ECONOMICS OF EAST COAST FEVER. 225 



must be made impossible for any parties to break it at an)- point 

 at any time. As a matter of fact, in spite of precautions, cattle 

 were driven through at various times ; at any rate, the oppor- 

 tunities were reduced to a minimum, Init only by the ceaseless 

 activity of the S.A.M.R. 



Again, the enforcement of inoculation regulations threw 

 some strain upon the ])olice, as also did the establishment of the 

 dipping tanks. In the case of the last item the expense was 

 enormously and unexpectedly increased by certain occurrences 

 at -Matatiele, to which reference has already been made. 

 L'ossibly that expense will be found (^when the figures are pub- 

 lished) to exceed by far the total cost of the building of all the 

 tanks. But, be that as it may, we have said sufficient lo show 

 that the amounts involved form no inconsiderable item, and play 

 no small part in arriving at an estimate of the effect of the 

 East Coast Fever. 



I\'. Reconstruction. 



We have endeavoured, almost at too great length, to trace 

 out the effects of this disease from an economic standpoint. It 

 is, indeed, surprising to follow out the actions and interactions, 

 and to realise how f arreaching they are in their effects. One point 

 of considerable imj)ortance which has not yet been mentioned 

 is reserved for consideration at this stage of our enquiry, namely, 

 the eff'ect \\hicli lias been produced upon the supply of labour. 



The loss of all these cattle has meant that when the native 

 desired ready cash he had no cattle for sale in order to realise 

 the amount required. Consequently, he has been compelled 

 to go to work, a compulsion which has grown stronger Avith the 

 successive droughts of recent years, and the question of highest 

 economic interest in all that has happened is this : Will the East 

 Coast Fever be to the natives of South Africa what the Black 

 Death of 1352 was to the people of England? Will it release 

 labour for the agriculture, and the industries, of South Africa, 

 and will it afford new opportunities to the people? These ques- 

 tions no man can answer with certaint^^ The natives are a 

 peculiar people, and there is no saying what they will, or will 

 not, do. But to begin with, we must remember the radical 

 eff'ects of tlie cattle-killing of 1857 — how the distribution of the 

 people was completely altered. At this period they were living 

 between the Kei and Bashee rivers, but after 1857 'the survivors 

 lived, where they had fled in search of food and work, in the 

 Colony almost as far west as Port Elizabeth. This redistribu- 

 tion was accompanied by the loss of almost, if not all, their cattle, 

 together with the loss of all their other possessions. If any 

 revolution was to take place in their outlook and manner of life, 

 surely it would be after such a rude awakening. 



Again, in 1890, we had a succession of droughts which 



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