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DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



and courteous treatment which I have received during my stay among you. 

 I assure you that I have found it most interesting as well as instructive. I 

 would like to express on behalf of my fellow Ottomans a sincere apprecia- 

 tion of your kindness in inviting us to take part with you in learning bet- 

 ter ways to the pursuits of peace and happiness. 



We hope that your noble efforts may enjoy every measure of success 

 and prosperity. 



MR. MANTLE: 



Now, we are making very good progress so far, and there is nothing 

 I detest more than having to call time on one good speaker after another, 

 and feel that you also are being deprived of exceedingly interesting and 

 valuable information I am sure that from what we have heard from the 

 Turkish representative, we shall all wish our Turkish friend and those 

 who are associated with him in getting the people of his country interested 

 and giving them a knowledge of dry-land farming of this country God-speed 

 in developing the agriculture of the Turkish Empire. Another privilege we 

 have this evening is that of listening to the representative of the youngest 

 portion of the British Empire, at least the youngest part to be organized 

 politically, and that is the nation of British South Africa, and the nation is 

 represented tonight by Mr. Frank E. Geldenhuyc. 



British South Africa 



MR. GELDENHUYC: 



I suspect you must be feeling by this time about as I felt on Monday 

 morning when I came here and heard all the different states represented, 

 and tonight when you are hearing all about the different countries on the 

 globe, I expect you will say the same as the man who visited the menagerie 

 to see all the different kinds of animals, that he realized now how many 

 animals there were, but he could not realize where Adam got all the names 

 for the animals. 



After hearing so many facts, I feel like a big sponge — all the informa- 

 tion teems to be running in one ear and out the other. I heard a couple 

 of farmers talking the other day. One of them asked: "Do you suppose 

 when we get back to the farm, that all the information we have heard will 

 come back to us?" That is one consolation anyway. 



The chairman has just said that we are the youngest British posses- 

 sion, and you possibly saw in the papers this morning that that particular 

 possession had revolted, so I do not know how much longer it will be a 

 British subject. I do not believe it is very serious, however. You all pos- 

 sibly remember the Boer war, and these are the men who are trying to 

 suppress this revolution, and I assure you they have the bulk of sympathy 

 on their side, and I feel they are right because whatever England might 

 have done in taking South Africa, I think England has certainly treated us 

 in the most manly way that any nation has treated any subordinate nation, 

 and I think we owe England a duty. I would rather be under English con- 

 trol than under Germany. 



Although South Africa was discovered about the same time as North 



