The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-02

the Europeans divide up the CONT
America? Can Cecil Rhodes carry out
his gigantic plan? All these questions
suggest interesting possibilities.
BRITAIN'S SUPERIOR POSSES
SIONS.
The story of Africa as she is today
is the oft-repeated story of British
brains and British sand; the story of
that greatest element in the Anglo
Saxon character, its coloniZing faculty.
The fight for territory here is be
tween England and France, and Eng
land wins, as she always has Won.
Look at the map of Africa In actual
area, France holds the most. Her
flag flies over 100000 square miles,
while EngIand's control covers only
about 1000 600. But England makes up
in quality for her lack in quantity.
Roughly speaking, the continent of At
RIGA is divided into three parts. "a A
great low area in the north; ~ an
immense table-land extending from the
Sahara desert southwark through the
continent; 90 the mountainous region
along the coast, the paSSag eway to this
table-land. The first, the desert of Sa-
hara, is for France; the second, the
meat of the continent, is for England;
the third, a sort of rind, belongs for
the most part to Portugal and Ger
many.
The principal rivers, lakes and har-
borS belong mostly to England. The
only first-clasS harbor not under Eng
lish control is DelagOa bay, and on this
the British lion has fixed a gaze, which
means that he will not be denied.
France has the upper Niger; Leopold
sof Belgium holds a part of the Congo
river; England holds the rest of the
navigable waterways English gunboats
patrol the lakes. The Congo Free
State and Germany jointly hold Lake
Tanganyika. But Lake Nyassa, the
lakes of the Zambese, the lakes of the
upper Nile, and Lake Tohad are con-
trolled by the government at London.
ENGLAND'S PROFITABLE TERRI
TORY.
But England has the fertile valley of
the Nile, which, after frightful mis-
management by the Egyptians and
years of recuperation by the English,
is now holding its own. She has the
rich country OF the Uganda and the
surrounding provinces of British East
Africa. She has Cape Colony, with its
farming land and its ranches; and,
lastly, she has the richest part of that
G-olconda of the world, the diamond
and gold fields Of South Africa.
ENGLAND'S GREAT MISTAKE.
There is one more fact about Eng
lands territory, and an important one,
because il bears directly on the railroad
OF Cecil Rhodes imagination. The
sweeping victory of Kitchener will now
warrant us in calling the Soudan
Egyptian, and, therefore. British ter
ritory A glance at the map viii show
a straight line of Englands territory
from Cairo to Cape Town, with but
one break. The waving of the Union
Jac,: through all those 5000 miles of
territory is prevented only by narrow
strip of $40 miles. That land was TAX
en- by ali Englshman, but, most un-
fortunately, acting under the Belgian
: flag. Had England stood back of Stan
ley, had she listened to mis- pleadings
\ and not driven him to Leopold of Bel
GUM, there would have been an I'M
broken line of English territory today
through the center of Africa, from the
Mediterranean to the Cape of Good
Hope. The Congo Free State makes
the single break. Stanley found it.
Belgium has established a protector
ate. Still. the obstacle can be over
come. Leopold is working in entire ac-
cord with England's plans. He has es-
tabhshed England's policy of "the
open door, in all trade matters. He
will place no obstruction to any plans
that will lead to development and civ
ilization.
DEVELOPMENT OF EGYPT.
The value of Egypt commercially lies
in the Nile river The rising of the
river and the consequent fertilization
OF the land renders two and sometimes
three crops a year possible. This gives
an immense agricultural output The
Souoan is Immensely fertile and when
once under control will play an i'm
portant part in the worlds wheat sup
ply.
South of the Soudan, extending in a
southeast direction to the coast, is
British East Africa. 1t includes
Uganda, high, fel tile land with a su-
perb climate the lakes of the upper
Nile and the islands of Zanzibar and
Pemba.
The exports are the usual tropical
ones-ivory, gems, rubber, hides. etc.
South of British East Africa lies the
Kongo Free State and German East
Africa Below these comes British
Central Africa. This tract of land is
situated along the west shore of lake
Nyassa The area is 300, 900 square
miles, in which the process of develop
Inent is Just starting. Roads have been
built. farming has been carried on, vet
the great bulk of the territory is little
known.
In West Africa England holds control
of the lower Niger and four small pro-
vinces. The total extent of the domain
is 600 square miles. Nigeria is run
by the Royal Niger company, whose
power there is almost sovereign. The
products are all tropical in character
and amounted to $4,000 900 sterling in
1897. The west boundary line of this