CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



103 



an electoral roll of 10,000. The coolie popula- 

 tion is nearly as numerous as the whites, who 

 still desire to import indentured laborers, but 

 object to their remaining after they become 

 their own masters, and still more to the immi- 

 gration of Indian storekeepers, to which class 

 most of the present voters belong. 



South African Republic. The Grondwet, 

 or fundamental law, as amended in 1891, vests 

 the legislative powers in 2 Volksraads, each 

 composed of 24 members elected for four years. 

 Members of the first must be thirty years of age, 

 and born in the republic or burghers before 

 1876; those of the other must have become 

 naturalized by taking the oath of allegiance and 

 paying 5, and must be residents for four years, 

 owners of real property, and members 'of a 

 Protestant church. Only persons who are 

 burghers by birth or were naturalized previous 

 to the new law are entitled to vote for members 

 of the First Volksraad ; while aliens who have 

 been domiciled in the country for two years are 

 allowed representation in the other. The coun- 

 try, which was then called the Transvaal, was 

 annexed by Great Britain in 1877; but in 1880 

 the Boers took up arms, and after the victory 

 of Majuba Hill a treaty was made in March, 

 1881, restoring their independence in domestic 

 affairs, though confirming British suzerainty in 

 regard to relations with foreign nations and 

 some native tribes. 



The President is elected for five years, the 

 General-in-Chief for ten years, and other execu- 

 tive officers for three years, by the higher class 

 of electors. The President is S. J. Paul Kruger, 

 who was elected for his third term in May, 1893. 



The area of the republic is 113.642 "square 

 miles. The white population, enumerated in 

 1890, was 119,128, of whom 66,498 were males 

 and 52,630 females. The native population is 

 estimated at 700,000. There are Dutch and 

 English schools in every town. The Volksraad 

 has resolved to establish a state university. 



The republic depends on the gold mines for 

 five sixths of its public revenue, which has in- 

 creased so fast that there was an accumulated 

 surplus in the treasury of 909,000 on June 30, 

 1894. The public debt amounts to 7,098.800, 

 including railroad debts guaranteed by the Gov- 

 ernment, but not a new railroad loan of 1,000,- 

 000 contracted in 1894. The ordinary revenue 

 for 1892 was 1,255.829. and the expenditure 

 1,188,765. For 1893 the estimated revenue 

 was 1.350,449. and expenditure 1,221,193. 



Kaffir Revolt. When the Government at- 

 tempted to remove some of the natives of the 

 Xoutpansberg to a new reservation near Pretoria, 

 thinking to lessen the danger of outbreaks by 

 scattering their settlements, Magato, the head 

 chief, and Malabock. his vassal, rebelled. The 

 artillery corps, which is the only permanent 

 force, was sent to the disturbed" district, and 

 2.000 burghers were called to arms in May, 1894. 

 Among 156 men sent from Pretoria 13 were 

 British subjects, who raised a protest, though 

 43 persons of other nationalities went willingly. 

 Belgium, France. Germany, Italy, Netherlands, 

 Portugal, and Switzerland* had treaties exempt- 

 ing their citizens from compulsory military 

 service, but Great Britain had not obtained nor 

 sought like immunity for its subjects. The 



Anglo-Saxon residents of Pretoria and Johannes- 

 burg raised an outcry. When Sir Henry Loch 

 went to Pretoria to ask for a convention, they 

 cheered him and hooted President Kriiger, while 

 the Dutch at first resented his coming as sa- 

 voring of menace. The Transvaal authorities 

 released from military duty the Englishmen 

 who had been commandeered, and most of 

 them left the troops on the high veldt and made 

 their way back to Pretoria. On June 28 the 

 Government promised the High Commissioner 

 not to commandeer any more Englishmen, and 

 agreed to enter into a convention giving most- 

 favored-nation rights as to military service. The 

 English settlers still objected to the requisition- 

 ing of supplies, although burghers and citizens 

 of other nations were liable equally with Eng- 

 lishmen to contribute, according to their means, 

 1 to 15 in value. The condition on which 

 the Volksraad acquiesced in the exemption of 

 foreigners from commandeering was that they 

 should pay a war tax. 



3Iagato took up a strong position five days' 

 march north of Pretoria, and announced that he 

 was willing to pay all the taxes demanded and 

 would assist the President in suppressing rebel- 

 lion, but would not go into the territory assigned 

 to him. He had several thousand fighting men. 

 The Kaffirs attacked many isolated farmsteads, 

 burning the buildings and massacring all who 

 did not flee. The Boer forces invested Mala- 

 bock's stronghold and captured it in June after 

 a bombardment. The chief, refusing an offer of 

 truce, took refuge with his followers in a cave, 

 where he was besieged, and on July 31, after 

 two fruitless efforts to break through the cordon 

 of troops, he surrendered. The outrages still 

 continued in the Zoutpansberg district. A com- 

 mando that went to the relief of the Government 

 garrison at Agatha was repelled and the main 

 column was attacked by the Kaffirs. The troops 

 were re-enforced by fresh commandos, and final- 

 ly the insurgents were driven back after a stub- 

 * born resistance. In September the rebel chiefs 

 sued for peace. The natives, after surrendering, 

 were distribtited by lot among the Boers as ap- 

 prentices, to work for a term of years at the con- 

 tract wage of 3 per annum. 



Legislation. The Transvaal gold fields are 

 producing at the rate of 8,000.000 a year. There 

 are about 50,000 Englishmen in the Witwaters- 

 rand and Barberton districts, and 20,000 in oth- 

 er parts of the Transvaal. The investments of 

 British capital amount to 100.000,000. The 

 labor of mining is not done by Europeans, but 

 by Kaffirs, who for a wage of 2s. 6d. work equally 

 well. W 7 hen Sir Henry Loch went to Pretoria 

 to arrange the commandeering difficulty the 

 British inhabitants of Johannesburg held mass 

 meetings and adopted resolutions violently de- 

 nouncing the Transvaal Government. The agi- 

 tators are actuated by a desire to reannex the 

 Transvaal to the British dominions, and wish to 

 dominate legislation in the interest of the min- 

 ing settlements ; hence the Boers regard such 

 demonstrations as a menace to the indepen- 

 dence of the republic. The Volksraad, on July 

 17, by 17 votes to 6. passed an act forbidding 

 meetings or public addresses in the open air; 

 also indoor meetings having for their object 

 disobedience or contravention of laws and regu- 



