little wars against tactical I "''••■• lot*. ... If be failed, tin,bl,:"ie must rest, not with Iniin.biit Willi what he w a s—with the nation v. hich confidi ntly hade Uini underta'»e a task of overwhelming difficulty for which hi' was noil' Her fitted by experience, nor by training mr by disposition. The ma.i himsr f. baffled. U?« ildere I. distracted, e :;hearti n, d. at linn-s even tinnervby 'h'' terrible responsibility ■l' list upon him. is a figure which *. ls lor sympathy and regret, not f< r reprobation.