SOUTH AFRICA. 



639 



to Delagoa Bay, 375,000; from prospecting 

 and mining licenses, 200,000; from the post-of- 

 /ice, 135,000; from taxes on natives, 110,000. 

 The Boer Government imposed, a poll-tax of 2 on 

 all adult male natives except those living with 

 white people as servants, also a native hut-tax 

 of 10s. The chief expenditures as estimated by 

 Sir D. Barbour were 526,788 for public works, 

 383,480 for police and prisons, 344,220 for 

 posts and telegraphs, and 200,000 for education. 

 The receipts under British administration, with 

 balances left in bank by the late Government, 

 were almost sufficient to defray the expenses of 

 civil administration, exclusive of the Boer concen- 

 tration camps and the constabulary, so that from 

 an advance of 1,500,000 voted by the British 

 Parliament for the Transvaal and Orange River 

 Colonies only 250,000 were required by the 

 Transvaal. The debt left by the South African 

 Republic amounted to 2,660,394 on Jan. 1, 1899. 

 The Government owns lands in the gold-fields 

 of the Rand and the whole of the Barberton gold- 

 fields, valued at millions of pounds sterling. 



Several parts of the Transvaal are well adapted 

 for agriculture, but not more than 50,000 acres 

 are cultivated, and the bulk of vegetable foods 

 must be imported. Cattle and sheep were kept on 

 the great farms of the Boers. There were 12,245 

 farms in 1898, of which 2,861 belonged to the Gov- 

 ernment, 1,612 had passed into the hands of non- 

 resident owners and companies, and 7,772 were 

 owned by Boers. Gold was first produced in the 

 Transvaal in 1884 in small amounts for the first 

 years, reaching an annual production of 967,416 

 in 1888, and rising to 16,044,135 in 1898, after 

 which the war interrupted regular mining opera- 

 tions. The entire production up to the end of 

 that year was 69,844,643. In 1899 the mines 

 of the Witwatersrand produced 4,069,066 ounces. 

 From the beginning of October, 1899, to the end 

 of March, 1900, the Republican Government op- 

 erated the Rand mines, taking out 251,677 ounces 

 in the first quarter of 1900. Then mining ceased 

 until operations were resumed in May, 1901, by 

 8 companies, which in six months extracted only 

 624,012 worth. 



New regulations framed by the British -authori- 

 ties are intended to protect the native laborers 

 from fraud and oppression, and to suppress the 

 illegal liquor traffic. Labor agents and overseers 

 of compounds are obliged to take out licenses. 

 The passport regulations have been made lighter 

 for natives, and labor contracts can not be made 

 with them unless approved by the native commis- 

 sioner for a longer period than one year. There 

 were about 13,000 whites and 77,000 natives em- 

 ployed in the mines of the Witwatersrand in 

 the beginning of 1899. 



Diamonds are found near Pretoria and in other 

 parts of the Transvaal. In 1898 the value of 

 43,730 was produced. Copper, silver, and lead 

 exist, and good coal is mined in the neighborhood 

 of the gold-fields. In 1898 the output was 1,907,- 

 808 tons, valued at 668,346. 



The dutiable imports in 1898 were valued at 

 10,632.893. In 1899 the value was 3,385,349; 

 in the year ending June 30, 1900. until the war in- 

 terrupted trade, 737,356. Under the British ad- 

 ministration the imports for the first six months 

 of 1901 were 1,143,192, exclusive of supplies for 

 the army or military purposes or for the railroads 

 or the Government. The chief articles were dry- 

 goods, clothing, boots and shoes, preserved meats, 

 groceries, flour, butter, condensed milk, sugar, pre- 

 served fish, whisky, mealies, woolen cloth, hats, 

 cigarettes, cigars, and smoking tobacco. 



The length of railroads completed in the Trans- 



vaal in 1898 was 774 miles, and 270 miles were 

 building and 252 miles projected. The telegraph- 

 lines have a length of 2,200 miles, with 5,050 miles 

 of wire. 



The Rand mines were opened gradually as the 

 military authorities allowed the refugees from 

 Johannesburg to return. Permission was given 

 for 450 stamps before the end of 1901, and in 

 July 2,000 stamps were working. During the war 

 the Boer Government operated some of the mines 

 until their evacuation of Johannesburg, and from 

 these and the vaults and trains the Boers ob- 

 tained 2,700,000 of gold, besides which the 

 mines sustained direct losses from the war 

 amounting to 3,400,000. Capital did not flow 

 readily to Johannesburg, and there was a fall 

 in mining shares after the peace and the reopen- 

 ing of the mines owing to uncertainty as to the 

 part of the war debt that the British Government 

 meant to make the mining industry bear. The 

 cost of living was higher than it ever had been. 

 The railroad tariffs, customs duties, and other 

 taxes were as high or higher. Before the war 

 the Republican Government imposed a direct tax 

 of 5 per cent, on the profits of mines, promising 

 to counterbalance it by reducing railroad freights 

 and customs duties. Lord Milner abolished du- 

 ties on building materials, machinery, and other 

 articles needed for the rapid development of the 

 country, and American machinery, structural 

 steel, and timber were sold in quantities auguring 

 a recovery of enterprise. The labor difficulty af- 

 fected mining more than anything else. The 

 black laborers that formerly worked in the mines 

 were scattered. The chiefs in the northern Trans- 

 vaal furnished some. The Basutos were employed 

 mostly in transport. The Government employed 

 other blacks on the railroads that were being 

 constructed to Thaba Nchu and Vereenigung. 

 The mines obtained no considerable supply until 

 an arrangement was made with the Portuguese 

 authorities for natives from the coast territories. 

 On inquiry it was found that there were not half 

 enough blacks in all South Africa for the mines, 

 farms, and other industries. White labor was 

 tried in some mines, but was found too expensive. 



The restoration of the burghers to their farms 

 with their families in the concentration camps 

 was a slow business. The Boers had many com- 

 plaints to make of the way in which it was car- 

 ried out. Tools, stock, material for houses, seed, 

 and provisions were to be furnished from the fund 

 of 3,000,000, but this was administered in a way 

 that did them little good Even those that had 

 means could not get permits to return or leave to 

 take their families from the concentration camps. 

 Martial law was not withdrawn until Nov. 19, 

 and it was succeeded by an indemnity and peace 

 preservation act confirming all acts and sen- 

 tences of the courts-martial, empowering the au- 

 thorities to arrest and detain without a warrant 

 persons suspected of sedition and to expel from 

 the country persons considered dangerous to the 

 peace, and requiring permits to be taken out by 

 any person wishing to enter the country, which 

 would not be granted to burghers unless they 

 take the oath of allegiance or make the equiva- 

 lent declaration. The Boer generals complained 

 to Mr. Chamberlain that under the peace conven- 

 tion the oath of allegiance could not be required. 

 The Boers of the hi/iralntcr class who had no land 

 or capital of their own, by arrangement with the 

 landowners, received small farms on lease and 

 were assisted by the Government with imple- 

 ments and farm animals. The Transvaal was 

 nearly denuded of live stock excepting the re- 

 maining draft-oxen used in transport. Cattle 



