Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/235

 roads, well-organized police, or mail facilities, and consists largely of wide-spreading areas that do not contain one human being to the square mile." If newspapers print such statements about America, is it any wonder that the English people have absurd notions of the Americans? The editorial views with alarm the race problem in America; it also fears that the American people are today where the Romans were just before the decline began The Natal Mercury contains sixteen eight-column pages, and is a more creditable newspaper than will be found in the average American town of 32,000 population. Durban has 66,000, but 34,000 are negroes who do not read or speak English. Nine pages of the Mercury's issue of this morning are devoted to advertising; the people of all the British colonies seem to be well trained in newspaper advertising. Although the Mercury prints eight columns about the inauguration of America's new president (most of it absurd, but probably not more absurd than would be my comments on a similar event in Africa), it says nothing about the "Anchises" breaking from its moorings during yesterday's storm, or of its detention in the harbor. The local news is badly handled in all the papers I see over here; the people do not seem to care for local news, so long as they get telegrams from England Durban people are just now excited because His Majesty's Ship "New Zealand" will arrive in a day or two. This is the battleship of dreadnought type which was built with New Zealand money, and presented to the English government. Canada will give three battleships to the English, and Australia three. All the other