A Letter from the Cape of Good Hope.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 26, 30 July 1895, Page 2

A Letter from the Cape of Good Hope.

A gentleman in Feilding has bad a letter from a friend resident at the Cape of Good Hope, and has handed us the following extract which may be interesting to some of our readers : — Port Elizabeth, 19th May, 1895.— "Things, you said, were flourishing in New Zealand then (July, 1893), but I fear they rau9t be more depressed now judging from the low price of New Zealand produce in the English market, and I do not think even a " people's " Government could save the country from the consequences of so great and rapid a fall in the value of Staple exports. This couotry also is feeling the effects of the low prices in London, and unfortunately we are decreasing the quantity of our exports, so that it looks bad for farming generally in this country. As a small set off we have succeeded in passing a general ■ Scab Act, a very mild one it is true, but one that npplies to the whole oolonj in spite of the rabid opposition of the Dutch element. Hitherto the Scab Acts have only applied to districts which wished to have them, and this, of course, did not do much good. The Dutch farmers are petitioning largely to have the new Act repealed before it has been tried, but I have hfipes thai they will not succeed. Ano'her piece of recent progressive legislation is the introduction of the ballot at elections. I have hopes that at the next general election this will have the eSect of reducing the Dutch members. There is a considerable exodus of Gape farmers going onto the new country northwards, which many newspapers are deploring, but as far as Dutch farmers are concerned — if we can get the farms they leave taken up by English settlers — we shall benefit more by the change than the country they are going to, viz : Rhodesia the great land of promise—only of promise as yet. Of course there are many Dutch farmers who are fine sterling progressive fellows, but unfortunately they are not plentiful. The great sensation here this autumn has been the great rise in the price of Johannesburg gold shares. Although there are a large number of splendid dividend paying companies the prices on the whole are much above actual values, and many properties are run up which. have not been proved to possess any gold at all, so that ere long many people will be sorry. Locally at Port Elizabeth we are now experiencing a drought. We have had no rain worthy of the name since last spring, and are fearing every day to have our bath water interdicted.