, all that is required is that a
very small proportion of the superabundant but exhaustible riches
of the mines should be devoted to developing the vast permanent
sources of wealth which the country possesses, and which will
maintain a European population twenty times as large as the
present, when all the gold has been dug out. No doubt it is not
economic measures alone which will ensure that result. A social
change is also necessary, viz., the introduction of fresh blood,
of a body of enterprising European settlers, especially on the
land, to reinforce the Boer population, who have been far too
few, and far too easy-going, to do even the remotest justice to
the vast natural capabilities of the soil, on which, for the most
part, they have done little more than squat. But then the
introduction of the right type of agricultural settlers, though
it will not come about of itself, would not seem to be a task
beyond the powers of statesmanship to grapple with.

[Sidenote: The land settlement report.]

"This despatch has dealt so largely with questions of immediate
urgency, that I have left myself no time to refer to the work
which is being quietly done in both the new colonies to build up
the framework of the new Administration. I can hardly claim for
myself that I have been able to give to that work anything more
than the most general supervision, as my time is more than fully
occupied in dealing with matters of present urgency. But, thanks
to the great energy displayed by the principal officers of the
Administration--by Major Goold-Adams and Mr. Wilson at
Bloemfontein, by Mr. Fiddes, Sir Richard Solomon, and Mr. Duncan,
at Pretoria, and by Sir Godfrey Lagden and Mr. Wybergh here--a
really surprising amount of ground has been covered. Despite all
the difficulties and discouragements of the present time, the
machinery of the Government is getting rapidly into working
order, and, as soon as normal conditions are restored, the new
colonies will find themselves provided with an Administration
capable of dealing with the needs of a great and progressive
community, and with efficient and trustworthy courts of law. A
number of fundamental laws are being worked out, and will shortly
be submitted for your approval. In the Orange River Colony they
do not i