The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-27

siHS Oh the vast tracts OF fertile cOun-
try with Great Britain's own sons and
daughters.
In the early days it was surmised
that the home government was simply
holding back until the Uganda railway
was completed, and for want of a bet
ter explanation this view was generally
accepted.
The Uganda railway has now been
an accomplished fact for some time,
and while the settlers have been urg-
ing the government to take definite
steps to help the people of the country,
the foreign office has moved and in
totally unexpected direction. The
proposal to hand the country over to
the Jewish aliens has come as a great
shock. This would be SO great ca
lanity, indeed, that the people can
scarcely believe that the scheme will
be carried out. The foreign Office will
have to meet the unanimous protests
of Great Britain's own subjects in
British East Africa.
1T is said that the British tax
payer is sick of the very name of East
Africa The construction of the Ugan-
da railway having swallowed 96,000,-
600, consequently the less the publie-
at home read about this country the
better This is decidedly wrong and
lamentable attitude. 1t should be
reversed, and that quickly.
Taking. the whole country from the
coast to Victoria Nyanzo, only the first
zoo miles on the one side, and the ac-
tual shore Of the great lake on the
other, are unSuited to the British set
tier and laborer.
From Makindu, 2O7 miles inland,
and for about 400 miles further, the
country is beautiful beyond descrip-
ton. The fertility of the soil is mar
velous, and the climatic conditions are
in l..
the slightest exaggeration in this state
ment; 1t is absolute fact, an ideal coun-
try that Great Britain should hold
for her own subjects. Prospective
settlers have come into British East
Africa from Australia and South
Africa; they have been men of expe-
r1ence in cattle raising and in farm
ing; they have Travelled through the
country, and declared it superior ir
every way to any other of which they
had any knowledge; but the amount of
red tape and the land laws made 1t
imperative that they should seek set
Elements elsewhere.
when the Britisher at home reads
of little known parts of Africa, invol-
unfairly he mentally sketches a pic
ture OF the country, and to his minds
eye there is presented a limitleSs
sandy plain, scorching sun, one palm
tree, lion and a niggerl' But how
different is the reality! British East
Africa is one of the most beautiful
countries in the world. Well wooded
and watered, with miles of grassy
plains, over which countless herds of
game roam And there is no excessive
heat anywhere, except at the coast and
at the lake, and compared with the
plains of India, even. these localities
are good.
From Makindu to Nairobi and on
over the Man Escarpment to the
Loudtani Plains paradise Plains, Si,
Harry Johnson called them), the eli
mate is an ideal one.
The possibilities In the direction of
agricultural produce are practically
unlimited and this in regard to guam
t1ty, quality and variety. There is
nothing that the country will not grow.
The few settlers that are In Nairobi
grow the finest potatoes in the world,
and an organized movement is now on
foot to secure the South African mar
kets FOR this produce, and what is
more to the point the South African
markets are anxious to do business.
Some time ago the British manu-
facturers of cotton goods organized a
party of experts to investigate and To-
cate cotton growing land. Why do
they not send them to British East
Africa? There they may take over as
much as they want of the finest cot
tom growing land on earth
During Mr.. Chamberlain's visit in
December last he expressed the opin-
lon that as a grain and cotton-grow-
Ing country British East Africa would
stand unriyaled.
ITO the outsider it would appear
that this protectorate is governed d.
rectly from home, and that the local
authorities, of themselves, have no
power to make laws or grant conces-
sions that would make for progress.
His majesty's commissioner, Sir
Charles Eliot, K.C. NC, C.B., is decid-
eddy popular and much respected
throughout the country; and if the
powers that be would give him a free
hand, British East Africa would soon
be on the right road to develop her
resources and make for prosperity
The country would become another
link in the British empire, and a
source of strength to the mother coun-
try.
'"The harbor at Kilindini and Port
ReitZ, which is in direct touch with
the Uganda railway, could accommo-
date the entire British navy, and is
land-locked; is undoubtedly one of the
finest harbors in the world
There is no need to dwell upon the
mineral resources of the country
There may be-and probably is-gold
and other minerals in abundance; but
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