The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-15

cognized in 1852 by the Sand River Con- vention and annulled by the annexation Of aSI7, only to be followed by the res iteration which followed the war of 1881. l tfons In Basutoland and Bechuanaland. saw England moving northward upon | both sides of the little inland republics whose independence she had plainly re- cognized. England was on the east. the south and the west of the NOronge Free State. and Tapped upon east and west the
 scsKhern half of the Transvaai.
 In 1888, by the treaty made with Lo-
 bengula. the king of Matabeleland and
 Mashonaland, the territory under his cou- trol was brought within the British sphe e of influence. In October, 1889, a. royal charter wac granted to the British South Africa Company, of which Cecil Rhodes was the master mind. It gave power to the company to build railways and tele- graphs, to cofonize, to trade, and to de- velop mineral and other concessions. These concessions were obtained from Lobengula for the consideration of $500 per month to himself, his heirs and sue cessors. 1000 Martini rifles with ammuni-
 ton and 8 small armed steamboat for use on the Zambesi River. Thus there was born the real speculation of Rhode sta- First. Bechuanaland, then Ithodesia,
 then the Cape to Cairo Railway, and. according to some. the absorption of the
 Transvaal and tha Orange Free State and the creation of vast South Africa under the British flag to connect via Brit
 ish East Africa with England's hold on Egypt.
 This is one side. and probably the true side, of British movement in Africa, which parallels in It's vastness that of Russia in Manchuria and Mongolia. Some support for such an argument appears to lie in the telegram sent by Cecil Rhodes to Miss Flora Shaw in London on the day of the Jameson raid: Tn
 through all right if he supports me. To- | day the crux is: I will win and South | Africa will belong to England" I quote | this from the blue book. which reports | the parliamentary investigation raid
 Orders in council, under dates of May | 9, 1891, and July 1S 1894 granted admin | tration rights to the British South Africa Company in the territory which after | wards became known as Rhodesia. In | 1898 the territory. by new order in | council came more definitely and directly | under the control of the imperial gov ernment. By this move the two republics l became entirely surrounded by British | territory, with the exception of q strip | on the eastern frontier of the Transvaal | then and now in the hands Of the Por-
 tugese England wants that, and some | day will get it. It fills out her South | African possessions. opens to the Trans | vaal the nearest route to the sea, and | England will need it in her business there The real value of Rhodesia as a req | mined. It has had its detractors and the | wealth and influence of the Chartered l Company have secured for It a large
 amount of booming; James Bryce Vis- | general as healthful country. A com | mission composed of farmers from Cape Colony was sent few years ago to in | vestigate its agricultural possibilities | They reported a generally rich and fer
 tile soil with facilities for irrigation whicf
 would give 1t value as farming and graz
 ing land. Wheat and cotton were among
 the particularly noted possibilities, bu
 the distance from the world 8 market anc
 the cost of transportation would limi ] purely local market and throw cottol 1 wholly out of the question.
 | The immediate question is its poSSibili
 ties as gold-producing district. While
 in South Africa l met those who believed , in 1t and who had put their money into
 it. 1 also met those who secuted it a:
 a country of ''pockets,' in which mucl money would be spent and few realize r anything on their investments. The de ! clared value of the gold output up tC
 the beginning of 1901 is little under s,
 O00,O00. Probably the most that can Ye } be said for it is that some gold is cer . tainly there, but that Rhodcsian golC
 mining is q good deal of a gamble. 4 , serious difficulty is presented by the fac 7 that the gold appears in quartz reefs, fo . whose crushing heavy machinery Is i'm
 peratve,
 The lack of transportation facilities
 makes, at present. crushing and separat ing plants more costly than is warrante, 9 by the indications, and operations ar on comparatively small and crude scale l Evidences of extensive workings. severa
 centuries old. are in abundance. and tn . | argument Is urged that fl rude peopl
 working by hand with crude tools coul Q obtain enough to warrant such extensiv | openings as are found modern method
 l and machinery would assuredly yiel