WOMEN SETTLERS AND FARM PUPILS IN SOUTH
AFRICA.
TRU EDITOR OF TILE "SPECTATOR."
srE,—I see that the question of emigration is again discussed in the Spectator of February 8th. The plain facts of the case are so very simple that there is a danger of their being for- gotten for sheer lack of dull reiteration. The chief need of the town population is a supply of capable women as domestic servants of all kinds, as housekeepers, and as keepers of boarding houses. It is practically impossible that the number of such women in a new country should ever be too great; and it must be many years before the supply can nearly balance the demand. Not only does the domestic servant receive three or four times the wages she would get at home, but the capable woman with a head for housekeeping com- mands one of the most profitable occupations in the country. A boarding-house keeper in the Transvaal, who began ten years ago with no capital, has recently sold half of her house property for £12.000; and, while-annually saving and invest. ing money, she has educated two of her sons as professional men. Without exaggeration this success is not out of the reach of every enterprising "plain cook" who comes out to the Rand; and, apart from the chance of making a fortune, there is the certainty that this must be a first-rate marriage market. The political side of this question is also most important, for in every part of the country where Englishwomen are scarce the young Englishmen find Dutch wives, who bring up their sons as young Boers. The country districts will need farmers, and no time can be so favourable for the new settler as the present, when he can get 5s. a day and his rations while he rides round the country with an irregular force and obtains initiation into Colonial life. At Eisenberg , near Stellenbosch, is an excellent Agricultural .College where students are given practical instruction in field work three days a week, and alternately with this class- room work of a most useful kind. In addition to its resident staff, the College has the advantage of continual visits from the Government experts in all branches of agriculture, hortie culture, dairying, and veterinary surgery. These gentlemen make Eisenberg their headquarters; they give lectures and practical demonstrations, WI well as showing the greatest readiness to help students by their conversation and their knowledge of the real facts and problems of Colonial farming. The fees for board and tuition are about 250 a year, and there is no need for more than a very few pounds' expenditure in personal matters. In contrast to this I see in the English papers continual advertisements from gentlemen in various parts of the world who are prepared to receive farm pupils for a fee of £150 to 2200 a year.—I am, Sir, &c.,
E Coee. Tam.
[We cannot publish our correspondent's letter without a strong word of warning to all intending women settlers. In spite of prospects such as those here described, they should not dream of going out to South Africa unless, besides good health, they have (1) a definite situation secured to them by some reputable and responsible person, or unless (2) they go under the auspices of the South African Expansion Committee of the B.W.E.A., whose secretary is to be addressed at the Imperial Institute, London, S.W.—ED. Spectator.]
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