SOUTH AFRICA. 



607 



March 31, 1901, was estimated at 426,800, and 

 the expenditure at 781,317, inclusive of supple- 

 mentary estimates. The authorized capital of the 

 company is 5,000,000, of which 4,375,000 have 

 been issued, besides which there are 1,250,000 

 of debentures. Of a total expenditure by the 

 Government of Southern Rhodesia of 729,922 in 

 1900, native affairs took 227,257, the military 

 and police 205,532, and mines and public works 

 101,530. The Chartered Company advanced 

 363,543, the hut tax yielded 73,938, stamps 

 and licenses 118,409, posts and telegraphs 42,- 

 277, sales of stands and farms 12,617, customs 

 , 40,591. For the war in the Transvaal and the 

 defense of the border Rhodesia contributed to the 

 imperial forces 1,500 men, an eighth of the total 

 European population. The Government took ex- 

 tra measures to maintain the supplies of food and 

 the mining requisites in order to avoid the neces- 

 sity of discharging both white and native work- 

 men, which would have a specially disastrous 

 effect on the native mind. The main problem in 

 the development of Rhodesia is the labor supply. 

 The attempt to compel the Matabeles to work 

 proved a failure. Laborers brought from Portu- 

 guese Africa and other East African countries as 

 far as Abyssinia are worked in chain-gangs and 

 no further supply can be obtained. The Nyasa- 

 land administration will not allow laborers to be 

 recruited in its territory. The Legislature in 

 July, 1901, passed an immigration bill to provide 

 for and regulate the importation, management, 

 and disposal of laborers. It is proposed to bring 

 coolies from India and from China under Govern- 

 ment restrictions as to their return. In Mashona- 

 land 400,000 of gold was produced in 1901, and 

 treble that amount was expected in 1902. 



Northern Rhodesia is the enormous tract of 

 country between the Zambesi and the confines of 

 the Congo State and German East Africa and 

 between the Portuguese possessions on the east 

 and the west coasts of Africa south of the equa- 

 tor; only the British protectorate of Central 

 Africa, south and west of Lake Nyasa is ex- 

 cluded. Extensive regions are unexplored or but 

 little known. The British Central Africa Protec- 

 torate by arrangement with the Imperial Govern- 

 ment has undertaken to protect with its armed 

 forces Europeans in Northeastern Rhodesia, which 

 for administrative purposes is separated from 

 Northwestern Rhodesia and has its present seat 

 of administration at Fort Jameson* on the Tan- 

 ganyika plateau, where Robert E. Codrington is 

 Administrator. The area of Northwestern Rho- 

 desia is estimated at 120,000 square miles, with a 

 native population of 256,000 and not over 130 

 Europeans. The telegraph has been extended 

 from the Zambesi at Zomba to Kassanga on the 

 German shore of Lake Tanganyika. In North- 

 eastern Rhodesia are elevated plateaus where 

 Europeans can live in comfort and rear cattle and 

 cultivate grain and European fruits, as well as 

 coffee, and where there are native fiber plants 

 that could be utilized. Gold has been found in 

 the south, and near Lake Nyasa are coal deposits. 



Northwestern Rhodesia is nearly coextensive 

 with Barotseland, the great kingdom established 

 by a Kaffir horde from the south. It is well 

 populated, has an abundance of water, and is 

 adapted for grazing and for the cultivation of 

 rice, cereals, coffee, and rubber. The company's 

 administrator is Major R. T. Coryndon, who has 

 his headquarters at Lialui, the kraal of the Ba- 

 rotse king. 



Orange River Colony. The Orange Free 

 State was declared to be annexed to the British 

 Empire by a proclamation issued on May 24, 1900, 



receiving the name of the Orange River Colony. 

 The places under British control were under mili- 

 tary rule in the beginning O f ]!)()], an( |_ wherever 

 British dominion was not upheld In anus the 

 republican Government still had authority, al- 

 though it had no fixed seat of government. The 

 British Government appointed Sir Allied AJilrier, 

 High Commissioner of South Africa and previous 

 to this time Governor of Cape Colony, to be Gov- 

 ernor of both the Transvaal and the Orange Hi No- 

 colonies, and as Lieutenant-Governor of the 

 Orange River Colony under him Brig.-Gen. H. .1. 

 Goold-Adams was appointed. Civil government 

 was promised as soon as military and political 

 conditions should permit. The Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor as well as the Governor was to be assisted 

 by an Executive Council, composed of the prin- 

 cipal officials and perhaps additional members. 

 The British authorities proposed to disturb the 

 local laws and customs as little as possible, to 

 consult local opinion, and as soon as the condi- 

 tions should warrant to introduce constitutional 

 self-government, in the meantime creating munici- 

 palities at Bloemfontein and other towns, leav- 

 ing to local authorities their usual administrative 

 powers, and in making appointments to adminis- 

 trative offices to give the preference to men born 

 in the country. 



The President of the Orange Free State, elected 

 in 1896 for the term ending Feb. 19, 1901, was 

 M. T. Steyn; Vice-President, J. B. Hertzog. 



The area is estimated at 48,326 square miles. 

 The population at the census of 1890 was 207,503, 

 of whom 77,716 were white and 129,787 colored. 

 Of the whites 51,910 were born in the Free State, 

 21,116 in Cape Colony, 1,002 in the Transvaal, 

 860 in Natal, 56 in Griqualand West, 2,549 in 

 Europe, and 214 in other parts of the world. The 

 revenue in 1898 was 799,758, including 408,- 

 578 from railroads; expenditure, 956,752, in- 

 cluding 508,478 for railroads. Under republican 

 law every burgher between the ages of sixteen 

 and sixty was obliged to take up arms when 

 summoned by the field-cornet, or captain of his 

 district. The strength of this militia in 1899 was 

 estimated at 22,314 men, all of whom took the 

 field against the British. 



The surface of the country consists of rolling 

 plains which are excellent for pasturage but sub- 

 ject to drought and unsuitable for agriculture. 

 Less than 1 per cent, of the soil is tilled. The 

 production of diamonds in 1898 was 307,148 

 carats, valued at 1,508,661. There are valuable 

 coal-mines, and gold has been found. The total 

 imports in 1898 were 1,190,932, and exports 1,- 

 923,425 in value. The railroad, running from 

 Norval's Pont, on the Orange river, through 

 Bloemfontein to Viljoens Drift, on the Vaal river, 

 connecting there with the Transvaal system, was 

 built by the Cape Government and transferred in 

 1897 to the Government of the Orange Free State, 

 which undertook to pay 1,800,000. The total 

 cost of the railroads, which have a length of 392 

 miles, was 2,771,945. The telegraph-lines have 

 a length of 1,480 miles, with 1,700 miles of wire, 

 not including 420 miles of railroad telegraph, 

 with 1,119 miles of wire. The public lands have 

 an aggregate area of 5,500,000 acres. Sir David 

 Barbour, who examined the financial resources of 

 the country for the British Government, estimated 

 the normal revenue at 756,000 and the normal 

 expenditure at 491,000 for administration, leav- 

 ing an average surplus of about 250,000, which 

 would be reduced to 150,000 by the expenses of 

 a loan of 2,000,000 to be raised in order to pay 

 compensation in Cape Colony and Natal and to 

 repair the ravages of war. The British Govern- 



