THE LATE COLONEL HENDERSON AND THE HISTORY OF THE BOER
WAR.
[To TRZ EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—In your issue of April 7th is a letter signed "Z." It takes your reviewer of the " German Official Account of the War in South Africa " to task, and states that its writer has reason to believe that up to the time of his death Colonel Henderson " had not written one word of statement or criticism for the official history as to any of the military operations of the war," and that therefore the rumour of his writing being so un- palatable to the Cabinet that it ordered its destruction falls to the ground. This by no means follows. As one of the very few who were permitted to see Colonel. Henderson's manuscript while in course of preparation, I may state that, while giving due measure of praise to the personnel of the Army, he was unmeasured in his criticism of those in authority who resolutely opposed all effort to educate, train, and fit it for war. Those who wish to see this for themselves should read the final paper in " The Science of War," reviewed in your issue of July 15th, 1905. This paper was One of the twelve chapters of "The Official History of the War " written by Colonel Henderson, and fully accounts for Ministerial opposition. Those of us who are old enough to remem- ber the cartoon in Punch during the _Crimean War will
find the same tale told by the Jack Tar, who explains to John Bull that " it ain't along of us fighting beggars, it's them thinking beggars." Perhaps we ought not to blame a Ministry too much. An electorate completely ignorant of national defence returns its representatives to Parliatnent. Of these not ten men know what an army is. Yet they have to legislate on matters military. These are headed up by the Cabinet, a very blunt and rusty head of a rotten and worm- eaten haft ; but it is our weapon of war. Colonel Henderson wished to see this altered. So, I think, would most of us.—
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