As a proof of how greatly time is telling in
our favour we have only to point to Mr. Winston Churchill's review of the situation published in the second edition of Friday's Morning Post. He has penetrated the shell, and seen how little there is inside. He tells us (1) that the last Boer reserves have been called out; (2) that many Transvaalers are most unwilling fighters against the British ; (3) that the food supplies are not large; (a) that the Boers are finding great difficulty in getting remounts, and that without a trained horse the Boer soldier feels lost ; (5) that the dread of a raid from the North is considerable. He adds, however, that the Boers are still very confident in our giving way. As to the general situation, he says most wisely that what is wanted is concentrated action by a large, compact force. "The advance of an army of eighty thousand men in force, covered by one hundred and fifty guns in line, would be an operation beyond the Boers' capacity to grapple with, but columns of fifteen thousand are only strong enough to suffer loss. It is a perilous policy to dribble out reinforcements and to fritter away armies." Mr. Churchill ends his telegram with a somewhat unnecessary appeal to us to persist in the war. He need have no fear on that score. Our reverses made that absolutely certain. The country will make any and every sacrifice, and we should be sorry for the responsible statesman who suggested giving in, even if we are destined to face disasters ten times as great as any we have yet had. The disasters ensure one thing,—namely, that the settlement shall be absolutely final and complete.
