No news of any importance has been received this week
from Rhodesia, and attention has been paid principally to affairs in the Transvaal. It appears to be certain that the Government of that State is arming, although it has no visible enemy against which to protect itself. It has also obtained from the Legislature power to expel any foreigner whom it suspects of political designs. The latter power is enjoyed by every Government of the European Continent, and the arming may by possibility tend to peace. The Boers armed will be less nervous, while the Outlanders will be less likely to threaten insurrection. The Boers are hardly likely to risk everything by an open defiance of the British Government. The ravages of the rinderpest are becoming so vast that every province of the continent is impoverished, the natives are threatened with hunger, and the means of transport are seriously diminished. The colonies have hardly the fortune to construct a system of light railways, and neither horses nor camels will, it is said, be sufficient to supply the vacuum. The Cape Govern- ment, greatly alarmed, has ordered a day of prayer and humiliation on October 15th.
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