The populating of Rhodesia by mixed races of whites of a superior order
to any near it must exercise the Portuguese, whose territory lies
between Rhodesia and the Indian Ocean. The iron road leading to it
cannot be closed. The future of the country is no longer doubtful. We
have tested its climate ourselves; we have heard the general conviction
that these lofty plains, 4500 feet above the sea, suit the constitution
of the white race; we have seen a hundred English children going from
Bulawayo to a picnic to celebrate the arrival of the railway, and
assuredly that would have been impossible on a tropical day in any other
tropical country I know of. We have seen scores of infants on the
streets, in the suburbs, on the plains outside, in arms, and in
perambulators, and they all looked thriving, pink, and happy. The
market of Bulawayo each day shows us English vegetables fresh from the
garden. We have seen specimens of the cereals. Well, then, it appears
to me certain that there will be a masterful population in this country
before long, which it would be the height of unwisdom to vex overmuch
with obsolete ordinances and bye-laws such as obtain in Portuguese
Africa, and burdensome taxes and rates on the traffic that must arise as
this country grows in wealth and population. It may be hoped that
intelligent Portuguese will do all in their power to promote concord and
good feeling with their neighbour, to check refractory chiefs from doing
anything to disturb the peace, for nothing could make the people of
Rhodesia more restless than interruption to traffic, and a sense of
insecurity. If they do that the Portuguese territory must become
enriched by the neighbourhood of Rhodesia.