NEWS OF THE WEEK.
BY the time these pages are in our readers' hands the Boer delegates will have assembled at Vereeniging. They will include not only all the chief generals, but represen- tatives from the rank-and-file. of all the commandos. The prospects of a peaceful conclusion are naturally canvassed with great eagerness. The Daily Mail declared positively on Friday morning that " sufficient indications have transpired to justify the assertion that peace is absolutely assured." The Times, on the other hand, is much less optimistic, and its Pretoria correspondent in a telegram published on Friday, dated Wednesday, states that the fact that the Boers are meeting to deliberate " does not necessarily imply peace," and adds that we may yet discover that the energetic con- tinuation of hostilities will be more productive of results than academic discussions among the Boers. For ourselves, we are inclined to believe that peace is actually in sight, though we think it quite possible that before the last act there may be a short and sharp return to hostilities.
