A debate on the possibility of decreasing the plague of locusts led to the following enlightened discussion:
'July 21.—Mr. Roos said locusts were a plague, as in the days of King Pharaoh, sent by God, and the country would assuredly be loaded with shame and obloquy if it tried to raise its hand against the mighty hand of the Almighty.
'Messrs. Declerq and Steenkamp spoke in the same strain, quoting largely from the Scriptures.
'The Chairman related a true story of a man whose farm was always spared by the locusts, until one day he caused some to be killed. His farm was then devastated.
'Mr. Stoop conjured the members not to constitute themselves terrestrial gods and oppose the Almighty.
'Mr. Lucas Meyer raised a storm by ridiculing the arguments of the former speakers, and comparing the locusts to beasts of prey which they destroyed.
'Mr. Labuschagne was violent. He said the locusts were quite different from beasts of prey. They were a special plague sent by God for their sinfulness.'
In a further debate:
'Mr. Jan de Beer complained of the lack of uniformity in neckties. Some wore a Tom Thumb variety, and others wore scarves. This was a state of things to be deplored, and he considered that the Raad should put its foot down and define the size and shape of neckties.'
The following note of a debate gives some idea of how far the legislators were qualified to deal with commercial questions: