An official communique from Mr. Rhodes, stating his views and
intentions with regard to the Cape to Cairo route, was published by the Central News on Thursday. He estimates that, to bridge the existing gap of some three thousand five hundred miles, a sum of about ten millions sterling will be re- quired, and while he does not ask the Government to make a grant towards the construction of the railway, he is seeking for a Government guarantee upon a lump sum, so that the money can be had at the reduced rate of interest enjoyed by funds covered by such a guarantee. The opportunities for hearing the arguments against Mr. Rhodes's schemes are notoriously so restricted that the able destructive criticism of the Cape to Cairo route published in Tuesday's Pall Mall Gazette deserves most careful consideration. Not the least weighty objection is that based on Mr. Rhodes's own admission that with the railway open to Central Africa native labour could be obtained from the interior for the mines in Rhodesia and the irrigation works in Cape Colony. " Will Mr. Rhodes tell us," asks the writer, "why he cannot get native labour from territories already within our grasp?" One is driven to conclude that Mr. Rhodes presumes on the unsophisticated nature of the Tanganyika native. As regards the Mashona, Matabele, and Natal Zulu, is it a case of once bit twice shy ? We have no inherent objection to the Tanganyika railway. If, however, Mr. Rhodes is the great man his admirers represent him to be, why cannot he carry out the scheme without any help? We sincerely hope that the Government will withhold a guarantee, and avoid the fatal error of mixing themselves up with Chartered Company finance.
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