But there is ground for hope that the Dutch proposi's will be not wholly with effect in hastening the end of the hestilities, though the effect will be produced in quite a different way from that intended by those by whom de Kuyper was inspired. Tt was announced in the House of Commons last night that the "'aide-mémoire " of the Dutch Minister and Lord Lansdowne's dispatch in reply have been mailed to Lord Milner, and that Lord Kitchener will be instructed to communicate the correspondence to the Boer leaders. If they have still any lingering hope of foreign intervention or of wavering on the part of the British Government, this correspondence will surely dispel it. ' Meanwhile the wearing down or extermination process which Lord Kitchener is carrying on has been making excellent progress of Late. The blockhouse system is working admirably, and the number of surrendered and captured Boers who volunteer to fight on our side against their brethren who are so wantonly prolonging the war is daily increasing. A question has been raised as to how far these men are to be trusted, bub we may have perfect confidence in Lord Kitchener's judgment in regard to their employment.
The Remounts Scandal. less pleasing aspect of the war has occupied a good deal of attention this week. This is the remounts scandal, to which Sir John Blundell Maple was the st to call public attention. The commit. tee appointed to inquire into that scandal produced a report which has earned them the description of a" white-washing committee," and Mr. Brodrick and his colleagues have also committed the error of attempting to minimise the scandal. It is not denied that the remounts for the Yeomanry which were purchased in Hungary for £44,000 cost the country £110,000, some £56,000 being thus wasted in commissions and pre middlemen. Captain Hartigan, who has {since been employed in the Army Veterinary Department at Aldershot, admits, and says he never concealed the fact, that he obtained a commission on these purchases; and yesterday Mr. Brodrick had to announce that—seemingly only after pressure—the War Office had resolved to dispense with Captain Hartigan's services, Into the culpability of other army officers and employees there is to bea further inquiry. If this were an isolated case it would not attract much attention; but when we find that a cold-storage company has made a profit of a million pounds out of Government contracts ina few months, we cannot help concluding that the War Office has allowed itself to be shamefully plundered.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.