Zenith Africa.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 262, 27 September 1902, Page 4

Zenith Africa.

Losddn', September 28. It D reported that toe Transvaal ‘ al ru .so a loan ot £20,000,000 fur ■-iruducti vu puhnc wonts imMpec- ; oof the* war debt. General Botha, speaking at L terdam, asserted that 20,000 len and children ware dead, tbafc 4000 men had hi en killed and 10,000 wounded. The majority of the latter were incapable of woikiug, and for these unfortu!nates he pleaded. He ncknow‘ledged the receipt from Mr Arthur White, an American, of 100,000 dollars, and asked others to follow this example. He thanked the Dutch for the way in which they had received “ dear President Kruger.” General De la Hey spoke on behalf of the losers of farms and animals. September 24, The Daily Telegraph’s Brussels correspondent states that Mr Kruger has received fiom Mr Lehmann, the publisher of his memoirs, £BO,OOO, which ho is devoting entirely to Bom- aid. The first edition appears in German and English in November. The revenue of the Tran.-vaal for the year ending June, 1903, is estimated at £4,000,000 and the expenditure at £8,700,000. The Beilin Post and “ Pester Lloyd’s ” discourage the idea of a European tour, lest the Boer Generals, in appealing to foreign sympathy, will irritate the British and injure their cause in Britain. Mr Steyn is still too ill to be removed from Clarens, Switzerland. The Boer Generals have issued an address to the civilised world, appealing for funds to aid in the education of their children and the relief of distress. September 25.

The Generals’ manifesto states that they were obliged to accept the terms imposed, as further assistance had hitherto been refused. They were thankful for the world’s sympathy. The Republic had been ready to sacrifice everything to independence, and now the struggle was over the people were utterly ruined, 30,000 houses and Boer farms and a number of villages had been burned or destroyed by the British, orchards ruined, implements broken, mills destroyed, every living animal killed; their orphans and widows had been abandoned. “We appeal to the world for the maimed, the ►needy, and for the satisfactory education of our children. The sword is now sheathed ; on differences we are silent in the presence of such great misery. The amount which Britain is giving in accordance with the terms of surrender even if tenfold will be wholly insufficient.” The concensus of opinion in the newspapers is that the manifesto reveals Messrs Loyds’ and Reitz's influence, and that the Generals were not impressed by the Colonial Office rebuff, which was of their own seeking. The Times regards the Generals’ manifesto as covert and insidious hostility to the Empire whereto allegiance was solemnly pledged. The majority of newspapers are very angry, and warn the Generals that utilisation of pro-Boer committees in the various countries for the purpose of organising a general fund distributed at the Generals’ sole discretion will not be tolerated. Germany received the manifesto with coolness and caution.

Melbourne, September 26. A forecast of the report of the Commission of Enquiry with regard to the Drayton Grange states that the finding will probably be that the vessel was overcrowded, the medical accommodation insufficient and the medical staff undermanned.