THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1900.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 131, 10 April 1900, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1900.

We think we have a. right to claim some credit for ourselves as political prophets. On December the 16tk we wrote as follows, referring to the coming session of Parliament :—": — " What work wil be done ? What measures will be passed ? No one knows. The Premier himself is unable at present to say. We venture, however, on a faint forecast of some of the questions that will come up for discussion. The Local Government Bill that has been hanging over for some years will now probably be seriously tackled, and a vigorous attempt made to get it passed. The liquor traffic will also probably be discussed. It will be argued that we have had enough local option polls, that no other question in politics is brought regularly ,by law before the electors every three years, that a national vote on the question of Prohibition should be taken once for all and the matter in that way settled for some considerable time to come. Technical education will be dealt with at length and a bill passed to regulate the matter for the whole 'colony. In the way of labour legislation the Workmen's Compensation Act will bi !; passed, and possibly an Eight Hours Bill, and the Master and Apprentices Bill." It now appears that this will almost exactly be the actual programme. It is now publicly stated :|: | "The Premier has announced his intention to make Local Government legislation the leading business of next session." And in connection with this matter, as we have been so successful in the prophecy line so far, we will make another venture. We predict that an attempt will be made to constitute bodies on the lines the London Connty Council, and the result "probably wi establishment of a sort of modified form of the old Provincial Councils. As we foretold a Liquor Bill will be brought down. The publicans and the prohibitionists, the saints and the sinners, have both been " at " the Premier, and the result will be a bill considerably modifying the hardship of the triennial local option to the "trade." The Technical Education Bill and the Workmen's Compensation for Accidents - Bill have both, been promised also by the Premier

-dnce we wrote in December. Tin ] Right Hours Bill and the Masters- i md Apprentices Bill are mort I doubtful, for it is questionable if I there will be the time to deal with fcherri. And now, as the mantle of the prophet seems to be upon us, we will make slili another venture. We predict that next session there will be brought down a big railway policy. It is , very unlikely that a man of Mi Ward's capacity, a man of whom so much has lately been made, and from whom so much is expected, will allow the session to pass without some open display of his talents, both is an organiser and administrator. He will surely come down with a railway policy — a policy that will be comprehensive, far-reaching and extensive. Unless seriously restrained by his colleagues, we feel certain Mr Ward will propose to make huge strides in th«s railway world in New Zealand. He will probably go in for very j considerable extensions and improvements, and he will want a lot of money. Of course, he will argue that as the railways more than pay all expenses and interest on cost of construction, it does not matter greatly how much money we borrow for the purpose of building paying new lines and improving the old ones. And certainly, from one point of view it does not much matter, but from another it does. The fact that we have to pay £3 per cent, per annum to the London capitalist for every £1 we borrow, hangs I round our necks like a mill stone. It seems positively monstrous j that in an aboundingly wealthy country like this, with land, labour and minerals illimitable, of our own, we cannot construct a few miles of railway without getting the permission of a man in London, to whom we pay £3 per cent, per annum on the cost of construction for granting us this gracious permission. If Mr Ward can see his way to embark on a forward railway policy, backed up by our own State notes, without chaining ourselves to the man who happens to have control of the mere gold sovereigns in London, then, truely, he will be the greatest benefactor this country has so far seen. We wonder if he will try. Our belief, unfortunately, is that he will not.

THERE is no need to repeat how the war was bungled and mismanaged till Lord Roberts went out, or to tell how delighted we All were at his brilliant success. We all thought, on the receipt of the news that he had entered Bloemfontein and, moreover, had been" welcomed by the Free Staters, that he had struck terror into the hearts of the Boers, and that the war would soon be over. That was almost a month ago, and what has been done since ? It was expected that after a short rest at Bloemfontein, the forward march would have been Begun* and that onr army would meet with no opposition till out oC the Free State. After an.'interval of three weeks, during which no news came to hand, the British engage the enemy at a place called Karree (which, by the way, is SOUTH of Bloemfontein)^ and were not brilliantly successful. Following hard on this" news, comes word that a considerable body of men and a number of guns have fallen into an ambush, with the result that five guns and about three hundred men were captured. It looks very much as if each of the lesser British generals! has made up hiß mind to suffer a reverse at the hands of the Bo.ers. - No one of them seems to learn by the experience of others — he must have experience of his very own to drill into his

aeu'l that, in fighting an enemy like the Boer, efficient scouting id of the highest importance. General Broadwood had with him Remington's Scouts and the New Zealand First Contingent, both rivals for the distinction of being the best scouts in the British army, so he cannot -plead that he had no men suitable for such work. Efficient scouting would most certainly have revealed the position of the 8000 Boers who occupied the sides of the spruit, and what resulted in an ignorninous^ defeat of our men might haee been a brilliant victory. One feature of this incident, i.e., news concerning our own boys, has been very unsatisfactory. When the first bare announcement of the disaster came, and the New Zealanders were mentioned as having , " suffered severely," people were in very great anxiety, awaiting details. When those details came in the form of a cable from Major Davies to his wife that all the New Zealanders were safe, those interested wondered, but were well pleased. Then comes the news that " seventeen of the New Zealanders under Major Tlobin were captured " at the now famous ambush at Kroonspruit. la the light of this news, confirmed as it is by the names of the captured men , and other details^ what are we to think of Major Davies telegram ? The present outlook is worse than it has been for some time. The loss of sevaral guns and a thousand men' is not a very encouraging week's work. On all sides the question is being asked, What are Roberts and Buller doing that they are kept in check by an army of Boers not a quarter as numerous? Of course it is easy enough for peopfe to fight the war at the street corner, or round the fire at home, but it does seem a little hard to answer that question. However, we have every confidence in "■ Bobs," and are almost certain that the new century will open its eyes on the Transvaal at peace under the Union Jack.