Page:George McCall Theal, History of South Africa from 1873 to 1884, Volume 1 (1919).djvu/30

10 teaching the children how to breed the worms and wind the silk. He was an enthusiast, who spared neither his time nor his purse in the undertaking, and he was able to induce people all over the colony to aid in the experiment. A quantity of silk was really produced at Stellenbosch, which was sent by Dr. Hiddingh to England, where it was woven into scarfs. An English firm of manufacturers then offered to purchase as much raw silk of the same quality as could be procured at thirty-six shillings a pound (£3 19s. 6d. a kilogramme), delivered in London. But it takes a very long time and requires a great deal of patience to wind a pound of silk, and though Dr. Hiddingh tried his utmost to persuade the coloured people that it was better to expend that time and patience in earning thirty-six shillings than to be idle and earn nothing at all, he did not succeed in inducing them to continue the task.

The government assisted in the experiment by securing the service of some Italian families who were skilled in silk culture, bringing them out to South Africa, and stationing them at the Knysna, which was believed to be the most suitable locality in the colony for the purpose intended. But no one will work for a shilling when, everything else being equal, he can earn two or three in the same time, and the returns in this industry were so small that success was hopeless. Wherever it was tried the result was the same, and it soon became evident that silk could only be produced profitably in countries where labour was very much cheaper than in South Africa.

The defeat of the bill for the amendment of the constitution was followed on the 20th of August 1873 by the dissolution of both houses of parliament, and an appeal by the government to the country. The elections for the legislative council took place on the 5th of November. There were thirteen candidates in the western province and fifteen in the eastern, and the result of