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Show AMERICAN INTERESTS IN SOUTH AFRICA, Now that the attention of the civilized civil-ized world is direc ted to the southern part of Africa and the war being waged there, it will interest our readers to iviiow to what extent America is personally per-sonally interested. Within the last few years American commercial interests - liavo a?'iumi eui'h great proportions in .Southern Africa that other nations are not only astounded, but fears are entertained that the future, not so far distant, will see the United States a controlling spirit In the young republic's repub-lic's commercial affairs. American energy en-ergy and enterprise, combined with an ability to undersell all other foreign firms represented in that country, have , enormously increased our export trade ! in South Africa. So successful has i been the efforts of American merchants to work the South African markets that the value of exports to that coun-lrv coun-lrv has several times been more than doubled in a year. Not more than five years ago America's Amer-ica's share in South African business was practically nil; today we hold second sec-ond place in the list of nations trading with that country. Great Britain having hav-ing precedence owing to the supremaey f her Hag over the greater part of South Africa. British merchants are keenly alive to this condition of affairs, af-fairs, and have made efforts' to check and keep down this tireless commercial i energy, which threatens to transfer the trade supremacy from .their hands to ours. American firms are constantly sending send-ing out agents to various parts of that country, soliciting orders, -competing in every possible way with other foreign for-eign firms, and in nearly all cases successfully. Heavy licenses are required re-quired of American commercial travelers. trav-elers. The tax in the Transvaal and Natal being less than the Orange Free State and Cape Colony in the former, amounting Jo ?4S.66. and In the latter to Slil.fjfi. For a tour through all the states, the American agent is taxed about $.ir0 in license fees. These conditions con-ditions are brought about by the laws of the country, which are generally un favorable to foreign commercial travelers. This, however, is no drawback to our 'hustling" countrvmen. One is surprised sur-prised to rind American machinery employed em-ployed in almost every one of the hundreds hun-dreds of gold mines on the Rand. This is chosen because of its great superiority super-iority over that of all other countries. Even the electric lights illuminating the mins bear trademarks and name-plates name-plates of New York, Philadelphia and Chicago firms. The great Kimberley diamond mines are operated exclusively by American machinery, it being not only less cost- Io, uui si-rtuv bupencr to the apparatus appar-atus of other countries in its results. These machines are, as a rule, instituted institut-ed and, in many ea.ses, run by American Ameri-can workmen. There are street electrical elec-trical railways in Cape Town, Port Klizabeth and Pretoria bearing marks of American manufacture on rails, wires and cars. These facts appear more marvelous when one realizes that less than fifty years ago this part of the country was under the dominion of savages. One of the first railroads in South Africa, leading from the Transvaal border to Lourenzo Marques, was built by an American, Mr. Mur-dock, Mur-dock, and American materials have been largely employed in the construction construc-tion of other roads. Recently American firms secured the contracts for 40.000 tons of steel rails for the Cape Colony railway system. Agricultural implements also find a II large pale in South Africa, ours being more acceptable to the soil and cheaper. In the farming lands the traveler mav find plows,- hoes, forks, rakes, spades and reapers bearing the" imprint: "Made in the United States." Many other articles of American export ex-port find their "way' "into the South African states which might be cultivated-there if. the South Africans took advantage of the excellent opportunities opportuni-ties off ered by the soil and nature, such as flour, corn, butter, potatoes, canned meats and vegetables. Large numbers of American livestock have been Imported Im-ported by the farmers o9 Cape Town, and Cecil - Rhodes, the great' explorer, has recently stocked his immense Rho-desian Rho-desian farm with American cattle, horses, etc. In return, the imports from South Africa to this country are of far less value than the exports, for the reason that the country produces but rew articles which are not consumed where they originate. America is the best market in the world for diamonds, one-fourth one-fourth of the annual output or the Kimberley mines finding Its way to the United States. Other articles of Importation are hides, tallow, aloes and ostrich feathers. feath-ers. One of the alternate life governors govern-ors of the De Beer's Consolidated Diamond Dia-mond mines at Kimberley is Mr. Gardner Gard-ner F. Williams, a native of Michigan. By the application of American ideas and experience gained in the mining districts" of California and other western west-ern states, Mr. Williams has succeeded in making of the mines a property yielding, an annual profit of 510,000,000 on a nominal capital of $20,000,000. Mr. Williams receives a salary of $100,000. He also holds the office of American consular agent at Kimberley, an office, however, to which little or no salary is attached. In numbers the Americans in South Africa are comparatively few, only about 10,000, but their service in the development de-velopment of the land has been invaluable. invalu-able. From them the farmers have been taught to farm, the miners to dig gold, and the statesmen to govern. Their work has been a credit to their country, and their patriotism is shown on every public occasion by the dis-play dis-play of the stars and stripes. They have taken no part in the recent political politi-cal disturbances of the Transvaal though perhaps their sympathies lie with the native Boers, believinc as they do, that the citizens of a republic should be allowed to conduct its government gov-ernment according to their own idea of right and justice, independently of the demands of those ho are not citizens, citi-zens, and having none but a commercial commer-cial interest in the welfare of an infant republic. |