A rumour, officially described as premature, is mentioned in the
papers, that the Portuguese have agreed to cede to the British their claims on Delagoa Bay, the great harbour in South Africa recently surrendered to them under an arbitrator's award. If this is true—and it ought to be true, for the Portuguese do not want the bay, and do want many things in Portuguese India, —our position in South Africa will be indefinitely improved. A port in Delagoa Bay will enable us to land troops in a position from which we can check the Zulus without wearying the men with endless marches, and will help the Government of the Dominion, when it is organised, to control the import of arms,— the first step in civilisation. The import cannot be regulated while a foreign and independent Power encourages the trade. We do not mean that tiv purchase of arms should be prohibited, but that arms should be sold only to men who are prepared to pay a tax for the privilege, and who, by paying it, show that they are civilised enough to earn their living. Exemptions can be granted to any number of hunters, and arms of precision allowed only to men performing some kind of military duty.
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