The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 29, 1905. PROGRESS IN EAST AFRICA

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7834, 29 May 1905, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 29, 1905. PROGRESS IN EAST AFRICA

The stirring events which have takon place of late years in the south of Africa have for the time fivrtng. overviucWed the development of the eastern portion of that vast Continent which has been for the ISrilish Empire. An event which happened early last month has, however, brought to mind the rise and, growth of civiliswtion in East* Africa. The matter we refer to was the trans-fer from the Foreign Office to tl e Coltonial of what may be termed the last of the llritish Protectorates— Tl|g«mla, llriu'sh East Africa, andi British Somaliland, which may now be regarded ms colonies. The modern history of East Africa virtually dates from 1872, when Sir Bartle Frere visited Zanzibar und induced the Sultan to stop the export of slaves, of whom it w'as estimated at least 20,000 were annually exported. At that time there was no Consul of any Power resident on the mainland', which wasi I.radically a sealed book to civilisation and Uv,ir>| fitonu had just been "discovered" by Stanley, who had yet to cross the Congo watershed. The colonist was an unknown personage in the "Hark Continent," and all was surmise and con-

jecti•!■-'. So remote uns this region -^rt»tn —onnnaTyTrmfii" routes that it took eight mouths for a letter toreach Zanzibar from London, nl- • tift(i(;h the Suez Canal had he;n already opened for traffic. Such' was the st/atc of affairs in 1872, but in that year the first step was taken towi.rjs that movement of progress which ever follows In the wake of. British footsteps—a regular line of mail steamers being estaM shed which linkol Zanzibar with India and Europe. For the twelve years that ensued no violent change occurred in

East Afrit;], but in 1885 Germany obtained a footing on the mainland,and then, as a writer in the Daily Mail aptly puts it, "the whole future of East Africa was at once thrown into the melting pot," Meanwhile, the British Foreign Office had chiefly left the question of administra* Uon to the traders and colonists who had so courageously foraVed the dangers of the new country, and whose zeal and patriotism paved the way for llritish enterprise in the face of enormous 'difficulties. The chief work undertaken by the Foreign Office was the construction of 'the Uganda raihvay, which was undertaken primarily for the sake of its tactical and strategical value, rather than as an'aid to commerce or for the development of the country, Nor is this surprising, cpnsid-* ering the urgent necessity which existed for obtaining ).he control of the great lakes and the head waters of the Nile, it can readily be understood that this gigantic undertaking was extremely costly, but the day has al'raady arrived when the railway pays its way, in addition to, Meing an excellent investment an a means of saving) Incalculable lives, by reason of the expeditious means of .transport it affords through a highly pestilentious country. Moreover it lias vastly strengthened our position in the heart of Afi;c,J, and brought civilisation in all its forms ■to the remotest tribes, and rendered it possible for the white man to-.col-onise the territory. That there kuve te.'n terrible trials to be faced ere settlement bjeea'me fcasibfle can easily be understood. The religious struggles in Uganda and East Africa, the dread risipg of the old Soudanese soldiers, ths campaign at Jut/aland, and moip recently the crushing of tint "Mullah," cmjued much bloodshed, and considerate expemlitine, but *e lesnon to the natives •has been worth the cost, and the benefits of peace are now showing themselves in every way. The European will have but little chance of withstanding the climate of Uganda, ■but in parks' of East Africa there its said to >»" an ideal climate, and that evei\v(.liiftg which can be grown in the East can be grojvn jjiure, Already a steady stream of wotifd-l>p colonists has set In, un<] the pomforts, as well as luxuries of civilisation are to be found in existence. It is, however, only a little more than a decade that has bioujrhb about this marvellous change in a country whjgh we remen/her was a teil'a incognita in Him days of pur youth. Now thai the Colonial Oflipe lias Iwen entrusted wjlli the administration of these lands, capaMe of such vast potentialities, we may look forward with confidence to a new era, of progress and the development of those resources which should add a welcome quota towards making Eiapiro self-containei.