NEWS OF THE WEEK.
1V0-„i1itel1igence of importance has arrived from Zululand this 11 week, the great army in South Africa still waiting until Lord Chelmsford can make up his mind what he shall do with it. A new offer to treat, made by Cetewayo has, it is said, been rejected, and unconditional submission again demanded. Sir Stafford Northcote, however, on Thurs- day made a most remarkable statement. He affirmed, in answer to Mr. Childers, that down to April 20th the war in South Africa had cost only a little more than hall-a-million a month, and that if it were ended before July, as Government hoped it might be, it would only cost 21,600,000 beyond the sums already provided. Considering the enormous expenditure for transport, the statements made in the colony itself, the pre- cedent of the Abyssinian war—managed by Sir S. Northcote himself—and the fact that we have 25,000 men in the field, it is difficult to imagine that there is not some huge blunder in this statement. There, however, it is,—a distinct declaration that this country is waging a great war, eight thousand miles off, at a cost of 26,000,000 a. year. It is necessary, however, to observe the date, April 20th. It was not till after that that the big bills for the reinforced army would begin to be sent in.
