NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE most recent war news is not of special importance, though there have been the usual captures of prisoners, stock, and ammunition, and in two instances Boer laagers have been surprised. 'During the week there have, how- ever, been persistent rumours of peace negotiations, but they appear to be without foundation, for Mr. Balfour in the House of Commons on Thursday denied any knowledge of' them. We have insisted elsewhere on the bad policy of making treaty terms with the Boers. This is not because we desire ungenerous treatment now, or do not heartily intend the establishment of full Colonial self-government later—the ultimate grant of that is as absolutely certain as that we shall in the end defeat the Boers—but because the new Colonies must enter the Empire with a clean slate, and unhampered by any pledges that can lie twisted from their Meaning, or paraded as signs of British weakness and vacillation.
