SOUTH AFRICA.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 November 1900, Page 162

SOUTH AFRICA.

Affairs in South Africa remain much in the same position in which they were last month, and probably will for some months yet. Mr James B. Stowe, American Consul General at Capetown, in a report on the effects of war on trade in South Africa published in the Times gives some interesting matter. Ho mentions the immense trade which the. war itself created, and alludes to the manner in which outside orders were distributed. Australia and New Zealand supplied a large, proportion of the frozen meat and butter. The supply of corned beef from Australia up to the end of December totalled 3,000 tons. Argentine supplied live cattle and horses in considerable numbers. Russian and American oats were used, and it is a fact that New Zealand oats were much appreciated, although English varieties were considered unsuitable on account of the heat of the climate. Hay came from Australia, Canada and the River Plate. New South Wales sent potatoes, bacon, frozen poultry and dairy produce. The United States had great difficulty in filling all the orders for canned meats. He prophesies a brilliant future for South Africa, although he naturally thinks the good times will not come immediately. The country must be allowed time to recover from the fever of war, theu imports of goods will increase materially. Gold returns will be a pronounced feature, as the mines will be better worked than ever and yield proportionately, and an enormous supply of new machinery will be required for the mines in place of that destroyed. Many large enterprises also, he says, wili be started in the way of water supplies, cold storage plants, and other municipal improvements in the various cities of Cape Colony, which will also require largo quantities of machinery. Mr Stowe is a man who has a thorough knowledge of what he is writing about, and gives his countrymen excellent advice as to the best means of obtaining a good share of this increase in trade, which they doubtless will not be slow to follow.