90th March.
Mr. Lanoucnere and Mr. Wilson and those who agree with them in their estimate of Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Rhodes hold that the British South Africa Company, better known' as the Chartered Company, is anathema maranatha, the direful spring of woes unnumbered to Great: Britain and South Africa as Achilles' wrath was to Greece and Troy. The supporters of the Government, on! the other hand, hold that the Chartered Company has done and is doing a great work in the advancement and civilisation of South Africa, and the promotion of British supremacy ina large portion of the dark continent. We may hold either opinion, but we false to the traditions of our race if we really conceive it possible that a British Cabinet headed by Lord Salisbury could be guilty of a war of simple conquest unprovoked and unjustified; but whichever the opinion we hold, we cannot but take an interest in the Chartered Company, and this justifies our making a summary of the proceedings at the general meeting of the company, held in London' in December last, the president of the company, the Duke of Abercorn, in the chair, We wish we had room to reprint the whole of the Chairman's opening speech. He began, of course, by rotorring to the war, He said: " We are responsible for the administration of a large section of British South Africa bordering on the Transvaal, and though happily our territories have hitherto been practically outside the scene of actual warfare, we cannot shut our eyes to the danger of the situation, nor be unmindful of its possible consequences. Nevertheless, we do not fear them. We have the assurance of HM' Government that Rhodesia is not forgotten. You will not wish me to say more, but you will be glad to learn that we have been fully alive to the possible danger, and have done our utmost to ensure that your interests shall be adequately safe-narded.... No serious incursion into Rhodesia has been effected. The Bechuanaland Protectorate has been given comparative immunity from Snvasion, and Mafeking, garrisoned, to a large extent, by forces raised in Buluwayo, is bravely holding out." No wonder this last sentence was received with cheers. It is neatly four months since that speech was delivered, and Mafeking is still bravely holding out. We are glad to know that it was rightly surmised that the despairing telegram sent not long ago from Mafeking did not convey a true report of the condition of the besieged, but was sent with the view of misleading the enemy.
The Duke of Abercorn went on io quote two congratulatory telegrams dispatched on the 12th and 20th of November to Colonel Nicholson, the Chartered Company's Commandant General, by Sir Alfred Milner. The Duke then' proceeded to eulogise the invaluable assistance given to the Imperial Government by Mr. Rhode two great companies, the De Bee and the British South Afric andj this naturally led him on to a perfervid eulogium of Mr. Rhodes, describing his unflinching courage, his disinterested devotion to duty, and his unselfish patriotism. This was, perhaps, a little bit overdone nor is it really wonderful that Mr. Rhodes "in the hour of difficulty and danger should have deliberately chosen to throw in his lot with his friends and fellow-countrymen at Kimberley, the birthplace of his life's ambitions and the cradle of his energies." The Chairman mentioned the prog that was being made with the railway lines from Buluwave, and the negotiations with Germany with reference to the Cape to Cairo telegraph line and the contruction of a railway from Rhodesia westward to the sea through German territory. He mentioned that the telegraph system has already been extended to the town bearing his name on Lake Tanganyika. He spoke most favourably of the work done throughout a country in which disaffection was lately wide-spread" by the Company's ive Commissioners, and mentioned that they were about to push forward the development of the territories north of the Zambesi. "Difficulties of transport in regions so remote from established centres of civilisation have hitherto retarded the of these territories, but the time is at hand when these difficulties will be overcome. The construction of the Tanganyika line will revolutionize resent conditions. The area of Northern Rhodesia is vast. Recent mineral indications have been promising, and I venture to prophesy that at no distant date it will be proved to posses a high commercial value." If this report were translated into the language, if they have one, of the natives of Northern Rhode: it would be interesting to hear their comments on it.
Mr. Wilson often says the Chartered Company is bankrupt; the Duke says that it had about £1,900,000 at its disposal December, and 625,000 unissued shares which would probably be taken up at £5cach. He went on to say that the state of the mining industry is most encouraging. It was true that erushing had not made the progress anticipated, "but we are nevertheless very far from dissatisfied with the present position of the! mining industry."
The reports of the company's resident and consulting engineers, "and the information which we have been in a position to obtain through other sources, have satisfied us as to the great mineral wealth of the country, and we have a firm belief in its inimense possibil The Duke wound up by insisting, and in this, as Reuter tells us, he is firmly supported by the Australian premiers, that there can be only one end to the present war. © The effects of the recent misgovernment. in the Transvaal have spread far beyond its borders, and even in Rhodesia have made their Danefal influence felt. Itis impossible y South African State to work a independent destiny. There is no room in South Africa for con-fioting national ideals. If peace is to established permanently throughout those vast regions, and if the lasting welfare of our South an possessions is to be secured, ing centre for disatiection can be permitted to remain, To ensure this there is one and only one way—the British flag must for ever hereafter fly from Capetown to the Zah (Land chee The Duke of Abercorn was follow-fed by Earl Cirey, who devoted his speech chiotly to points connected with the mining industry. He is obviously entirely possessed by the uri sera fumes. He has the most absolute confidence in the mineral wealth of Rhodesia, but an adequate supply of labour is required, and thi can only be obtained compulsory The system that recom mends is the imposition of an annual tax on all able-borhed nati who are unable to show a certificate of four months' work. nothing but a form of slavery, but the proposition was received with cheers. It is the more suspicious because Earl Grey went on to own that in a mine where the natives were properly treated and paid, and not permitted to be ill-treated by any white employee, they willingly remained at work' for years. It is to be hoped that the imperial authorities will not allow the Chartered Company to provide what is euphemistically called "the stimulus to labour" suggested by Earl Grey. Some formal' busi was then transacted, and after pas a_ vote of with Mr. Rhodes, and a vote Chairman, the meeting separated. Some amusement was caused by shareholder remarking, in support the vote of sympathy, that Mr, Rhode (shut up in Kimberley) was the right j man in the right place.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.