The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-01
DARK CONTINENTS s.U. S. A."
 PASSES 9TH MILESTONE TODAY.


 This last day of May is the fifth
 birthday of Dark Continents tsU. S. A.''-the Union of South Africa. It
 was on May 31, 1910, that the four
 British colonies in South Africa-Cape
 Colony, the TransvaaI and Orange, Free State-were formed into a great federation under the British flag. The formation of the union was a triumph
 of statesmanship. for it marked, the final step in granting the largest measure of independence and self government to EngIand's late enemies, the Boers of the Transva1 and the
 Orange Free State. Never before in the history of a warning world have the wounds of a bloody and terrible
 conflict so quickly healed as in South Africa
 Only fifteen years after their terri
 ble war against the forces of Eng land, the Boers are now fighting un- der the banner Of their late enemy.
 This new allegiance fs all the more re- markab1e when it is considered that land, had the support and symp mpathy of Germany. While few of the ir- recOnclables raised the standard of revolt, they quickly discovered that the masses of the Boers were loyal to the Union, and the incipient insur-
 rection was speedily suppressed by Gen. Louis Botf1a, the Boer soldier and statesman who has been premier of the Union since it's inception. The fervent patriotism, misguided aud reprehensible, of the black population 1 of South Africa was manifested by
 the anti German riots in Cape Town
 and Johannesburg, following the sink ing of the Lusitania.
 As result of the Unions partici-
 patton in the present world-war, Gen. Botha and other South African lead l CTS confidently expect to add largely to the area, power and prestige of their country. BOtha's men have al- ready overrun German Southwest
 Africa and have captured Windhoek. the capital and other principal towns. In addressing his victorious soldiers, Gen. Botha declared that the capture of Windhoek was of the utmost inn
 portance to the empire and the Union
 of South Africa, as it means practical 1y complete possession of German Southwest Africa, While the Ger
 man territory is not now of much im- portanee, it offers natural resources capable of tremendous development.
 The annexation of German Southwest
 Africa, would mean the addition of Union. The population of the Ger , man colony is about a quarter of a million, but there are only about s. GOO whites among the permanent res idents. The Germans have not been very successful in the development of German Southwest Africa. Where in the British African possessions there are school houses, the Teutons have built barracks. In German Southwest
 Africa the natives have not taken kindly to the invaders and it has been ! necessary to import white labor to construct railroads and other public | works.
 Since its birth five years ago today the Union of South Africa has faced
 many serious problems. The equality | of the Dutch and English languages, 1 and the free entry to positions of po- l litfcal power by both nationaIities, tended to weld the once warning whites, but the race question, as pre- sented by the presence of so many
 blacks, has often reached an acute stage The general strike and labor war early in 1914 was a serious mani festation of industrial unrest. On the whole, however, the infant nation has made wonderful progress. The recon cilliation of Boer and Britisher has reached a point where it can with stand the test of war, and offers the | strange spectacle of the enemies of fifteen years ago fighting shoulder to shoulder in a common cause