The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1899.

Waikato Argus, Volume VII, Issue 526, 14 December 1899, Page 2

The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1899.

It is the fate of all strong men to excite the envy, hatred and malice of those who begrudge thorn the success which their strength, perseverance find bravery have brought them. The fact equally applies to nations as to individuals. It is, therefore, not in the least surprising that the continental press has sounded a chorus of jubilation at the reverse we have met with at Stormberg. It is impossible not to recognise that a blunder has been made, the moral effect of which will be much greater than the importance of the result really justifies, A General made a mistake, and lost in killed, wounded and missing some 600 men. The loss is serious of course, but considering that we have more than 100,000 men in the field, and will shortly have 20,000 more, the proportion of loss to the total strength is not such as is calculated to materially delay the final settlement of the differences between the British Government and the two Re publics. Our losses up to the present time are given as 560 killed, 2027 wounded and 1977 missing. It would be absurd for us to criticise the tactics of Generals White and Gatacre, but it is admitted that both made mistakes of a very similar nature ; they both stormed a hill and found afterwards that the Boers had made such a disposition of their forces as rendered the captured positions untenable, There is no such great cause I therefore tor the continental nations to become jubilant. They all have the will to intervene in the interests of the Boers. Their Press has made no secret that such is the case. Whenever British interests have been imperilled the German Press, almost without exception, has taken sMes against us, and it matters not where or when it happens, there would be rejoicing if disaster overcame us. The Colonial Zeitung, after enumerating various reasons for sympathising with the Boers, adds : " This attitude is justified by the additional consideration that any further increase of Britisli power is fraught with the gravest dangers for the peace of the world and for the self-assertion of other nations. In Germany, at least, the vast preponderance of public opinion is on the side of the Transvaal. The German Colonial Society, in particular, ha 9 expressed this feeling in repeated public demonstrations. The last occasions were when it addressed memorials to the Imperial Chancellor on June 21, 189.3, and January 6, 1896. The society has not in the least allowed itself to be misled by recent events or by all the protestations of the English." The same paper in another article adds : " It would be an incomparable spectacle, and a flaming potent in favour of the security and the triumph of right at the end of the 19th century, were the British Empire to receive from this adamantiue rock of resistance (the Transvaal) a repulse whioh would serve as a memorable warning in its attempt, contrary to the spirit of human development, to set might in the place of right." The French Press in recent years has generally been hostile to England. The Temps writes : The Transvaal war is an outburst of jingoism. It is for England a symptom of the malady which has broken out elsewhere under other forms, and it seems that the contagion will be universal, and that a scandalized world will witness melancholy defections and lamentab'e tergiversations. ... It remains to be seen whether Lord Eosebery, in flattering popular passions and deliberately avowing the intention of infringing tin' independence of the Transvaal, has r.ei contributed to let loose in South A! ica that civil war, destined perhaps :•' extend beyond its border, uhich nrjht be the chastisement of a policy of .'•u..;ression and might end by threatening :he unity of the British Empire. Our losses so far have been out of proportion to the advantages gained ; but it must be remembered that at the start of the war our forces were enormously outnum-

bered, and that they have done wtdl to hold their own. We confidently expect that General Buller will, within the next few days, bring the enemy to a general engagement in the neighbourhood of Ladysmith. The British forces are only now in a position to strike with effect.