A.\ IKKK.AUOX SKTTr,l''.MI-:.\T. 3.^3 



carried \)\ wire on pillars acri)ss the ( )raii_<,a' River to the 

 southern side, where the chief ])uildings. shops, etc.. are situated. 

 -A transformer house was ])uilt to reduce the high tension cur- 

 rent, and the ])0\ver is ajjplied to drive the machinery of the 

 flour mill, closely situated to it. This mill has this year ground 

 some S.ooo muids of wheat. Tt uses, however, only 25 horse- 

 power, leaving some 50 to 75 horse-power available for indus- 

 trial purposes. The times have, however, for the last three 

 years, been so unfavourable for raising cheap capital, that nothing 

 has been done in starting the leather industry, as projected. It 

 is hoped that at an early date there will be an Industrial School 

 also for girls. 



The total ca])italisation oi the sclienie stands to-dav at 

 £ 1 40.000. 



£ 



Canals 86.000 



Buildings, schools, etc 8,608 



Turbine and Hydro-I^lectric Flour Mill 13,280 



Ostriches 1.800 



Paarden Island develo|)nient 10,000 



Shop and Ca])ital 15.000 



Pontoons and Threshing Machines 3,600 



Advances 2.600 



The Poor IJ'hifcs. — When the scheme was first started 

 certain regulations were drawn up. already mentioned, and I look 

 upon these as the chief reason for the success of the undertaking 

 as far as it has gone. 



One fundamental regulation, already referred to. was that 

 only those who were willing to work for 3s. a day at the con- 

 struction of the canal would receive consideration when the land 

 was allotted. As a result, the canal on the south side of the 

 river was the work of white men. And it was well done, 

 n(jtwithstanding that the men — most of them, were quite un- 

 accustomed to such labour. The problem of poor whitism is. to 

 my mind, quite capable of solution! if the right methods are 

 adopted. It is entirely a matter of training: the environment in 

 W'hich these people grow up is the one thing that militates against 

 an easy solution. Our idea was to gather them together, bring 

 them under the immediate influence of the church and the school, 

 and awaken in them a sense of their possibilities. I had had 

 seven years' experience of the Knysna woodcutter, and found 

 him easily receptive to the influence of the schoolmaster. What 

 we have to guard against is the dropping of these people into 

 the ranks of the criminal class. We have much for them to 

 do. given the op]K)rtunity. It has been said that we have not 

 done much to make this country self-supporting and indepen- 

 dent. Why not marshal the great army of people that crowd 

 into the town.s — some, alas, to become illicit liciuor touts — into an 

 armv of industrial workers? .\nd this will be all the more 

 feasible if we can combine a settlement on the land with indus- 



