ORANGE FREE STATE by S. N. H.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 24, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 42.

ORANGE FREE STATE.

By S. N. H.

BY S. N. H.

This country forms a portion of the great central plateau of South Africa, stretching from the Maluti and Drakenberg range of mountains on its eastern side to the Vaal and Orange Rivers, through vast plains from 4,000 feet to a general level of about 5,000 feet above the sea. Bloemfontein is its capital, 4,518 feet above the sea level. This locality is highly recommended for healthfulness, and especially as a home for consumptives. The Orange Free State is about 400 miles in length from north to south, and about 200 miles in breadth from east to west, extending over an area of nearly 80,000 square miles. The capital is 750 miles north of Table Bay, 450 miles from Port Elizabeth, and 400 from East London, accessible by rail from all parts of Cape Colony. The census of 1890, the correctness of which is somewhat questioned, gives the entire population of the state at 207,503 persons, of whom 77,716 are whites of European descent, and 129,787 are colored. The education of the white children of the state has always formed one of the prominent objects of legislation. A permanent fund of nearly $1,000,000 has been set aside for this purpose.

A large majority of the population are members of the Dutch Reformed Church, which communion has a congregation in almost every little village in the state. This denomination is assisted to the extent of about $30,000 per annum from the government. The Anglicans, Wesleyans, Lutherans, and Baptists have churches and schools in the different towns and villages. And most of these denominations also receive small grants from the government. By an enactment of 1854, the Dutch language was declared to be the official language of the state, and is used in the official proceedings; but in Bloemfontein and most of the district towns, English generally is spoken.

The soil is remarkably fertile in the southeastern portion of the state, and is noted for wheat growing. Even the red soil, when well worked, is very productive. Wheat, oats, corn, barley, millet, and other cereals grow abundantly. Fruits, such as apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, strawberries, and grapes, do very well. As we rode through the country, we thought we had not seen any more inviting country in the United States than this. But there is no enterprise to even settle up the country, much less to obtain from the soil all that it might

produce. The price of the land ranges from $4.00 to $5.00 per acre.

Bloemfontein is an agreeable town, occupying a central position, with roads converging to it from all parts of the state. Out of the 5,000 inhabitants there are but 3,115 Europeans, or whites. It is a healthful town, and for a long time has been famous as a resort for invalids. Here, as elsewhere in the inland districts, it is wet in the summer and dry in the winter season. This is the reverse of what it is on the seacoast in Cape Colony. But, owing to the topographical conditions, the rainfall is variable, and droughts are apt to occur at uncertain intervals. Thunder and hailstorms come in the summer, and snow sometimes falls in the winter. In July, 1891, Bloemfontein presented a picturesque winter appearance. The roofs of the houses and the trees were white with snow, which also lay two inches deep in the streets. There are 24 other towns and villages in the state, but none of them are noted for size or business importance.

Three things work great disadvantage to the settlement of South Africa: First, large tracts of land which is of but little worth. Much of this is found in Cape Colony, where some of the land is very mountainous. Second, the uncertainty of the climate. There is no portion of South Africa where they can be at all certain of crops each year. The rainfall is uncertain—not like California and other portions of the United States where there is a regularity of the seasons, but like those portions where a drought or late cold in the spring injures the crops. In the United States when one portion of the country fails, other portions generally make up the failure by an overabundance. Third, the settlement is retarded by large landowners, either individuals or syndicates. Where there is rich, alluvial soil, some wealthy nabob gobbles up the land, so that small holdings are not in the market, or if they are, the price is beyond the reach of the poor. Thus there is not much inducement for men of small means to settle in South Africa. This is emphatically true of Orange Free State. Much of the country is good, and the resident population has increased of late. The majority of the settlers are Dutch, but there is a good sprinkling of English and Scotch farmers, and a few Germans.

In some sections diamond mines are found, and are now in process of development. There is a yearly increase in the product. The size of a conquered territory farm is from 3,000 to 3,500 acres, and a few exceed this. The great attraction to South Africa is the diamonds and the gold. This brings a class of people who are not the most reliable, or the most needed when a permanent settlement is desired. Putting these various considerations together, it will be a long time before Africa can be settled like America. It is quite evident that some time in the past South Africa was settled by a more intelligent race than the natives of this age of the world.

But whatever be the condition of the country or the people, God has one grand object in view, namely, to bring the Gospel of the Son of God to the masses of mankind in all conditions and circumstances of life. It is not for the people of God to be laying their plans as the people of the world do, but in many of the darkened places farmers, artisans, tradesmen, and those following the various avocations of life, can move in, and let their light shine, and at the same time earn a livelihood. If this be the main object, there are openings everywhere, in every portion of the world. Then let God be sought by his people, and he will lead to the darkest and most forbidding, as well as to the most desirable places, to carry the light, and gather from the rubbish of the world precious jewels for the Master. There are attractions everywhere, and also disadvantages.