The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1900-09-22
t1Ml0RANTS WARNED
JulIan Ralph Advises Fertuse Hunters 70
Avoid Ssuth Airica.

Julian Ralph Advises Pertsse Hunters 70
Avoid Ssuth Airica.
Julian Ralph contributes to the Lon
don Daily Mailsome warnings to those
who intend to emigrate to South Az
RIGA. He says:
fear that most of these men will 70
greet having ever asked even the barest
living Of South Africa. Although the
most popular sayings about that unat-
tractive region are such as to deter
megination, the idea that fortunes are
to be made there by men without cap
ital remains firmly rooted in many
minds.
Where the land yields best it Is main
ly used for the breeding Of sheep,
horses and goats and ostriches. 1t is
only where water is abundant that we
see crops being raised, and they are
grown in small plots, for water In
South Africa has been termed "a
curio"
To be strictly just, there is a reason
ably rich region in that part of Cape
Colony which is called the Hex River
country. Wheat and fruit and the vine
flourish in that section, and pasturage
Is good, genuine farming is carried on
there, and the people are prosperous.
But the region offers no chance for
immigrants. The land is all taken up
and held at very high price, and
those who own it, especially the domi-
nant Dutch, win not sell. Instead,
they want more acres, even though
they cannot till what they have; for the
Beer is a land-loving, land-proud NOR
tai, who estimates his social position
and his degree of content by the num-
Der Of his acres.
There is a good grain-producing soil
in the eastern part Of the Orange Riv-
er Colony, and the ravages Of the war
may send a few-a very few-of those
farms into the market, but the price
will be beyond the purses Of the aver
age fortune seekers. There is not, and
will not be, any Of this land to be
picked up on what is called settlers
claim-i. e., free to whosoever will
build on 1t and work.
In the Transvaal likewise there are
good belts and desert belts, and there
is plenty Of unworked land, l believe.
in the dry and hilly upper half OF that
But the soil, which is produc-
tive, even In the way of pasturage, IL
not in the market.
II any man thinks to find new gold
or diamond mines he may as well be
told that the chances Of that are pre-
cisely equal to his chances Of having
at his disposal the time, money and
expert knowledge which the great
mining corporations have utilized In
studying the entire country and in taxi
ing liens or paying yearly premiums
for the first right to work such soils
when they need or desire to do SO.
The nearest thing to a gold mine
that remains open to newcomers in the
greater part of these colonies Is the os-
trich; at least, so 1 was informed by .
great many shrewd and successful men
who live in Natal, the Orange River
Colony and the Transvaal. But breed
ing ostriches requires money-for the
land and the birds-to start with. And
one must know or learn the methods
by which q profit is to be had in that
industry. You cannot raise ostriches
as you take a snapshot photograph
by pressing button and letting nature
do the rest.
In the army I found so many young
men, especially among the Australians
and Canadians, who talked Of remain
ing in South Africa, that / made it my
business while 1 wAs in Cape Town,
Kimberley and Bloemfontein to ask the
leading men for their knowledge and
opinions as to the inducements the
country offers to immigrants. 1t may
have merely happened so, but 1 did
not meet a man who favored the COM
ing Of a large number Of new settlers.
All who were of British blood wished
for more men of their own race there
In numbers sufficient to outvote the
Dutch-but they could not promise
the newcomers a living.
1t Is as true as when Mr.. Bryce wrote
1t that South Africa Is 'vast soil
tude with a few GASES Of population"
and that this is due to its scanty means
Of sustaining life and its few openings
for industry unaided by capital.