, 1879-01-25
AFRICA.


10 Lake rlctor1a-0reAt TrHslo Predicted.
konden 5Ifrts, 4dn. o.
large meeting Of gentlemen Interested IN
tic Lancashire kradcs was held In the Memorial
Hall, Manchester, on Tuesday, for the purpose
OF appointing committee to take steps to open
I'D tllc interior Of Africa To British Industry.
Mt. J. Bradshaw, who has been In correspond
cnce with the explorer Stanley On the subject OF
''Africa Our Second fudis," WAS present, and
Mt. J. ". Grafton presided.
The Chairman, 10 introducing the subject, said
that Whatever might bo the cause Of the e1traor.
lsnary depression In trade, and there were prob
ably many causcs for II. they would all aRrco
that It was Of tho greatest Importance that
some markets should be opened to r.
place those which were gradually slipping
from our hands, and ths vast Con.iaont
Of Africa offered 4 good field for opening
out such markets. We hal already lost q largo
number Of our n,afkcts because other nations
were beginning tu manufacture gouls for them.
would become our rivals The first poiut OF
Importance was to dfftlse information, and that
would be done to certain e1tcn. by the prcscnt
Mr. Bradshaw referred At the outset Of hi. re-
marks 10 the geographical extent, population,
and natural wealth of Africa. It was he sastl,
onc-si1th !css than the great American ennti-
nent, but bad five times the area of 1adIa With
respect to the population OF the country, Iii. It.
II. Stanley thah whom he knew no better arf-
thority, PIT T. at from $50 0oo 900 to 200 600
people. 1hh had been questioned but seeing
India, which contained about 23o, 900 ,0M
peonte, It was not, IN hts Judgment. at
sll Improbable that Mr; s.anlcy'e calcuia
hs thought lie htmfelf saw al lcast S0o,O COO pco-
pie on the narrow line Of route ho travessed on
his last journey, and he assumed there wers
900 people resident on the shorca Of Lake
. ttnfaf A.,
was found In other continents was found there.
It had tecn cstimated that 400 100 900 yards OF
calico were sent annually from this country to
1ndia, und there was no reason why We should
II this wcTo done. 1t would afford occupation 10
Q1,0N l.auchashlro operatives, besides giving
tremendous impetus to the trnles Of Sheffield,
birmingham. and Yorkshire. In urdcr to utll-
the largo centres Of population In tue interior.
Opinons differed ~ to the best means OF rcachfng
these places. Lis own oplu!ou was that
po!nts. but the point to which they should
turn their attention, energies, mud capital
Wna the development of tho lake regions, which
could be we'll done from the cast coast. Mr..
Stanley strongly atlvocated the coustrlction OF
a railway Of about co.. mites in length from
point on the Gust coast to the southern end OK
tho Victoria Nyanza. A rcfereueu TO the map
Syanza, nt,,l assuming TINT wo were sursrsstul
IN trading operations OH tho sll0rcs of tie Vic
toria, Into which ttcro were lnany rivers flowing,
u railway 15o miles lons would reach Lake Tan
miles. nnd, when they hnd bctnmo maatcra OF
that, al,otheF railway of 200 miles would bring
them tu NJnssa, which garo them another
waterway. Another ahort railway would tlcn
reach to tho nayf9ablo waters OF tho 4htra nHu
Iambcsf, which flowed into tie eca.-in other
words. link line Of railway of 400 mtles would
a'torsi atout l.su0 miles of splendid nasigabta
Ektt,i11f m t1sH3rf0ffn NyNn4H xhir1l rvoR at
the River Nils ilowea into tl,at lake. (llcar,
hcar.l There was no doubt that the khedtve OF
Egypt wus ambitions to form great Egyptian
region, Ills ultimate aim being tho Nyanza. II
they wanted to pust, tllcfr way to tho west
coast, there was the wonderful rive! which Mr..
STANLEY had rcehr,ssencd tic +" Livingstone"
aud which ha'l iss source yerV ncar 70 thu Tau
ganylkn. They would ultimately be nblo to
complete thc cha!n Of Trading ports right across
tho continent. md they could then open out
nnrth AIns south Is circumstances permitted.
[cheers.l There was another reason why they
should proceed to the lake district, and ti,as
was that il would result In the 1uaLl OF the
s!aYa traffic which exists there. !o revert to
constructed. The foundation was good tha
whole way+ Anl the distance about 800 miles,
the Gust being abouha million sterling. On tlla
souto tlers WAS abundance Of timber, Aud no
engineering utcuIttes worth speaking Of. LII
bor could be hau very cheap, and the railway
would at oncu introduce them to population
0f 30,U0,OU. What dffEercnct It would uaku
un The sta,Ehcster Exchange II they had %, Co.,
0J0 additional customers who had pleuty Ut
things u FIVE In exchange for our calicocsf
tilraE. hear. Mr.. bradshaw further suggested
fllat The Undertaking shonl1 DO carried out by
rn,nl'any, ah TINT It might b necessary to raiss,
El1, ,uN, ,lJ ssortiug. liz deprecated t.u proposal
tIllt the Gt,yGrnlneut SHOULD undestakuit.
a discussion followed, Alter which resolutions
werr passed appointing committee and rx-
pressing the view thAt a conference should ha
held vi an early date In thu FIRE. Traue Hull,
Manchester, u which tha leading men OF thu
country A,ll sir. II. 81. stanluy might hu i,-
vtl..d. nnl that tho outcome Of auch meeting
might result III thu promotion uf trading tor
poratiou, which would adopt must eirectual
nrana tur upcnlng out the Interior III Afrtca 10
tFude. A further resolution wns adopted cx-
.rI ntss s onon aaa uH M opSn'ae .nan r,I O! 'at'
capital would bo tho most cHecsuAl tnraus ot
putting m eua to the Ubiquitous slare traffic.