103 



CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



Area and Population. The area of Cape 

 Colony, with the Transkei and Walfiseh Bay, is 

 233,430 square miles. By the incorporation in 

 the territory of native territories, the dispropor- 

 tion between the colored and the white popula- 

 tion has been increasing, and it is predicted that 

 in ten years the natives will outnumber the 

 whites ten to one. In 1865 the native population 

 was one and a half times larger than the white,, 

 and in 1891 the proportion was three to one. In 

 the old colony the whites have increased 42-32 

 per cent, since the census of 1875, and the ab- 

 original natives only 18-35 per cent. The two 

 classes there are nearly equal in number, the 

 preliminary returns of the census of 1891 giv- 

 ing: White population, 337,000; aboriginal na- 

 tives, 340,405: other colored people, 277,879; 

 total, 955,284. The population of Griqualand 

 West in 1891 was 83,115, of whom 29,409 were 

 whites and 53,646 colored. In that district also 

 the proportion of whites has increased, being 

 35-46 per cent., as compared with 27'33 per cent, 

 in the census of 1877. In the native territories 

 annexed since 1875 there were 262,705 inhabit- 

 ants, of whom only 2,561 were whites. In 1891 

 there were 10,343 whites in a total population of 

 487,340. The grand total for the whole colony 

 is 1,525,739, as compared with 1,082,966 at the 

 last preceding enumerations. The average den- 

 sity has increased from 2-52 to 6-89 persons to 

 the square mile. There are 99-03 females to 100 

 males, a larger proportion than formerly, owing 

 to the annexation of native territories. 



Finance. The colonial revenue in 1889 

 amounted to 4,338,114, of which 1,595,458 

 were derived from taxation, 1,885,492 from 

 railroads and other services, 299,833 from pub- 

 lic lands, 55,330 from fines and other sources, 

 and 502,000 were raised by loans. The total 

 expenditure was 3,524,858, of which 1,049,295 

 represented the service of the public debt, 839,- 

 794 were for the railroad service, 142,633 for 

 defense, 194,893 for police, 117,931 for the 

 civil establishment, and 110,506 for extraordi- 

 nary expenditure. The revenue for 1890 was 

 4,430,050. and for 1891 it was 4,147,736, a de- 

 crease of 282,314. 



The debt of the colony in the beginning of 

 1890 was 21,120,784. 



Production and Commerce. In 1890 Cape 

 Colony and its dependencies produced 1,983.108 

 bushels of wheat, 3.107,571 of Indian corn, 4,- 

 484,665 gallons of wine, 1,115,306 of brandy, and 

 4,090,376 pounds of tobacco. There were 13,- 

 202,779 sheep, 4,767,921 goats, 313,747 horses, 

 and 1,524,213 horned cattle in the colony in 

 1890. The total value of imports in 1889 was 

 10,841,454. The imports of merchandise were 

 7,942,506, and the exports of colonial produce 

 9,405,955 in value. The principal exports and 

 their values were as follow : Diamonds, 4,325,- 

 137; wool, 2,251,375; copper ore, 696,918; 

 hides and skins, 430,025 ; ostrich plumes, 365,- 

 884 ; Angora goat hair,, 351,544 ; wine, 23,120 ; 

 grain, 10.042. The wine and brandy exports 

 fell off from 529.000 gallons in 1889-'90 to 

 351,000 in 1890-'91. Exports of wool and agri- 

 cultural produce have also declined since 1889. 



The number of vessels entered in 1889 was 

 835, of 1,401,909 tons. Of tneso, 588, of 1,196,- 

 420 tons, were British. The number cleared was 



818, of 1,381,268 tons. The coasting tonnage 

 entered was 2,394,946 ; cleared, 2,390,077. 



Communications. The Government rail- 

 roads in the beginning of 1890 had a total 

 length of 1,608 miles. All except 63 miles have 

 been built since 1873. The capital expenditure 

 has been 14,318,502, or 8,905 per mile. There 

 were 3,259,590 passengers and 541,671 tons of 

 goods conveyed in 1889, and during that year 

 the receipts were 1,759,832 and the expenses 

 937,703. 



The number of letters posted in 1889 was 13,- 

 597,243 ; of newspapers, 6,879,457. 



The telegraph lines, all of which were erected 

 by the Government, had a total length in 1889 

 of 4,510 miles. The messages sent in that year 

 numbered 1,375,929. The receipts were 94,- 

 929 ; expenses, 67,232. 



Politics. The most important act of legis- 

 lation in 1891 was the creation of banks of issue 

 on the model of the national banks of the 

 United States. Their notes are protected by a 

 deposit of Government securities, and will be 

 redeemed in gold by the treasury in case the 

 banks fail to pay them. Provision is made for 

 an official investigation of any bank on applica- 

 tion. Mr. Hof meyr, leader of the Dutch party, 

 who dictates the policy followed by the Premier, 

 has proposed a measure that is intended to 

 curtail the voting power of the natives, not by 

 taking away the franchise from any who now 

 possess it, but by giving a double vote to persons 

 owning a certain amount of real property. This 

 suggestion is approved by Mr. Rhodes, although 

 the political predominance of the Dutch race 

 would be increased, since a large proportion of 

 English mechanics, miners, and traders would 

 not be qualified to exercise the additional vote. 

 Mr. Rhodes looks forward to a united and har- 

 monious South African nation stretching up to 

 the Zambesi, in which there will be no jealousy 

 or divergence of interests between citizens of 

 British and those of Afrikander descent, in 

 which Cape Colony will maintain the primacy 

 and lead, and which will not desire to sever the 

 connection with Great Britain. As a means of 

 strengthening the national sentiment, he has 

 purchased a tract near Cape Town, on which 

 will be built a South African university. In 

 the Transvaal, President Kruger was not in- 

 clined to sanction the immediate entrance of the 

 Republic into the proposed South African cus- 

 toms union, and Gen. Joubert favored a com- 

 mercial league with Natal against Cape Colony 

 on condition that Zululand should be thrown 

 open to Boer settlement. The customs union 

 proposed by the Cape Government was joined 

 only by the Orange Free State, but in the Swazi- 

 land convention of 1890 the Transvaal Govern- 

 ment had bound itself to enter the union within 

 three years. The Boers complained because the 

 British Government withheld the reasonable con- 

 cessions that they desired in Swaziland. 



Pondoland. The native district of Pondo- 

 land, which forms a part of the territory of Cape 

 Colony, has a population of 200,000, ruled by 

 their own chiefs under the supervision of a com- 

 missioner of the Cape Government. The coun- 

 try was ravaged in the early part of 1891 by a 

 war between the rival chiefs Sigcau and Um- 

 hlangaso, who destroyed the crops and burned 



