OCR Text |
Show ENGLAND WILL PA Y IF BOtRS WILL ADMIT WEY ARE DEEEA TED NEW YORK, April 30. W. Eourke Cockran, who has just returned from a trip to Rome, Egypt and London, said that, in his opinion, if the Boers will make an oral concession of defeat, the English will pay them almost any sum to restore their destroyed homes and repair the ravages of war. In other words, he said. England is ready and anxious to pay a large amount of money to .bring about peace in South Africa. London. April 30. The officials of the foreign office say they do not expect definite news regarding peace much earlier than a fortnight from date. Meanwhile, they consider the prospects favorable. The question of amnesty to the Cape rebels is understood to constitute the obstacle at present. The war office received dispatches from Lord Kitchener today, but he made no mention of surrenders. Operators on the stock exchange were busy with peace rumors, but they were all very intangible. The Boer commandoes were said to have surrendered. This, later, was supplemented by the New York report that General Delarey and three commandoes had given themselves up. As a matter of fact, Delarey arrived at Klerksdorp April -i. and his commands, under General Kemp, were arranging to hold a meeting westward of that place during the present week. A dispatch from Pretoria, dated today, announces that Secretary of State Reitz of the Transvaal has had a meeting with Commandant Ryers in the Petersburg district, but that the result, if any, is not known. An oi-cial estimate of the total cost of the South African war to March 31, 1903, places the amount at nearly 223,000,000. Pretoria. April 30. In pursuance of an understanding reached by the Boer delegates at the conference recently held here, the delegates are busy visiting the burghers in the field. General Botha, the Transvaal commander-in-chief. Acting President Schalk-Burger of the Transvaal, General Delarey, General Lucas Meyer, commander-in-chief of the Orange. Free State, and General Dewet have each taken a separate district for the purpose of conferring with the commandoes as rapidly as possible. After these conferences a general meeting has been arranged for at Vereiniglng, Transvaal, May 25. when a final decision is expected. It is believed among Boers who have surrendered and other well informed persons that the peace outlook is favorable. |