|
|
MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES FROM SOUTH AFRICA MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 19, 1896 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Rinderpest: A Suggestion To the Editor of "South Africa" Sir, -- The rinderpest seems to defy all attempts to arrest its progress, and all remedies so far have proved useless. In my own experience a farm surrounded by the "foot and mouth" disease, here in England, was kept free from any case of the disease by "tarring" the muzzles of all the cattle on the farm. Whether the microbe was arrested or whether the tar, licked by the cattle from their noses, had the effect of producing a "Condy's Fuid" by absorption in the stomach of the animal, the fact remains they none were taken ill. It may be worth your while to ventilate the question in your widely-read columns.
Yours faithfully, RHODESIAN TRANSPORT To the Editor of "South Africa" Dear Sir, -- Referring to a leading paragraph which appeared in the last issue of your valuable journal re transport in Rhodesia, I thoroughly agree with the idea that an important transport service would be of great use, and, in fact, is a necessity, and I have no doubt in my mind that such a scheme would prove a very profitable one. At the same time, having been a resident for some years in Rhodesia and being largely interested in the country, and possessing a thorough knowledge of the roads of the country, I would point out that in Rhodesia the use of traction-engines has already proved a failure. There are at the present time several traction-engines lying useless on the roads. Everybody who is acquainted with Rhodesia knows that certain parts of the roads are very sandy, and it is quite impossible for traction-engines to be run upon them; and in particular the idea of crossing rivers by means of an engine on each bank is quite impracticable, and must have originated from ignorance of the state of the country. Thanking you for giving space for this letter in your journal.
I am, yours obediently, RHODESIAN DEVELOPMENT To the Editor of "South Africa" Sir, -- There are some people who think that the Right Honourable Cecil Rhodes (the man who has done more for the expansion of the British Empire than any other man living, and concurrently, you must remember created an outlet for all the other markets of the world!) should begin to formulate some agricultural scheme of emigration for Rhodesia. It would be a very long and a very slow process to allow that country to "fill up" of its own free will. Rhodesia is represented to be about as large as France, fairly mineralized all through, and what is more important -a liveable portion of South-Eastern Africa. Such being the case, such a colossal and invaluable asset may be computed to be worth, probably, from 20 to 30 millions sterling! Compared, then, with that rough valuation, its present liability of some 3 ½ millions is a mere flea-bite, rendering it, if I may venture to say so, almost incumbent upon Mr. Rhodes, after his arrival in England, to devote another 3 ½ millions for the purposes of emigration to Rhodesia. How do other countries manage to locate their thousands of British agriculturists upon their immense tracts of virgin soil, for the mutual benefit and good of all concerned? That is the question.
I am, etc., MR WILMOT ON BISHOP COLENSO To the Editor of "South Africa" Sir, -- Since your reviewer has made some extraordinary blunders in his article, in your last issue, on my father, the late Bishop of Natal, I must beg you to allow me to point them out:-- (1) Mr. Wilmot begins by saying. "to show his standpoint, and to indicate the sincerity of his convictions, let us hear him upon the main question. He says" - and then proceeds to quote, not the Bishop's words, but those addressed to him at his consecration by Bishop Wilberforce! Those words are prominently prefixed to Sir George W. Cox's biography of my father, in triumphant vindication of that life, and are as follows, correctly given in your article: -- "You need boldness to seek God, to stand by the truth and its supporters against men's threatenings and the Devil's wrath ... You need a patient meekness to bear the galling calumnies and false surmises with which, if you are faithful, that same Satanic working, which, if it could, would burn your body, will assuredly assail you daily through the pens and tongues of deceivers and deceived, who, under semblance of a zeal for Christ, will evermore distort your words, misrepresent your motives, rejoice in your failings, exaggerate your errors, and seek by every poisoned breath of slander to destroy your powers of service." (2) The Bishop never "ceased to be Bishop," or to administer his diocese, for the Metropolitan Bishop of Cape Town was held, and subsequently proved, to have no jurisdiction over him. (3) To state, without qualification, that "he was looked upon as a dangerous heretic by English Churchmen," is to absolutely disregard the large body, both of clergy and of laity, who supported him with their names and contributions to a spontaneous Defence Fund. (4) With regard to his being considered "a wrong-headed political firebrand by the people of Natal." I have yet to learn that Mr. Wilmot is commissioned so to speak for the white colonists of Natal, or for its black aborigines. (5) The statement that the Bishop was "at all times in doubt," will be received with derision by any who have met him, and incredulously by the rest; for who, not positive of his facts and faith, could have so maintained a lifelong struggle for truth and justice? (6) Finally, your reviewer speaks of my father "neglecting his diocese, and residing in Europe." Without quoting, as a refutation to this slur, Dean Stanley's indignant and ardent words in defence of the Bishop, which may be found in the above-quoted work, and which I had myself repeated by the Dean, I would remind Mr. Wilmot that my father was twice, in the whole of his ministry, forced to visit Europe, once in his own defence and in that of his diocese, once in defence of a helpless native chief; and I conclude by inquiring how many colonial Bishops of our Church have been as short a period away from their dioceses as 3 ½ out of a period of 28 years?
I am, faithfully yours, BRITISH WEST CHARTERLAND The second ordinary general meeting of this Company was held yesterday at the Cannon Street Hotel, Mr. J. Oakley Maund presiding. The Directors' report gave special attention to the progress of the expedition sent out under the command of Major Lugard, the Managing Director in South Africa. He arrived in Cape Town on March 9, and faced the difficulties arising from the cattle plague and the Matabele disturbance with the greatest energy and determination; and he overcame them all, and succeeded in reaching Lake N'gami. With Sekgoma, the paramount Chief of N'gamiland, he made a formal contract confirming the arrangement already agreed to by the Imperial Government and the British South Africa Company; and the contract contained a clause giving the Company the option of commuting the royalty of 2 per cent. per annum for a fixed payment of £400 per annum, which the Directors regarded as of obvious advantage to the Company, particularly as it would avert any possible friction between the licenced prospectors and the Chief. An important factor bearing upon the future of the Company was the rapid extension of the Bechuanaland railway northwards, which should greatly facilitate communication with the Company's sphere of operations. When the hour for the commencement of the proceedings arrived, there was only one shareholder present besides the Directors, and the Chairman suggested to that shareholder that a speech which he had prepared to make in submitting the motion for the adoption of the report, might be handed to the representatives of the Press in the room without being delivered, thereby saving the time of all concerned, seeing that all the shareholders would be able to read it in one or other of the newspapers. The shareholder thus appealed to agreed with the Chairman, and the latter at once proposed the adoption of the Director's report and accounts; and, without further remark, this motion was carried. The proceedings then terminated. In the speech prepared by Mr. Maund, a proof of which was subsequently handed to us, he stated that since he addressed the shareholders at the statutory meeting last year they had had to face a period of the gravest political disturbance in South Africa, a season of exceptional drought, and an outbreak of the rinderpest; so that the anxiety and difficulties of initiating the undertaking had been enormously increased. He credited Major Lugard with untiring energy and readiness of resource in reaching the scene of their future operations in safety, and mentioned that the second portion of the expedition, under the command of Mr. Beddoe, was composed of a body of prospectors selected for their knowledge of auriferous and diamondiferous formations, and should before this have reached the country. The Directors hoped that by this time their prospectors were at work on the ranges of hills south of Lake N'gami. From information that the Directors had received from reliable sources there was little doubt of the mineral wealth of the country. Major Lugard, he added, had now entered into a contract with Sekome, the present chief of the country, extending the period of prospecting rights until 1909; and the Directors looked forward to the future prospects of the undertaking with the greatest confidence. In Pretoria, the other day, before the Chief Justice and Justices Ameshoff and Gregorowski, the case of Miss Hart against Myer Yates, of Johannesburg, for £10,000 damage for seduction and breach of promise was heard. Judgment was given for £5000 damages and costs.
|