PRESIDENTIAL ADDRKSS SKCTloX V.. 49 



exists. Various remedial measures have l)een suggested to effect 

 this, among the most recent of which are : 



(a) That the price of gold 'he increased by 5 or even 10 per 



cent. 



( b ) That the Imperial Government — it is now generally 



realised that this is essentially an Imperial (|uestion — 

 should grant a subsidy of so much per ounce or per 

 ton milled to all low-grade gold mines within the 

 British Empire, 

 (f) That part of the increased cost of production, due to 

 the rise in the price of commodities and wages, should 

 be borne by the Imperial Government. 



The first of these proposals is obviously impracticable, 

 having regard to the enormous stock of gold actually in existence 

 — it is estimated at over £2,000,000,000 — compared with which 

 the total annual production is very small. The second and third, 

 while perhaps indefensible on sentimental grounds, have both 

 much to recommend them. A Committee, elected by the gold 

 producers of the Empire, are at present preparing a case for 

 presentation to the Imperial Government, and it is to be hoped 

 this will result in a satisfactory solution of the problem being 

 arrived at. 



In regard to the question of freight and insurance charges, 

 which even in normal times constitute quite a heavy item, it 

 appears to me that these could to a great extent be done away 

 wath, in so far, at any rate, as the mines are concerned, by mint- 

 ing as large a proportion as possible of our gold locally ; and I 

 am strongly of opinion that a great mint ifor gold as well as 

 silver coinage should 'be erected at Johannesburg. The silver for 

 the purpose would have to^ be imported, hut this, after all, is also 

 done in England and other countries. 



Assuming that means are found to enable the majority of 

 the low-grade mines threatened with being closed down to con- 

 tinue operations, it should be possible for some years to main- 

 tain the output of the Rand at nearly its present level,* as 

 developments at some of the mines on the far East Rand have 

 exceeded expectations, and it is anticipated that the opening up 

 of new mines in that area, which is proceeding apace, will make 

 up for the decline in production on the Central Witwatersrand 

 and in the Boksburg area. It is none the less certain that there 

 will henceforward be a steady diminution in the production of 

 the Witwatersrand goldfield. 



As to the amount of gold that the mines of the Rand may 

 be expected to produce, it is of interest to recall that Sir Robert 

 Kotze, in evidence before the Dominions Royal Commission, in 

 1914, estimated the tonnage of ore in the mines producing at 



* The value of the output of the Witwatersrand mines for the first six 

 months of 1918 was £687,970 below that of the corresponding period of 

 last year. This, however, is partly attributable 10 the floods during the 

 earlier part of the year. 



