New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-03-17
SOUTH AFRICA.
LAND OF GOLD AND GEMS.

NE En- = 1tKR1Ct Ky the Hon l. Wlmoi Member
IN XVI 800 Imported 10y q. J.. Iu''a" SUNS
This hack has no pretensions to literary style
II is ia fact an invitation to ciViilzed people WI"
Lack clhowroom in ether parts Of IN" world TO
,,ol, for a bon. in South Africa. The argument
b,. which the author enforces his appeal involves
fairly corrpletc study Of the history oi the couh-
fry from the time when the Cape 81 Good ROPE
was discovered down to tie defeat and d'a'h oi
l., Bengula Conjecture even reaches nacK 10
remote mast connecting the Hottentots with the
ancie1, Egvpi!ans and the Mashonas WITH th'se
unknown prehistoric miners who SUNK o',P
shafts and raised strange fortrcsses IN t'e h'S"-
lands where the tributaries OF the |amoe'i l'i'''
take their rise The latest discoveries oi g"ld are
T., This r,,,top where II was mined in the earliest
times To the civilized South African, whether
English or Dutch. this reopened gold hrid u
So'omon's Ophir Biblical tradition Is strong
among these people. When the Dutch went out
from under English rule they fNt that tleY were
Ike the Israclites escaping from Egyptian Tyr
amy and when they destroyed a host OF saNas's
they remembered how the Sons OF Abraham
treated the Canaanites. For long ume II 'ooAcl
as IL they We're 10 be As thoroughly separated
from the world as the Chosen People We're. Inc
whole history II the country down Il the year
1870 has tentative look. \ ''N "''''''"'''
Dutch farmers preserving IN q s'ia'S' ANU ''c
superstt!ors. the p?eJudlres' the h'o''S "'" Wv
Language Of the Netherlands IN tn" seventeenth
century. a small tnglsh p"p""''''' " "''' W
black people trclle q trade, garrison or two
and a corps of oflcials-theso were hardy the
signs Of "A coming nation l. would be- interesting
to know what cne't thu opening ~ the 9Hr1
Canal had upon south Africa. whether OF not Il
,t,,. . h.. Lee ~ I
upon their own resources To an extent unknown
before: bat MIR Wilmots book IS silent on IN"
subject. H. dates the movement from IN" hrst
discovery ~ diamonds ana measure It's growth
by thu growth 81 business when has now bee"
absorbed by a single gigantic company. Legal
traditions and inherited traits VIII prrscrN" IN"
strange ard diverse civilizations IN IN" NIUE
states O: the Far South. but for th' row country
that ise been conquered along me ihidd' i'""'S
u the XauAcsl River and It's r"lcthoiihE "a'
a system has been devised when t. perhaps We
c,earest case ~ pure monopoly mat IA" ""ii
eyer saw II any one thinks that hc can own
land In the domain OF the South Africa Company
he VIII soon find ont hts mistake when hr comes
20 pay his money and look at his papers Farms
are gwen 70 settlers IN OAKLAND on IN" payment
or an annual qtit-rcnt in advance ~ about ~
for each block % 5000 acres ana one d"iiar I'r
every additional 900 acres NJ tenant can OBTAIN
I'm n single grant more than 5000 acres Wis"
provision Is that the grantee must occupy m"
land himself IN person or In substitute APP
proved ly the grantor But there u no sign 81
an out-and-out sale In m" scheme Tor a''ta''VE
population 90 THIS ne" country. u INV pan "''N'
well, the country may Sc" an 'H'I'SS S"N''H7''"
OF tenants. but its owner VIII be an organization
which is now impcTsonaicd In Cecil Rhodes.
Modern ideas about socialism may nave h'u
something 10 do with these devices. But appar-
emily they developed very naturally out 81 the
processes which were required to make IN" dia-
mond workings pay. In 1870 the movement began
with the purchase Of a farm on the orang"
River. The output OF the dry digging on thls
estate induced the Colonial Government 10 pay
100000 for what had just before cost S5O'ooo Out
Of this beginning grew the hourish'ng town oil
Kimberley. But me rush was 100 great i"''e
was no system ana no e"o'' 10 Keep p''e W'n
the possibilities OF "id'h'' 80 e''''S "'''
Diamonds ieH 20 an apsuru p''oc' anu S""''S
were at SAD dis'Nuh'' Inns WAS Oe'" hnoueS
opportunity. lie had gone io'h All r'h"H" UNI
versity 10 South Afilca ana hdd trleu FARMING
with Indifferent success 1hen ne joined the
crowd OF diamond-hunters ana was Ior'uha"
enough TO get into the DE Beers Mining COM
pany. founded In lSAo. win oaP''a {" $i'o"o'oV''
He saw more clearly imam any one ''7' NV "o'S-
sity of consultations ana TO ms ml'iauVe was
due the negotiations when ehdeh IN bringing .he
whole diamond region under the control OF
single group Of capitalists. The income % this
powerful organization is now estimated at $l5,-
O0o 900 year The market is never Quilted and
the number Of workmen has been vastly re-
duced 1T is true" remarks Mr.. Wilmot, apollo
getically that at one time 1000 men were at
work when now perhaps only third of the
number is employed: but It Is better To go on
steadily with comparatively small output than
TO carry on operations extensively and collapse.
The process by which the possessions Of the
South Africa Company were concentrated was