experience. They are reluctantly compelled to express a doubt as to the advisability of establishing such military settlements, but the following method seems to offer the best chance of success:

Land should be chosen for such a settlement either near an existing railway, or at a spot about to be reached by a railway now under construction. The land should be of good quality, and with a water supply sufficient to furnish water for drinking purposes and for watering stock and also for growing a small amount of garden produce. The land should offer facilities for the construction, of water storage works on a considerable scale; and such works when completed should be capable of irrigating a large extent of land. Not more than 100 soldier settlers should be placed upon the land in the first instance. Each man should receive a grant of thirty acres and a right of commonage over the grazing land. Storage and irrigation works should be begun without delay, with a view to their completion within a period of not more than two years. The settlers should all be chosen men, selected on the recommendation of their Commanding Officers, and should, with rare exceptions, be married. It would be necessary to make an advance to each settler of stock and implements to the value of £150. A considerable portion of the articles required, however, might be advanced from Government stores, in which case, although the value to the settler would be as stated, the cost to the Exchequer would be considerably less. The advance should be made subject to repayment in fifteen years, the payment beginning at the end of the first year. Ex-soldiers might, however, be employed in military horse-breeding :-

We have received several intimations to the effect that the foundation of a military horse-breeding establishment in South Africa would be of advantage to the Army. We are not prepared to say whether this be the case or not; but, in the event of such an establishment being created there would, no doubt, be room for the employment of a considerable number of soldiers in connection with the work. As the growing of forage and other agricultural operations would have to be conducted in connection with the establishment, the men employed would have favourable opportunities of learning something with regard to the conditions under which crops can be grown in South Africa. It has been represented to us that the districts of Winburg, Harrismith, and possibly also some portions of the Conquered Territory, are specially suited for the creation of horse-breeding establishments on a large scale, provided always that a sufficient supply of water can be obtained.

The following is a summary of the recommendations:

(1.) We are of opinion that there is a considerable amount of land suitable for settlement in the two new Colonies; that a portion of this land is well watered, and that while some of it is already within reach of a market, other parts, not at present easily accessible, will before long be reached by railway. Such land will probably be obtainable in almost every part of the two Colonies, provided that adequate prices be paid for it. Such prices must vary according to local conditions and other circumstances which have been referred to in this Report. Much of the land is capable of improvement by irrigation. It is not possible, at present, to state what is likely to be the cost of such irrigation.

(2.) While we believe that land suitable for the purpose of settlement is obtainable, we do not recommend, save as a purely experimental measure, the formation of Military Settlements as such. We are, however, of opinion that bona fide settlers should be encouraged to establish themselves upon farms in both Colonies; that these farms should be so far grouped together as to avoid the danger of isolation; that the number of holdings should be limited only by the number of approved applicants; and that the size of the holdings should vary from 100 to 5,000 acres, according to circumstances.

(3.) It has not been possible for the Military Authorities to formulate the precise terms and conditions which should be imposed upon settlers, but they are generally of opinion that in cases where a settler acquires land and is assisted to stock the land by the aid of Government funds, a military obligation of some sort should be imposed upon him, and in this opinion we concur.

(4.) We think it highly desirable that special steps should be taken by the Government to encourage sporadic settlement by officers or men from the Yeomanry and other corps, having some capital of their own, and we believe that it would be to the public advantage if the aid of the Government were also to be extended to bona fide settlers other than soldiers, provided that the requirements of all soldiers who have served in the war have been adequately met. We believe that a certain amount of land of good quality is already in possession of the Government and may be used for the purpose of settlement. It will be necessary to supplement this by land to be obtained from Land Companies and private persons, and we have suggested in the body of this Report the means by which we believe such land may be obtained. In the event of it proving impossible to obtain land by voluntary arrangement, we think that the precedent

set by the Parliament of New Zealand could with advantage be followed, land being obtained compulsorily by a Statute or Ordinance to be specially passed for this purpose.

Destruction of Property Burning Farm Buildings, etc.-Guerilla Warfare. [Cd. 582, Cd. 524.]-On February 3rd, 1900, writing from Bloemfontein, Presidents Kruger and Steyn complained to Lord Roberts that the British troops, contrary to the recognised usages of war, were guilty of the destruction of farmhouses and devastation of farms and goods therein, whereby unprotected women and children were often deprived of food and cover. This happened "not only in places where barbarians are encouraged by British officers, but even in Cape Colony and in this State, where white brigands come out from the theatre of war with the evident intention of carrying out a general devastation, and we wish earnestly to protest against such acts." Lord Roberts pointed out that no specific case had been given.

I have seen such charges made before now in the Press, but in no case which has come under my notice have they been substantiated. The most stringent instructions have been issued to the British troops to respect private property, as far as is compatible with the conduct of military operations. All wanton destruction or injury to peaceful inhabitants is contrary to British practice and tradition, and will, if necessary, be rigorously repressed by me.

I regret that your Honours should have seen fit to repeat the untrue statement that "barbarians have been encouraged by British officers" to commit depredations. In the only case in which a raid has been perpetrated by native subjects of the Queen, the act was contrary to the instructions of the British officer nearest to the spot, and entirely disconcerted his operations. The women and children taken prisoners by the natives were restored to their homes by the agency of the British officer in question.

I regret to say that it is the Republican forces which have in some cases been guilty of carrying on the war in a manner not in accordance with civilised usage. I refer especially to the expulsion of loyal subjects of Her Majesty from their homes in the invaded districts of this Colony, because they refused to be commandeered by the invader. It is barbarous to attempt to force men to take sides against their own Sovereign and country by threats of spoliation and expulsion. Men, women, and children have had to leave their homes owing to such compulsion, and many of those who were

formerly in comfortable circumstances are now being maintained by charity.

That a war should inflict hardships and injury on peaceful inhabitants is inevitable, but it is the desire of Her Majesty's Government, and it is my intention to conduct this war with as little injury as possible to peaceable inhabitants and to private property, and I hope your Honours will exercise your authority to ensure its being conducted in a similar spirit on your side.

This was followed up by complaint of a new and specific case of wanton destruction of the farm property, among others, of a British subject in Natal. The CommandantGeneral then submitted cases, complaining that his previous representations had not been followed by inquiry by Lord Roberts. Lord Roberts replied:

I have always answered your Honour's telegrams about alleged outrages by British troops to the effect that representation should be made at the time of the occurrence to the Military Commander on the spot. I have, however, made inquiries into all cases you have brought to my notice, and found them to be devoid of even foundation. I feel sure your present complaint is also unfounded, but have forwarded it to General Hunter, who is in command in the district concerned.

Commandant De Wet then complained from Heilbron, specifying certain farms. Lord Roberts replied (May 20th):—

I have taken ample measures to ensure the protection of public and private property by the troops under my command. At Perzikfontein stores of forage were destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of marauding bands which infested the district, but the house was not damaged.

Paardekraal and Leeuwkop farms were destroyed under my orders because, while a white flag was flying from the houses, my troops were fired upon from the farmsteads. I have had two farms near Kroonstad destroyed for similar reasons, and shall continue to punish all such cases of treachery by the destruction of the farms where they occur.

A further letter was sent by De Wet, to which Lord Roberts replied on August 3rd, 1900:

As your Honour is well aware, the utmost consideration has invariably been shown to every class of inhabitant of the Orange River Colony since the British troops under my command entered the country.

Latterly, many of my soldiers have been shot from farmhouses over which the white flag has been flying, the rail

way and telegraph lines have been cut, and trains wrecked. I have therefore found it necessary, after warning your Honour, to take such steps as are sanctioned by the customs of war to put an end to these and similar acts, and have burned down the farmhouses at or near which such deeds have been perpetrated. This I shall continue to do whenever I consider the occasion demands it.

Women and children have thus been rendered homeless through the misdeeds of burghers under your Honour's command, but your Honour has been misinformed as to these poor people having been badly treated, as everything possible has invariably been done to lessen the discomforts inseparable from such evictions.

The remedy lies in your Honour's own hands. The destruction of property is most distasteful to me, and I shall be greatly pleased when your Honour's cooperation in the matter renders it no longer necessary.

Commandant Louis Botha also complained, farms in the Standerton district having been burned. The following is an extract from a Report on this by Sir Redvers Buller:

I know nothing of the occurrences stated to have taken place at the house of S. Buys. The following farms on the Estates Zandfontein and Varkenspruit were destroyed by my orders, viz.:—(1) Mrs. Dick Badenhorst, Zandfontein; (2) A. Wessels, Zandfontein; (3) J. Hans Badenhorst, "Kopje Allein"; (4) Lewis Botha, Varkenspruit; (5) Mrs. Cloete, "Kopje Allein"; (6) A. J. Badenhorst (deserted).

The following circumstances induced me to give the order. On entering the Transvaal I caused the attached proclamation (A) to be widely distributed along my line of route. We marched from Volksrust to Standerton practically unopposed. Shortly after our arrival at Standerton our telegraph line was cut on several nights following, and attempts were made to damage the military line by placing dynamite cartridges with detonators attached upon it. These attempts were all made on or in close vicinity to the estates above named. A watch was kept, and it was found that the attempts were made not by any formed force of the enemy, but by a few scattered banditti who were given shelter during the night in the houses I afterwards had destroyed, and who thence, when they could, tried to murder our patrols, and sallied out at night to damage the line. It was further ascertained that these men came and usually returned through Varkenspruit. I directed that copies of proclamation (A) should be personally left at each house, and the inmates of each should be warned that

these depredations could not be permitted, and that if people living under our protection allowed these sort of men to resort to their houses without informing us, they must take the consequences, and their houses would be destroyed. This warning had some effect for a day or two, but on 1st and 2nd of July the nuisance recommenced, and on the 7th July, having acquired full proof that the houses were being regularly used as shelters for men who were hostile to us, and who were not under any proper command, in fact, who were only acting as banditti, I had the houses destroyed.

The women and children occupying the farms were removed elsewhere with as little inconvenience to themselves as we could arrange.

The correspondence took a wider range. On the one hand Botha complained that well disposed families had been driven away from their houses and their farms destroyed. On the other hand Lord Roberts complained that the Boer commandoes had seized the property of burghers anxious to submit to British authority, and had threatened them with death if they refused to take up arms against the British forces. Botha's contention that a solemn oath of neutrality-which burghers had voluntarily taken in order to remain in unmolested occupation of their farms-was null and void because he (Botha) had not consented to it was hardly open to discussion. "I shall," Lord Roberts added, "punish those who violate their oath and confiscate their property; no burgher had been forced to take the oath against his will." On September 2nd, 1900, Lord Roberts wrote to Botha complaining of the Degeneration into Guerilla Warfare:

I have the honour to address your Honour regarding the operations of those comparatively small bands of armed Boers who conceal themselves on farms in the neighbourhood of our lines of communication and thence endeavour to damage the railway, thus endangering the lives of passengers travelling by train who may or may not be combatants.

2. My reason for again referring to this subject is that, except in the districts occupied by the Army under the personal command of your Honour, there is now no formed body of Boer troops in the Transvaal or Orange River Colony, and that the war is degenerating into operations carried on by irregular and irresponsible guerillas. This would be so ruinous to the country and so deplorable from every point of view that I feel bound to do everything in my power to prevent it.

3. The orders that I have at present issued, to give effect to these views, are

that the farm nearest the scene of any attempt to injure the line or wreck a train is to be burnt, and that all farms within a radius of 10 miles are to be completely cleared of all their stock, supplies, &c.

Commandant Botha replied (September 5th):

In answer to your Excellency's letter dated 2nd inst. I have to state as follows:

1. Whereas our whole force is very small in comparison to yours, it can naturally not be expected that large commandoes of our own should be everywhere in the field, and it therefore stands to reason that whatever is done by our side, as throughout the whole war, must be done by insignificant forces; and moreover we are obliged to split up our commandoes more and more in order to oppose the robber patrols which under your Excellency's command go about everywhere and take away from the several farms cattle and provisions.

2. In regard to your Excellency's statement that, besides the force under my personal command, no other regular force of Boers exist, I must absolutely deny this, inasmuch as our forces are still split up and commanded in the same manner as at the beginning of the war, and in terms of the laws of the country.

3. In regard to point 3 of your Excellency's letter, we are already aware that barbarous acts of the same nature are committed by troops under your Ex'cellency's chief command and not only along or near the railway and where your Excellency's troops move; not only are houses burnt down or blown up by dynamite, but defenceless women and children are turned out of them and robbed of all food and covering, without there being any reason for such actions.

Lord Roberts again wrote (September 17th):

I beg again to direct your Honour's attention to paragraphs 2 and 3 of my letter dated 2nd September in which I pointed out that, except in the districts occupied by the Army under your Honour's personal command, the war is degenerating, and has degenerated, into operations carried on in an irregular and irresponsible manner by small and, in very many cases, insignificant bodies of men.

Your Honour's own statement that your commandoes are being more and more split up bears this out, and I am convinced that, except within a district which is daily becoming more restricted, your Honour can exercise little or no control over these guerilla bodies.

I should be failing in my duty to Her

I regret to note that the barbarous actions of your Excellency's troops, such as the blowing up and destruction of private dwellings and the removal of all food from the families of the fighting burghers, against which I have already been obliged to protest, have not only met with your Excellency's approval, but are done on your Excellency's special instructions. This spirit of revenge against burghers who are merely doing their duty according to law may be regarded as civilised warfare by your Excellency, but certainly not by me. feel obliged to bring to your Excellency's notice the fact that I have resolved to carry on the war in the same humane manner as hitherto, but should I be compelled by your Excellency's action to take reprisals, then the responsibility thereof will rest with your Excellency.

And Lord Roberts replied on October 22nd:

With regard to the remark of your Honour as to the state of organisation which exists among the burgher forces at the present moment, I am compelled to point out to your Honour that their tactics are not those usually associated with organised forces, but have degenerated into a guerilla warfare which I shall be compelled to repress by those exceptional methods which civilised nations have at all times found it obligatory to use under like circumstances.

A Return of Buildings Burnt [Cd. 524] in each month from June, 1900, to January, 1901, including farm buildings, mills, cottages, and hovels, gives the following results:

June, 1900, 2; July, 1900, 3; August, 1900, 12; September, 1900, 99; October, 1900, 189; November, 1900, 226; Decem. ber, 1900, 6; January, 1901, 3; 540. Dates not known, but probably before November, 1900, 90. Total destroyed, 630.