The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-06-06
ADJUSTMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The British house of comm ons yester- |
day voted Lord Kitchener the handsome |
Reward Of merit of S25O,00O cash. This is
the first act OF the commons touching
South Africa since the signing Of the
peace terms at Pretoria. Lord Roberts
received his recognition in titles and cash
some time ago. before the storm and
stress Of the war had shown any diminu-
ton. This haste to give rewards to Rob-
erts and Kitchener seems a little out OF
place under the circumstances.
The British government has a great
work before it in effecting the imperative
adjustments entailed by long and de-
structive war; Construction must take
1.-THE place Of destruction. Of the latter
there has been formidable amount. far
and wide, which will necessitate the res
Itoration Of public works, railway bridges
and railways. The rehabilitation Of the
iBoer ia rms is work for which provision
has, to a. considerable extent, been made
by the British government.
: There are, moreover, some serious
problems to be solved. One of these is
the control of the gold fields of the
Transyaal by a group Of capitalists who
hold options on the whole collaborating
area Of that colony, and who are opposed
Ito the passage OF any law which will open
that region to immigration and the ex-
iploitation of individual enterprise. 1t is
said that there Is Only one newspaper in
the Transvaal which is not controlled by
the option holding capitalists.
Another source Of trouble is the order
ISSUED. by Lord Roberts some time ago
chat absentees who had not paid their
taxes would forfeit their property, and
talready, under this arrangement, over
1900, 900 Of property has passed into
the hands Of wealthy investors. andy nat.
urally, the owners are sore over the loss
Ief their property. no opportunity for re-
demptton being given. "esss
Such conditions as here mentioned are
Eapt to breed discomfort, and as there are
Beers who do not regard as final the set
eesatty for very. judicious treatment Of
these conditions is apparent.
Il will be some time before the British
army is withdrawn. Large garrisons will
ihe necessary for some time, and to main
tain such a large body of troops will be
ipearly as expensive as during the war
The railroads are blocked with traffic of
military. character and heavy business
IS looked for when they are available for
outside trafi1c.
Our own country will be a beneficiary
lot the resumption of regular trade.
Americans have for three years past sup
piled an immense amount of food and 9TH
ar material to both British and Beers.
As long as the Beers had access to the
sea at Lorenzo Marques they received
large supplies of all kinds of material by
rail in the Transvaal, while Americans
furnished the BIZ fish army with millions
Of dollars worth Of grain. hay horses and
mules. New York business houses, which
deal with South Africa, look for lively
business before long in agricultural ma
chinery, mining machinery, lumber and
all other material needed in the recon
struction of the war deyastated region.
lit Will, however, be some months before
the railway lines are cleared for general
ttrafic withssthe interior. Goods other
than military supplies cannot now get
more than sixty, or seventy miles in the