SOUTH AFRICA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 92, 11 January 1908, Page 6

SOUTH AFRICA.

-> . THE .''EXISTING . DEPRESSION.' ; ' : . ERA OF PROSPERITY COMING.' (BT -TELEGRAPH—SPECIiI/; COEBESrONDENT.) . . Auohlartd,'January ,10. • '. During; tho courso of a chat with a well.knpwii.. Now Zoalandor who'hp.s. returned; t<j, •the Dominion from South ' Africa after.' an 'absence of ten: years, ;somo interesting facts .wore gathered by' a Pressman; concerriin'g !tho Conditions; of that ■: country, as' it; is 'at,; the present time!" -'i-;,' /;U. : "Tho-oxisting depression in ' South - Africa ■is infiiiitoly worse, than oven the: x newspapers report, it,. bad .as that,- is," ho ' said,when questioned on this -point. : -"At tho present time in Durban, Capetown, - and.. Johannesburg there arc thousands of offices and houses tonaritless. ; Business houses of iong standing and the ..highest-repute 'are being liquidated weekly, but,: apart fronVthis alto-gether,-4ho! actual poverty i 8 .simply ;appall.jngi and evoryone who can ,possibly; manage it is;getting right-out.of the country. - The cause, is dua.- to the. after-efFettts.of jthc. war, whicji caused an abnormal .boom, in/values. The depreciation /of' South' ; African. stocks since . then, within the last ,two years,'. has been 80 millions. As for - tho, Chinese,' in two years' time there will he none left. The Mongolians have- been, a very, costly . experiment to the-mining, houses.;. It would havo been to their advantage if they ha,d boon able to . retain the Chinese: for a" further term. of. five or -seven;years,• but ; at- tho same -time this.-would have been, the, greatest crirso that could have befallen tho: Transvaal.l think that at. . present tho minos are . being . -worked .practically with whites using tho available, nativo labour qlso. ■Unfortunately/ only a very small proportion •of .all'the gold won goes for the good of tho country. Tho dividends ■ for this year nave just been, declared at £7,000,000, of which at least'£6,soo,ooo goes out of tho country to London and Germany. ' Another, great .drawback -to ,the advancement of tho. country -is tlib - fact that under- no circumstances has tho Government' over fostered or attempted to givo/any relief to,the farmers in ;tho;shapo of: cheap-transit for, their, .produce..-In. many: cases farmers', produce' /mealies dnd-' fruit, simply to-allow th.em to rot on account'of tho railway . rates being, so, . - Tor all that, . the .method ,of.'farming now adopted is in,.advance..of .tho. Doer ..days', - when one .nigger was employed to. drive,' oneito plough, and ono to.manipulate; the whip.; : My opinion as tb,'tho'future of South/Africa is decidedly Optimistic.' I. think; that- in - ton ;or; fifteen' year's, notwithstanding' that slip'', is . smitten ■ with, all tho. plagues of Egypt'and .every disease. that stock is. hbiY to,. Jier, 'trouble's will •bo at.an. end, and there.'will ensue' ail era of prosperity. that will boliard'-to beat', in any country; : -- . South Africa . has .wonderfuli re-. sources,; 'and , tobacco, cotton,, suglar,-. mealies ' and rubber can bo produced for export to every j>art of the world. Irrigation is_going to:bo tho main iii. assisting. tho!lYan'svaal and the Oraiigo' River' Colony'in taking a 'foremost' position qpiohgs£the agricultural and pastoral countries of .tho world." '