The response of the Colonies to the appeal for help
becomes daily more splendid,—there is no other word for it, Mr. McLean, the Premier of Victoria, replying to Queens- • land's suggestion that the joint Australian force for South Africa should be raised to five thousand men, the Colonies contributing on the basis of population, says :—" I do not think that the number of our contingent should be limited. We will send men as rapidly as they are trained and equipped." That is the true Imperial spirit. We sincerely trust that the Colonial Governments will not waste time in asking whether the War Office will accept this or that offer of troops. Let them send all they can without inflicting too great a burden on themselves, and the people of the Mother-country will make the military authorities here give them a proper welcome, or know the reason why. That the commanders and troops at the front will receive the Colonial contingents with enthusiasm goes without saying, The mounted men from Greater Britain cannot join us in too great force.
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