LIFE IN RHODESIA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19981, 24 December 1926, Page 9

LIFE IN RHODESIA.

A NEW ZEALANDER’S IMPRESSIONS. DOMINIONS CONTRASTED. LABOUR AND PROFIT. (From Our Own Correspondent-) LONDON, November 4, Mr J. Wyndham Hopkins (Hamilton) has been travelling with his family in South Africa for the past few months. The following article, copied by Miss Wyndham Hopkins from her father’s rough notes, supplies an interesting picture of Rhodesia, the youngest of the self-govern-ing dominions of the Empire. A few years ago, Gertrude Page, the well-known English authoress of “The Edge o’ Beyond” and other books on Rhodesia, while walking one day across some virgin country just north of Salisbury and coming -ithin view of a beautiful kopje—a pile of huge, fantasticallyshaped rocks tinted with the red rust of Africa and covered with trees ablaze with Kafir Boom and the snowy blossom of the wild plum—exclaimed: “What a lovely place to live in!” She is since dead, and lies buried in the lonely Umvukwe Hills, but a native-built hut with roof of thatch now stands there, and from its stoep one overlooks a scene of light forest stretching awav in soft undulations to the horizon, the home still of the buck and the wild-cat. Some distance behind is a native kraal from which the sound of chanting reaches one on occasions all through the night. Away in the distance, on the right, is to be seen in a ploughed clearing for next year’- tobacco crop, which immediately in front is a gang of kafirs making bricks for the curing sheds. On this mid-winter day the whole land is flooded with bright sunshine, the sky is blue and cloudless, and the atmosphere wonderfully exhilirating. With this scene before one the mind turns to a comparison between such unfamiliar conditions and those of one’s own country, and what a complete contrast Rhodesia offers to New Zealand! Far inland, a 2000-mile train journey of four days and nights from the Cape, remote from sight and sound of the ocean, an empty land of great spaces, situate within 18deg of the Equator under a hot sun whose effect is counteracted in a remarkable manner by elevation, a British community living their lives at an altitude three-fourths that of Mount Egmont in a country which is one huge plateau, torrential rains in summer, an absolutely rainless winter which, for unvarying sunshine, blue sky, absence of wind, and invigorating air, makes the climate of such world-famed winter resorts as Italy and the Riviera of but poor account, no lakes, no hi h mountains, and no large rivers, an area of one and a-half times that of New Zealand, yet with a population only twice that of Wanganui amidst nearly a million blacks, immense mineral and agricultural resources only awaiting deveopment and transport facilities, a place where the elephant, rhino, lion, and the leopard are still to be found, a country in the making—bran new socially, politically, and economically—such are the chief characteristics of Rhodesia. There are men here still in the full vigour of life who were in the pioneering party of 187 young and adventurous spirits that, supported by a body of native police, trekked in 1890, from the Transvaal border over a distance of 1000 miles to the site of Salisbury, hacking their way through 400 miles of forest, taking six months to complete the journey, and, under an arrangement between Rhodes and Lobengula, being the very first white men to settle in the country. Such an unequivocal and dramatic occupation of native territory by a European Power is probably the last of its kind the prosaic world of to-day will see. PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE. There is a suggestion of bigness about everything in Rhodesia. This is one’s impression the moment one steps out of the train at Bulawayo. Standing on a great open platform with station buildings set well back from the track, the endless veldt is to be seen on all sides excepting in the direction of the township some distance away, while all around space is reserved for the sidings and yards of a huge railway depot. This impression is heightened on arriving at the town. Thoroughfares laid out rectangularly and of unusual width to enable the predominant transport of the country—a span of 10 oxen and wagon—to swing around, all buildings of permanent material, surprisingly up-to-date shops, handsome public buildings, every kind of institution represented, including one our New Zealand towns might copy—namely, a publicity office supported by public contribution and local body subsidy, splendid tarred and macadamised streets; in fact, in every way a highly-organised municipality, and; yet with the small population of only 6000' people—these are the outstanding features of Bulawayo, and, indeed, of most Rhodesan townshps. It should be mentioned, however, that to provide such conditions rates are at least 50 per cent, higher than in New Zealand. It is as if unable to make any impression on this great empty country as a whole, the inhabitants had concentrated their energies upon the few small towns to ensure their enjoying the very maximum of the ordinary amenities of life, road perfection, for example, ending with comical abruptness at the outskirts of the townships when one’s car slides with a bump off a smooth surface on to the rough unformed road of the veldt. In the centre of Bulawayo, at the intersection of two thoroughfares, gazing away into the north along the fine wide avenue of Main street with its mile of length, and continuation of veldt road snaking its way through light forest to the distant horizon, stands the arresting statue of Cecil Rhodes. Government House grounds contain the famous Induna tree of Lobengula, seated under which he administered justice to the offender and on occasions gave the dread order to “take him away.” From this tree : s to be seen, breaking the far distant sky-line, a short range of hills flanked at each end by a kind of buttress—“ Sheba’s Breasts,” of Rider Haggard’s fiction — whilst grazing in a nearby enclosure, one notes an aged white horse —Rhodes’s favourite steed now on honourable pension. THROUGH THE FORESTS BY MOTOR. The towns of Buluwayo, Salisbury, Umtali, Gatooma, and Gwelo account for nearly one-half of the country’s population of 40,000. There are also a few smaller places. Consequently the sparse settlement outside of these communities gives an impression of emptiness to the country. The natives being under certain restrictions are, except when working for the settler, not much in evidence over the land as a whole and the landscape generally is therefore strikingly lacking in animation. The bush or forest is totally different from that of Dlew Zealand. The trees average not more than 2Cft in height and a few inches in diameter and are far enough apart to allow the growth of tall native grass immediately underneath the branches, and everywhere through the forest; it v has therefore a parklike appearance. On el can travel for hours without seeing a single homestead. The roads, for long stretches, are mere ruts in the native grass. X? 1 fnotoring is quite easy in the dry winter season. The writer has travelled in a Ford car through the trees and grass of virgin country, away from any semblance of a road for miles, in pursuit of buck. Speaking ot buck and other game, a common method of shooting the.se is to motor along a veldt road after dark using the electric spotlight of the car which lights up the eves of the animal over a surprising distance, and arrests and seems to paralyse it, so that it can easily bo despatched Roads arc, however, impassable in the rainy summer season. There arc only a score of road bridges in the Vholo ot Rhodesia, and at that time of the year a trickling spurit becomes a raging torrent in a few hours. The rainfall in New Zealand is about 50in annually spread over an average of 260 days. In Rhodesia eight or nine inches sometimes fall ini 24 hours. The effect is tremendous 1 The slightest depression across a maize or tobacco field or along a road becomes a rushing water course. In the wot season the whole landscape is a vivid green. In the dry winter the grass remains breast high and bone dry except at the roots, the forest, however, for the most part, continues to remain a bright green although there mav have been not one drop of rain for six months. This is because deep tap roots reach down to a copious supply of umler-snrfacc water at aif times ° f OF TOBACCO. Tire price of land awav from towns, of good quality for its purpose of maize tobacco and ranching, is from 5s to £1 per acre, and holdings are seldom smaller than 1500 acres. Used for cattle, such land has a ennacitv of a beast to 12 acres. Several kinds of products, despite dryness, disease and transport difficulties, give a fair re-

turn, but there is one product in Rhodesia which has proved an amazing success—tobacco. It is not a crop, but with the recent importation of experts from America and the Imperial preference of 2s per ib, the industry has received a tremendous impetus. Hero are some figures given to the writer by a tobacco grower fresh from England without any previous knowledge of farming whatsoever as the result of last year’s operations. The land purchased was 1600 acres of £l. payable in 5 per cent, reductions annually with interest at 8 per cent. His expenditure in clearing and cultivating a patch of 30 acres including deposit. and interest,' erection of curing barns and purchase of oxen, wagon, implements, and fertilisers, was £1650, of which £750 was represented by permanent assets. He acquired the raw land in August and by April of the next year he had reaped and cured a crop of 8001 b to the acre at 2s per lb, and thus made a gross return of £2400. This was quite a common experience last year. In the case mentioned, the grower received free expert advice from the organisation from whom he purchased his land. A holding of loss than 1000 acres of raw land for tobacco is not advisable as only about one-third is arable, then there is the need of rotation, forest timber for fuel for curing, and also grazing for the working oxen. Although 3-D acres is the usual area planted each year, some settlers have ventured upon as much as 400 acres and therefore made huge incomes. No disease in the plant, of any importance, has yet made its appearance, but growers are becoming somewhat apprehensive about the supply of native labour upon which the industry is absolutely dependent. Government organisation is expected, however, to assist in this direction. A HOUSE OF £26. The climate here eases the housing question immensely so far as new settlers on the land are concerned. A dwelling can be made a very inexpensive affair in Rhodesia. Quite a usual type for the first few years is a four-roomed cottage of native made brides or else pise, roofed with native grass, and built entirely by natives at a cost, mcludjng purchased windows and doors, of £25. Whitewashed inside and out, with the beautiful bougain villia creeper growing on the walls, and a wide stoep of thatcli, such a dwelling is both comfortable and picturesque. Until the rainy season commences, the settler is often content for several months with a native-made hut ot pole-frame and grass, of sav 12ft in diameter, at a total expense of about Zs. When the rains come, he must get into quarters offering better protection against that silent carrier of malaria the anopheles mosquito. Malaria ie prevalent in many' parts, but under control as to both infection and treatment. In post offices and other places, notices are displayed of how to avoid it and reminding the settler that Government supplies ot quinine can be obtained at a minimum price. The disease is not now considered a serious menace in Rhodesia. THE KAFIR WORKER. Accustomed to the relations between the Maoris and ourselves, one can form no idea of the position of the blacks in Rhodesia or the Union unless one comes here. His place in the economic life of the community—in the home and on the land —and its effect on the white man s output of physical energy, is a revelation. The usual wage for the kafir on the farm is 6d per day, plus an extraordinarily rigid diet of 31b of mealie meal and lib of cheap meat per week. His hours are from daylight to dark. All unskilled manual labour whatsoever is done by him. This limit of scope for the European makes the immigration schemes of New Zealand, Australia, and Canada quite inapplicable to South Africa. Consequently no Government assistance is given to an intending settler in Rhodesia unless he has about £750 to start with. No European is permitted under any circumstances to cross the border - unless he possesses £SO or had definite employment to go to. The result is that while there are a few unemployables, as in every community, there are no unemployed. Besides being the mainstay of the housewife and settler alike, the native is a tremendous factor in the intimate personal comfort of the individual. One seldom sees a man cranking his own car, and a native invariably travels in the back _ seat to render any trivial service. One's native “boy” changes the library books, returns the balls on tennis courts, caddies on the links, runs messages clutching in his hand the inevitable written chit, acts as nursemaid m the children, and does a hundred and one other things of the kind. The writer has even known of cases of permanent hotel guests keeping their personal boy lounging about in view of the hotel, ready to do their bidding at a moment’s notice. The housing and feeding arrangements of a native accompanying his employer to town trouble the latter not in the least. Under the freemasonry that exists among the blacks, they foregather around a mealie pot and fire on any disused section in the township, and at night cither sleep in the local compound or anywhere in the open. The kafir is a dependable factor as an employee, because, whereas in other communities the only consequence of an employee’s breach of contract is an action < for damages, here the punishment is summary arrest and imprisonment. Every native male over 14 years must register in his district and always have on bis person his certificate of identification. He is liable to, and frequently searched and punished, if not in possession of it. It must be endorsed with his last employer’s name, rate of wages paid, and the fact of his discharge. In towns, he must be off the streets by curfew (9 p.m.), unless holding his employer’s permit to be out. Although not legal, the latter sometimes inflicts corporal punishment, and the writer has been an interested spectator on pay day and seen the mistress of the house dock the wages for broken crockery. Thera is another aspect of the native! Outside of the towns white women seldom walk about alone. The writer, has on several occasions noticed in the door-flap of a motor car on the driver’s side, a loaded revolver for, use by women folk if necessary, when driving out in the country alone, chiefly in case a breakdown occurs away from settlement. Certain offences are not common, and this form of danger is more potential than actual. However, it is sufficiently a menace to have ordered the lives of white women here in a way that is seldom relaxed. This state of affairs, of course, applies equally to the Union. Good work can undoubtedly be got out of the native, but it is a matter of constant supervision. On the whole, he is a wonderful asset to the settler. WAGES AND PRICES. The high wages of Europeans in Rhodesia seem very attractive, but because of the utilisation of the native wherever possible the demand for white labour is very limited. A shop assistant of some experience gets from £3O to £35 per month, and artisans, including motor mechanics, £4O. Railway engine drivers have earned during the maize season, with overtime, as much as £BO. Matriculated cadets in the civil service, of both sexes, start with £lO. Union bank clerks stationed in Rhodesia get a living allowance in addition to their ordinary salary. The monthly rental of an unfurnished five-roomed house in a town is not less than £l2. A twopound loaf of bread, costs Is. The return ticket for an annual visit to the lower altitude of a Union port, regarded by many as a necessity, is £25. To freight a ear from Salisbury to Capetown and back involves an expense of about £9O. Boots, clothes, and nearly all other necessities are considerably dearer than in New Zealand. On the other hand, hotel tariffs, largely owing to cheap native servants, are reasonable. A tariff of 12s 6d per day provides quite good accommodation, although the conventional whisky and soda (so the writer has been told) costs Is 6d. Trading in Rhodesia and also in the ' Union is in a peculiar state. No person i can deal in the sale to the public of any j kind of goods whatsoever, whether it be | boots and clothing, groceries, or any other article, without a trading license. At the i hearing his application is often contested I by his rivals in the particular kind of business when both sides arc usually represented by counsel. Ponnics are not in circulation here, and small change is given in stamps at all the shops. Cash in gold in any reasonable quantity is obtainable, and, in fact, often tendered without request, at any bank. Credit plays a tremendous part in business. In many shops the article is marked with two prices—one for cash and one for credit. Farmers can invariably get credit from the stores in anticipation of next season’s crops. In fact, there is a saying that there are only two things in Rhodesia, which cannot be obtained on credit—postage stamps and railway tickets. j GOVERNMENT WITHOUT OPPOSE ! TTON. This country is not sufficiently populated , as yet, to be much concerned with legislation of a social character. There are more, nressm-i considerations. The greatest problems are road and railway development, ; and l,be regularity and sufficiency of the supply of native labour. The political situation is delightfully simple—a Government without an Opposition. Self-govern-ment was not granted until 1923, and the first parliament sat in the entertainment hall of the principal hotel in Salisbury. Most of the members, and indeed, miaistera,,we*«

without any experience of political or even public life. The big political question for the moment is how brinn. about a reduction of railway fares and freights that are crippling the country, the railways being in the hands of private companies. One can in South Africa humour a bent for train travel by a continuous ride of 10 days and nights from Cape to Bukama in the Belgian Congo, which "-ill be little more than one-third r the whole distance to Cairo when a connection is made. Situate nearly 2000 'nilos from the British ports of the Union the nearest other access being via Beira—an inefficient Portuguese port 400 miles to the east...a gap of about 1500 miles of largely unproductive country separating Rhodesia from any outlet on the Atlantic, an attenuated rail wav traffic necessarily due to sparse settlement, the position of railway transport in this country is abnormal. ADMIRATION FOR NEW ZEALAND. Considering its size and remoteness, a striking feature of one’s travels is the tremendous admiration one finds all over the Empire for New Zealand as the very stronghold of British ideals. It is a country that is talked about everywhere. The writer, when in East Griqualand, visited the factory of one of the best-known cheese-makers of the Union. Ho subscribed to farming literature from all parts, but his favourite authority proved to be ‘ The Now Zealand Farmer.” Here in Rhodesia a controversy is raging just now over the organisation of the tobacco industry, and much prominence has been given in the press to the views of a writer who had obtained from New Zealand the outlines of the New Zealand Produce Control Board Act. Conspicuously displayed in the Municipal Publicity Office at Durban are some exceptionally fine views of New Zealand thermal regions and other scenes. On the lounge table of the hotel here in (he capital town is to be seen a copy of the Auckland Provincial Handbook of the New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition. Whether it be at Homo, Canada, South Africa, or Australia, there one finds New Zealand spoken of in the very highest terms and with no little envy, for its stability in these disturbing times, and its wonderful and ever-increasing output of products.