The general meeting of the British South Africa Company was
held at Cannon Street Hotel on Monday. At the first, or ordinary, meeting, the Duke of Abercorn, who presided, made a long statement as to the condition and prospects of Rhodesia. The history of the Chartered Company, he contended, showed solid and satisfactory results, as well as immense possibilities of further development ; but the general depression in South Africa had rendered it impossible for them to balance ex- penditure and revenue, and it was proposed to raise an extra 21,000,000 capital for the general purposes of the Company. He regretted that the Rhodesian delegates at the rec,exit Conference were incapable of meeting the proposals of the directors in the spirit in which they were made, but believed that they (the delegates) did not accurately reflect the views of the great body of moderate opinion in Rhodesia, and hoped that negotiations might be reopened on a more satisfactory footing. in conclusion, the Duke of Abercorn read a letter from Lord Grey to the shareholders in which he recounted the benefits conferred on the Empire by the Company, com- bated the notion that Rhodesia had been a burden on the British taxpayer, and expressed the view that the share- holders were entitled to receive back, not as a favour but as a right, out of the future revenues of Rhodesia, a proportion of the capital expended on this Imperial work.
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