Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/239

 1899.] Advanced Liberals and the War. [231

end, he urged that for the present, at any rate, criticism should be reserved for the Government and not extended to our commanders and generals in the field. The duke pointed out that the aid given us by the colonies endorsed the view that the war was necessary and just. But though the opinion of the mother country and the colonies was so unanimous, the nations of the continent, if we might judge from their press, were equally unanimous on the other side. We should not attach too much importance to that, for though we cpuld not say how far the continental press formed or guided the opinions of the peoples, we knew at least that it did not exercise a material influence on the policy of the Governments. The proof of this was to be found in the fact that these Govern- ments were all preserving a strict neutrality. No doubt the continental press suffered frojn ignorance — the writers did not know the true history of the Transvaal these last twenty years, and merely got their information from Dr. Leyds and his subsidised organs.

On the historic question of the reasons for the conclusion of peace after Majuba, the principal one, to the duke's mind, was that the Government believed the people of England at the time to be opposed to the continuance of the war. In former times, the duke said, we treated our colonies lightly, apatheti- cally, but now we had changed. We were proud of our colonies ; we co-operated with them and they with us ; and, irrespective of all other considerations, we must show them that our fellow- countrymen in distant lands were to receive fair treatment. The effort we now had to make was great ; but in days to come it would t>e recognised that this war was necessary for the building up and maintaining of the empire.

In judging of the state of public feeling at this crisis it is interesting to observe the tone taken by Mr. Birrell, who was the principal speaker at the annual meeting of the General Committee of the National Liberal Federation at Manchester on December 15. He declared with emphasis that whatever differences there might be on many matters connected with the war, we had no other course now except to press forward to victory, " until the flag of our country was flying at Pretoria and Johannesburg," and then to make a just and liberal settle- ment ; and that if we sued for peace, in presence of defeat, we might as well "shut lip the shutters in Downing Street and write over them * the business of the country no longer tran- sacted here/ " The resolutions laid before the meeting and, with one amendment, passed, reserved the full right of criticism both on negotiations and defects in military preparations, but declared that the Government had "no option out to prosecute the war vigorously with a view to its termination at the earliest possible moment " — a rather ambiguous phrase which, however, was more or less elucidated by another clause, urging that in the ultimate settlement there should be given to all sections)<(rfc