News from the seat of war in South Africa is still very scanty; but the end whic. we all hoped was close at hand when Pretoria fell seems still a very long way off. The enemy have evidently a lot of life left in them yet. Yesterday we learnt that fifteen hundred Buers had broken through the cordon between Bethlehem and Ficksburg; and frequent little disconcerting incidents tend to delay our hopes of the final surrender. Deaths from enteric are still numerous among our tr-ops; and it cannot be said that the action of the Government in regard to the commission of inquiry has inspired the country with full confidence, When the additional commissioners, so nominated by the Govern vere aumoynced, Mr. Balfour curtly Bur out's the op: portunity of ing any discussion; and the member f We-minster has accord-y embodied his criticisms in a letter to papers. Ie points out that the com-ion has no power to compel the atten-vot witness#sorto protect those soldiers id to give evidence lest it injure their prospects. Undoubtedly the view taken by a large section of the army and the med cal profession is that while undoubtedly the Army Medical Corps was unable to cope with the Bloemfontein epidemic, they did the best that they could under the circumstances, and there is no good now in taking up the incidents of suffering which occurred through their lack of means to cope witl This is all very well; but the hushing-up of a scandal of this sort is not the way to prevent its recurrence.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.