SOUTH AFRICAN LETTER.

Feilding Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 141, 13 December 1902, Page 2

SOUTH AFRICAN LETTER.

♦ Cautiousness Counselled(From our own correspondent). Capetown, October Bth, 1902— Before I left New Zealand, many friends asked me .to write a reliable account of the condition of South Africa, upon which tho eyes of the world are at present focussed. My brief sojourn in this colony prevents me writing a very comprehensive account just now, but I have already acquired some information, and matured some opinions, which it will be my province to present to your readers, on the understanding that more shall follow. At the present time a large number of people are flocking to Capetown and Durban, every steamer arriving in the bay landing a regular contingent, and it may be truthfully asserted that by far the greater majority come expecting much, and are prepared to receive little, which is too often their fate. Amongst our passengers by the Suevic were many who had travelled very little and read less, who, buoyed up by the idea that South Africa was a great country where big wages could be readily commanded and situations got without any difficulty, had cast aside their chances in their own colony and come here. They forgot that they were coming to a country which has just been engaged m a war, and expected it to be ready to receive and maintain them and the hundreds and thousands who are crowding into it month by month. It is true that wages are high, but it is also true that the cost of living in most places is excessive, so that what is gained in one way is lost in another. Permits are not required to land at the Cape, but at present it is impossible to proceed inland without one, and it appears to be rather a difficult matter to procure them, even when one has work to go to. A number of our passengers arrived here with the the intention of proceeding up to Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and other places in the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal, but SOBae Of fcfc>em 7 at the time of writings are Still walking about Capetown waiting to proceed. A permit is not required to travel anywhere but in the Transvaal and OraDge River Colony. For instance anyone may proceed to Bulawayo, Kimberley, or any other place in Cape Colony, Bechuanaland, and such places. A few who came by the Suovic succeeded in securing work in Capetown ; others had not the good fortune to do that, and in consequence a few determined to return home. These were the faint-hearted who had but little experience of battling against tho world, but the incident goes to prove that the average young man who leaves a good home for South Africa does not take long to regret having done so, and soon desires to return. A great many bank clerks have come here lately, and some few of whom were successful in gaining good appointments, but their chance was better six months ago. It is fairly easy for a man of experience to gam an appointment as a common clerk at an equally common salary, but for those poss«ssing a thorough knowledge of banking, and who have had a large experience, there are few openings. One man I know, with excellent credentials and a thorough knowledge of commercial law and banking generally, succeeding easily in convincing the bank managers of his ability to till a high position in the bank, but they said ho was too far advanced for them. To have given him a good appointment would have caused dissatisfaction amongst those over whose heads he would hava to be appointed,) and naturally enough he had no desire to take on a junior position. Board and lodging at Capetown is a serious item to the man earning low wages, and living generally is not at all easy for the one who has to support a large family, as many do. Some men brought wife and family over with them, and paid a small fortune for their maintenance utttil they were in a position to settle down with them. Living that would cost 18s per week in a good private house in New Zealand would cost £2 in Capetown ; inferior board and lodging may be had for 25s per week, but it is decidedly plain. Single unfurnished rooms in a fashionable suburb cost from £3 per month, though by sharing a room in some quarters it may be had for 60s per month. Clerical men are in fair demand, but journalists are not required as much as might be expected, for tho simple reason that there are not any newspapers worthy of the name putsicje the large towns, and they appear to be fully staffed. For the country newspapers it ij almost; essential thafc the journalist should have a fair knowledge of Dutch, in order that he may deal with that section of the community. It is said that the language may be easily learned, in fact a teacher in Capetown professes to make his pupils proficient in six weeks. At present everything is in a confesteiji si^ate in Pretoria, Johannesurg, and most places in the interior. j The rolling stock on the railway is 1 #0$ mMv'ml t>9 codq Witlj ' tj)9 d.e-

mand, the consequence being that it : is only with the greatest difficulty j that goods can ba taken to the : interior in sufficient quantities to supply the' demands of the most pressing. A permit is required for goods of all kinds, but the mere permit is no guarantee that the goods will be taken to their destination without further delay. Outside in the bay vessels are waiting to discharge their cargoes, and many of them are likely to wait considerably longer before their turn comes. This week there are 80 vessels in port. Conversing a few days ago with a leading citizen of Capetown, on the subject of South Africa as a field for the worker, I remarked that the country had a great future before it. He said, " Yes, but two years hence would be time enough for the people to come to it with the intention of settling." It is said to be a fact that out of the enormous number of people who have come to South Africa within the past year, three parts of them have returned, or at least departed from the country. This is proof that they found the couutry disappointing. I would not willingly disappoint anybody, nor discourage a young man who has a burning desire to come to South Africa in search of adventure and cash ; but to the man who has a good business, a first class situation, or a farm, I would say stay where you are by all means, at least for some time. You are in a climate which cannot be beaten on the face of the earth ; you have a good Government over you, and people of your own blood around you, and your country is progressing. I have met men who have foolishly sold out first class paying concerns to come here, and now they are bitterly regretting having done so. Some of them are men well up in years, who might have remained where they were and made money and lived a comfortable existence. They acted the fable of the dog and the shadow, and it is possible they will not have an opportunity of repeating the experiment. To the young man who is eager to go into a new land to strike out for himself amidst fresh surroundings, who has some practical knowledge of the wor!J,and a surplus stock of theoretical knowledge of that same institution, I would say, if not satisfied in New Zealand, come to South Africa, but do not be in a hurry, and of all things bo sure to have some special trade or profession to engage in. Good engine fitters have come here to the Capo and have been glad to work on the telegraph lines at five shillings per day, and this in a country where 30s per week is little enough to pay for board. The young man who knows nothing of the world except what he has learned under the parental roof, will probably find himself a sadder and wiser man soon after his arrival at Capetown. One such case came under my notice. The young man in question had £2,000 at his back, left him as a legacy by some relative, and like the prodigal son in Scripture he told his father to give him what was his and he would go away into a new country. He came here, and I met him on the steamer. He was very sanguine, had a good knowledge of storekeeping, and intended to put his money into an up country store, grow with the place, and thus make his fortune. — (To be continued).