The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-06-25

the city and the terminus, an operation
 which might easily be carried out al
 comparatively small outlay. How far
 there is an immediate prospect 0e any
 large development Of agricultural Pro-
 ductiOn in the districts adjacent to the province Of Harar is a moot point on
 which I do not feel cOmoetent to ex-
 press an opinion All can say is that my French infOrmants attached ex- treme importance 10 the tendency Of railways to open up new sources of
 production. while my English infer
 nlants argued that there could be no
 material increase of agricultural pro- ductiOn without irrigation; that there was no native capital available for pHr- poses of irrigation, and that foreign i capital was not likely to be invested in the development of Abyssinian enter prise so long as there was no possIDili- ty of purchasing lands in freehold. CT on leasees Of any serious duration. CT so long as there remained doubt as to the maintenance Of order and law in the event of the death of the reigning emperor. There is much to be sail cn both sides. The only contribution can afford to the controversy from my pesonal observation is that unda- the ' reign Of Menelek foreigners can travel
 unarmed throughout a very wild and ! desolate country. amid semi-savase population with absolute immunity 1 from outrage or molestation or even annoyance. This immunity from dan ger is, am assured, simply due to the abject terror inspired among she na- l tives by the dread of the consequences
 which would inevitably accrue to them
 if they incurred the disDleasure of the
 Vegas. But, after all. the maintenance 1 Of order and tranquility is the first step 1 towards civilization, and this boon, as any rate. Menelek has conferred upon his subjects. He has also introduced new silver coinage. minted in France,
 and based upon the decimal system in
 lieu of the old Maria Theresa dollars. Statistics are unknown in Abyssinia,
 but the population of Harar is estiml- | ted by all the foreign residents with
 whom made acquaintance at between | thirty and forty thousand-nearer the | latter figure than the former-and l
 should judge myself, from the dense
 crowds in the streets, this estimate was | below the mark. The bazaar consists
 of three long winding. narrow streets i jutting off from the market place. In
 these streets there must be some hun | dreds of booths or stalls within which
 the native merchants, Somalis. Gallas,
 Arabs, Armenians, Persians and Hin ! dus sit squat.ing cross-legged waiting for customers. The wares displayed
 in these booths were, as a rule, ba.es of Manchester shirting. American calico,
 and native muslin. Besides these I saw piles of cEeap cutlery. silver bangles, i beads, and a collection of the hetero- ! geneous articles which used in my time i in South Africa to be known by the 1 expressive name e "Kaffir truck"
 admit that if had been asked what I
 would give for the whole stock in trade 1 of the bazaar merchants I should have | been afraid to bid twenty pounds lot,
 but I have seen enough of eastern
 countries to know.ithat it is impossible | to say how far the shop front is a | standard by which you can safely esti- mate the value of the shops contents. | I can remember in the days before the British occupation the aspect of such | important native Egyptian towns as 1 Tantah, Assiut, Damanhur and Zaga- l zig, and 1 doubt whether their aspect in | those days would have inspired finan-
 cial confidence in the mind of any intel
 llgent foreigner. Subsequent experi- l ence, however, has shown that as soon
 as order and security were established
 the native traders in these towns DOS 1 sessed far greater wealth than that
 with which they were previously credi-
 ted and under similar conditions the
 same discovery may be made in the
 case of Harar.
 | I had the opportunity of discussing
 the actual and potential trade of Harar with leading foreign residents who were
 all more or less personally interested in
 the subject. For obvious reasons l
 cannot cite their names, but I may
 state that found a general consensus
 of opinion to the effect that there was
 real permanent market in Harar for
 Harari tobacco. cotton, hides, mules,
 ivory and doura, that considerable | mercantile transactions took place
 daily in these articles, and that there is
 every reason to suppose the amount of | goods exported from the Harar district will increase largely with the improved l facilities of transport provided by the
 opening of the railway within easy
 reach of the town and it's vicinity. The
 most trustworthy estimate I could ob-
 tain gave the number of tons of mer-
 chandise annually exported from Harar
 as ten thousand tons, this being the
 maximum amount of tonnage which
 could reasonably be counted upon from
 the city to the railway during the pres-
 ent year. The official calculation of the
 railway authorities was. I should add,
 more than twice this amount All my | informants were substantially agreed
 that the bulk of this traffic must even-
 tually be carried by the railway to Ji-
 butti, instead of. as at present, by the
 caravan route to Zella or Berbera.- I London Times.
 [ A