CAIM-: COLONY AND sorni AFRICA. 



99 



Area and Population. The area of the colony 

 imated at 2II.40H square miles. The population 



.'.Mo. consist ill!.' of 40.78* Europeans. 

 41.142 East Indians, and 455.9*:} Kallirs. Durban, 

 the capital, had 25.512 inhabitants in \^[. 



Finances. The revenue for the year ending 

 June 30. 1*94. wa< fl. nil. 01 7. of which 446.989 

 came from railway?. 191.235 from customs. 20.- 

 199 from 'i.315 from land sales. 37.420 



from posts. 12.954 from telegraphs. 22.*49 from 

 stamps and licenses, and '82.366 from the native 

 hut tax. The expenditure was 1.082.373 : the prin- 

 cipal items being 294.801 for railways. 03.378 for 

 public works, and 65.088 for defense. The ex- 

 penditure from loans wa- 79.o;i2. The debt of the 

 colony on Dec. 31. 1894. was 8.060,354. 



Commerce. The total value of imports in 1894 

 was 2.316.596 ; of exports, 1.197.611. The values 

 of the principal exports were : Angora hair, 16,- 

 311 : sugar. 75,629 : hides and skins. 49.125 ; coal, 

 02.291; wool, 460.388; gold, 222.750; bark. 

 13.114: spirits. 2.240. The sugar crop in 1*94 

 was 20.401 tons. The yield of tea for 1895 was 

 737.000 pounds. The output of the coal mines, 

 which are now connected by railroad with the port 

 of Durban, was 151.520 tons in 1*94. 



Navigation. There were 520 vessels, of 693.253 



tons, entered, and 524, of 692,906 tons, cleared in 



. The merchant fleet of the colony consisted 



of 24 vessels, of 1,443 tons, of which 12, of 820 tons, 



were steamers. 



Railroads. The railroads, which belong to the 

 Government, have a total length of 402 miles. The 

 main line, running from Durban to Pietermaritz- 

 burg and Charlestown. 304 miles, connects with the 

 line of the South African Republic, which runs 

 from Charlestown to Johannesburg and Pretoria. 

 A branch runs to Harrismith. in the Orange Free 

 State. The cost of construction was 6,078,489. 

 The net earnings in 1894 were 171.809. 



Orange Free State. The colony founded be- 

 yond the Orange river by emigrants from Cape 

 Colony who were unwilling to accept British rule 

 was declared an independent republic in 1854. The 

 legislative power is vested in the Volksraad, a single 

 chamber of 58 members, elected for four ye,--, 

 the votes of all burghers. The President, who is 

 elected for five years by universal suffrage, was, in 

 the beginning of 1896. F. \V. Reitz. who succeeded 

 President Brand, deceased, in 1889. and was re- 

 elected on Nov. 22. 1893. On Feb. 19 Judge Steyn 

 was elected, after the death of President Reitz, to 

 succeed him. and on March 4 he was inaugurated. 



Area and Population. The Orange Free State 

 has an area of 48.326 square miles and a population 

 of 207.503. of whom 77.710 arc whites and 129.7*7 

 natives. Of the whites. 51.910 were born in the 

 Free State and 21.116 in Cape Colony. Education 

 is not compulsory, and is free only for the indigent, 

 but the Government maintains schools, in which 

 - pupils were taught in 1894, and also aids pri- 

 vate and denominational schools, spending about 

 40.000 a year for education. 



Commerce. The value of the imports in 1891 

 was estimated at 1.620.660. The chief export ar- 

 ticle is wool. Other exports are diamonds, exported 

 to the amount of 415.202 in 1894. hides, goat hair, 

 and ostrich feathers. 



Communications. A railroad connecting the 

 Transvaal with the Cape Colony system was built 

 by the Cape Government. 121 miles from Xorvals- 

 port to Bloemfontein. and 209 miles farther to the 

 Vaal river. A railroad connects Harrismith with 

 Natal, and a branch. 60 miles in length, is being 

 built to the coal mines of Vierfontein. In 1896 the 

 Volksraad decided to take over the railroad at 

 of 2,780,000, which will be met partly from revenue 



and partly by a loan, probably 2.000,000 at 3i per 

 cent. There are 1.500 miles of telegraph ] 



Finances. The revenue for the fiscal year 1894- 

 '95 was 3ii0.053. and the expenditure" 31!). -J-J1. 

 Of the revenue, 98.000 came from customs. 47.000 

 from stamp-. 23.050 from posts and telegraphs, 

 13,000 from the native poll tax. 15.500 from quit 

 rents, and 20,000 from transfer dues. The princi- 

 pal items of expenditure were 48,155 for salaries, 

 -13.800 for education. 28.315 for posts and tele- 

 graphs, 11,890 for police. 97,842 for public works, 

 and 4,900 for the artillery. The debt is only 

 '00. 



South African Republic. The Transvaal Re- 

 public was founded in 1849 by Boers who left Cape 

 Colony in 1835 for Xatal to escape British rule, and 

 when Xatal was annexed by the British abandoned 

 their possessions there and established an inde- 

 pendent government in the wild interior, subduing 

 the Kaffir tribes of the country. The republic was 

 recognized by Great Britain in 1852. It was for- 

 mally annexed by Great Britain on April 12, 1877. 

 but in December, 1880. the Boers rose in arms, and, 

 after the victorious battles of Laing's Nek and 

 Majuba Hill, peace was signed on March 21. 1881, 

 and a convention was ratified by the Volksraad on 

 Oct. 26 of that year, by which self-government was 

 restored to the Transvaal as far as regards domes- 

 tic affairs, while the control of foreign policy was 

 reserved to Great Britain as the suzerain power. 

 A second convention was signed in London on Feb. 

 27. 1884. and ratified by the Volksraad on Aug. 8 

 of the same year, in accordance with which the 

 Transvaal assumed the name of the South African 

 Republic. The suzerainty of Great Britain wa< 

 abandoned, and the British resident was replaced 

 by a diplomatic agent, but the South African Re- 

 public agreed to submit any treaty or engagement 

 concluded with any state or nation other than the 

 Orange Free State or with any native tribe east- 

 ward or westward of the Transvaal to the British 

 Government, which has the right of veto if it 

 exercises such right within a period of six months. 

 The same convention contains a prohibition of laws 

 imposing disabilities as to trade or establishing 

 differential duties or taxes to the prejudice of Uit- 

 landers. or resident foreigners. 



According to the Gmndicet, or Constitution, as 

 amended at various times, last in September, 1895, 

 the legislative power is vested in the Volksraad. 

 consisting of two Chambers, each of 24 member-. 

 First-class burghers, comprising male whites who 

 were residents previous to May 29. 1*76. or who 

 fought in thewarof independence, or in the Malaboch 

 war of 1894, and their sons above the age of six- 

 teen elect the members of the First Chamber, the 

 President, and the Commandant General. Second- 

 class burghers, comprising naturalized aliens and 

 their sons, have an equal right with these to vote 

 for members of the Second Chamber. Any white 

 foreigner professing the Protestant religion can be- 

 come naturalized after a residence of two years by 

 taking the oath of allegiance and raying a fee of 

 2. By special vote of the First Chamber, natu- 

 ralized citizens can become first-class burghers after 

 a residence of twelve years: their sons can at the 

 age of forty. The Second Chamber can only 

 late on the following questions: Mines and "postal, 

 telegraphic, and telephonic departments; the mak- 

 ing and maintenance of wairon and postal r<a<i-: 

 the protection of inventions, patterns, trade-marks, 

 and authors' rights: the working and maintenance 

 of forests and salt pans: company and insolvency 

 law< : civil and criminal procedure ; and such other 

 matters as the First Chamber may intrust it with. 

 All laws emanating from the Second Chamber may 

 be approved of, amended, or rejected by the First 



