The expected return of Lord Roberts, and the appointment of
Lord Kitchener as his immediate successor in South Africa, afford matter for some interesting comment in a recent issue of Die Information, the very ably conducted and well-informed Viennese news-sheet to which we have so often bad occasion to refer of late. After observing that Lord Kitchener is the right man for the two important tasks with which England is confronted—bringing home the troops and finishing off the war—the writer recommends him to enforce the regulations adopted by the Germans in the latter part of the Franco-Prussian War for the suppression of guerilla warfare, the details of which are to be found in Von der Goltz's book and in the official sources,—regulations which he describes as cruel, but absolutely in keeping with the principles of international and martial law. Lord Roberts's tribute to the conduct of his troops he describes as remarkable and well deserved. As for the clemency of the British, it was enough to state that only five death sentences were pronounced by Courts-Martial:—" No war has ever been carried on with such leniency. In any other country in the world the Cape rebels would •have been shot summarily instead of being tried by a jury. In acting as they have done Lord Roberts and Sir Alfred Milner have combined statesmanship with humanity ; but to bring the war to a close Lord Kitchener may find it necessary to adopt different methods."
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