Arizona republican., 1902-06-23
COMMERCE OF
 SOUTH AFRICA lJur Increase of Trade Has
 Already Begun.
A Great Fo m Throughout the Country Predicted - Remarkable Develop ments in Mining and Commerce in the Interior Expected in the Immediate Future.

increase in the exports to Africa has all eady begun. The exports from the United States to Africa in April, the latest month for which the details of cur exports have yet been received by the treasury bureau of statistics, were greater than those to all South Amer i ica, and were more than 50 per cent greater than these of April in the pre- ceding year For the ten months end ding with April, 1902, they amounted | to S2S,956119, against $22.070,133 in the corresponding ten months of the fiscal year 1901. and $15.S5S, ,26S in the cores bonding months of 1901. The chief n- crease of course is to British Africa, which takes about S5 per cent of our exports to Africa. To British Africa alone our exports for the month of April, 1902, were g., 763. S33, against S1,- S11. l01 in April. 1901; and for the ten months ending with April, 1902. were $.4,10S,612, against $1S,431.315 in ten i months of 1901. and s13 16S, ,062 in ten II, 1n' hs of 1901.
 The prospective growth in the con- merCe of Africa and the probable ac- | tivity are discussed in a statement fur nished to the British South African Export Gazette by leading Anglo African merchant who had recently re- turned from a tour to South Africa, a copy of which has just reached the treasury bureau of statistics. In this discussion the British merchant in question says:
 With regard to the future of trade, with the advent of peace. there will un- doubtediy be a gerat boom all through the country. A luil, consequent on the removal of part of the military forces l and the refugees, may perhaps affect ! the trade of Capctown, which is, and always will remain. more or less To- cal. and conc-rreI v.:th the western ] districts of Cape Colony: but no such effect will be felt elsewhere. for it will i be necessary for some considerable time to keep q large military force in i the country, and this will conse- quence involve a continuance of con siderablc amount Of military eXpendi- ttIe. !. rge ceEll.s will be set up at cel ,e,ln .5iIt5. l ht.,C !.o doubt as -o the certainty of the boom which will supervene after the war. but my only misg1Yirg is; tiIut. with everyone rush. 1 ing in to secure q share. it will be over l done, and q reaction set in.
 As regards the Transvaal, and mere pal ticularly Johannesburg, TO one
 with his eyes open can doubt Of the great developments in mining and i Commerce, which lie ahead. It is well | kl,;svn that he O.. Ih" war many mr. ing properties were held back by those i who foroSaw what was coming, and ! thought ii better to wait until the trouble was over, rather than Iisl. their chances under the then unfaVoI'- ;k'C econouhlr and lr.;:lCal conditions. The cancelling of all concessions and
 the reduction of the price of dynamite will unquestiona bly make it easier to
 work the mines at q profit, and many of the low grade properties will now be taken in hand and. what is more, made to pay. The chief danger that has tc- be feared is that arising from the op- cning which will be afforded for the launching of bogus companies, which can only create discredit and discour- agement for the bona fide.
 "The immediate future Of the Orange
 River colony, although affording many , hopeful indications, has, 1 think, sev- eral problems to contend with. The CO.,
 lony is farming country in the main,
 and for some time to come will suffer
 from the depletion of populat tion and { the destruction of property, and as a
 consequence the los: of farming capi- ! tai. Government assistance may do
 much tC help in the earlier period, but recovery will be work of time. Trade | in the meantime will suffer. Rhodesia l forms no exception to the rest of the ! country, and has, in my opinion, q big i future before it.
 The question as to which of the ports
 on the South African seaboard will Se-
 cure the bulk of future South African
 trade is, 1 think, not difficult to an-
 sWer. My previous remarks as to the
 local nature Of the trade of CapetoWn
 show that that port is out of the recil-
 oning. The situation of east London and Port Elizabeth places both of those ; ports in q more advantageous position
 to cater for the interior trade than the
 metropolitan port. To Durban, howev-
 CT. 1 think will fall the bulk of at least
 the TransNaal trade, and that Q very
 great future lies before it is unuues-
 tlcnable. It is the nearest of all the
 south African ports to the Rand, and
 owing to the high rents ruling in Jo-
 hanncSburg, merchants prefer to keep
 their stocks in the east in bond By
 this course they save the interest on
 the disbursement of money for the du-
 ties. drawing their goods from bond
 only as they want them. Delagoa Bay
 may offer some rivalry on account of
 it's slightly shorter distance and it's
 through rate, and in the future will
 doubtless make further progress: but :. it will never be chosen voluntarily by
 merchant firms as place of residence
 Cn account of the unhealthiness of the
 climate, and because it is a foreign
 port. Johannesburg merchants like
 wise, I should imagine, will never use
 it, like Durban. as a place to store
 their stocks at. It will remain purely
 q forwarding port and number of
 firms of forwarding agents may be es
 tablished there. English merchants,
 and I should judge American mer-
 chants also, will always prefer an En-
 glish port to a foreign and especially a