CAPE COLONY AND BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA. 



83 



etc. Revision of all the laws relative to rail- 

 roads, defining their rights and duties, and 

 enforcing obedience. 



The final plank, referring to the recent de- 

 cision of the United States Circuit Court as to 

 railroad taxes, and the proper assessment of 

 railroad property, reads : 



To award the time necessary to secure a decision ot 

 the question by the United States Supreme Court be- 

 fore action would derange the finances of the State 

 and counties to such a degree that we deem it best to 

 assume the correctness of the decision, and amend 

 the Constitution at the coming session of the Legis- 

 lature, so as to make the mode of assessing railroad 

 property subject to mortgage the same as that adopted 

 in the case of individuals, and provide for the assess- 

 ment and collection of the taxes remaining unpaid. 



The candidates for Railroad Commissioners 

 were required to agree to move within thirty 

 days after election to reduce freights and fares 

 20 per cent. 



For Railroad Commissioners the Democratic 

 candidate in the Third district and the Re- 

 publican candidate in the First were endorsed. 

 In the Second district John T. Doyle, a Demo- 

 crat, was nominated. For the State Board of 

 Equalization tbe Republican candidates in the 

 Fourth and Second districts and the Demo- 

 cratic candidate in the Third were endorsed. 

 In the First district, James Within gton, of 

 San Francisco, a Republican, was nominated. 

 For Controller, the Democratic candidate was 

 endorsed. No other nominations were made 

 by the convention. 



The election in November resulted in the 

 choice of the entire Democratic State ticket 

 by a large majority, and of Democratic con- 

 gressmen in each district. The new Legis- 

 lature will be largely Democratic in both 

 branches. 



The vote for Governor was as follows : To- 

 tal, 164,657; Democratic, 90,649; opposition, 

 74,008; Democratic majority, 16,641. 



CAPE COLONY AND BRITISH SOUTH 

 AFRICA. The Cape of Good Hope is a 

 British Colony at the southern extremity of 

 the Continent of Africa. It was first settled 

 by the Dutch, and passed into the possession 

 of Great Britain during the Napoleonic wars. 

 It has had a responsible government since 

 1872. The Parliament consists of a Legislative 

 Council of 21 and a House of Assembly of 68 

 members, both elected by voters qualified by a 

 certain amount of income. The Governor is 

 Sir Hercules G. R. Robinson, appointed in 

 1880. The Prime Minister is T. C. Scanlen, as 

 Sir John C. Molteno, who formed a ministry 

 in which the Dutch land-owners of the western 

 districts were fully represented after the defeat 

 of Gordon Sprigg and the British party, has 

 retired from office. 



AREA AND POPULATION. The area and 

 population have been more than doubled by 

 the annexation of British Caffraria, in 1866; 

 Basutoland, in 1868 (area 7,000 square miles, 

 population 127,000) ; the Transkei, or Caffre- 

 land proper (area 17,000 square miles, popu- 



lation 475, 000),bet ween 1875 and 1880 ; Griqua- 

 land West, in 1876 (area 17,800 square miles, 

 population 45,277); and the Transgariep or 

 Damara and Namaqua Lands, in 1880 (area 

 200,000 square miles, population 200,000). 

 The administration of the native districts is 

 not successful. The whole of South Africa is 

 kept in a disturbed condition by the encroach- 

 ments of the rival white races upon the blacks, 

 and the resistance of the vigorous Caffre race. 

 The situation is complicated by the jealousy 

 between the Boers and the English, and their 

 intrigues with the Caffre tribes. The area of 

 Cape Colony proper is 199,950 square miles. 

 The population, according to the census of 

 1875, was 720,984. The 236,793 whites (123,- 

 910 males and 112,873 females) consist mostly 

 of the descendants of the original Dutch, 

 German, and French settlers; the English 

 settlers and authorities being greatly in the 

 minority. The native population comprises, 

 besides the Hottentots and Caffres, a con- 

 siderable number of colonized Malay laborers, 

 and the offspring of Dutch fathers and black 

 women, who are commonly called African- 

 ders. 



COMMERCE. Wool is the principal product, 

 constituting nine tenths of the total exports. 

 There are many large sheep-farms, ranging 

 from 3,000 to 15,000 acres. The exports of 

 wool in 1880 amounted to 42,226,044 pounds. 

 Ostrich-feathers were exported of the value of 

 958,254, copper-ore of the value of 301,585, 

 and sheep-skins of the value of 238,102. 

 Diamonds are a very important article of 

 export, but most of the trade is through 

 secret channels. The total exports were re- 

 turned for 1880 as 4,340,017, the imports as 

 7,648,863. The trade is mainly with Great 

 Britain. There were 692,514 cattle and 9,836,- 

 065 sheep in the colony at the end of 1875. 

 On January 1, 1882, the mileage of railroads 

 was 961, and of telegraphs 3,575 miles. To 

 the harbor improvements of Table Bay, at 

 Cape Town, a graving-dock has been added, 

 and a new outer harbor is to be constructed 

 by extending the breakwater 1,800 feet, and 

 building projecting moles to inclose a large 

 area of deep water. The existing basins were 

 completed a year after the Suez Canal. Instead 

 of shipping deserting the port, the tonnage in 

 1881 was four and a half times as great as 

 before the canal was opened. A fever of 

 speculation in diamond shares led to a crisis 

 in 1881, and ostrich-farming declined from 

 over-production; but the country is generally 

 prosperous and commercial interests are ex- 

 panding. 



FINANCES. Public finances are in a nour- 

 ishing condition. The revenue of 1881-'82 

 amounted to 3,492,396, being 524,196 be- 

 yond the estimate. The revenue for 1882-'83 

 is estimated at 3,572,110, and the expendi- 

 tures at 3,530,118. Out of the surplus re- 

 ceipts a temporary loan obtained to meet the 

 Basuto war expenses, and a claim of the Im- 



