that it is desirable that this work should be carried out, and an arrangement has been made between the Government of this country and Mr. Rhodes as representing the British South African Company, whereby a railway starting from Kimberley up to Vryburg will be constructed by the British South African Company.  Certain conditions have been entered into between the Company and the Government of this Colony, under which the Government of the Colony will have the right to take over the railway at any time they think proper, on certain conditions to be entered into by one side or the other.  This railway extension is to be immediately proceeded with.  You may take it as a moral certainty that you will be able to travel by railway up to Warrenton, some time in the course of next year.  The Government have come to the conclusion that it is in the interests of South Africa that this work shall be carried on; that, in short, it would be highly injudicious to place any obstacles in the way of an undertaking which is calculated to have so beneficial an effect on the prospects of this part of Her Majesty’s Empire.”  This Speech, coming from the Premier of the Cape Colony, requires no comment from me, beyond the expression of my satisfaction at its having been made.

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COLONISATION.

Colonisation is a subject on which I wish to say a few words.  The definition given by Adam Smith of the three elements of national wealth, “Land, Labour, and Capital,” cannot be too often repeated.  How to blend them in proper proportions, is a problem, which has puzzled generations of statesmen, philosophers, and philanthropists.  I have always been a warm advocate for colonisation.  It appears to me to be a question of such supreme national importance, that I think it ought to be undertaken by the State.  This, of course, means, that it is possible, as it is undoubtedly indispensable, to get a Government to act wisely and well.  In order to have a chance of its being successful, colonisation must be conducted on sound principles and practice.

In South Africa I have seen millions of acres of fertile land—­in Bechuanaland, in Natal, in the Eastern and Western provinces of the Cape Colony, to say nothing of the Transvaal—­capable of supporting many thousands of our surplus population.  But I have also satisfied myself, that it is no use whatever to transplant those, who are unfitted for it.  Instead of a success, certain failure will be the result of an attempt so unwise.  Colonial life is alone suitable for the enterprising, energetic, steady, and industrious men, and women, who are determined, with patience and courage, to overcome the difficulties and trials, which they must certainly encounter on the road to ultimate success.  South Africa is a land of promise for them.  It is by no means so for the feeble, the self-indulgent, the helplessly dependent class, of whom, unfortunately, we have so large a number in the over-populated Old Country.