"With regard to your statements as to the desolation caused by the war, I would point out that it was inevitable that much damage should be caused in consequence of the prolongation of hostilities long after there had ceased to be any reasonable doubt as to the issue of the war. Though the principal centres, such as Bloemfontein, Kroonstad, Winburg, Heilbron, Harrismith, Bethlehem, Ficksburg, Ladybrand, Thaba N'chu, Bethulie, Fauresmith, Jagersfontein, Koffyfontein, Boshof, in the Orange River Colony, and Johannesburg, Pretoria, Potchefstroom, Klerksdorp, Heidelberg, Standerton, Middelburg, Lydenburg, Pietersburg, Nylstroom, Lichtenburg, Zeerust, Rustenburg, in the Transvaal, are practically untouched, it is no doubt the case that a large number of farmhouses and buildings have been damaged or destroyed by one or other of the belligerents or by natives. The value of such buildings in South Africa is, however, in most instances not very great, and the pecuniary loss is probably more than compensated by the increased value of the land. The heaviest loss, and that temporarily pressing most hardly on the people is, no doubt, the loss of their stock; but the statement that every living animal was taken away or killed is a great exaggeration. A recent census taken in the Orange River Colony shows that, excluding animals belonging to the military and Repatriation Department, there are now in the colony over 120,000 head of cattle, 700,000 sheep and goats, and 27,000 horses. Similar figures for the Transvaal are not yet available, but the local government is spending very large sums to supply stock in both colonies. The Repatriation Department in the Transvaal is using 36,000 animals for transport alone. It has already issued some 20,000 head of stock to the farmers, and is in a position to issue another 35,000 by December 1. Assistance is being given in the Orange River Colony on a like scale, and ploughs and implements are being supplied as far as it is possible. So far, indeed, from being a desert the country will, if rain is abundant, be extensively cultivated at the end of the year; and it is the earnest hope of his Majesty's Government that the strenuous efforts now being made by the local governments, seconded by the co-operation of the people themselves, will result in bringing back a degree of prosperity in no way inferior to that existing before the war."