Evening star., 1900-12-22
EAST AFRICAN COMMERCE
GERMANY AND ENGLAND BITTERLY
CONTEsTING TRADE SUPREMACY.
What America Holds in That Section
of the WOrld-Absence of
the American Flag.
From Ainslie's Magazine.

From Ainslie's Magazine.
Because they. do not hurry in Zanzibar
1t must not be understood as lazy spot.
Let no one think that; on the contrary, 1T
mas now become the metropolis of East
Africa, and rarely day passes but that
the big-bellied tramp ships from Rangoon.
Hamburg, Liverpool and New York dis
charge their cargoes on the shelving beach
and fill up again with the rich products Of
the island and it's mainland nearby. This
much to the poignant envy Of Emperor
William. whose own possessions lie just
across the channel, the capital of which,
Oar es Salaam, is making every effort to
defect thlther the trade from Zanzibar. In
no port of the world are Germany and
England contesting so bitterly for CONNER
cial supremacy as on this African east
coast, and the rivalry has now reached
such a point of intensity as to be cause
Of open rupture any moment. With the
projection Of railroads to the interior and
constant land-grabbing, the two nations
are running a neck-and-neck race, and
both. not to be outdone one by the other,
are sowing the earth with golden coin in
the hope that 1T will be returned tenfold
as the land is developed.
Germany, however, with her East Afri-
can Steamship Line that has now begun to
circumnavigate the dark continent, sailing
from Hamburg weekly, is in the lead COM
mercially, and the English ministers, while
wrestling with the Transvaal problem, cam
not afford to lose aught of that one which
cOnfrontS them further north In less than
a dec ade the willy and subtle Teutons have
subsidized this great steamship company,
now prosperous that every year 1t is
enabled to build a new vessel out of the
dividends; they have planted cloves. coffee
and tea plantations and made them pay;
have exploited rubber companies. built two
railroads as against England'S one, and
have sent out hundreds of colon1sts.
Has Not Been Idle.
Meanwhile America has not been idle,
having seized two-thirds of the petroleum
trade, one-half of the ivory trade and dou
bled her shipments Of cotton cloth, an item
that furnishes one-quarter of all the i'm
ports to Zanzibar. Yankees are landing
every week, prospecting for American firms
Of every description, and on the coast one
will find plenty Of adventurers While at
dinner at the European hotel in Zanzibar
the evening before 1 left a great, red
bearded person with sun bisters on his
face and hands sat down opposite and ask
ed me in a subterranean whisper if was
not an American. On replying affirmative
ly, he said in burst of confidence: so m
l. Observation-Disclosures l got the
greatest graft out here you ever saw. Just
landed about $4,000 worth Of teakwood
thirty miles below here, and If 1 can get
it away from the hppOtots I'll go back to
the states in style He and his partner,
he explained, had f1oated the wood down a
river and accidentally ran into hippo
potamus family, Whereupon both had to
swim for their lives. They had come up to
Zanzibar for guns and ammunition to res
cue their property.
LAS in other parts of the world, one is
humiliated to see no vessels carrying the
American flag. In the last twelve months,
but two Maine sailing ships and no Ameri
can steamers, landed at Zanzibar Fortu-
nately, however, this is no criterion Of our
commerce. At present no country can
compete with us in the sO-called piece
goods trade, though the British consul
points out religiously each month to the
home office that this is the most profitable
traffic in East Africa, and wants to know
why the Manchester firms do not get after
1t. America, however, should widen her
exporting of hardware, building material,
-four, provisions and all kinds Of cheap
cloth. 'Americani' shoes, machinery and
novelties are as popular on the east coast
as below the Zambesi. The rubber indus
try, too, only waits to be developed, the
country being rich in that product
Zanzibar is free port for all imports
except liquors, arms, ammunition, tobacco
and rice At all coast ports the uniform
duty is per cent ad valorem Export du-
ties are the same, and the list includes rub
Der. ivory, cloves, hides, pepper. cocoanuts,
tea. coffee and many tropical products
The exports last year from Zanzibar
amounted to s7,567, ,o35. OF the imports
those of America for one month amounted
to more than the combined shipments of
all Europe