on horseback and by wagon to post it--and
now people complained if they had to go one mile.'

A debate on the possibility of decreasing the plague of locusts led to
the following enlightened discussion:

'_July 21._--Mr. Roos said locusts were a plague, as in the days of King
Pharaoh, sent by God, and the country would assuredly be loaded with
shame and obloquy if it tried to raise its hand against the mighty hand
of the Almighty.

'Messrs. Declerq and Steenkamp spoke in the same strain, quoting largely
from the Scriptures.

'The Chairman related a true story of a man whose farm was always spared
by the locusts, until one day he caused some to be killed. His farm was
then devastated.

'Mr. Stoop conjured the members not to constitute themselves terrestrial
gods and oppose the Almighty.

'Mr. Lucas Meyer raised a storm by ridiculing the arguments of the
former speakers, and comparing the locusts to beasts of prey which they
destroyed.

'Mr. Labuschagne was violent. He said the locusts were quite different
from beasts of prey. They were a special plague sent by God for their
sinfulness.'

In a further debate:

'Mr. Jan de Beer complained of the lack of uniformity in neckties. Some
wore a Tom Thumb variety, and others wore scarves. This was a state of
things to be deplored, and he considered that the Raad should put its
foot down and define the size and shape of neckties.'

The following note of a debate gives some idea of how far the
legislators were qualified to deal with commercial questions:

'_May 8._--On the application of the Sheba G. M. Co. for permission to
erect an aerial tram from the mine to the mill,

'Mr. Grobelaar asked whether an aerial tram was a balloon or whether it
could fly through the air.

'The only objection that the Chairman had to urge against granting the
tram was that the Company had an English name, and that with so many
Dutch ones available.

'Mr. Taljaard objected to the word "participeeren" (participate) as not
being Dutch, and to him unintelligible: "I can't believe the word is
Dutch; why have I never come across it in the Bible if it is?"

'_June 18._--On the application for a concession to treat tailings,

'Mr. Taljaard wished to know if the words "pyrites" and "concentrates"
could not be translated into the Dutch language. He could not understand
what it meant. He had gone to night-school as long as he had been in
Pretoria, and even now he could not explain everythin