The decision of the War Office in regard to the
officers concerned in the Jameson Raid has been made public. The five officers who were sentenced by the Court to various terms of imprisonment are to be allowed to retire from the service with their full allowances,—that is, considerable allowances
in cash. The officers against whom proceedings were Rhin
dolled are to be allowed to return to their military duties, but they will, it is said, receive a private reprimand from the Commander-in-Chief. In the case of the officers who- were dismissed by the Court, the decision seems to us reasonable. The reasons which induced the Court to hold them guiltless of the civil offence should also operate as regards the military offence ; but though we have no desire to appear unduly harsh, we cannot say the same of the five officers found guilty of a breach of the Foreign Enlist- ment Act. If a flagrant act of disobedience to orders from a competent authority, followed by a surrender such as that at Krngersdorp, is to be passed over as a venial offence, we- do not see bow it will be possible to carry on the Empire. Such an attitude on the part of the War Office tends to place our peace at the mercy of any ambitious officer.
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