It is evident that mining activities have absorbed the energies of the great number of whites, and that the farming profession has not yet been brought into the position of prominence that it must have before permanent success can be assured to the country.
It is somewhat surprising to learn that of 2,368 adult females, only 1,761 were married. Boys and girls exist in about equal numbers.
The majority of the people are Protestants in religion; Roman Catholics number 17 per cent., while “other religions” claim 2 per cent.
Chapter IX
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY
It must not be concluded from what has been written about the blunders of the colonial administration in dealing with the native people that little or nothing has been done in the way of developing the country’s resources, for many solid achievements stand to the credit of Germany.
While many and grievous mistakes have been made, it must be remembered that success in the difficult sphere of colonial enterprise rarely, if ever, comes save with experience. To provide in South-West Africa a home for German emigrants and a market for German trade, considerable effort and large sums of money have been expended, and that success is not more marked is partly due to the fact that so much energy has been devoted to warlike operations rather than to the task of colonisation.
For purposes of administration the country was divided into fifteen districts (excluding Ovamboland and the Caprivizipfel), Grootfontein, Omaruru, Outjo, Okahandja, Karibib, Windhoek, Gobabis, Rehoboth, Gibeon, Maltahoehe, Bethanien, Keetmanshoop, Warmbad, Luderitzbucht, and Swakopmund. There are no very large towns in existence, but the few small towns and villages compare very favourably with those of similar size in the Union of South African, while several of them are considerably in advance as regards public buildings and modern improvements. The principal towns are Windhoek, Swakopmund, Luderitzbucht, and Keetmanshoop. Windhoek has a picturesque situation in the best part of the territory, 180 miles from Swakopmund in a direct line. As the seat of Government and the military headquarters, it has long been the most important town in the country. About a thousand Europeans resided here, and 800 natives. The principal thoroughfare is a wide street nearly two miles in length. There are substantial churches, a park, a public library, a museum, Government buildings, clubs, fort, barracks, a fine marble monument to the soldiers who perished in the native wars, and the inevitable brewery. Houses nestle among the trees in pleasing fashion, and there are many well-cultivated gardens.
Swakopmund, at the mouth of the Swakop River, is the principal port, and for some years it has been the busiest town in the country, but it has a poor harbour, lying as it does on the open Atlantic seaboard. Immense sums of money have been spent in order to provide good landing accommodation, but Swakopmund has too many natural disadvantages to make it a safe and satisfactory harbour. Thousands of tons of sand are deposited yearly in the bight by the Benguella current, and the pounding of the big Atlantic waves would destroy any but the strongest and most massive jetty. A new jetty was nearing completion when the war broke out. Some very fine Government buildings have been erected, as well as hospitals and churches and business establishments; the streets are wide, with wood-paved footpaths, and the town has an air of solidity and neatness quite unusual to a young colonial township.
But the natural entry into the country is the spacious and sheltered harbour at Walvis Bay, twenty-five miles to the south of Swakopmund, which though undeveloped has enormous possibilities as a naval base, and a port for the hinterland. A good railway from Walvis Bay to Swakopmund will go far to solve the problem of the future of a town which is a good monument to German industry and enterprise.
Luderitzbucht was formerly nothing more than a dilapidated trading station for the interior, but with the discovery of diamonds in the vicinity the settlement grew into a town with almost magical swiftness. It had a white population of 800 in 1914. Many substantial and even handsome buildings have been erected. The town has a fine harbour, an electric power station, a powerful plant for condensing sea-water, and a good telephone system, but the roads are merely tracks in the sand, and when the wind blows; as it often does, the sand is everywhere, indoors and out. Goggles are a necessity for every one.