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Waikato Argus, Volume VII, Issue 528, 19 December 1899, Page 2

It is again our painful duty to announce another reverse in South Africa. This time it is the Com-mander-in-Chief in person who has been repulsed with the loss of over a thousand men killed, wounded and missing. The cablegram gives tolerably full information, and painful aro the details. The authorities who are responsible to the nation have had it brought home to them that they have vastly under-estimated the force at the disposal of the Boers, and have also placed at too low a value the generals leading and the men composing their armies. Our generals are of course at a disadvantage. The Boer leaders, with the assistance no doubt of some of the leading European tacticians, have carefully arranged the plan of campaign which they are now carrying out. This appears to be to entrench in advantageous positions and wait for the attaek of our forces. Of necessity the attacking army under such conditions is at an enormous disadvantage. It is very questionable whether we have as yet a greater number of men under arms than the enemy. Thereverses, however,with which we have met have only had the effect of hardening the opinion throughout the Empire that victory must attend our arms, whatever the cost of blood and and treasure found necessary. There is a silver lining to every dark cloud, and in this case the effulgence is a reflection of the philosophical manner in which the Empire has accepted temporary defeat only as an incentive to greater exertion, more sacrifice and a stern determination to conquer. The colonies are prepared to contribute their full quota. The men they have already sent must be taken to be only samples of those we are prepared to send in much larger numbers. It is to be hoped that the different Governments, including that of New Zealand, will lose no time in satisfying the aspirations of the large number of men who are enger to step into the gaps made in the ranks of their countrymen.