The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-01-06

which received responsible government in
1893. IL has the control Of an enormous
population OF blacks OutnumbeTing the
whites by something like nine to one. for
the tribes of the Zulus are within its
sphere Of government Its finances are.
and have been for some time past, in
critically embarrassing condition. The
native population has no part in the rep
resentative government Of the colony.
Partly in order to increase It's resources,
and partly by way Of impresslng upon
the blacks the dignity Of labor for the
purpose Of making money, the Natal gov
eminent last year imposed upon its
natives a poll tax Of one pound head
for every adult male who did not already
pay the hut tax Of fourteen shillings.
This poll tax thus imposed raised great
dissatisfaction in the native mind, and
this dissatisfaction produced a feeling
Of great alarm among the whites. Diff
culties occurred in the collection OF the
tax, and in February last there was a
scuttie in which two natives and one
white policeman We're killed. Fourteen
natives held To have been implicated IN
this disturbance were subsequently exc
cuted under sentence Of coUTt-martal.
Martial law was proclaimed over a large
area Of the colony. and expeditions were
organized to suppress any attempt that
the natives might make 10 revolt. These
expeditions proceeded on the usual meth
DDS. They DOmbarded the kraals. drove
out their inhabitants. burned all the huts.
and laid waste the crops. The natives
who had left their villages were con-
sidered TO be rebels and were pursued as
such. Various sO-ealled battles took
place In one Of which It was stated that,
while 1880 Zulus We're killed, no white man
was so much as wounded And this they
call war All detailed information was
suppressed by a rigid military censorship.
for fear the civilized world would call it
murder In one Of these killings, which
occurred when I was in South Africa. C2l
Zulus were shot 10 death. the only
casualty on the British side being one
crippled-a soldier who. IL was reported,
sprained his ankle while running from
Zulu who pursued him with an asagai.
Cape-tO-CairO Road.
'The Cape-tC-Cairo Railway. with its
connections, has made gigantic strides
through Egypt 10 the Sudan; and from
Cape Town through the Tra1svaal and
Rhodesia. over the Zambesi, and Oh 10
Broken HILL so miles north Of Victoria
Falls The latter section was open for
traffic last summer, two days after my az
rival at Old Livingstone on the Zambesi.
Prospectors from the Lower Congo. just
north CT the region last penetrated by the
railroads. report the country rich in de-
posts Of mineral wealth. inexhaustible
supplies Of coal. copper. and other ores OF
great value The tabled mines Of King
. 70 4
in that region.
An examination Of the map shows the
stretch Of territory intervening between
the unfinished portions Of the Cape-to-
Cairo Railway to lie for nearly thou
sand miles through this rich section Of
the Congo State. The completion Of the
road means the strategic command Of the
continent, from the Mediterranean TO the
Cape of Good Hope. It is possible that
for this territory England is now reaching
out. following her traditional policy, as
in the TransvaaL where d fiourishing little
republic was gobbled up after cruel cap
italistic war. because of its gold and its
diamonds. The elective affinity between
an EngIishman and gold mine IS re-
markable We're the mineral wealth Of
South Africa TO become suddenly exhaust
ed. England's supreme interest in the
country would soon come to an end. That
able exponent Of history soon 10 represent
the Court Of St. James in this citr, in
writing Of the Boer war, says: The
course actually taken 0by Great Britain
brought on the war, and Il failed 10 justi-
fy war by showing any cause for II, such
as the usages Of civilized states recognize.
The TransvaaI people were not likely u
provoke it.
England is stln land-hungry. The
Congo State lies athwart the uncOu-
structed portions Of the Cape-to-CairO
Railway. and is bursting with mineral
wealth of untold richness. The rubber
market Of the world has always been in
Liverpool. Since LeOpold's development
of the rubber industry in the Congo the
trade has been DETECTED 10 Antwerp. 10
the chagrin of Great Britain. Something
must be done 20 recover IT.
Activity Of missionaries. who are also
accused Of being agents Of the Liverpool
rubber interests, has followed They have
stimulated efforts on the part OF home
societies. who. indirectly, as well as
directly. are now flooding this country
with a political propaganda against
Belgic influence. The idea is to create
such a worldwide indignation and revolt
against Leopold and his management that
a new division of territory may result in
which event England may be able TO con-
meet its Uganda and Sudan. on the north,
with Rhodesia and South Africa. on the
south. thus giving a continuous belt from
Alexandra 10 Cape Town, and opportunity
for development of the Cape-to-CairO
Railway exclusively through British soil,
NJ the same time seiZing the rich mineral
zone and the rubber trade now diverted
10 Antwerp. The present agitation is eX-
pected to excite a moral sentiment that
will Justify Great Britain in Selling this
needed territory. In addition 10 all this,
there is a suspected motive of trade
jealousy. for John Hays Hammond is au-
thority for the statement that within the
next ten years The Congo Free State will
demand over Sj0.O00C00 worth of mining
machinery. most of which will, under
present conditions. come from the United
based on his experience in the TransVaal,
which is no richer than the Congo State.
In RhOdesia the Chartered Company is
supreme. 1t has crushed out individual
ism, and firmly grasped rights in mines
and pretty much everything else of value,
with the result that the people are almost
bankrupt Its influence is worse than the
robberies imputed TO the trusts of the
United States
Her Motive Suspfcious