FREE STATE AND TRANSVAAL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 243, 8 December 1900, Page 4

FREE STATE AND TRANSVAAL

&HUB WORTH AS AM ASSET OT THkI 'La— BMPBffl - MM.) ' Ctauuxiß Bbixaih grows apace. tJVRhin a {oir short weeks she has jrfded to' her empire 60,000 sqaare .miles, formerly tin property ot the ptakge Free Soatw, anu 120,000 miles |hitherto known as the Tiansvaei; or South African Republic. A total, gthirefore, of 170,000 iqaare miles. ££U ib a trae prognostication of Mr. |GSinl Rhodes, a brief tea yean ago, fthat the whole of Boath Africa south |d the Zambesi mast be. coloured red, |?srit»bly the map has'been inearnajoined in more senses than one since jtjjatdate. It ii pitiable that it had ;*to be so, bat it was likewise inevitable. o. New, what hate we gained as an by the annexation of these

%tmo territories I The first and greatest no doubt, ia inoreased responftubiiity. But as a makeweight to this £>burden on John Bull's shoulders, there s|ire several concrete tangible advantages whioh will be realisable, and will themselves felt before long |' To begin with, the major portion of -tb.e» 170,000 tqaare milas ia a fit and £ proper, country and climate for the

of Britons. Sot only that), *y but many parts thereof are notoriously gaud exceptionally health/. The land, I'jspukiiig generally, is ciying oat to be cultivated. Sufficient agricultural' enterprise has already |4bßea undertaken on the uplands of the p4wo erstwhile repablica to prove their for the growth of cereals |-and the raising of stock, It remains Bra provide the markets. These follow, ii;ot«owse l as a neetssary corollary to 1 pthSTJoir ef emigration. Hail ways, as, &yeS?in their infancy, must) render paceen easy end freightage compare-f-ttivjly economical. Irrigation mast be Itsysounaricsliy and thoroughly underfj.iteJcen, if possible, under Government Encouragement should, pfauid no doubt will, be offered to emi*%granns to make the best possible nee |4of,the natural advantages of the

The lows of agricultural ploughs, reapers, and ~ fcbres for locating ne&t, should bB Superb and parcel of the scheme, and I'&every, inducementshould be held ode who desire to make their home in she new country, ; - Tfie' main responsibility, however; flieHn the proper appreciation of the 5 gt&P- »nd growing native question, h The black man swarms literauy m his .-/millions. Oar experience in the Cape Colony and Nalal has, or should have, ? taught as valuable lessons. Bat' at f ><vthe same time it must be , borne in [\ mind by those who think that hard- ." and-faes rulei are as applicable* to : v . black men as to white, that the natives ," of the Transvaal and Orange Free ; j, State, especially the former, are. not on \*the same plane of civilisation ai thoss ;'' in oac older established colonies. The V latter have lived for several generations I; now nnder the bencfietnt sway of the Raj. They have thtiven -« vastly well, and being almost to a man, i.certainly to a tribe, honest, well--meaning, appreciating, logical folk, Irthit know very well on which side ~ T theVbresd is bntsertdT are' only too > .glad to be under the nominal and -' actual protection .of the Umlangu, or . - It U somewhat otherwise in the ; Transvaal and the Free State. Thsre the natives have been systematically illtreated by the farmers, who have - not yet thrown oft tha traditions of •laverholdiag. Ihis app'ies, to waver, .'■ much more pirtioularly t) the Trans « vaal, whore cue native ware of the last few years, notably those againßt the - unfortunate Chiefs Magato and Mala-

■hoofs, were mere cxmses lor raiding . the natives' oattle and robing them of f \ money. • Whole tribes of natives up in the .-' Spelonken ranges of the Transvaal were regularly made so di-gjrgathe annual "hut-tax" twice or even thrice

ft year, in ordsr to fi 1 the pockets of a ' dishonest JNat'.ve Commissioner, who aid not erea remit the just dues to " Pretoria. The prospects of commerce, trade general.y, forthe nix) few ysara, act parhtpj tomewhit less attractive than those for agrionltnre, although with emigration the nec.ssary expansion must* of course f jrm an inerit*bl6 accompaniment. The Transvaal, for the put twelve years, has bem abundantly ■applied witnsll the necessaii s io reqnj ei The large foreign, mainly Bri tub, populations of Pretoria and Johannesburg, had adequate provision in the large stores in those placet, i many of them tranches of the great ' imputing boasei of Oipetown, Port Euztbstb, E*ab Loudon, and Durban, These firms will, of course, continue to enjoy ths lion's share of the trade, nub:i i i their turn they are ousted by even mora enterprising organisations German, French, American, as well at Bti i>h, houses are all represented, mmy of them with huge stocks valued

'•tjvery maoy hundreda of thousands of pounds, for the volume ol trade likely to ensue in the nod distant future *||Hi!i %refc>J»i ample provision, and the premature establishment of a new conoera,:unless;it happened to possess quite exceptional advantages, would oefraugaj? with great expense and a good deal of risk.

Asa result of this state of affairs, it I follows that there can be as yea bo opening for emigrants other than those of art agrioß.lto.ral turn of mind, and provided. wi«h a sufficiency of capital w pter the necessary period of waiting, For clerks, warehousemen, typewriters, shopmen, or retail tradesmen it would be the height of folly to think of going out to South Africa for some time to: come. There is no room for them as yet, They are not wanted, and thej woold probably starve. These are the word*, but not one whit too strong if they prevent ■ even one man going to a place that is not ready for him.

There remains one more point on which to touch. That is the Transvaal Gold Mines. Contradictory reports have come to hand from time to time daring the coarse of the war as to the extent of damage done by the Boera to the mines in the Wifcwatorsrand. Oil the whole it seems that this was Ear less than was anticipated. Certainly, within a few months, | possibly, within a few weeks, it may be practicable to start nearly all the | produoing gold mines, and aftar uawateriog the shafts, overhauling the machinery, and setting the batteries to right, the outpat of gold should not be long delayed. But it does not do to rely too much upon the gold mines alone. They form a useful and integral part of the assets of the country; bat there is no reason why in the near future the illimitable possibilities of the agricultural industry should not be found to be mors permanent, more reliable, and more | satisfactory to the ordinary man, who | is neither capitalist nor miner.

IT IS BETTER TO KEEP WELL THAN (o have the quickest possible recovery from illness. That is why there is such a universa demand for articles like Liebig Companj'l Extract—neWcaUed LSMOO.