A WONDERFUL JOURNEY

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 1180, 1 December 1924, Page 10

A WONDERFUL JOURNEY

THROUGH SOUTH AFRICA. OBSERVATIONS BY MR J. HORN. To the New Zealund members of tho Empire Parliamentary Association who visited South Africa, the journey has been a wonderful giving them all an insight into the conditions of that country. 'lliey have seen the place where tho Queen of Sheba obtained her gold, and 33,000 natives have welcomed the visitors in various parts of Uto grout sub-con-tinent. Mr James Horn, M.P. for Waka* tipu, related some of his observations and facts about South Africa to a Christchurch Sun reporter. The mem hers of the aissouiat ion who recently visited South Africa have, had a really wonderful journey. They travelled 13,641 miles by sea, 11,839 by train and 26,680 by motor cars —a record which approaches that of the Prince of Wales on this side of. the globe. The New Zealanders —Sir John Luke, lion. A. F. Hawke, W.L.C., Mr James Horn and Mr E. J. Howard — were enabled to see quite a lot of Australia too, ns they journeyed overland from Sydney to Freemantle. spending two days at Melbourne, three at Adelaide, and four at Perth, before taking the bout on to South Africa. Everywhere they wero received with kindness, and the greatest hospitality was extended to them by Australians and South Africans. Oflieial lunncheonn and dinners and morning and afternoon teus wore the order of tho day everywhere in South Africa. “Our special thanks are due to the people of South Africa, from the Governor-General, the administrator of . the various States, mayors and their ofliciuls, down to tho residents, who treated us as though we belonged to their families. This applies to bout English and Dutch,” said Mr Horn. SEEING THE NATIVES. Most of the important parts of the sttbcontouent were visited, and tho delegates had a wonderful opportunity of seeing the natives in their own surroundings. In Zululand they were entertained by 3000 Zulus; at Maseru they met the Basutoland natives on tho Pisto ground, where every man of the 25,000 of them was mounted on horseback. At Uintala 5000 of the Transkein natives sang a welcome and the chiefs tool: advantage of the presence of the visitors to open their Parliament. The delegates were given an opportunity to see and inspect the principal ports of die country —Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Simontown, and Lorenzo Marques (the port of Rhodesia, under arrangement with the Union Railways). Mr Horn says that the loading and unloading machinery at all the ports does credit to the bodies and Governments concerned. In Natal they saw many sugarmills, and cotton-growing appeared to Mr Horn to be one of tho coming industries which will benc-bt South Africa. Tobacco-growing is well established, and smoking-tobacco and cigarettes are manufactured in largo quantities, the former selling at from lQd to Is 9d a quarterpound, and the latter at 4pl to 8d a packet of 20. Fruit-growing is a well-established industry, and grape-fruit, oranges, lemons, cherries, plums and peaches are exported regularly to London at payable prices. The dried-fruit industry too. brings in a good deal of revenue, and grapes are cultivated for the production of wine. Gold, silver and copper tire the real readymoney producers of South Africa, and have provided the wherewithal to build ratals, railways and towns in the central and northern parts of South Africa. It will bu a sorry day for the country when the mines are finished. With the exception of tlie Johannesburg district, every place showed signs of ancient workings. It is supposed to have been the supply-land for the Queen of Sheba and for ancient Egypt. IRRIGATION NEEDED. ■ The rainfall for agricultural purposes is plentiful only along the sea coast, and is effective only from 20 to ICO miles inland. Crops cannot be depended upon without irrigation, but where irrigation has been supplied, the results have been wonderful. The South African Government, recognising the value of irrigation, has spent Lb,000,000 during the lust 1C years. Each year now £2,000,000 is spent, and when the natural storage-areas have been arranged and the Zambesi river bus been tapped, there will be millions of acres, which to-day are useless, tit for farming. White people in South Africa refuse" to work with the natives, of whom there are 8,000,000, and consequently many whites are working for local bodies at 6s a day to keep their wives and families. Land without irrigation or improvement is available at a very low price, and 80 per cent of it is not fenced. The stock is all herded, and at sundown is kept near the villages. THE COLOURED PROBLEM. Coloured people were eight limes greater in numbers than the whites, and constituted the graver of the two big problems ahead of .South Africa, the other being tho relationship of the British and Dutch. The last census showed that there was an increase of 2,CCQ,OCO in the native population, whereas the white population had increased in that time by only about 75,000. Native labour was so cheap that it constituted an important obstacle in the way of decreasing the abnormal growth of the coloured population. Mr Horn saw girls working in the municipal gardens for. a wage of 6d a day, and “finding” for themselves. Youths were paid from 7s 6d to 15s a month.

“Polygamy among the natives will need to bo checked if South Africa is to continue to be a white man’s country,” said Mr Horn. “The native boy, at the age of 13 or 14, sets about building a kraal for himself. His next thought is a wife. If she is plain, seven or eight head of cattle will buy her from father; if she is a belle, it might take a dozen head. After the second child appears, he wants another wife, and so on, with a third. His women and children do all the work in the fields. “Prior to tho Boer war, tlie ranks of the natives were decimated, and their numbers held in check by tribal wars and disease. The wars are no more, and an exceedingly efficient Health Department has done wonders in reducing the deatli rate among the natives. The growth of the population is attended by the cry for more land, not for the communal reservations, but for individual natives. The problem is one which only South Africa can solve. PRAISE EOR GENERAL SMUTS. “Methods of farming cannot compare with those in New Zealand. There is a great absence of sowing down grass after lhe crop. They will talce oil two or three crops, and never lay down pasture, as is done here. The holdings range from 2000 to 20,000 acres, and are more like tho Australian holdings.” General Smuts and General Hertzog, the new Prime Minister, met the delegation. With General Smuts, who spent three days with them, Mr Horn was charmed, “lie imbued ua all with his spirit of Imperialism and with his doctrine that, if South Africa is to enjoy a peaceful and prosperous destiny, there must be the closest possible union between the Dutch and Englishspeaking peoples,” he said. Mr Horn spoke far less enthusiastically of General Hertzog. The Prime Minister was. he said, cautious in all his utterances to the delegation, and they did not feel so much at home with him an with General Smuts.

Both English and Dutch commercial men are quite up to the average and are keon and active and evidently know their business. New factories are being built each year and exports and imports are increasing. The finances are satisfactory and the budget at March 31. 1924. shows: Revenue £25,272,649, expenditure £24,1C0,356, a surplus of £1,172,292.

The railway system is a good one, the dining ears are excellent, and the sleeping accommodation quite good.