102 



CAPE COLONY AND SOUTH AFRICA. 



Fingoes, Kaffirs, Bechuanas, etc., and 247.806 of 

 mixed race. Of the total, 767,327 were males and 

 759,897 females. The population of Cape Town, the 

 capital, was 83,718, including suburbs. The jium- 

 l>er of marriages registered in 1895 was 7.356; of 

 births, 14,757 among the Europeans and 31,409 

 others; of deaths, 6,660 among the Europeans and 

 J4.JU9 others. The number of arrivals by sea in 



1896 was 38,669, and of departures 17,695. 

 Finances. The revenue for the year ending 



June 30, 1896, was 6.803,802, of which 2,418.024 

 came from taxation, .13.927,267 from services, 375,- 

 145 from the colonial estate, and 83,366 from 

 fines, stores issued, etc. The total expenditure was 

 u;.:JO,404, of which 1,243,803 went for the public 

 debt. IM.7^1.176 for railroads, 190,135 for defense, 

 350,109 for police and jails, 149,798 for civil es- 

 tablishments, and 709,079 under loan acts. The 

 public debt on Jan. 1, 1897, was 27,396,805. 



Defense. The military forces of the colony con- 

 sist of 817 mounted riflemen and 6,535 volunteers, 

 besides 1,413 mounted police. The Imperial Gov- 

 ernment maintains detachments of British troops in 

 the fortresses that line the coast at a cost in 1896 of 

 211,264, and has a squadron of 15 war vessels on 

 the Cape and African station. 



Commerce and Production. Cape Colony in 



1897 produced 1,954,373 bushels of wheat, 1,002,327 

 bushels of mealies, and 753,048 bushels of barley, 

 besides oats, rye, and Kaffir corn ; also 6,146,055 

 pounds of tobacco, 4,219,952 gallons of wine, 1,397,- 

 80 gallons of brandy, and 2,019,251 pounds of 

 raisins. There are many sheep farms, owned for the 

 most part by the wool growers, of from 3,000 to 15,- 

 000 acres. There were 2,231,370 cattle, 357,960 horses, 

 75,112 mules and asses, 14,049,076 sheep, 5,033,183 

 Angora and other goats, and 237,960 ostriches. The 

 quantity of wool produced in 1897 was 43,311,884 

 pounds; of mohair, 8,193,796 pounds; of ostrich 

 feathers, 258,768 pounds. 



The total value of imports for the year ending 

 June 30, 1898, was 16,916,315 ; of exports, 23,652,- 

 822, including 13,306,179 of gold. The total value 

 of imports in 1897 was 17,997,789; of exports, 

 21,660,210. The exports of gold, mostly from the 

 Transvaal, were 11,991,926 ; of diamonds, 4,450,- 

 376 ; of other products of the colony, 3,729,759. 

 In 1896 the gold exports were 8,252,543 in value ; 

 diamonds, 4,646,487; wool, 1,874.555; Angora 

 hair, 572,230; ostrich feathers, 519,539; hides 

 and skins, 396,216 ; copper ore, 218,422 ; wine, 

 21,412; cereals, 11,244. The total value of im- 

 ports in 1896 was 18,771,371 ; of exports, 16,970,- 

 168, of which 16,700.102 were colonial products. 

 The imports from Great Britain were returned as 

 12,807,332 ; exports to Great Britain, 16,404,464 ; 

 imports from British possessions, 811,171 ; exports 

 to Briti>h possessions, 86,636; imports from foreign 

 countries, 4,316,536; exports to foreign countries. 

 460,738. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 from foreign ports during 1896 was 1.031, of 2,430.- 

 240 tons, and coastwise 1,353, of 3.5!)S.H57 tons; 

 cleared for foreign ports, 1.020, of 2,437,479 tons, 

 and coastwise, 1,341, of 3,575,138 tons. 



The merchant navy of the colony on Jan. 1, 1897, 

 was composed of 8 sailing vessels, "of 5S/8 tons, and 

 24 steamers, of 2,974 tons. 



Communications. The railroads belonging to 

 the Government had a total length on Jan. 1, 1897, 

 of 2.253 miles, and 96 miles were under construction. 

 There were ln^ides 254 miles of private railroads. 

 The gross receipts of the Government railroads in 

 1896 were 4,078,561. and the expenses 1,921,809. 

 There were transported 7,978,652 passengers and 

 1.878,345 tons of goods. In 1897 the railroads 

 yielded 6 per cent, on the cost of construction. A 



new junction railroad from Graaf Reinet to Middel- 

 burg was opened on March 3, 1898. 



The telegraph lines had a total length on Jan. 1, 

 1897, of 6.405 miles. The number of dispatches in 



1896 was 2,229,663. The number of letters carried 

 in the mails was 17,579,300; of postal cards, 565,799; 

 of newspapers, 8,184,480 ; of book packets and 

 samples, 1,798,320 ; of parcels, 412,700. The recei pts 

 from posts were 375.423 and from telegraphs 128,- 

 323 ; total expenses, 373,342. 



Political Affairs. The Progressive party, head- 

 ed by Cecil Rhodes, advocated the removal of import 

 duties on meat and grain, the imposition of an 

 excise tax on brandy, a scab act, a compulsory edu- 

 cation bill, restriction of the sale of drink to natives, 

 railroad development, and a contribution to the im- 

 perial navy. The other party, containing most of 

 the Dutch voters and led by Mr. Hofmeyr and Mr. 

 Merriman, represented the ideas of the Afrikander 

 Bond as against the imperialism of Mr. Rhodes, 

 Dutch sentiment as opposed to English, agricultural 

 rural interests in so far as they conflicted with com- 

 mercial and industrial, the country against the 

 towns. Mr. Rhodes himself was identified with the 

 policy of the South African League, which he had 

 first propounded: Imperial union and a colonial 

 federation of Cape Colony, Natal, Rhodesia, and 

 ultimately, when the Uit landers gain the ascend- 

 ancy, the Transvaal also and the Orange F -ee 

 State. In the elections for the Legislative Council, 

 which took place in March, the Progressive party 

 won the victory, obtaining a majority of 2 in a body 

 of 24 members and reducing the representatives of 

 the Afrikander Bond from 18 to 10. 



The population of Cape Colony having of late 

 years largely increased, while the number of repre- 

 sentatives in the Assembly remained the same, all 

 parties were agreed that an increase in the number 

 of members was required, but there was a wide 

 divergence of views as to the manner in which such 

 increased representation should be distributed. A 

 committee which sat under the presidency of the 

 Prime Minister and was composed of leading men 

 of all the parties was appointed in December, 1897, 

 to consider this question. The bill resulting from 

 its deliberations proposed the distribution of 12 new 

 members among the present constituencies in pro- 

 portion to their growth and the creation of 3 new 

 ones, bringing the numbers in the Assembly from 

 the existing total of 79 up to 94. The increase in 

 the number of registered voters between 1891 tind 



1897 was from 74,000 to 110,000, notwithstanding 

 the introduction of an educational test and a prop- 

 erty qualification by the franchise bill of 1892, 

 tending to the restriction of the right of voting. 

 There were 76 members in the Assembly before 

 1895, when 3 new ones were added. A minority 

 report of the committee, signed by the ministerial 

 members, representing English sentiment, proposed 

 to increase the Assembly to 97 members, in order to 

 give the urban constituencies as great a proportionate 

 increase of representation as was given in the bil to I 

 some of the smaller Dutch electoral divisions. Mr. I 

 Te Water, who disagreed with the views of his col- 

 leagues on this question and their hostility to the 

 Afrikander Bond, resigned the post of Colonial Sec- 

 retary on May 16, and Dr. T. W. Smartt was 

 appointed provisionally in his place. The session 

 of the Legislature was opened on May 19. BesMcs 

 the redistribution bill, the measures proposed by 

 the Government dealt with irrigation, the arm ng I 

 of the forces, the ratification of the customs con- 

 vention, and education. The customs convent ion { 

 was elaborated at a Customs Conference which ; 

 met at Cape Town April 12. Cape Colony. Naval, I 

 and the Orange Free State were represented. The ' 

 South African Republic and Portuguese East Africa 



