THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9689, 13 January 1910, Page 7

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA.

CAPE-CAJRO RAILWAY

INTERESTING SPEECHES.

The "Cape Times" of December 15th contains an interesting account of the opening of the latest completed section of the Cape-Cairo railway. Referring to the banquet, the "Times" correspondent says:— "Mr Charles Gray, representing the Robert Williams and Tanganyika Concession, who presided, briefly proposed the toast of the three Kings, Edward, Leopold and Manuel. Sir Lewis Michell, in response to the toast, of "South Africa," struck the keynote which has dominated the whole enterprise, namely, the influence of Rhodes. He spoke of the 45 years he had lived in South Africa, of the wars and troubles through which the country had passed, of the dawn of Union, and! the resolve of both the great races that it should be a true union of comradeship. Ihis was, he said, the first occasion on which South Africans had had the pleasure of coming in contact with the officials of | Belgium. He thought it was a happy omen, and he was sure they wish-

Ed to be good friends and neighbours to us, and that we reciprocated the wish. (Cheers). As we were neighbours and friends in Europe, so we hoped to be neighbours and friends in Africa. This was a great railway day in African history. The tsetse fly could not bite the iron horse. He and one or two others had come through from Cape Town. To-mor-row large crowds would be coming' through to take part in the development of Africa. There were many who had gone before, who had perished, Ito see the completion of this line. Among them he who occupied a lonely grave in the Matoppo Hills. It was the custon. of Oxford to drink in solemn silence to the memory of Cecil Rhodes, and he hoped to-day his memory would not be forgotten as he lay in those lonely hills. He (Sir Lewis Michell) had a profound belief in railways. He likened them to those old Roman roads which were, the highways of Empire, with this distinction, that whereas those roads echoed to the trnmp of legions of soldiers, ours would respond to the tramp of mines and com- \ merce, the farmer, speculator and trader. Those were they who would traverse this iron road," and bring contentment, peace, and prosperity to the furthest limits of Africa.

Ur Soares, Portuguese representative, also replied, and referred to the development at Port Beira. Large improvements were now under very serious consideration, and hoped the scheme would come to a head in the near future. He drank to the health of those to whom the world was indebted for the promotion of one of the greatest achievements of the century, on behalf ot the civilisation of this continent. Mr R. S. Fletcher, (Rhodesia), also responded. He spoke in glowing terms of those pioneers of Africa, the Portuguese, who had opened the Continent from east to west. He referred to Union problems, more es pecially the native problem, and declared that when the united energies of the union of the Portuguese and o the Belgians in the Congo Jhad been directed into one channel, they would show the world that for the first time i,n ,its history the problem of the relations between the white and black races had been solved, Mr Wallace, the Administrator, was greeted with prolonged cheers in proposing the toast of the "Congo Territory." The union of South Africa was, he said, a union based on friendship, and to-day's ceremony was no less symbolical of \ union in the friendship between the j British colonies and the Congo. Northern Rhodesia was, as it were, ' between two stools. Some did not want them and others did; but Northern Rhodesia would stop where it was. This was a remarkable event in the history of union be tween the British South AfricanStates and the Congo, which, perhaps, even probably, would prove to be the richest State in Africa. Let the Congo have all prosperity, and if those in the south settled their native problem, they in Northern Rhodesia would benefit by Southern experience. Those were the lines he had to follow, and he made no doubt the Congo State would be glad to follow on those lines, because they would be the lines of experience. (Cheers). Colonel Wangermae replied in French on behalf of the Congo, it was, he said, a great day, whose memory would remain illustrious for all time. On two previous occasions he had been present at a somewhat similar ceremony in the Congo State, and each occasion had convinced him more and more of the potent force of railways in developing the country. That railway drove ahead, forcing, back barbarism to make way for civilisation, and curing the miseries of Africa, the Darkest Africa of Stanley Here in this great country, the European races were going to found a great white man's country. (Prolonged cheers).