Page:The empire and the century.djvu/603

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560
COLONIZATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

But though this Imperial aspect of land settlement, often somewhat overlooked, should form the foundation of all colonization schemes, nations are made up of individuals; the good of the whole includes the good of the units, and a building does not consist of foundations. Therefore the whole subject is one which requires the closest attention to every detail, both in respect of the selection and training of proposed colonists, in the preparation of the new home, and the consideration of those particular social and industrial conditions which differentiate one locality from another.

Thus, for example, the land settlement of South Africa cannot proceed on precisely the same lines as those laid down for Westralia, though perhaps superficially there may be resemblances between the two countries. Recent history has brought South Africa very vividly before the eyes of English people, and it might, therefore, very well seem as though, of all parts of the Empire, the sub-continent would, now that peace is re-established, be the particular spot towards which colonization should naturally flow. This supposition is the more natural in that, for political reasons, British population is peculiarly to be desired. The land settlement of South Africa may therefore be said at the present time to interest all Britons perhaps more than any other individual Imperial scheme. Let us see, then, what are the conditions.

It is, of course, true that, roughly speaking, the general features of South African colonization resemble each other in all the five States of which that area is composed, but it is none the less a fact that, when it comes to practice, each Colony must be taken separately.

Natal.

The Garden Colony covers some 36,000 square miles, and, as its title implies, includes much rich and well-watered territory, and a delightful climate. The fertility of the soil, in comparison with the bulk of the neigh-