Science in Public Affairs 



estimate. It is true that, owing to the consumption 

 of water being less than had been anticipated, the 

 State has to contribute from its general funds 

 towards the interest on the loan. On the other 

 hand, the mines are computed to have saved in 

 the first year .360,000 upon the cost of the water 

 that they consumed, while the inhabitants of the 

 gold-fields, who had previously suffered from out- 

 breaks of typhoid fever, now enjoy a regular supply 

 of pure water. 



As the crown colonies have still to be con- 

 sidered, but little space can be spared for South 

 Africa. There are, however, many recent books 

 which direct attention to what is being done, and 

 to what should be done. Mr. Willcocks 1 has dis- 

 cussed the whole subject of irrigation in a masterly 

 report. Mr. G. ]. Hutchinson 2 has written upon 

 agriculture in Rhodesia ; Mr. Owen Thomas 3 upon 

 the general prospects of agriculture in South Africa. 

 Moreover, the chief industry of the sub-continent, 

 the extraction of gold in the Transvaal, must be 

 passed over because it involves, in the question 

 of Chinese Labour, a controversial element which 

 should not find a place in these pages. But, since 

 it is based upon the supply of labour available in 

 South Africa, the industrial organisation at Kim- 

 berley may be mentioned ; and it is worthy of 

 commendation from the scientific point of view, 

 because the De Beers Company represents the 



1 Report on Irrigation in South Africa. 



2 " From the Cape to the Zambesi." 



3 " Agricultural and Pastoral Prospects of South Africa." 



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