South-West Africa

by William Eveleigh

FOOTNOTES:

[18] Of the 1913 production only 1,284,727 carats were sold.

Chapter XI
THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY

After a visit paid to South Africa in 1895, Mr. (now Viscount) Bryce published a volume of “Impressions,” in which he made the following reference to South-West Africa: “Great Namaqualand and Damaraland constitute an enormous wilderness, very thinly peopled, because the means of life are very scanty ... the country taken all in all, and excepting the little explored districts to the north-east, towards the Upper Zambesi—districts whose resources are still very imperfectly known—is a dreary and desolate region, which seems likely to prove of little value.”[19]

That this was the prevailing opinion of the country for many years there can be no doubt to the student of South African history, but with the development of the territory by the Germans opinion has undergone a radical change, and it is now recognised that South-West Africa is a valuable mineral and agricultural country.

What is the future of the country to be under British rule? Herr Dernburg had no doubt what it would be under German rule. He regarded it as the most promising of the German overseas possessions, and saw in it a “potential Argentina or Canada,” and anticipated the day when the “tide of immigration will turn thither from the channels which in the past depleted the home country, without helping towards the consolidation of a new Germany abroad,” and he points to the day when “3,000,000 cattle and 10,000,000 sheep will pasture upon its vast inland prairies.” But according to his critics Herr Dernburg was a colonial enthusiast who “juggled with millions and balanced himself with percentages.” One has more than a suspicion that he was in the habit of holding out to his countrymen brilliant pictures of a prosperous colonial empire in the effort to keep warm the colonial breast. His favourite story is “of a box of dates that was lost several years ago on the way, and now offers to the sight of the wandering traveller date palms 10 feet high bearing fruit.”

Dr. Karl Peters, on the other hand, roundly affirms that South-West Africa “does not equal the poorest part of South Africa.” But while Herr Dernburg is probably guilty of over-adulation, Dr. Karl Peters is certainly at the opposite extreme of undue depreciation. South-West Africa is not a land of milk and honey; and there is no immediate prospect that it will become a Canada or a second edition of the Rand. The many German Commissioners who have carefully investigated the natural conditions of the colony have held out no brilliant hopes of a colonial Atlanta; they have simply described a possible land of settlement in which some thousands of white settlers may live in health and comparative prosperity, and this is an eminently reasonable view of the country.

The three great natural sources of wealth in the country are: minerals, pasture land, and agricultural land.

The mineral wealth is the most considerable source of prosperity, and is likely to exercise a most important influence on the immediate future of the colony. The diamond fields will not be exhausted, perhaps, for another twenty years; and should there be a considerable restriction of the output on resuming operations, as is likely, the fields may be a source of wealth for a much longer period. Development work in the existing copper mines has greatly improved the prospects of the mining companies, since the continuity of the ore to greater depths has been definitely proved. It has also been ascertained that the copper ores in the Otavi Valley belong to the same formation as the rich Tsumeb occurrence, and there is reason to hope that the Otavi Valley mines will prove payable to greater depths and that fresh mines may be opened up between the Otavi Valley and Tsumeb. The Khan mine, which is now connected to the Otavi railway by a branch line, has lately been equipped with up-to-date machinery, including a powerful concentration plant, and this mine is certain to be a factor of importance in the industry. Other discoveries go to show that for many years to come South-West Africa will export copper in large quantities.

“The copper-bearing ‘quartz mica diorite’ of O’okiep (Little Namaqualand) has not yet been discovered,” says Dr. Versfeld, who has made a close study of the geology of Southern Namaqualand, “but the possibilities are very much in favour of this rock being found.”

Increase in the tin and marble production may be anticipated, while the galena and wolfram deposits in the area of the South African Territories Company, and the iron ore deposits in Kaokoland, still await development. Mica will probably be a payable proposition in Southern Namaqualand before long. Hopes are entertained by prospectors that gold will be found in payable quantities, but a dearth of capital and official restrictions have prevented the thorough investigation of many promising deposits. Dr. Versfeld is of the opinion that it is not likely that gold will be found in the primary formation in Great Namaqualand, as he had examined numerous quartz reefs and conglomerates and found them particularly poor in that metal, but, he writes, “there is every possibility of valuable deposits of minerals being discovered, particularly in the Great and Little Karas Mountains, which are the contact zones between intrusive plutonic and volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks.”[20] The possibility of finding coal, however, seems to grow more remote, though the formation of the country is analogous to that of the Cape Province.

The concessions system does not seem to have been the success it was anticipated to be, since of the eight companies with an original total capital of about £4,300,000, six companies appear to have spent about £400,000, half of which represented a loss from which no benefit accrued to the colony. With an efficient and sympathetic administration capital should be attracted to the country; a rich mineral treasure house may then be unlocked. There are vast areas in Ovamboland which have not even been prospected in the most cursory fashion.

Dr. Paul Rohrbach, the Imperial Emigration Commissioner, in “Die Deutschen Kolonien” (1914), expects much from the mineral wealth of the country. With only the diamond fields and the copper mines of Otavi and Tsumeb in operation, he finds the prospect distinctly encouraging, and in the likely event of other large deposits of valuable minerals being discovered, he anticipates that a strong development would set in. Even if no extraordinary discoveries are made he is convinced that the total value of the imports will be easily doubled in the course of the next decade.

Herr Grotefeld, in “Unser Kolonialwesen,” describes the trackless wildernesses of sand in the coastal regions, and the desolate nature of some parts of the country, but he states that the colony will be able to support a large mining population, and he admits that the mountains are “rich mineral treasure houses.”

As a stock-raising country South-West Africa has great possibilities. Dr. Rohrbach writes: “In spite of the varied nature of the land, from the Orange River in the south to the Kunene in the north, and from the Namib in the west to the Kalahari in the east, its vegetation and conformation are those of a sub-tropical steppe and grazing country, which is marked out by Nature herself for cattle raising.” Herr Hermann, in “Viehzucht und Bodenkultur in Deutsch Süd-West Africa” (1914), confirms this estimate, and states that “the whole country is open to cattle breeders. Every blade of grass, every leaf, every shoot possesses unusual nourishing properties. This is proved by the fat, good condition and strength of cattle, mules, horses, etc., fed on this dry but extraordinarily nourishing fodder, even after a ten months’ drought. One district is best for cattle breeding, another for small stock, and yet another for horse raising, but cattle can be bred everywhere, and even the most desolate, desert-like districts can be turned to account by grazing the cattle over a large area.”

After thorough examination of the territory Dr. Rohrbach estimated that the grazing land was equal in area to that of the German Empire in Europe, and capable of carrying 3,000,000 head of cattle and 2,000,000 sheep and goats.

But although large areas may be suitable for live stock it must be remembered that this does not by any means imply a large population. The pasturage is thin, droughts are frequent, and small farms are practically useless. A farm capable of giving any adequate return should be at least 20,000 acres in extent. Two or three white men on such a farm would be quite able to attend to the stock with the help of a few natives. South-West Africa is not a country for close settlement, and the efforts made to start settlers near the towns with small farms have not been attended with much success. An inquiring would-be colonist was told by the emigration department of the German Colonial Society that “in South-West Africa, which is chiefly suited for cattle breeding, at least £1,000 or £1,250 has hitherto been regarded as necessary.” It may be urged that Boer settlers with considerably less than £1,000 have found it profitable to take up farming in the country, but none the less the small farmer is not likely to find much success in the colony. When “carefully developed,” Dr. Rohrbach estimates that the country will be able to maintain a population of several hundred thousand European settlers, but in making this estimate Dr. Rohrbach would appear to be slightly infected with the rosy optimism of Herr Dernburg.

The Karakul fur industry is likely to prove an asset of increasing value. Karakul sheep, which supply the “Persian” lamb fur, or the curly black Karakul, were first imported into the country from Bokhara in 1907, and they have been bred on a Government farm near Windhoek with most satisfactory results.

The Karakul has been crossed with the Afrikander, and many thousands of the half-bred animals are now in existence. On the heights of Damaraland and Namaqualand the Karakuls find most congenial climatic conditions, and they seem to thrive on the pasturage of the country. Sample skins sent to Europe have sold for as much as £2; but it is stated that the industry can be carried on at a profit if the skins realise from 10s. to 15s. each. The mutton of these animals is of a superior kind.

It may be predicted with safety that frozen meat will be one of the chief exports in the coming years. Walvis Bay is comparatively near to Europe, and with a direct steamship service to British ports, it will be possible to establish a lucrative industry in slaughtered cattle and sheep. Germany was hoping to profit considerably by the development of the pastoral lands of the territory, but the stream will now be diverted to Great Britain and the Union of South Africa.

The third source of wealth is the agricultural lands. As already stated, there are only 13,000 acres under cultivation, and this fact is explained by the dryness of the climate. The rainfall is too scanty, and the soil of too sandy a nature, to permit of extensive cultivation without artificial aids. Much might be done by the introduction of improved methods of farming and by means of irrigation, since the soil is amazingly fertile. Dr. Rohrbach maintains that the land is much better and more fertile than most parts of Cape Colony.

The rich silt lands of the Kuisip River, and the alluvial loams of the Kuisip Valley, for instance, wait for exploitation by the man who will tap the underground stores of water and send them out over the fertile tracts. A good start has been made in this connection by some of the farmers in the northern districts, and further developments may be anticipated.

It is significant that owing to drought the crops of 1913 were a total failure, with the exception—and the exception is important—of those under irrigation. There should be no great difficulty in the way of developing the water supply, since the country seems to have a good supply of underground water. Even in the Kalahari nine artesian wells were struck last year by boring in the valley of the Auob River. Fresh boreholes have developed an ample supply for the town of Windhoek, with more than sufficient to meet the need for an underground drainage system. The two perennial streams of the country—the Kunene and the Orange—are of little economic value, since the channels are too deep to serve the purposes of extensive irrigation. According to the report made in 1913 of the irrigation possibilities along the banks of the Orange, by Mr. A. D. Lewis, the Government engineer, the irrigable patches found here and there on the northern bank are less than 3,000 morgen; there are about 4,000 morgen on the south bank. Until wells are dug, dams made, large irrigation works executed, and markets for produce opened up, agriculture will play only a subordinate part in South-West African industry, and the energies of the whites will be devoted to the exploitation of the mineral wealth and the raising of cattle and sheep.

The progress of the country has been retarded by a shortage of native labour. Some farmers affirm that they can make no progress whatever owing to the scarcity and unreliability of native workmen, but, as the ex-Consul shrewdly observes in his last Report on the Trade of German South-West Africa (1913), “As a rule a farmer who knows how to manage his servants and understands their limitations has no difficulty in getting his work done. On some farms there are sufficient labourers for every emergency, while on others there are a few dissatisfied servants, who take the first opportunity they can of changing their master.”

The difficulty of obtaining labour has hampered the exploitation of the mineral resources of the colony, and during recent years Cape boys have been imported in considerable numbers. The Germans, however, have only themselves to blame for this shortage, as in decimating the Hereros they destroyed the best material for developing the resources of the country. Forced labour was tried with the Herero and Hottentot captives after the wars, and even in 1913 the police were kept busy collecting stray natives and apportioning them to masters in need of servants.

Efforts have been made by the mining authorities lately to attract more labourers from Ovamboland by effecting improvements in respect to the feeding, clothing, housing, and transport of men, and in the hospital arrangements, and the standard wage has been raised 25 per cent. With a more sympathetic administration and an influx of settlers who understand the native, the problem of the native labour supply might find a partial solution, but it will probably continue to be a source of anxiety for some time to come. In many parts of the Union of South Africa the farmers are confronted with a similar difficulty.

Will South-West Africa ever become a manufacturing country? Certainly there is no prospect of it at present. The requisites for producing manufactured articles, such as a big market, cheap sources of mechanical power, and cheap and efficient labour, are all wanting, and they are not likely to be available, at any rate in the present generation. Such demand for manufactured goods as there is can easily be met by importation from Europe. The lack of a good port has been a drawback to German enterprise, but Walvis Bay will now take its proper place as the natural harbour of the country, and its importance is certain to grow.

In regard to the immediate future of the country, Mr. A. Wyatt Tilby has suggested recently in the Nineteenth Century that the land required by the Union Government of South Africa for the bijwoners or “poor whites” lies now at the very door of the Union in Namaqualand and Damaraland. But as we have shown, this is not the country for the small farmer. Very substantial help would have to be forthcoming from the Government before the unenterprising bijwoners could make a living out of the soil. Many parts of South Africa are far more suitable for close settlement schemes than Namaqualand and Damaraland. Germany made many efforts to get the right kind of settler into the country. To the 22,000 soldiers who took part in the native wars the Government made an offer of £300 to each man who wished to establish himself as a farmer in the colony. Only 5 per cent. remained.

Experience has shown that no scheme of colonisation has much chance of success by which men are bribed to become settlers: it is only by making it worth their while to settle, by affording encouragement to energy, initiative and resource, that the right stamp of men are attracted.

To sum up the facts then and state our conclusions; South-West Africa is a country rich in mineral wealth, that needs exploitation; it is a fine grazing country that will carry hundreds of thousands of cattle; it is a comparatively poor agricultural land, whose principal need is irrigation; and it shows no sign of becoming a manufacturing country even on a small scale. The white population will remain scanty in proportion to the area of the country.

That in the course of the next twenty-five years it will become the home of 25,000 white families is as much as a reasoned optimism can expect. The intrusion of the unexpected in the shape of a discovery of valuable minerals in payable quantities would, of course, upset our calculations, but all that we can do is to point out the probable result of present conditions.

A word may be added about the disposal of the country. Sir Harry H. Johnston has raised the question in a recent article contributed to the Edinburgh Review. He expresses the opinion that “at the present time it would not be advisable unduly to increase the area under the Union Government of South Africa where it embraces a large native population,” since “the British and Dutch colonists of temperate South Africa are unwilling to concede to their black and brown fellow-countrymen that equality before the law which England with her larger imperial experience regards as the necessary basis of peaceful government”; so he suggests that the “more negro portions of which are Ovamboland and northern Damaraland,” should, “at any rate for the present, either be governed by the Administrator of Rhodesia or by some other British official appointed from London.”

Without going into the matter of the fitness of the people to govern the natives, it can hardly be expected that South Africans would view such a proposal with equanimity should it be made with any seriousness. To South Africa was given the task of conquering the territory, and in addition to the fact that the country will appropriately “round off the Union,” powerful sentimental considerations will have to be taken into account. A country in which Afrikanders have fallen in war and have been buried will have more than a material value in the eyes of Africa’s sons. For the first time in history British and Dutch have fought side by side on African soil to overthrow the common enemy, and the land won amid such conditions will always have peculiar value to those who have made sacrifices to secure it. No: South-West Africa must drop into its natural place as an integral part of the Union of South Africa.