Part 17

The Canadian Pacific Railway, with 7588 miles open, makes a net profit of £2,620,000 on a capital of £53,000,000 as against South Africa, with 5000 miles open, and net profits of over £5,000,000 on a similar capital. The Canadian Pacific Railway makes a net profit of £371 per mile against a net profit of Natal railways of £803 per mile, and an approximate net profit of £1800 per mile of the Central South African railways (Transvaal and Orange River Colony railways). New Zealand railway returns for 1902 show net earning of £280 per mile. The through rate for ordinary goods from Durban to Johannesburg is just over 3-3/4d. per ton per mile. The rate for ordinary goods on the Central South African railways (Transvaal railways) for fifteen miles is 9d. per ton per mile; for fifty miles, 6-2/3d. per ton per mile; for longer distances, approximately 6d. per ton per mile. The average rate for goods on the Canadian Pacific Railway is only one-third of a penny per ton per mile. Were this rate charged on a ton of goods brought from Durban--the nearest colonial port--to Johannesburg, the cost would be only 13s. 6d. as against £7, 13s. 4d., the present cost; that is, the South African through rate is ten times as much as the average rate in Canada; and the Transvaal rate for ordinary local traffic of 6d. to 9d. per ton per mile is twenty times higher than the average Canadian rate. The Canadian Pacific Railway is selected for comparison, because it is a railway built to develop new and sparsely-populated territory, its special work being essentially the same as that required of the railways of South Africa. The Canadian Pacific Railway has doubled its earnings since 1895. If its policy were copied in South Africa, where the whole industrial life of the country depends on railways, enormous developments could be looked for. In South Africa it is fully realised that, until the burden of excessive railway rates is got rid of, the costs of living must prohibit any great growth of population, and without growth of population the development of the natural resources of the country can only make the slowest of progress. The people are quite willing to provide the Government with revenue, but they wish to provide it by different methods than those which obtained in the past.

Owing to exorbitant fares the people of Johannesburg are practically confined within the limits of the town and its immediate suburbs. They are compelled to pay high rents. £250 to £300 a year represents the present rent for an ordinary cottage. The passenger fares on the London and North-Western are from a 1-1/2d. to 1-3/4d. per mile first, 1-1/4d. second, and fractionally under a 1d. third. A great reduction is made on season tickets. Transvaal railway fares average 3d. per mile first, 2-1/2d. second, and 1-1/2d. third, and only a small reduction is made for season tickets. With high rents and high prices for food, rendered dear by cost of carriage, the workers, in order to live, must obtain high wages. High wages mean high-working costs for all industrial enterprises. Consequently only a few industries, and only the richer mines, can be worked at a profit. Ordinary industries which can carry only moderate working costs cannot be undertaken.

Judging from the results of the past six years sweeping reductions are quite possible while still allowing for a paying railway revenue. Mr. Cooper-Key has shown, that the excess profits made by the Transvaal railways alone, after providing for reasonable interest on capital at the rate of 4-3/4 per cent., were:--

For 1896 £1,162,925. " 1897 1,111,964. " 1898 928,623.

For the present year the excess profits on Transvaal railways, over a 4 per cent. interest on capital, will probably amount to not far short of £1,500,000.

As might be expected after a consideration of the profits and earning capacity of South African railways, important extensions of the previous system are projected and in progress.

In the Cape Colony there is a project to connect Saldanha Bay, the proposed new port, with the main line _viâ_ Hopefield. A southern line _viâ_ Oudtshoorn and Willowmore will bring Cape Town in closer contact with Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth, and open up the southern districts of Cape Colony. Another line will join the Port Elizabeth midland line with the eastern system at King Williamstown.

In the Orange River Colony the projected lines are from Springfontein to Koffyfontein; from Bloemfontein to Ladybrand and Ficksburg; from Harrismith to Heilbron or Vereeniging. The line from Bloemfontein to Ladybrand is already partly built. It will open up the wheat-growing section of the Orange River Colony.

In the Transvaal the most important projected lines are: A line from Fourteen Streams to Klerksdorp, providing an alternative route from the Cape Ports to the Rand. A line from Krugersdorp to Rustenburg and thence probably to Zeerust and Mafeking, opening up a valuable agricultural country. A line from Springs to Machadodorp or Ermelo, through the best coal and iron districts of the Transvaal, and providing an alternative route from Delagoa Bay to the Rand. This line would greatly relieve the congestion which exists after the high veldt is gained on the present eastern line, owing to the coal traffic and the over-sea imports having to be carried over a single line of railway. A line from Pietersburg to Leydsdorp and thence probably connecting with the Selati railway at its present terminus. There is a private company formed to build a line from Machadodorp to Ermelo, and the Government is constructing a coal line for the mines along the south of the Rand, and another alternative line from Johannesburg to Vereeniging.

In Natal it is a question of doubling the present main line or of constructing another single line of railway from Greytown to the Transvaal. The first plan would be cheaper, and would give more immediate help to Natal in the competition for Transvaal traffic, while the alternative Greytown route would open up new country to railway influence, and materially add to the prosperity of the agricultural population of that section of the colony. Natal is also about to construct a line from Maritzburg to Riverside on the Cape-Natal frontier. The Cape being under promise to connect this point with their eastern system, and thus provide direct railway communication with Durban and Cape Town.

In Rhodesia the line connecting Bulawayo and Salisbury is approaching completion.[13] It is possible that Gwelo, a town on the railway, will be the junction or next starting-point of the "Cape to Cairo" railway, or it may be that the route by another new line from Bulawayo to the Wankie coalfields near the Zambesi may be chosen instead. A line is in course of construction from Bulawayo to the Gwanda goldfields, and a line is proposed from Salisbury north to Lo Maghonda. Altogether over 2000 miles of new railway are projected in South Africa. In the Transvaal the new lines proposed will have a length of over 800 miles, and at least 500 miles may be considered as lines whose construction is a matter of urgent necessity.

This forecast of railway development in the immediate future in South Africa means the raising and spending of another £16,000,000, £8000 per mile being about the lowest figure that can be reckoned on to build the lines and provide rolling stock. Transvaal expenditure for new railways may be estimated for the period of the next three years at not less than £6,000,000. When built, however, these railways will be sound properties, thoroughly sure as to their dividend or interest-earning capacity. Lord Milner referred in a recent speech to what he called the governmental plant which he said was required before private enterprise could get to work on making the country productive. Chief among the governmental plant so referred to are railways, but alongside of the recognition of the necessity of railways it is to be hoped that governmental recognition will also be given to the fact that to be of real use the railways must be run at cheap rates, otherwise the looked-for benefit will never come.

As regards over-sea traffic, it is hoped that rates may be brought down by encouraging competition between the various railways from the coast, and the Transvaal Government has a powerful lever in its eastern line. The distance from Delagoa Bay to the Rand is only 395 miles, of which only 56 belong to the Portuguese.[14] From Durban the distance is 483 miles; from Port Elizabeth, 785 miles, and from Cape Town, 1000 miles. The Transvaal Government has the whip in hand, and it is hoped that it will use it so that all South Africa will be brought into line on the question of moderate freight and passenger rates. At present goods are pouring into the Transvaal at the rate of 21,000 tons per week, and in addition there are 8000 tons being brought up weekly for the military, but if rates are not lowered, this great railway activity will prove only transient, because it is certain that at present the internal industries are making no progress, and consequently trade must fall off.

In conclusion, a word may be said of the important part played by South African railways in the late war. A German strategist predicted that with the existing railway systems of South Africa it would be impossible to feed an army of 250,000 men in the interior of the country. Yet it was actually done, and not for a brief period only, but for nearly three years. Besides bringing the food-stuff for this host, and for the civil population besides, the railways transported guns, ammunition, horses and men up and down, back and forward as the commander-in-chief required. The magnitude of this work can be imagined when it is stated that no less than 126 trains were required for the final concentration against Delarey at Klerksdorp. The working of the railways during the war reflects the greatest credit on the managers and employées of all South African railways. It was impossible to tell when a train would run through a band of snipers, one or more of its occupants paying the penalty of death, or when the engine might be hoisted by a hidden charge of dynamite, and the machine and its drivers turned to wreckage. During the war the railway service required qualities of endurance and courage equal to those possessed by the bravest soldier in the field.

SOUTH AFRICAN INDUSTRIES

At present South African industries (outside of agriculture and pastoral pursuits) may be said to consist of mining and railways. The railways, in spite of heavy rates, have made a great mining industry possible. What could they do in respect of other and ordinary industries? It is a question of rates. Given recognition of the principle that railways should be the most essential part of the governmental plant spoken of by Lord Milner--plainly to be used for developing the country, and not for the use of extracting revenue to which it is at present put, not gold-mining alone, but a hundred industries would presently flourish. On the Rand there are already great engineering works contending against many difficulties, and especially the cost of labour. These works execute repairs for the mines, make castings, and even manufacture new machinery. A great future industry, which for the present is impossible on account of want of railway facilities, is the exploitation of the rich iron ores of the Transvaal. It is stated that a syndicate with large capital has been formed to undertake this work on a large scale when the conditions are favourable, and within the next few years it is probable that the Middelburg district will have smelting furnaces, foundries, rolling mills, and all the varied works of a young iron and steel industry which may eventually take a leading place in the world. Mr. Carnegie recently stated that the iron ores of Britain will be exhausted in twenty-five years, and those of the United States in sixty years. The extensive deposits of the Transvaal should last for centuries.

Another possible future industry is the distillation of oil from the shales of the Eastern Transvaal and the Orange River Colony. These deposits are at present being tested, and give promise of payability. Throughout South Africa there are many flour mills. The chief works being at Port Elizabeth and Cape Town and in the wheat district of the Orange River Colony. Other industries which have found a footing, and are now making steady progress, are leather-making, boot and harness making, wool-washing, jam-making, candle-making, waggon and cart building from colonial woods. All these industries are carried on chiefly in the Cape Colony and Natal. In the Transvaal there are pottery works, a cement factory, many breweries, and one distillery. In the Cape and Natal there are also several large breweries. One great industry which has arisen, owing to the mining wealth of the country, is the manufacture of explosives. There is a large dynamite factory at Cape Town owned by the De Beers Company, and another--the largest explosive factory in the world--at Modderfontein near Johannesburg. The Modderfontein factory cost upwards of three-quarters of a million to build. The works are spread over a large area, the property comprising 5280 acres. This factory was owned by a company with German, English, and French interests, formed to work the dynamite monopoly for the Transvaal Government. The high prices it charged, and the huge profits it made, being additional direct burdens on the already overloaded mining industry, were the causes of great discontent. Since the war the monopoly has been abolished. The company is now practically a British company, and its policy appears to be to meet its customers, and gain their goodwill. Prices have been reduced by 30s. a case The prices now being: blasting gelatine, 67s. 6d.; gelignite, 50s.; and dynamite, 50s. a case, as against 97s. 6d., 87s. 6d., and 77s. 6d. respectively before the war. These prices are fair, and it is stated are just sufficient to give a margin of profit. At present in the Transvaal it is a question of allowing free competition in explosives, or of just granting sufficient protection to the existing factory to enable it to live. As the factory finds employment for nearly 3000 hands, white and black, it would certainly be a national loss if it had to shut down.

In the nature of things in South Africa all classes of industrial undertakings are difficult to establish, and probably a moderate protective tariff would be beneficial to the country in the long run, as in the initial stages it would serve to turn the balance between profit and loss. Every industry successfully established adds to the white population, and is therefore to be welcomed. A policy of moderate protection then for industries, which could be fed by the natural resources of the country itself, should be carefully considered by the Government. Such a policy, together with a thorough cutting down of the present industry-killing railway rates, would go a long way to make a speedy beginning in South Africa of the great industrial activity which is sure to come eventually.

FOOTNOTES:

[13] The British South African Company has decided to expend £2,000,000 on railways in Rhodesia--£1,000,000 to be expended immediately for work to be completed by the end of next year, and a like sum, towards the end of 1903, will probably be sanctioned for the purpose of carrying the Cape to Cairo line north of the Zambesi to the bend of the Kafue, a distance of 300 miles. When the proposed work is carried out Rhodesia will have over 2500 miles of railway.--ED.

[14] It is interesting to note that Portugal has strengthened her position in Africa by granting to Mr. Robert Williams a concession for a railway from Lobito Bay, near Benguella (in Portuguese West Africa), to the eastern frontier of the Colony. Lobito Bay is four days' journey nearer to England than the Cape, and it is described as having one of the finest harbours in the world, and accommodation for larger vessels than Delagoa Bay.--ED.

HEALTH RESORTS OF SOUTH AFRICA

BY ERNEST GRAHAM LITTLE

_B.A., formerly Porter Scholar, of the Cape University; M.D. University of London; Member of the Royal College of Physicians; Physician, with charge of the Skin Department, at St. Mary's Hospital; Senior Assistant Physician to the East London Hospital for Children and Dispensary for Women, Shadwell; late House Physician at St. George's Hospital and at the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest_

In these days, when the physical methods of treating disease are so largely supplementing, and even supplanting, the methods of what may be termed chemical therapeutics, the question of suitable health resorts is one which must engage the attention of every medical man who is anxious to do his best for his patient. The opening up of South Africa by the success of British arms will be followed shortly, it is to be hoped, by a vigorous development of the country through colonisation and the investment of capital. Thus will be afforded a new and more extended field for the employment of the natural therapeutics of climate, soil, and environment, by which to combat the advance of many insidious diseases. We English people are too prone to bend the knee to foreign Baals, who but mock us as we worship. It should be an additional pleasure to every enlightened Imperialist to think that within the borders of our own empire, in lands peopled by those who speak our own kindly mother-tongue, we may find physical conditions in every way superior to those of foreign health-resorts, which have hitherto waxed fat and become insolent in their fancied monopoly. I write with the hope that many who are ignorant of these superior advantages possessed by South Africa may be guided by these pages to make their choice of a recreation-ground more intelligently, and consequently with better results, than is at present usually the case. It is true that at the moment invalids should be dissuaded from going to South Africa while the difficulties exist of transport and maintenance of so large and so sudden an increase of population. Supposing that our railway companies had not been able to run any extra trains for the last Coronation procession in London, we should have had a picture of congestion and discomfort not unlike what is happening in South Africa at the present time. But these difficulties are but of the moment and are passing hourly. When once things have settled down a little, normal methods will prevail; and it may confidently be predicted that travelling in South Africa will become increasingly comfortable and easy as the flow of population and wealth create a demand for increased facilities. Already far nearer approximation to our standards of comfort has been made than is dreamt of by stay-at-home Englishmen. The ox-waggon is not now the usual means of covering the distance between Wynberg and Kimberley, as was apparently thought by a medical lecturer not many years ago, since he gravely advised his audience to adopt that method of transit. We have only within the last few months seen in London electric trams as good as those that have been running for some years from Cape Town to Sea Point.

The voyage to South Africa is one of the pleasantest and most healthful in the world. It is in itself a powerful factor in the restoration of mind and body. There are two routes by which one can travel, the East and the West Coast routes. The East Coast route, by which Mr. Chamberlain travelled, is of recent development, and the principal steamers running on it are German (the German East Africa Company). Passengers may join the boat at Hamburg, Antwerp, Marseilles, or Naples, and the voyage is broken at Port Said, Suez, Aden, Zanzibar, Delagoa, and is terminated at Durban. It is thus an interesting itinerary, and for those who fear sea-sickness may be recommended, as the vessel is never longer than five days continuously at sea. The pleasantest months in which to travel by this route are February, March, and April. At other times it is apt to be oppressively hot. The personnel of the fleet is very obliging and anxious to promote the comfort of passengers, but the German cooking is not to the taste of all English palates. The steamers carry a German medical officer. The time occupied is about six weeks, and the fares are from £48 for first-class, from £33 for second, and from £21 for third. The West Coast service is at present practically a monopoly of the Union-Castle Company, formed by the amalgamation of the Union and Castle lines, which formerly competed for the passenger traffic. The time occupied by this service, which carries the royal mails, is much shorter, being usually about sixteen days. The fares range from 35 guineas for first, from 23 guineas for second, and from 10 guineas for third class. The voyage is exceedingly pleasant at any time of the year, and but little rough weather is met with, the worst part of the buffeting being often in the English Channel and Bay of Biscay. After leaving Madeira, which is about four days out from England, the sea is usually smooth and the weather gloriously fine. The feeding and accommodation on these steamers are comparable with those of a European first-class hotel, and all of them carry a well-qualified medical man. Latterly, some competition with these lines has been introduced, and is to be welcomed. Messrs. Bucknall Brothers, Messrs. Rennie, the White Star Company, the German East Africa line, the Shaw-Savill Company, and others are now running frequent steamers to the Cape and Natal, and their fares are lower than those of the Union-Castle line, and the comfort and speed are not much less than obtain with this service. Where, however, time and not money is the important consideration, the Union-Castle steamers must be preferred. These steamers start from London and Southampton, and call at Madeira, Teneriffe, Grand Canary, and St. Helena (not more than two of these places on each voyage). The steamers remain three or four days at Cape Town, and proceed up the east coast, calling at Port Elizabeth, East London, and finally Durban, which is the end of the voyage.