128 



CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



penditure are: Public works, 90,518; salaries, 

 45,930; education, 34,500; post-office and 

 telegraphs, 28,030; police, 11,376; artillery, 

 4,968. The public debt amounts to 65,000, 

 while the property of the Government, consist- 

 ing of telegraphs, lands, buildings, etc., is valued 

 at 41 7,000, besides 70,000 of shares in the Na- 

 tional Bank. 



The land of the Free State is suited rather to 

 grazing than agriculture, and the people follow 

 pastoral pursuits mainly, though grain is pro- 

 duced in considerable quantity by native labor. 

 There were 6,000 farms in 1890, stocked with 

 248,878 horses, 276,073 oxen, 619,026 other cat- 

 tle, 6,619,992 sheep, 858,155 goats, and 1,461 

 ostriches. There are rich coal mines, and gold 

 has been found, as well as various precious stones, 

 especially diamonds, of which the value produced 

 for 1890 was 223,960 ; for 1891, 202,551. These 

 and ostrich feathers now supplement the staple 

 exports of wool and hides. 



F. W. Reitz, then Chief Justice of Cape Colo- 

 ny, was elected President, of the Free State on 

 the death of Sir John Brand, and took the oath 

 of office on Jan. 11, 1889. In 1893 he consented 

 to re-election for a second term. 



South African Republic. The Boers of the 

 Transvaal, who defeated British regulars at Ma- 

 juba Hill, and regained in the treaty of March 

 21, 1881, their political independence of which 

 they had been deprived in 1877, have had to con- 

 tend with British influence in a new form, since 

 their country has developed into one of the chief 

 gold-producing regions of the world. The area 

 of the South African Republic is about 120,000 

 square miles. The imperfect census of 1890 

 makes the white population 119,128, of whom 

 66,498 are males and 52,630 females. The na- 

 tives in 1892 were estimated to number 139,295 

 men, 175,610 women, and 334,665 children; in 

 all, 649,560. The influx of miners and other im- 

 migrants has since increased the total population 

 to over 1,000,000. In 1890 the white population 

 of the gold fields was 20,993. The capital, Pre- 

 toria, has 5,055 white inhabitants. Johannes- 

 burg, the center of the main gold field, had in 

 1892 a resident population of about 15.000. The 

 revenue of the Government increased from 668,- 

 433 in 1887 to 1,577,445 in 1889, and then fell 

 off to 1,229,060 in 1890, and 967,191 in 1891. 

 Fluctuations in the receipts for mining licenses, 

 which have become the largest source of income, 

 are the principal cause of the decline. The rev- 

 enue from the gold fields was 727,132 in 1889 ; 

 492,830 in 1890 ; 405,397 in 1891 ; and 277,- 

 677 for the first six months of 1892. The total 

 revenue for this half of 1892 was 598,026, and 

 the estimated revenue for the whole year 1,073,- 

 093. The expenditure increased with the re- 

 ceipts from 621,073 in 1887 to 1,226,135 in 

 1889, and the increase was not checked in the 

 following year, when it amounted to 1,531,461. 

 In 1891 it was reduced to 1,350,073, and in the 

 first half of 1892 the disbursements were 473,- 

 441. On June 30, 1892, the Government had an 

 unexpended surplus of 333,604 remaining. The 

 estimate of expenditure for the whole year was 

 1,127,457. Besides mining licenses, the sources 

 of revenue are sales of land, quitrents, customs, 

 a native hut tax, stamps, and transport licenses. 

 The Government lands have an aggregate area 



of 5,660.744 acres. They were estimated in 1884 

 to be worth 400,000, but as they include the 

 Barberton gold fields their value is now several 

 millions sterling. A loan of 2,500,000 bearing 

 5 per cent, interest was negotiated with Roths- 

 child in 1892, making the public debt on June 

 30, 1892, 2,858,695, including a debt of 192,- 

 271 paying 3 per cent, interest that is due the 

 British Government. 



The principal exports, besides gold, are wool, 

 cattle, hides, ostrich feathers, and ivory. The 

 dutiable imports were valued at 721,353 in 

 1886, 2,204,327 in 1887, 3,748,830 in 1888, 

 about 5,000,000 in 1889, and $5,500,000 in 

 1890. The import duties amounted to 398,190 

 in 1890, and in 1891 to 316,610. The export of 

 gold through Natal and Cape Colony was 1,851,- 

 905 in 1890, and in 1891 it was 2,901,470. 



The railroad from Norvalsport, on Orange 

 river, to Vaal river, running through the Orange 

 Free State for 334 miles, was extended, by 

 agreement between Cape Colony and the Trans- 

 vaal Government, to Pretoria, whence a line 

 has been built to Johannesburg. The Natal line, 

 now terminating at Charlestown, is to be carried 

 into the Transvaal. A railroad has been built 

 from Delagoa Bay to the eastern border of the 

 Transvaal, and of the continuation to Pretoria 

 75 miles have been completed, leaving 218 miles 

 yet to be built. There are 2,560 miles of tele- 

 graph lines. 



The Constitution of the Transvaal Republic, 

 adopted in 1858. has been modified several times. 

 The most important changes have been made to 

 satisfy the demands of the mining population, 

 which demanded a share in the government. 

 Originally there was one Chamber or Volksraad, 

 and only male whites who were born in the coun- 

 try or had been residents for sixteen years had 

 votes. Now the legislative power is vested in 

 two Volksraads of 24 members each elected for 

 four years. There are 2 members in each cham- 

 ber from each of the 5 principal electoral dis- 

 tricts, 1 member from each of the 12 smaller 

 districts, and 1 from the Witwatersrand and 1 

 from the Barberton mining community. Only 

 male citizens born in the Transvaal sixteen years 

 of age, or those who have resided fourteen years 

 in the republic, are entitled to vote for members 

 of the First Volksraad, while for the other cham- 

 ber male Protestants thirty years of age who 

 have resided four years in the country and own 

 real estate may qualify as electors by becoming 

 naturalized on paying a fee of 5 and taking the 

 oath of allegiance. The President and the Com- 

 mandant-General are. each elected by the direct 

 suffrage of the electors for the First Volksraad, 

 and the State Secretary and nonofficial members 

 of the Executive Council, of which the Com- 

 mandant-General is the head ex officio, are chosen 

 by the First Volksraad. The State President is 

 S. J. Paul Kriiger, who was elected for the third 

 term of five years in 1893. The Commandant- 

 General is P. J. Joubert ; the other members of 

 the Executive Council, N. J. Smit and M. A. 

 Wolmarus ; the State Secretary, Dr. W. J. Leyds. 

 There was a sharp contest in the presidential 

 election between the supporters of the President 

 and the partisans of Gen. Joubert, and the latter 

 challenged the returns by which Kriiger was 

 declared re-elected. An official scrutiny was con- 



