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Show London, March . 13. The . United States government, at the request of President Kruger and President Steyn, has offered to the British government its services as mediator, with the view of bringing about peace in South Africa. Af-rica. ' The representations made to Great Britain were so put that they assumed nothing of a desire to intervene, but simply transmitted the communications communica-tions made to the United States Consul Con-sul Adelbert S. Hay, with the accompanying accom-panying assurances that anything the state department could do in the interests in-terests of peace would be gladly undertaken. under-taken. The offer of mediation springs from Pretoria, where Mr. Hay. with the other consuls, subsequent to Presidents Kruger and Steyn sending their peace cablegram to Lord Salisbury, were asked to endeavor to secure the good otiices of their respective governments apparently with the view of bringing outside influence to bear upon Lord Salisbury's reply to the Boer overtures. These seem to be fruitless except in the instance of the United States consul, con-sul, whose representations to Secretary Hay were forwarded March 12. to the United States embassy in London, with the instructions outlined above. Offer Too Late. These. Mr. White, the charge d'affaires, d'af-faires, personally presented to Lord Salisbury, who repl!ed cordially but without committing himself to any definite expression of opinion. As the Boer overtures had already been answered an-swered to the effect that no propositions proposi-tions including the retention of the republics' re-publics' independence could be considered, consid-ered, the presertation of the American offer was already too late, but the premier pre-mier apparently deemed it a matter of sufficient importance to put himself on record with a formal reply, which is j now awaited. The United States charge d'affaires, Henrv White, saw Lord Salisbury at the foreign office this evening, and received re-ceived a formal reply from the British Brit-ish government declining the good offices of-fices of the United States in .regard to peace. It is understood the reasons of the premier are identical with those already cabled to the Associated Press. The interview between Mr. White and Lord Salisbury was very brief, the premier confining himself to a courteous cour-teous verbal declination, without en-j en-j tering into details CABINET HOLDS MEETING. Refuses to Give Out Information Regarding Re-garding Peace Negotiations. Washington, March 13. Up to the time the cabinet meeting adjourned today to-day no answer had been received from the British government to the representations repre-sentations made through Mr. Choate touching the restoration of peace in South Africa. It was decided by the cabinet upon an explanation of the case-by case-by Secretary Hay that it would not be proper at present to make any statement state-ment relative to the part which th United States government is taking in the effort to terminate the war. It is stated again on the highest authority au-thority that in its present capacity the United States government is -not a me-diary, me-diary, but is simply a "go-between." Not a single proposition to serve as a basis of a, peace agreement between Great Britain and the South African republics was set out in the communication communi-cation of Lord Salisbury. All that was ventured in this first overture was an inquiry as to what Great Britain was likely to demand as the price of stopping stop-ping the war. To have gone further and proposed terms on our own account might have placed the United States in the position of an uninvited mediator. Secretary Hay was almost speechless from a severe cold, and when the cabinet cabi-net meeting adjourned he was obliged to go home and go to bed. The cabinet also discussed the resolution reso-lution of Senator Allen, calling for information in-formation as to what steps had been taken to bring about peace in South Africa. Af-rica. It was decided that no statement on this subjcct'could be given at pres ent, owing to the fact that the correspondence corre-spondence involved other nations.. . ATTITUDE OF FRANCE. Refuses to Take the Initiative in a Peace Movement. Paris, March 13. A representative of the Associated Press has secured from a responsible mouthpiece of the French government, the following exposition of France's attitude in the matter of intervention in-tervention in the Anglo-Transvaal war, which, it is said, has been solicited by President Kruger. The official in question ques-tion said: "We believe it is true the Transvaal has sent a request to the powers for their intervention, though up to this morning President Kruger's message has not been announced. As far as France is concerned, she certainly will not take the initiative in offering England Eng-land mediation, neither will Russia, for the two are naturally working together in this matter. "We feel that in the present excited atate of public feeling in England, especially es-pecially as regards ourselves, any step taken by the French government would defeat its own object and instead of opening a way to honorable peace, would act as oil on flames and probably prob-ably only create fresh complications. We consider that overtures for mediation media-tion can emanate from some power whose cordial relations with England prevent such a suggestion being construed con-strued as an unfriendly act. "The emperor of Germany, for instance, in-stance, might take the initiative, or President McKinley, without fear of creating the friction which " stands in the way of any such action on our part, and after this is done, reliance can be placed on the unqualified support sup-port of France and Russia, whose only desire is to see the end of the bloodshed, blood-shed, and are eager to lend their good offices in bringing about this result." THE TIMES IS PLEASED. Says Salisbury's Reply Was the Only Conceivable One. London, March 14. The Times, com- I menting editorially this morning upon the reply of Lord Salisbury to the message from the Boer presidents eays; J "The government having given the only conceivable reply to the ex- traordinary Kruger-Steyn .telegram, a ' reply which will be hailed with pro- I found satisfaction throughout the em- I pire, we are sincerely glad to see the attitude the United States has assumed as-sumed in transmitting the proposals. Washington's services of course have been declined, but declined, we need hardly say, in the same cordial and friendly spirit in which they, were offered. of-fered. "The news that General French commands Bloemfontein is an instructive instruc-tive comment on the preposterous character of the Boer pretensions." Most of the papers express sentiments senti-ments similar to those of the Times. The Standard says: "It is hard to treat with any seriousness serious-ness an appeal which ignores the palpable pal-pable realities of the situation. So far as it is meant for diplomatic use abroad the appeal Is a sheer waste of labor. Knowing our views, the diplomatists diplo-matists of both hemispheres- will respect re-spect them." The Daily News says: "Lord Salisbury Salis-bury puts his decision on .the' right ground. No other answer could be expected. ex-pected. The duty of the Liberal party will be to use its influence in the' direction direc-tion of tempering the future British sovereignty with the largest measure of local autonomy consistent with the securities for interstate peace and equal laws and liberties." The Daily Chronicle says: "The worst enemies of the Boers. could not have anticipated the full extent and audacity of their demands. President McKinley has been forced by the exigencies ex-igencies of his position to approach Lord Salisbury with a harmlesa intimation inti-mation of his readiness to exercise his good offices. When he reads the correspondence corre-spondence he will feel thankful that he has not compromised himself with a cause that is now resolved into the arrogant obstinacy of Kruger." DISGRACE TO GNGLAND. Labouchere Protests igainst Salisbury's Salis-bury's Reply to the Presidents. London, March 13. Heiry Labouchere, Labouch-ere, advanced liberal, protested against Lord Salisbury's reply t Presidents Kruger and Steyn, which, he said, was not only a crime, but a olundei. The terms of peace proposed were an iniquity ini-quity and a disgrace to Great Britain. Turkey, he declared, might just as well have insisted on blotting iut Greece as an independent country. Greece insulted insult-ed Turkey and compelled her to go to war. Thomas Gibson Bowles, conservative, said that the last telejram from Presidents Presi-dents Kruger and Ste,Ti vras even more insulting than the one which began the war. WHITE HAS HOPES. Agent for the Traxsvaal Visits the State Department. New York, March 13. Montagu White, agent in this city for the Boers, returned from "Washington late tonight and in an interview soon after his arrival he said: "I had an hour's conversation with Mr. Hill, the assistant secretary of state, and he assured me that he hoped for a happy solution of the great problem now before be-fore us. I cannot, of course, now give the details of that conversation. I expect ex-pect to see Mr. Hill again on Friday next, when I will probably go to the state department again. "I believe that Germany, France and Russia would certainly back up any movement made by the United States gov. eminent in the direction of intervention. I think the European powers all look to this country to take the initiative. If any European nation should intervene it would tend to destroy the harmony of the continent. Most of the powers have interests in-terests in Africa and their motives would be questioned, but the United States would have nothing to gain except the preservation of two sister republics, no selfish interest could be imputed." London, March 13. A parliamentary paper containing the telegrams sent to the British government by the presidents) presi-dents) of the South African republic and the Orange Free State, and Great Britain's reply thereto, was issued today. to-day. It contains, first, the telegram sent by the two presidents to the Marquis of Salisbury, as follows: "Bloemfontein, March 5. The blood and the tears of thousands who have suffered by this war and the prospect "Of all mnrsl nnrl ppnnoiTiip ruin n-horo. with South Africa is now threatened, make it necessary for both belligerents to ask themselves dispassionately and in the sight of the triune God for what are they fighting, and whether the aim of each justifies all this appalling misery mis-ery and devastation. "With this object, and in view of the assertions of various British statesmen to the effect that this war was begun and is being carried on with the set purpose of undermining her majesty's I authority in South Africa and of setting j up an administration over all of South ! Africa independent of her majesty's) government, we consider it our duty to solemnly declare that this war was undertaken solely aa a defensive measure meas-ure to maintain the threatened independence indepen-dence of the South African republic, and is only continued in order to secure and maintain the incontestable independence inde-pendence of both republics as sovereign international states, and to obtain the assurance that those of her majesty's subjects who have taken part with us in, this war shall sniffer no harm whatever what-ever in person or property.. . "On these conditions, but on these conditions alone, are we now, as' in the past, desirous of seeing peace re-established in South Africa, while if her majesty's ma-jesty's government is determined to destroy the independence of the republics repub-lics there is nothing left to us and to our people but to persevere. to the end in the course already begun. "In spite of the overwhelming preeminence pre-eminence of the British empire, we are confident that God, who lighted the un-extinguishable un-extinguishable fire of love -of freedom in the hearts of ourselves and of our belief that he will not forsake us and that he will accomplish his work in us and in our descendants. We hesitate to make this declaration earlier to your excellency, as we feared that as long as the advantage was always on our side, and as long as our forces held defensive de-fensive positions far within her ma-jestyls ma-jestyls colonies, such a declaration might hurt the feelings and honor of the British people. But now that the prestige of the British empire may be considered to be assured by the capture cap-ture of one of our forces by her majesty's ma-jesty's troops, and that we have thereby there-by been forced to evacuate other positions posi-tions which our forces had occupied, that difficulty is over and we can no longer hesitate to clearly inform your government and people in the sight of the whole civilized world why we are fighting and on what conditions we are ready to restore peace." The Marquig of Salisbury to the presidents pres-idents of the South African republic and the Orange Free State: "Foreign Office, March 11. I have the honor to acknowledge your honors' telegram dated March o, from Bloem- j fontein, of which the purport is principally princi-pally to demand that her majesty's? government shall recognize 'the incontestable incon-testable independence of the South African Af-rican republic and Free State' as 'sovereign 'sov-ereign international states,' and to offer of-fer on those terms to bring the war to a conclusion. "In the beginning of October last peace existed between her majesty and the two republics, under conventions1 which were then in existence. A discussion dis-cussion had been proceeding for some months between her majesty's government govern-ment and the South African republic, of which the object was to obtain redress re-dress for certain very serious griev-; griev-; ances under which the British residents in South Africa were suffering. In the S cours-c of these negotiations the South ! African republic had, to the knowledge of her majesty's government, made considerable armaments, and the latter had consequently taken steps to provide pro-vide corresponding reinforcements of the British garrisons at Cape Town and in Natal. "No infringement of the rights guaranteed guar-anteed by the conventions had, up to that point, taken place on the Britiah side. Suddenly, at two days' notice, the South African republic, after issuing an insulting ultimatum, declared war upon her majesty, and the Orange Free State, with whom there had not even been any discussion, took a similar step. Her majesty's dominions were immediately imme-diately invaded by the two republics. Siege was laid to three towns within the British frontier, a large portion of two colonies was overrun with great iiic;tviir.tinn of nrnnpi'tv and life, and' the republics claimed to treat the inhabitants in-habitants of extensive portions of her majesty's dominions as if those dominions domin-ions had been annexed to one or the other of them. In anticipation of these operations, the South African republic had been accumulating for many. years past military stores on an enormous scale, which, by their character, could only have been intended for use against Great Britain. "Your honors make some observations of a negative character upon which these preparation? were made. I do not think it necessary to discuss the questions you have raised. But the result re-sult of these preparations, carried on with great secrecy, has been that the British empire has been compelled to confront an invasion which has entailed en-tailed upon the empire a costly war and the loss of thousands of precious lives. This great calamity has been the penalty Great Britain has suffered for having of recent years acquiesced to the existence of two republics. "In view of the use to which the two republics have put the position which was given them, and the calamities these unprovoked attacks have inflicted on her majesty's dominions, her majesty's ma-jesty's government can only answer your honors' telegram by saying that they are not prepared to assent to the independence either of the South African Af-rican republic or the Orange Free State." The correspondence was read in both houses of parliament today, and the concluding paragraph of the British premier's - reply elicited prolonged cheers. Cape Town,- March 13 General French ha? arrived at Bloemfontein. .-London. March 14. 4:30 a. m. Noth ing can be said of the advance on Bloemfontein beyond Iord Roberts' own dispatches. Nothing more has been permitted to come through. Doubtless Lord Roberts himself is fully occupied with important military operations. op-erations. The dispatch from Cape Tpwn saying that General French has "arrived "ar-rived at Bloemfontein," probably does not mean that he has entered the city. Lord Roberts' messages may mean either that the Boers have cut the railway rail-way to the north, or that the British cavalry have done so. It the former case, then it may be assumed that no rolling stock has been seized, but by general assumption the latter interpretation inter-pretation is regarded as correct. This would greatly facilitate obtaining obtain-ing supplies from Orange river, an important im-portant matter, as Lord Roberts' line of communication at Modder bridge is now 110 miles long. The Boers may make another fight, but there is little doubtthat Lord Roberts Rob-erts will occupy Bloemfontein Wednesday. Wednes-day. The Boers retiring from Orange river will find themselves between two British armies, and their guns are almost al-most bound to fall into the hands of the British, while the occupation of the capital of the Free State will strain the alliance of the two republics to the utmost. The government will not allow tne Kruger-Steyn appeal to influence in any way their determination not to spare any effort to prosecute the war. There will be no diminution of measures meas-ures calculated to maintain the full efficiency ef-ficiency of the field force, and whatever reinforcements were previously considered consid-ered advisable will still be sent out. Lord Salisbury's reply meets with unanimous approval among conservatives conserva-tives and it is the universal opinion that the Boers, by their extravagant claims and canting tone, meant to influence in-fluence foreign powers, however, again overreached themselves, .as they did by the ultimatum. . The war office has received the following fol-lowing additional dispatch from Lord Roberts at Venters Vlei: "There were 321 men wounded and about sixty or seventy were killed or are missing." "Colonel Umpheley has died of his wounds. Lieutenant Pratt of the Ls-ex Ls-ex regiment, was wounded severely. The wounds are as aTule more serious than usual owing to the expanding bullets bul-lets which are freely used by the Boers. The Daily Mail has the following dis-n.itch dis-n.itch from Kimberley, dated Tuesday. I March 13: "Lord Methuen occupied , 1 Pohof on Sunday, without opposation. ; He left a garrison there and returned i here. ' , ,. "The railway and telegraph lines have been repaired thirty miles northward north-ward to Slyp Klip. It is understood that line between Fourteen Streams and Vryburg is not badly damaged." Winston Churchill wires to the Morn ing Post from Durban, protecting against the ceremonious treatment of General Cronje. He adds: "The stern decision not to exchange prisoners will undoubtedly accelerate i the end of the war. but it will prove very hard and perhaps even dangerous for the British prisoners in Pretoria "There is abundant evidence that the Boers are becoming more cruel and that the war .will enter a darker phase. It is very doubtful if the Boer government will be able to control the wild passions of the exasperated ruffiians forming the noisy part of the Boer forces in the! event of a siege of Pretoria, and the : position of the British prisoners would i then become precarious. "I have visited the dam which the Boers began on Klip river below Lady- j smith.. If it had been completed it would ! have submerged Intombi camp, where i there were 2.000 sick." j Lady Sarah Wilson wires to the Daily Mail from Mafeking, under date of March 6, by native runner to Lobasti, March 9, as follows: "On Saturday, March 3, the Boers furiously bombarded the brick fields and trenohes about a mile from the town for three hours, killing one and wounding two colonials. "On Monday, March 5. they made a 1 determined attack. Owing to a misunderstanding mis-understanding the colonials evacuated! the foremost trench. This the Boers oc- 1 cupied. but reserves were called up and the trench was recaptured v.ith a rush. We had no casualties. "The Boers are very active and it taxes Colonel Baden-Powell and thu garrit-on very heavily to prevent them, encroaching on our lines. Since Commandant Com-mandant Snyman returned from the north the siege has been prosecuted! with renewed vigor. "Dynamite explosions were heard during the last two days of February. The Boers have n-:'n blowing up sections sec-tions of the Northern railway, showing show-ing that they fear the approach of Colonel Plumer's column. The new five inch gun made here has proved very satisfactory and accurate. Colonel Baden-Powfll warned Commandant Com-mandant Snyman that unless ho dis-bandud dis-bandud and disarmed th-? native levies filling the Boer forward trencht-.s by March 3. he (Baden-Powell) would no longer be responsible for restraining Chief Linchwe in the Sequani district. Commandant Snyman declined to disband dis-band them." In the lobbies in the house of commons com-mons rumors that Mafkirig had been, relieved were in circulation this evening, even-ing, but they still lack confirmation. BOERS' FIERCE RESISTANCE. Roberts Has Most Severe Engagement Since Crossing the Modder. Dreifontein, Orange Free State, Sunday, Sun-day, March 11. General Roberts' advance ad-vance yesterday across the scorchinj? -plains from Poplar Grove to this place was marked by the most svere engagement engage-ment since cross the Modder river. The Boers stubbornly contested every foot of ground, only fleeing at dusk when Roberts threw most of his troops against the center of their weakened line. At the point where Colonel Broad-wood Broad-wood turned the Boer left he founrt . himself under the fire of their none-pounder. none-pounder. The Boers, however, ultimately ultimate-ly hoisted the white flag. When Colonel Colo-nel Broad wood advanced he was surprised sur-prised to find the Boers had taken advantage ad-vantage of the cessation of fire to escape es-cape in the darkness. The Transvaal prisoners showed they were entirely surprised by Lord Roberts' tactics. A Free Stater, whose house President Kruger occupied during the Boer flight from Osfontein. said he complained to the president about the depredations of the Transvaalers, whereupon the president replied:' "No wonder we are beaten. The hnrrher5 entered into the war to fiETht for a righteous cause, but now they have developed into horse and cattle stealers." CHIEFS ARE QUARRELING. Trouble Found Among the Zulus-Encouraged Zulus-Encouraged by Boers. Lebombo. Monday. March 5. via Louren-zo Louren-zo Marques, March 12. Trouble id expected expect-ed between Chief Orelequana and Ch.if Umbogaz. in British Zululand. The Boers are anxious that the chiefs should quarrel quar-rel and they are prepared to support the former, as is also the Sw.isi queen. The Zulu king, however, upholds Umbogaz. The women at Piet Rief laager are lamenting la-menting over the heavy Boer loss around Ladysmith. Drove the Boers Back. Aliwal North, Cape Colony, by Courier Cour-ier to Burghersdorp via Stormberg Junction, Tuesday, March 13. General Brabant's forces arrived here on Sunday. Sun-day. The Boers had retired the previous pre-vious night, taking up a position four j miles beyond the Orange river, where General Brabant attacked and drove them back, securing the position after a ' sharp engagement. . Gold Mines All Right. I Berlin, March 13. A cable from Johan- nesburg reports that the condition of the j German group of gold mines in the Trans. I vaal is satisfactory and that the othr groups have suffered only inconsiderable through the stoppage. I White Embarks For East London. I Durban, Monday, March 12. General f Sir George White has arrived here and j embarked upon the transport or East 'London. |
