The Rudd-Rhodes Concession was granted by Lo Bengula in 1888. The
Charter to the South Africa Company was given in 1889; possession of
Mashonaland was taken by Jameson and his pioneers on September 12th,
1890; Bulawayo was entered in 1893, and thus the Lo Bengula Concession
grew to be Rhodesia. Only four years ago! But during this brief
interval the advance has been so rapid that, though at home people may
vaguely believe in it, one has to see the town of Bulawayo and to come
in personal contact with its people to fully comprehend what has been
done, and to rightly understand the situation. With the clearer view
gained by a personal visit the huge map in the Stock Exchange, which
shows the estates, farms, townships, and mines of Rhodesia, becomes an
encyclopaedia of information--the plans of Bulawayo and Salisbury, and
other towns which have arisen in Rhodesia, valuable directories. If
fresh from an inspection and study of these you step out and look at the
town of Bulawayo, and glance at the country, you begin to share the
local knowledge of the inhabitants, see with their eyes, understand on
what they base their hopes, and grasp the real meaning of pushing a
railway 500 miles to reach a town of 3000 people. So that, while at
home men were arguing that the Rudd-Rhodes Concession was valueless, and
Rhodesia a fraud, the land was being avidly bought, prospectors had
discovered gold reefs, shafts had been sunk, tunnels had been made to
get a fair idea of the value of the reefs, a nominal capital of many
millions--some say twenty millions, some say double that sum--had been
assured for operations, towns had been created with all the comforts
suited to new colonists, and the embryo State was fairly started into
existence.
"ENORMOUS POSSIBILITIES IN VIEW."
While being instructed in the hopes and ambitions of several of the
local people, my knowledge of how other young countries, such as the
States, Canada, Australia, had been affected by the extension of the
railway into parts as thinly inhabited as Rhodesia, induced me to cast
my glance far beyond Rhodesia, that I might see what was likely to be
its destiny, whether it was to be a Free State like Orange,
self-sufficient and complacent within its own limits, or broadly
ambitious like Illinois State, of which Chicago is the heart. Assuming
that the energy which has already astonished us be continued, there are
enormous possibilities in view. Bulawayo is 1360 miles from Cape Town,
but it is only 1300 miles of land travel from Cairo, for the rest of the
distance may be made over deep lakes and navigable rivers; it is but
1300 miles to Mossamedes, in Angola, which would bring the town within
fifteen days from London; it is only 450 miles from Beira, on the East
Coast, which would give it another port of entry open to commerce from
the Suez Canal, India, Australia, and New Zealand; it is but 350 miles
from N'gami; it must tap British Central Africa and the southern parts
of the Congo State.
That is the position acquired by Bulawayo by the railway from Cape Town.
Chicago, less than 60 years ago, had far less pretensions than this
town, and yet it has now a million and a half of people.
Something of what Chicago has become Bulawayo may aspire to. The vast
coal fields to which the new railway is to run, the stone, granite,
sandstone, trachyte, the woods, minerals, gold, copper, lead, and iron,
the enormous agricultural area, are valuable assets which must nourish
it to an equal destiny. Then the Victoria Falls, larger than Niagara,
what mighty electrical power lies stored there! I merely mention these
things hap-hazard with the view of assisting my readers to understand
the significance of these festivities. Many men will think and meditate
on them, and new confidence, courage, and energy will be begotten to
stimulate them to greater designs and larger effort.