AFTER THE WAR
In 1882 Sir Bartle Frere wrote, 'I have never been able to discover
any principle in our policy in South Africa except that of giving way
whenever any difficulty or opposition is encountered.' The remark is
still as true as when it was penned, and South Africa--the 'Grave of
Reputations,'{04} as it has long been called--must by this time be
regarded with doubtful emotions by successive Colonial Secretaries.
What is it about South Africa, one asks, that has upset so many men
of capacity and experience? Who can say? Often--most often--it is the
neglect to thoroughly study and know what are called the 'local
conditions,' and to pay due heed to local experience. Sometimes it is
the subordination of State policy to party considerations which has
ruined the Proconsul: witness Sir Bartle Frere, whose decisive
action, firm character, and wise and statesmanlike policy are
now--now that he is dead--recognised universally, as they have always
been in South Africa. Perhaps there is something in Africa itself
which makes it a huge exception to the rules of other lands; the
something which is suggested in the 'rivers without water, flowers
without scent, and birds without song'; a contrariness which puts the
alluvial gold on the top of mountain ranges and leaves the valleys
barren; which mocked the experience of the world, and showed the
waterworn gravel deposit to be the biggest, richest, deepest, and
most reliable gold reef ever known; which placed diamonds in such
conditions that the greatest living authority, who had undertaken a
huge journey to report on the occurrence, could only say, in the face
of a successful wash-up, 'Well, there _may_ be diamonds here, but all
I can say is they've no right to be'; the something which many, many
centuries ago prompted the old Roman to write, 'Ex Africâ semper
aliquid novi affert,' and which is in the mind of the South African
to-day when he says, 'The impossible is always happening in Africa.'
There is this to be said for the Gladstone Ministry in 1881: that,
having decided on a policy of scuttle and abandonment, they did it
thoroughly, as though they enjoyed it. A feeble vote-catching
provision, with no security attached, was inserted in the Pretoria
Convention relative to the treatment of natives, but no thought or
care was given to the unfortunate British subject who happened to be
a white man, and to have fought for his Queen and country.{05} The
abandonment was complete, without scruple, without shame. It has been
written that 'the care and forethought which would be lavished on a
favourite horse or dog on changing masters were denied to British
subjects by the British Government.' The intensity and bitterness of
the resentment, the wrath and hatred--so much deeper because so
impotent--at the betrayal and desertion have left their traces on
South African feeling; and the opinion of the might and honour of
England, as it may be gleaned in many parts of the Colonies as well
as everywhere in the Republics, would be an unpleasant revelation to
those who live in undisturbed portions of the Empire, comfortable in
the belief that to be a British subject carries the old-time magic of
'Civis Romanus sum.'
The Transvaal State, as it was now to be called, was re-established,
having had its trade restored, its enemies crushed--for Secocoeni and
Cetewayo were both defeated and broken--and its debts paid or
consolidated in the form of a debt to England, repayable when
possible. For some time not even the interest on this debt was paid.
Numbers of British subjects left the country in disgust and despair.
Ruined in pocket and broken in spirit, they took what little they
could realize of their once considerable possessions, and left the
country where they could no longer live and enjoy the rights of free
men. For some years the life of a Britisher among the Boers was far
from happy. It is not surprising--indeed, not unnatural--that people
unsoftened by education and the conditions of civilization, moved by
fierce race prejudice, and intoxicated by unbroken and unexpected
success, should in many cases make the vanquished feel the
conqueror's heel. The position of men of British name or sympathies
in the country districts was very serious, and the injustice done to
those who had settled since the annexation, believing that they were
to live under the laws and protection of their own Government was
grave indeed.
The Government of the country was vested in a Triumvirate with Mr.
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger as Vice-President during the period
immediately following the war; but in 1882 the old form was restored
and Mr. Kruger was elected President, an office which he is now
holding for the third successive term.{06}
Prior to the war the population of the country was reckoned by both
Dutch and English authorities to be about 40,000 souls, the great
majority of whom were Dutch. The memorial addressed to Lord
Carnarvon, dated January 7, 1878, praying for repeal of the
annexation, was 'signed by 6,591 qualified electors out of a possible
8,000,' as is explained in the letter of the Transvaal delegates to
Sir M. Hicks-Beach dated July 10, 1878. The fact, already mentioned,
that 3,000 electors had petitioned for the annexation only means that
some of them changed their minds under pressure or conviction, and
helped to swell the number of those who later on petitioned for
repeal. The signatories to the above memorial would include
practically all the Dutch electors in the country, and the remaining
1,400 or so would probably be the non-Boer party who preferred
British rule, and could not be coerced into signing memorials against
it. These figures are useful as a check upon those now put forward by
the Transvaal Government to combat the assertion that the Uitlanders
outnumber the Boers. Recognizing the fact that the Boers are a
singularly domestic and prolific people, one may allow that
they numbered 35,000 out of the total population, an estimate that
will be seen to be extremely liberal. At the time that the above
figures were quoted by the Transvaal delegates every Boer youth over
the age of twenty-one was a qualified voter, so that it would seem
that the qualified Boer voter had an _average_ of one wife and 4.3
children, a fair enough allowance in all conscience. These figures
should be borne in mind, for the present Boer population consists of
what remains of these 35,000 souls and their natural increase during
eighteen years. There are other Dutch immigrants from the Cape
Colony and Free State: these are aliens, who have the invaluable
qualification of hating England and her sons and her ways and
her works; but, as will be made clear when the Franchise Law is
explained, the present Boer electorate consists-or, without fraud or
favouritism, _should_ consist-of the 'possible 8,000' and their
sons.
Many a champion of liberty has lived to earn the stigma of tyrant,
and the Boers who in 1835 had trekked for liberty and freedom from
oppressive rule, and who had fought for it in 1880, began now
themselves to put in force the principles which they had so stoutly
resisted. In the Volksraad Session of 1882 the first of the measures
of exclusion was passed. The Franchise, which until then-in
accordance with Law No. 1 of 1876-had been granted to anyone holding
property or residing in the State, or, failing the property
qualification, to anyone who had qualified by one year's residence,
was now altered, and Law No. 7 of 1882 was passed which provided that
aliens could become naturalized and enfranchised after five years'
residence, thus attaining the status of the oldest Voortrekker. The
feeling was now very strong against the Annexation Party, as they had
been called, that is to say, the men who had had the courage of their
convictions, and had openly advocated annexation; and as usual the
bitterest persecutors and vilifiers were found in the ranks of those
who, having secretly supported them before, had become suspect, and
had now need to prove their loyalty by their zeal. The intention was
avowed to keep the party pure and undiluted, as it was maintained
by many of the Boers that former proselytes had used their
newly-acquired privileges to vote away the independence of the
country. The view was not unnatural under the circumstances, and this
measure, had it not been a violation of pledges, might have found
defenders among impartial persons; but unfortunately it proved to
be not so much a stringently defensive measure which time and
circumstances might induce them to modify, as the first step in a
policy of absolute and perpetual exclusion. It was the first
deliberate violation of the spirit of the settlement, and, although
there is no clause in the Pretoria Convention which it can be said
to contravene, it was, as Mr. Chamberlain has since styled it, 'a
violation of the _status quo_ as it was present to the minds of her
Majesty's Ministers at the time the Convention was negotiated.' But
the Gladstone Ministry, which had paid so heavily to get rid of the
Transvaal question, was certainly not going to re-open it for the
sake of holding the Boers to the spirit of the settlement.
Another precaution was taken to keep all the power in the hands of
the Boers. The various towns which had formerly been entitled to
representation in Parliament were deprived of this right, and have
remained disfranchised ever since. Mr. Kruger feared that the
enlightened thought of the towns would hinder the growth of his
'national policy.'
It was not too late even at this time to have bloodlessly settled the
Transvaal question for ever by a fair but thoroughly firm attitude
towards the restored Republic. No doubt British Ministers, conscious
of an act of supreme self-restraint and magnanimity, believed that
some reciprocal justice would be evoked. At any rate, it is possible
that this was the reason which guided them, and not continued callous
indifference to the fate of British subjects and the future of South
Africa. In such case, however, they must have forgotten 'the fault of
the Dutch'--which Andrew Marvell's couplet has recorded--of 'giving
too little and asking too much.' The Transvaal Boers are very
practical people, and no matter what they may receive or how they get
it, whether by way of diplomacy or barter or the accident of good
luck or deed of gift, they never neglect to press and scheme for
more. It is an unpleasant feature in the Boer character, prominent
alike in personal and general relations, begotten, mayhap, of hard
life, constant struggle, and lack of education and its softening
and elevating influence. It is a feature which is common to all
uneducated peoples who have suffered great hardships, and it will no
doubt disappear in time; but it is one which has to be reckoned with
at the present day, and one which, when recognized at its true value,
sustains the contention that the Boers, in dealing with those whom
they regard as not of them, will recognise no right and do no justice
unless compelled to do so. The considerations of a narrow and selfish
policy are stronger than the sense of right and wrong.
British Ministers and the British people when glowing with a mildly
enthusiastic satisfaction at their tolerant and even generous
attitude towards a weaker opponent may imagine that they have sown
good seed which in time will bear ample fruit; but it is not so.
Nothing but firmness and strict justice will avert a bloody day of
reckoning. Nothing but prompt and effective veto on every attempt to
break or stretch the spirit of past undertakings will bring it home
to the Transvaal Government that all the give cannot be on the one
side and all the take on the other; that they cannot trade for ever
on the embarrassment of a big Power in dealing with a little one; and
that they must comport themselves with due regard to their
responsibilities.
Almost the first use made by the Transvaal Government of their
recovered power was one which has wrought much mischief to the State.
The Triumvirate who ruled the country in 1882 granted numbers of
concessions, ostensibly for the purpose of opening up industries or
developing mining areas. The real reasons are generally considered to
have been personal, and the result was the crushing of budding
activities, and the severe discouragement of those who were willing
to expend capital and energies in legitimate work. Favouritism pure
and simple dictated these grants. It is hardly too much to say that
the system and spirit then introduced rule to this day, for although
the Volksraad has taken definite resolution condemning the principle
of monopolies and contracts conferring preferential rights of any
sort, the spirit of this resolution is violated whenever the
President and Executive deem it fit to do so--witness, for instance,
the monopoly granted in December, 1895, for the free importation
of produce, which is disguised as a Government agency with a
'commission' to the agent; but it is really a monopoly and
nothing else!
The Boers were not satisfied with the Convention of 1881. They
desired the removal of the Suzerainty, the cancellation of the
clauses referring to natives, and the restoration of the title of the
South African Republic in lieu of that of the Transvaal State. They
also desired (but did not expect to obtain) complete freedom in
regard to their external relations, and they lost no time in trying
how far they would be allowed to go in the direction of stretching
the spirit of the Convention. Nothing in that ineffectual and
miserable document is clearer than the definition of certain
boundaries, and the provision that no extension shall be allowed.
This hemming of them in--or shutting them up in a kraal, as President
Kruger has expressively put it--was intensely repugnant to them. It
cut into one of the most deeply-rooted habits of the Boer. His method
of trek and expansion has been, to begin by making small hunting
excursions into adjacent native territories, to follow up with
grazing his cattle there until he created in his own mind a right by
prescription, and then to establish it either by force or else by
written agreement, too often imperfectly translated. This was
oftentimes varied or supplemented by helping the weaker of two rival
chiefs, and so demolishing the power of a tribe. The expulsion of the
native followed as a natural result.
In the Transvaal itself there was, and still is, an immense quantity
of unoccupied land, and the Boers were quite unable to properly
control, utilize, and administer their own immense territory, but
'land hunger' is theirs as a birth curse. The individual cannot bear
to see the smoke of his neighbour's chimney; he will not cultivate 50
acres, but wants 50,000; the 'nation' wants Africa--no less. They
coveted Swaziland, Zululand, Bechuanaland, Matabeleland, Mashonaland,
and Tongaland, and set to work by devious methods to establish claims
to these countries.
In Bechuanaland they took sides; that is to say, parties of
freebooters from the Transvaal took up the cause of certain native
chiefs against certain others. The London Convention in 1884
disposed of this quarrel by fixing the south-western boundaries
of the Republic, and placing two of the disputing chiefs under
the Transvaal, and the other two under British protection.
Notwithstanding this, however, the new Convention was no sooner
signed than the scheming was resumed, and before a year had passed a
party of Transvaal Boers, several of them now holding high official
positions under the Republic, raided the territory of the chiefs in
the British Protectorate, and even attacked the chief town Mafeking.
This was followed by a proclamation by President Kruger placing the
territory under the protection of the Republic. Mr. Rhodes, who had
already made himself conspicuous by his advocacy of holding the
highway to the interior open, was instrumental in inducing the
Imperial Government to make a determined stand against this. An
ultimatum moved the Transvaal Government to withdraw the proclamation
and forced the Boers to leave the country--only, however, when and
because the demand was backed by the Warren expedition at a cost of
over a million and a half to the British taxpayer! This expedition
was sent by Mr. Gladstone, the Boer benefactor--notwithstanding all
his anxiety to prove the Transvaal settlement a good one! The action
of the Transvaal, and the most brutal murder of Mr. Bethell by the
individuals above referred to as holding high official positions
under the Republic, gave indications of the bent of the Boer
authorities which people in South Africa did not fail to take note
of. Bethell had been wounded in the invasion of the territory by the
Boers, and as he lay helpless the 'prominent Transvaal official' came
up and, seeing a repeating rifle lying beside him, asked him to show
them how it worked. He did so, and the 'prominent official' taking it
up under pretext of examining it shot Bethell dead with his own
weapon.
In Zululand similar tactics were resorted to by the Republic.
Transvaal Boers invaded Zululand and (1884) took up the cause of
Dinizulu, a son of the dead Cetewayo, and established him as king,
upsetting Sir Garnet Wolseley's settlement. They then proceeded to
seize the country, but the British Government intervening at this
point, rescued some two-thirds for the Zulus. A glance at the map
will show that the intention of the Boers was to get to the sea, and
also that the unlucky Zulus, who had been broken by the British
Government--and very rightly too--because they were a menace to the
Transvaal, even more than to Natal, were now deprived of the pick of
their country, plundered and harried by the very people who had been
at their mercy until the Imperial Government stepped in. It is very
noteworthy that, with the splendid exception of the lion-hearted Piet
Uys and his sons, who fought and died (father and one son) in the
Zulu war side by side with the Britishers whom he was keenly opposing
on the annexation question, none of the Boers came forward to help in
the Secocoeni or Zulu wars, although these wars were undertaken, the
one entirely, and the other mainly, on their account. But a great
many were ready to raid and annex as soon as the Zulu power was
broken.
Swaziland became in turn the object of the Boer Government's
attentions. First, grazing concessions were obtained; and next, other
concessions for the collection of Customs and Revenue dues, for
telegraphs, railways, banking, surveying, and goodness only knows
what. One individual applied for and obtained a concession for the
balance of ungranted concessions, and another applied for a grant of
the Chief Justiceship. What chance the unfortunate native had in such
a condition of things can be imagined. The Transvaal bought up all
the concessions necessary to make government of the country
absolutely impossible, except with their cooperation. The secret
service fund of the Republic provided means for making the
representatives of the Swazi nation see things in a reasonable light,
so that when the time came to investigate the title to concessions
and to arrange for the future administration of the country the
result was a foregone conclusion. The judge appointed by the Imperial
Government on the Special Joint Commission to inquire into the
concessions and matters in general let some light on the manner in
which these concessions were acquired and granted, by pertinent
questions to the concessionaires and interpreters. He asked, for
instance, 'Do you swear that you interpreted this document verbatim
to the king?'--'Yes.' 'Will you kindly tell to the Court what is the
or how you interpreted and explained the significance of the
"survey," "mint," "revenue," and "townships" concessions?'
The picture of the obese and drunken chief surrounded by fawning
harpies was a shameful and disgusting one. One example is sufficient
to show how the thing was done. A concession for gambling was applied
for. The man who interpreted knew a smattering of 'kitchen' Kaffir,
and his rendering of the 'monopoly for billiards, card playing,
lotteries, and games of chance' was that he alone should be allowed
to '_tchia ma-ball_ (hit the balls), _hlala ma-paper_ (play the
papers), and _tata zonki mali_ (and take all the money).' The poor
drunken king nodded sleepily to the first two clauses, but to the
bald proposition of taking all the money, which he _could_
understand, he violently objected. The concession was, however,
subsequently granted on the representations of a more tactful
interpreter.
A very flagrant breach of the spirit of the London Convention, and a
very daring attempt at land-grabbing, was the proposed last will and
testament of the Swazi King Umbandine, which provided that the
governing powers should be assigned to Mr. Kruger as executor of the
King and trustee and administrator of the country. His project was
defeated; but the aim of the Boer Government was ultimately achieved,
nevertheless, and Swaziland has now been handed over to the control
of the Republic in spite of the prayers and protestations of the
Swazis themselves, who had proved in the past with very practical
results to be useful, ready, and loyal allies of the British
Government.
While Swaziland was being entoiled the Transvaal Government were not
idle elsewhere. Matabeleland was looked upon as the heritage of the
Boer, because of the 'old friendship' with the Matabele,--whom they
had driven out of their country, now the Transvaal; and Mashonaland
was theirs because it was their ancient hunting-ground. That the
Boers did not abandon their old schemes merely because they had
agreed by treaty to do so is shown by a letter which was found at Lo
Bengula's kraal by Mr. F. Thompson when he went up to negotiate for
Mr. Rhodes. The stealthy grovelling of the Commandant-General before
a savage native chief, the unctuous phraseology, the hypocritical
assurances of an undying friendship between Boer and Matabele so long
as there are living one of each race, throw a lurid light upon the
conduct of Boer diplomacy with native tribes, and explain much of the
ineradicable fear and distrust which are felt on the native side in
all dealings with the aggressive Boer. The letter reads:
MARICO,
THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC,
_March 9, 1882._
_To the great ruler the Chief Lo Bengula, the son of Umzilikatse, the
great King of the Matabili nation_.
GREAT RULER,
When this letter reaches you, then you will know that it comes from a
man who very much desires to visit you, but who, being a man of the
people, cannot get loose to make such a long journey. Therefore he
must now be satisfied with writing a letter to carry his regards to
the son of the late King of the Matabele, our old friend Umzilikatse.
When I say that I desire to see you, it is not to ask for anything,
but to talk of something, and to tell Lo Bengula of the affairs and
things of the world, because I know that there are many people who
talk and tell about these matters, whilst there are but few who tell
the truth. Now, when a man hears a thing wrong, it is worse than if
he had never heard it at all. Now, I know that Lo Bengula has heard
some things wrongly, and for this reason would I tell him the real
truth. Now, you must have heard that the English--or as they are
better known the Englishmen--took away our country, the Transvaal,
or, as they say, annexed it. We then talked nicely for four years,
and begged for our country. But no; when an Englishman once has your
property in his hand, then is he like a monkey that has its hands
full of pumpkin-seeds--if you don't beat him to death, he will
never let go--and then all our nice talk for four years did not help
us at all. Then the English commenced to arrest us because we were
dissatisfied, and that caused the shooting and fighting. Then the
English first found that it would be better to give us back our
country. Now they are gone, and our country is free, and we will now
once more live in friendship with Lo Bengula, as we lived in
friendship with Umzilikatse, and such must be our friendship, that so
long as there is one Boer and one Matabele living these two must
remain friends. On this account do I wish to see Lo Bengula, and if I
may live so long, and the country here become altogether settled, and
_the stink which the English brought_ is first blown away altogether,
then I will still ride so far to reach Lo Bengula, and if he still
has this letter then he will hear the words from the mouth of the man
who now must speak with the pen upon paper, and who, therefore,
cannot so easily tell him everything. The man is a brother's child of
the three brothers that formerly--now thirty-two years ago--were at
Umzilikatse's, and then made the peace with him which holds to this
day. He still remembers well when the first Boers, Franz Joubert,
Jann Joubert, and Pieter Joubert, came there, and when they made the
the peace which is so strong that the vile evil-doers were never able
to destroy it, and never shall be able to destroy it as long as there
shall be one Boer that lives and Lo Bengula also lives.
Now I wish to send something to give Lo Bengula a present as a token
of our friendship. I send for Lo Bengula with the gentleman who will
bring him this letter a blanket and a handkerchief for his great
wife, who is the mother of all the Matabele nation. I will one day
come to see their friendship. The gentleman who brings the letter
will tell you about all the work which I have to do here. Some bad
people have incited Kolahing, and so he thought he would make
fortifications and fight with us, but he got frightened, and saw that
he would be killed, therefore I made him break down the
fortifications and pack all the stones in one heap, and he had then
to pay 5,000 cattle and 4,000 sheep and goats for his wickedness. Now
there is another chief, Gatsizibe--he came upon our land and killed
three people and plundered them--he must also pay a fine, or else we
will punish him or shoot him, because we will have peace in our
country. Now greetings, great Chief Lo Bengula, from the
Commandant-General of the South African Republic for the Government
and Administration.
P.J. JOUBERT.
A big trek (the Banjailand trek) was organized in 1890 and 1891 by
General Joubert and his relatives and supporters to occupy a portion
of the territory already proclaimed as under British protection and
the administration of the Chartered Company. The trekkers were turned
back at Rhodes's Drift, stopped by the firmness and courage and tact
of Dr. Jameson, who met them alone and unarmed; and also by the
proclamation of President Kruger, to whom it had been plainly
intimated that the invasion would be forcibly resisted and would
inevitably provoke war. The matter had gone so far that the offices
of the Republic of Banjai had already been allotted. The President's
proclamation instead of being regarded as the barest fulfilment of
his obligations--very grudgingly done under pressure of threats--was
vaunted as an act of supreme magnanimity and generosity, and was used
in the bargaining for the cession of Swaziland.
In Tongaland Boer emissaries were not idle; but they failed, owing to
the fact that the Tonga Queen Regent, Zambili, a really fine specimen
of the savage ruler, would have nothing to do with any power but
England, whose suzerainty she accepted in 1887. Being shut off here,
the Boer Government made another bid for seaward extension, and,
through their emissaries, obtained certain rights from two petty
chiefs, Zambaan and Umbegesa, whom they represented as independent
kings; but Lord Rosebery annexed their territories in 1894, and so
put a final stop to the Transvaal schemes to evade the Convention by
intrigue with neighbouring native tribes.
Nothing can better illustrate the Boers' deliberate evasion of their
treaty obligations than their conduct in these matters. The Pretoria
Convention defined the Transvaal boundaries and acknowledged the
independence of the Swazis, and yet the British Government's delay in
consenting to the annexation of Swaziland by the Republic was
regarded for years as an intolerable grievance, and was proclaimed as
such so insistently that nearly all South Africa came at last to so
regard it.
The Boers' consent to the Chartered Company's occupation of
Mashonaland was looked upon as something calling for a _quid pro
quo_, and the annexation of Zambaan's land is now regarded as an
infamous act of piracy by England, and an infringement of the
Republic's rights, which the Dutch papers denounce most vehemently.
The Boer Government made it clear, not less in their purely internal
policy than in these matters of extensions of territory, that they
intended pursuing a line of their own.
In 1882, the property known as 'Moodies,' consisting of a number of
farms bearing indications of gold, was thrown open to prospectors.
The farms had been allotted to Mr. G. Piggott Moodie when he was
Surveyor-General, in lieu of salary which the Republic was unable to
pay. This was the beginning of the prospecting era which opened up De
Kaap, Witwatersrand, and other fields; but it was a small beginning,
and for some time nothing worth mentioning was discovered. The
Republic was again in a bad way, and drifting backwards after its
first spurt. The greatest uncertainty prevailed amongst prospectors
as to their titles, for in Lydenburg, at Pilgrim's Rest, and on the
Devil's Kantoor, concessions had been granted over the heads of the
miners at work on their claims, and they had been turned off for the
benefit of men who contributed in no way to the welfare and
prosperity of the State. It has been stated in the Volksraad that not
one of those concessionaires has even paid the dues and rents, or
complied with the other conditions stipulated in the contracts.
district was practically locked up for fourteen years owing to the
concession policy, and has only lately been partly released from the
bonds of monopoly.
In 1884 Messrs. Kruger and Smit proceeded to Europe to endeavour to
raise funds, which were badly needed, and also to obtain some
modifications of the Convention. The attempt to raise funds through
the parties in Holland to whom the railway concession had just been
granted failed, but the delegates were more fortunate in their other
negotiations. They negotiated the London Convention which fixed
certain hitherto undefined boundaries; and in that document no
reference was made to the suzerainty of Great Britain. They also
secured the consent of the British Government to the alteration of
the title of the country. Instead of Transvaal State it became once
more the 'South African Republic.'{07} During this visit there
occurred an incident which provides the answer to Mr. Kruger's
oft--_too_ oft--repeated remark that 'the Uitlanders were never asked
to settle in the Transvaal, and are not wanted there.' Messrs. Kruger
and Smit were staying at the Albemarle Hotel, where they found
themselves, after some weeks' delay, in the uncomfortable position of
being unable to pay their hotel bill. In their extremity they applied
to one Baron Grant, at that time a bright particular star in the
Stock Exchange firmament. Baron Grant was largely interested in the
gold concessions of Lydenburg, and he was willing to assist, but on
terms. And the _quid pro quo_ which he asked was some public
assurance of goodwill, protection, and encouragement to British
settlers in the Transvaal. Mr. Kruger responded on behalf of the
Republic by publishing in the London press the cordial invitation
and welcome and the promise of rights and protection to all who
would come, so frequently quoted against him of late.
By this time Moodies had attracted a fair number of people, and the
prospects of the country began, for the first time with some show of
reason, to look brighter. No results were felt, however, and the
condition of the Government officials was deplorable. Smuggling was
carried on systematically; in many cases officials 'stood in' with
smugglers. They were obliged either to do that or to enforce the laws
properly and get what they could by seizing contraband goods. There
were two objections to the latter course, however. One was that the
country was large and detection difficult with men who were both
daring and resourceful; and the other was that the officials were not
sure of receiving their share of the spoil from a Government so hard
pressed as this one was, and whose higher officials also had
difficulties about payment of salaries. In many cases salaries were
six months in arrear; and other cases could be quoted of officials
whose house-rent alone amounted to more than their nominal
remuneration. Yet they continued to live, and it was not difficult to
surmise _how_. Another significant fact was that goods subject to
heavy duties--such as spirits, hams, etc.--could be bought at any
store at a price which was less than original cost plus carriage and
duty. Smuggling was a very palpable fact, and--quoth the public and
the officials--a very convenient and even necessary evil.
The principle on which the Customs officials conducted the business
of their office was observed by other officials of the Republic, and
in one department, at least, the abuses have had a very far-reaching
and serious effect. The Field-cornets--district officials who act as
petty justices, registering, and pass officers, collectors of
personal taxes, captains of the burgher forces, etc., etc.--are the
officers with whom each newcomer has to register. This is an
important matter, because the period of residence for the purpose of
naturalization and enfranchisement is reckoned from the date of
registration in the Field-cornet's books. As these officials were
practically turned loose on the public to make a living the best
way they could, many of them, notwithstanding that they collected the
taxes imposed by law, omitted to enter the names of new arrivals in
their books, thus securing themselves against having to make good
these amounts in event of an inspection of the books. Many of the
Field-cornets were barely able to write; they had no 'offices,' and
would accept taxes and registrations at any time and in any place.
The chances of correct entry were therefore remote. The result of
this is very serious. The records are either 'lost' when they might
prove embarrassing, or so incorrectly or imperfectly kept as to be of
no use whatever; and settlers in the Transvaal from 1882 to 1890 are
in most cases unable to prove their registration as the law requires,
and this through no fault of their own.
In the country districts justice was not a commodity intended for the
Britisher. Many cases of gross abuse, and several of actual murder
occurred; and in 1885 the case of Mr. Jas. Donaldson, then residing
on a farm in Lydenburg--lately one of the Reform prisoners--was
mentioned in the House of Commons, and became the subject of a demand
by the Imperial Government for reparation and punishment. He had been
ordered by two Boers (one of whom was in the habit of boasting that
he had shot an unarmed Englishman in Lydenburg since the war, and
would shoot others) to abstain from collecting hut taxes on his own
farm; and on refusing had been attacked by them. After beating them
off single-handed, he was later on again attacked by his former
assailants, reinforced by three others. They bound him with reims
(thongs), kicked and beat him with sjamboks (raw-hide whips) and
clubs, stoned him, and left him unconscious and so disfigured that he
was thought to be dead when found some hours later. On receipt of the
Imperial Government's representations, the men were arrested, tried
and fined. The fines were stated to have been remitted at once by
Government, but in the civil action which followed Mr. Donaldson
obtained £500 damages. The incident had a distinctly beneficial
effect, and nothing more was heard of the maltreatment of defenceless
men simply because they were Britishers. Moreover, with the
improvement in trade which followed the gold discoveries of 1885
and 1886 at Moodies and Barberton, the relations between the two
races also improved. Frequent intercourse and commercial relations
begot a better knowledge of each other, and the fierce hatred of the
Britisher began to disappear in the neighbourhood of the towns and
the goldfields.
In 1886 the wonderful richness of the Sheba Mine in Barberton
attracted a good deal of attention, and drew a large number of
persons--prospectors, speculators, traders, etc.--to the Transvaal.
Before the end of 1887 ten or twelve thousand must have poured into
the country. The effect was magical. The revenue which had already
increased by 50 per cent. in 1886, doubled itself in 1887, and then
there came unto the Boer Government that which they had least
expected--ample means to pursue their greater ambitions. But unmixed
good comes to few, and with the blessings of plenty came the cares of
Government, the problem of dealing with people whose habits,
thoughts, ambitions, methods, language, and logic differed utterly
from their own. Father Abraham on the London Stock Exchange would not
be much more 'at sea' than the peasant farmers of the Volksraad were
in dealing with the requirements of the new settlers.
Agitations for reforms commenced early in Barberton. At first it was
only roads and bridges that were wanted, or the remission of certain
taxes, or security of title for stands and claims. Later on a
political association named the Transvaal Republican Union was formed
in Barberton, having a constitution and programme much the same as
those of the Transvaal National Union, formed some five years later
in Johannesburg. The work of this body was looked on with much
disfavour by the Government, and it was intimated to some of the
prominent members that if they did not cease to concern themselves
with politics they would suffer in their business relations, and
might even be called upon to leave the country. Many reforms were
specified as desirable, and the franchise question was raised, with
the object of getting the Government to make some reasonable
provision in lieu of the registration clause, which was found in most
cases to be an absolute bar.
The discovery of the Witwatersrand conglomerate formation soon
helped to swell the flowing tide of prosperity. In the middle of
1887 the regular output of gold commenced, and the fields have never
'looked back' since. Johannesburg--named after Mr. Johannes Rissik,
the Surveyor-General of the Transvaal--was soon a far greater problem
than Barberton had been. The shareholders in the mines soon found it
necessary to have some organization to protect their interests and
give unison to their policy, and to preserve the records and collect
information for the industry. The Witwatersrand Chamber of Mines was
then formed, a voluntary business association of unique interest and
efficiency. The organization includes all the representative and
influential men, and every company of any consequence connected with
the mining industry; and it has, through its committee and officials,
for eight years represented to the Volksraad the existence of abuses
and grievances, the remedies that are required, and the measures
which are felt to be necessary or conducive to the progress of the
industry in particular, or the welfare of the State in general. The
President, Executive and Volksraad, by neglect of their obvious
duties, by their ignorance of ordinary public affairs, by their
wilful disregard of the requirements of the Uitlanders, have given
cohesion to a people about as heterogeneous as any community under
the sun, and have trained them to act and to care for themselves. The
refusal year after year to give a charter of incorporation to the
Chamber, on the grounds that it would be creating an _imperium in
imperio_, and the comments of Volksraad members on the petition, have
made it clear that the Government view the Chamber with no friendly
eye. The facts that in order to get a workable pass law at all the
Chamber had to prepare it in every detail, together with plans for
the creation and working of a Government department; and that in
order to diminish the litigation under the gold law, and to make that
fearful and wonderful agglomeration of erratic, experimental, crude,
involved, contradictory and truly incomprehensible enactments at all
understandable, the Chamber had to codify it at its own expense and
on its own initiative, illustrate both the indispensable character of
the organization, and the ignorance and ineptitude of the Government.
The records of the Volksraad for the last ten years may be searched
in vain for any measure calculated constructively to advance the
country, or to better the conditions of the workers in it, with the
few--very few--exceptions of those proposed by the Chamber of Mines.
The country has, in fact, run the Government, and the Government has
been unable to ruin it.
Shortly after the discovery of the Rand conglomerates, it became
clear that a railway would have to be built between the coalfields
and the mines--some forty miles. But it was a fixed principle of the
Boers that no railways (with the exception of the Delagoa Bay line,
which, as the means of diverting trade from British channels, was
regarded as a necessary evil) should be built, since they could
compete successfully with the ox-waggon, and thus deprive the 'poor
burgher' of his legitimate trade spoil; and great difficulty was
experienced in getting the consent of the Raad. As a matter of fact,
the permission to build it was only obtained by subterfuge; for it
was explained to the worthy law-makers that it was not a railway at
all--only a _steam tram_. And the Rand Steam Tram it is called to
this day.
The Delagoa Railway--the darling scheme of Presidents Burgers and
Kruger in turn--was taken seriously in hand as soon as it was
possible to raise money on almost any terms. The concession for all
railways in the State was granted on April 16, 1884, to a group of
Hollander and German capitalists, and confirmed by the Volksraad on
August 23 following. The President's excuse for granting and
preserving this iniquitous bond on the prosperity of the State is,
that when the country was poor and its credit bad, friends in Holland
came forward and generously helped it, and this must not be forgotten
to them. As a matter of fact, friends accepted the concession when
the State was poor and its credit bad, but did nothing until the
State's credit improved to such an extent as to be mortgageable.
_Then_ the friends granted certain favourable terms under their
concession to other friends, who built the first section of the line
at preposterous rates, and repaid themselves out of moneys raised on
the State's credit.
A well-known South African politician, distinguished alike for his
ability and integrity, who visited the Transvaal during the progress
of the reformers' trial, and was anxious in the interests of all
South Africa to find a solution of the differences, put the position
thus to some of the leading men of the Rand: 'You can see for
yourselves that this is no time to ask for the franchise; for the
time being, Jameson's invasion has made such a suggestion impossible.
Now, tell me in a word, Is there any one thing that you require more
than anything else, which we can help you to get?' The answer was:
'The one thing which we must have--not for its own sake, but for the
security it offers for obtaining and retaining other reforms--_is_
the franchise. No promise of reform, no reform itself, will be worth
an hour's purchase unless we have the status of voters to make our
influence felt. But, if you want the chief economic grievances, they
are: the Netherlands Railway Concession, the dynamite monopoly, the
liquor traffic, and native labour, which, together, constitute an
unwarrantable burden of indirect taxation on the industry of _over
two and a half millions sterling annually_. We petitioned until we
were jeered at; we agitated until we--well--came here [Pretoria
Gaol]; and we know that we shall get no remedy until we have the vote
to enforce it. We are not a political but a working community, and if
we were honestly and capably governed the majority of us would be
content to wait for the franchise for a considerable time yet in
recognition of the peculiar circumstances, and of the feelings of the
older inhabitants. That is the position in a nutshell.'
[Netherlands Railway Company.]
The Netherlands Railway Company is then a very important factor. It
is unnecessary to go very fully into its history and the details of
its administration. As the holder of an absolute monopoly, as the
enterprise which has involved the State in its National Debt, and as
the sole channel through which such money has been expended, the
Company has gradually worked itself into the position of being the
financial department of the State; and the functions which are
elsewhere exercised by the heads of the Government belong here, in
practice, entirely to this foreign corporation. Petitions for the
cancellation of this concession were presented in 1888, when the
progressive element in the first Volksraad consisted of one man--Mr.
Loveday, one of the loyalists in the war. The agitation begun and
carried on by him was taken up by others, but without further result
than that of compelling the President to show his hand and step
forward as the champion of the monopoly on every occasion on which it
was assailed. During the years 1893-96 the President stoutly defended
the Company in the Volksraad, and by his influence and the solid vote
of his ignorant Dopper Party completely blocked all legislation
tending to control the Company. Indeed at the end of the Session of
1895, on receiving representations from the business communities of
the Republic as to the desirability of removing this incubus from the
overtaxed people, the President stated plainly that the Netherlands
Railway Concession was a matter of high politics and did not concern
any but the burghers of the State, and that he would receive no
representations from the Uitlanders on the subject nor would he
permit them to discuss it.
Very shortly after the granting of this railway concession came the
appointment of Dr. Leyds as State Attorney for the Republic, he
having been recommended and pushed forward by the gentlemen in
Holland to whom the concession had been granted. It is stated that he
was sent out as the agent of the concessionaires in order to protect
and advance their interests, although at the same time in the service
of the Republic. It is only necessary to add that Mr. Beelaerts van
Blokland, the Consul-General for the Republic in Holland, is the
agent of the concessionaires in that country, and the accord with
which these two gentlemen, as railway commissioners at their
respective ends, have always acted becomes intelligible. Several of
the vital conditions of the concession have been freely violated, the
first being that a certain section of the line (Nelspruit) should be
completed within four years. It was not completed for eight. The
concession really became void several times during the years prior to
1890, but always found a stalwart champion in the President, who
continued to defend the concessionaires for some two years after they
had failed to get their capital subscribed. The Company was
floated on June 21 1887 on the most peculiar terms, the capital of
£166,666 being in 2,000 shares of 1,000 guilders, or £83 6s. 8d.
each. The shares were subscribed for by the following groups:
German 819 shares, carrying 30 votes.
Hollander 581 " " 76 "
The Republic 600 " " 6 "
The trust-deed, which limited the Republic to 6 out of 112 votes,
although it subscribed about one-third of the capital, and gave to
the smallest holders, the Hollanders, twice as many votes as all the
others put together, was passed by Dr. Leyds, in his capacity of
legal adviser of the Government, having previously been prepared by
him in his other capacity. The sum of £124,000 appears to have been
expended on construction ten months before any contract was given out
for the same or any work begun, and fifteen months before any
material was shipped.
The contract for the construction of the first sixty miles compels
admiration, if only for its impudence. In the first place the
contractors, Van Hattum and Co., were to build the line at a cost to
be mutually agreed upon by them and the railway company, and they
were to receive as remuneration 11 per cent. upon the amount of the
specification. But should they exceed the contract price then the 11
per cent. was to be proportionately decreased by an arranged sliding
scale, provided, however, that Van Hattum and Co. did not _exceed the
specification by more than 100 per cent._, in which latter case the
Company would have the right to cancel the contract. By this
provision Messrs. Van Hattum and Co. could increase the cost by 100
per cent, provided they were willing to lose the 11 per cent. profit,
leaving them a net gain of 89 per cent. They did not neglect the
opportunity. Whole sections of earthworks cost £23,500 per mile,
which should not have cost £8,000. Close upon a thousand Hollanders
were brought out from Holland to work for a few months in each year
on the line and then be sent back to Holland again at the expense of
the Republic. In a country which abounded in stone the Komati Bridge
was built of dressed stone which had been quarried and worked in
Holland and exported some 7,000 miles by ship and rail.
These are a few instances out of many. The loss to the country
through the financing was of course far greater than any manipulation
of the construction could bring about. In the creating of overdrafts
and the raising of loans very large sums indeed were handled.
Three-quarters of a million in one case and a million in another
offered opportunities which the Hollander-German gentlemen who were
doing business for the country out of love for it (as was frequently
urged on their behalf in the Volksraad) were quick to perceive. The 5
per cent. debentures issued to raise the latter sum were sold at £95
15s.; but the financiers deducted £5 commission from even this, so
that the State has only benefited to the extent of £90 15s. This
transaction was effected at a time when the State loan known as the
Transvaal Fives--raised on exactly the same interest and precisely
the same guarantee--was quoted at over par. What, however, was felt
to be worse than any detail of finance was that this corporation of
foreigners had gradually obtained complete control of the finances of
the State, and through the railway system it practically dictated the
relations with the other Governments in South Africa, by such
measures for instance as the imposition of a charge of 8-1/2d. per
ton per mile on goods travelling over their lines coming from the
Cape Colony, whilst the other lines are favoured by a charge of less
than half that. The burdens placed upon the mining industry by the
excessive charges imposed for political purposes were, in the case of
the poorer mines, ruinous. The right which the Company had to collect
the Customs dues for account of the State, to retain them as security
for the payment of interest on their shares and debentures, and to
impose a charge for collection quite disproportionate to the cost,
was another serious grievance. It was hopeless, however, to deal with
the whole question. The Government had set its face against any
reform in this quarter. It was not possible to obtain even ordinary
working facilities such as any business corporation unprotected by an
absolute monopoly would be bound to concede of its own accord, in
order to catch a measure of trade.
The Government have the right, under the agreement with the
Company, to take over the railway on certain conditions, of which
the following are the most important:
(_a_) The Company shall receive one year's notice of the intention to
take over.
(_b_) The Company shall receive twenty times the amount of the
average of the last three years' dividends.
(_c_) The Company shall receive as a solatium for the unexpired
period of the concession an amount equal to one per cent. of its
nominal capital for each year up to the year of expiring (1915).
The Government can take over the Krugersdorp-Johannesburg-Boksburg
Tramway against payment of the cost of construction.
If the Volksraad should not during this Session{08} decide to
nationalize the railway no change can take place before 1898, so that
the three years 1895 to 1897 would have to be taken as a basis and
therefore the 6 per cent. for 1894, the only low dividend, would not
come into the calculation. This would of course considerably increase
the purchase price--_e.g._,
1895 9 per cent.
1896 14 " (estimate),
1897 14 " "
--
Total 37 "
That is to say an average distribution of 12.33 per cent. for the
three years. The purchase price would thus be:
12.33 X 20 = 246.66 per cent.
17 years' premium 17 "
------
Total 263.66 "
This has been clearly explained to the Volksraad but without avail,
the President's influence on the other side being too strong. During
the Session of 1895 it was made clear that agitation against the
Company was as futile as beating the air. When the Hollander clique
found that they could no longer convince the Boers as a whole of the
soundness of their business and the genuineness of their aims, and
when they failed to combat the arguments and exposures of their
critics, they resorted to other tactics, and promulgated voluminous
reports and statements of explanations which left the unfortunate
Volksraad members absolutely stupefied where they had formerly only
been confused.{09}
The following is taken from an article in the Johannesburg _Mining
Journal_, dealing with the burdens imposed by the railway company
upon the industry:
RAILWAY MONOPOLY.
This is another carefully designed burden upon the mines and country.
The issued capital and loans of the Netherlands Company now total
about £7,000,000, upon which an average interest of about 5-1/3 per
cent.--guaranteed by the State--is paid, equal to £370,000 per annum.
Naturally the bonds are at a high premium. The Company and its
liabilities can be taken over by the State at a year's notice, and
the necessary funds for this purpose can be raised at 3 per cent. An
offer was recently made to the Government to consolidate this and
other liabilities, but the National Bank, which is another
concession, has the monopoly of all State loan business, and this
circumstance effectually disposed of the proposal. At 3 per cent. a
saving of £160,000 per annum would be made in this monopoly in
interest alone. The value represented by the Custom dues on the
Portuguese border we are not in a position to estimate, but roughly
these collections and the 15 per cent. of the profits paid to the
management and shareholders must, with other leakages, represent at
least another £100,000 per annum, which should be saved the country.
As the revenue of the corporation now exceeds £2,000,000 a year, of
which only half is expended in working costs, the estimate we have
taken does not err upon the side of extravagance. By its neglect of
its duties towards the commercial and mining community enormous
losses are involved. Thus, in the coal traffic, the rate--which is
now to be somewhat reduced--has been 3d. per ton per mile. According
to the returns of the Chamber of Mines, the coal production of the
Transvaal for 1895 was 1,045,121 tons. This is carried an average
distance of nearly thirty miles, but taking the distance at
twenty-four miles the charges are 6s. per ton. At 1-1/2d. per ton per
mile--three times as much as the Cape railways charge--a saving upon
the coal rates of 3s. per ton would follow, equal to £150,000 per
annum. Again, by the 'bagging' system, an additional cost of 2s. 3d.
per ton is incurred--details of this item have been recently
published in this paper--and if this monopoly were run upon ordinary
business lines, a further saving of £110,000 would be made by
carrying coal in bulk. The interest upon the amount required to
construct the necessary sidings for handling the coal, and the
tram-lines required to transport it to the mines, would be a mere
fraction upon this amount; and as the coal trade in the course of a
short time is likely to see a 50 per cent. increase, the estimate may
be allowed to stand at this figure without deduction. No data are
available to fix the amount of the tax laid upon the people generally
by the vexatious delays and losses following upon inefficient railway
administration, but the monthly meetings of the local Chamber of
Commerce throw some light upon these phases of a monopolistic
management. The savings to be made in dealing with the coal traffic
must not be taken as exhausting all possible reforms; the particulars
given as to this traffic only indicate and suggest the wide area
covered by this monopoly, which hitherto has made but halting and
feeble efforts to keep pace with the requirements of the public.
Dealing as it does with the imports of the whole country, which now
amount in value to £10,000,000, the figures we have given must serve
merely to illustrate its invertebrate methods of handling traffic, as
well as its grasping greed in enforcing the rates fixed by the terms
of its concession. Its forty miles of Rand steam tram-line and
thirty-five miles of railway from the Vaal River, with some little
assistance from the Delagoa line and Customs, brought in a revenue
of about £1,250,000 in 1895. Now that the Natal line is opened the
receipts will probably amount to nearly £3,000,000 per annum, all of
which should swell the ordinary revenue of the country, instead of
remaining in the hands of foreigners as a reservoir of wealth for
indigent Hollanders to exploit. The total railway earnings of the
Cape and Natal together over all their lines amounted to £3,916,566
in 1895, and the capital expenditure on railways by these colonies
amounts to £26,000,000. The greater portion of these receipts come
from the Rand trade, which is compelled to pay an additional
£2,500,000, carrying charges to the Netherlands Company, which has
£7,000,000 of capital. Thus, railway receipts in South Africa amount
now to £7,000,000 per annum, of which the Rand contributes at least
£5,000,000.
The revenue of the company is now considerably over £3,000,000 per
annum. The management claim that their expenses amount to but 40 per
cent. of revenue, and this is regarded by them as a matter for
general congratulation. The Uitlanders contend that the concern is
grossly _mis_managed, and that the low cost of working is a fiction.
It only appears low by contrast with a revenue swollen by
preposterously heavy rates and protected by a monopoly. The tariff
could be reduced by one-half; that is to say, a remission of taxation
to the tune of one and a half million annually could be effected
without depriving the Company of a legitimate and indeed very
handsome profit.
[Selati Railway.]
The Selati Railway Scheme! 'Conceived in iniquity, delivered in
shame, died in disgrace!' might be its history, but for the fact that
it is not quite dead yet. But very nearly! The concession was
obtained during the Session of 1890 by a member of the First
Volksraad, Mr. Barend J. Vorster, jun., who himself took part in and
guided the tone of the debate which decided the granting of the
concession. The Raad resolved to endeavour to obtain the favourable
opinions of their constituents, but before doing so the generous
Mr. Vorster made what he was pleased to call 'presents' to the
members--American spiders, Cape carts, gold watches, shares in the
Company to be floated, and sums in cash--were the trifles by which
Mr. Vorster won his way to favour. He placated the President by
presenting to the Volksraad a portrait of his Honour, executed by the
late Mr. Schroeder, South Africa's one artist. The picture cost £600.
The affair was a notorious and shameless matter of bribery and the
only profit which the country gained from it was a candid confession
of personal principles on the part of Mr. Kruger himself, who when
the exposure took place stated that he saw no harm in members
receiving presents. Debentures to the amount of £500,000 were issued,
bearing Government guarantee of 4 per cent. The Company received £70
for each £100 debenture. Comment is superfluous. A second issue of a
million was made, nominally at £93 10s., but the Company only
received £86--a commission to the brokers or agents of 8-3/4 per
cent., at a time when the Company's previous issue of 4 per cents.
were standing at £97 in the market. The costs of flotation were
charged at upwards of £32,000; the expenses of one gentleman's
travelling, etc., £6,000.
But these are 'trifles light as air.' This Selati Railway Company,
which being guaranteed by Government is really a Government
liability, arranged with a contractor to build the line at the
maximum cost allowed in the concession, £9,600 per mile. Two days
later this contractor sub-let the contract for £7,002 per mile. As
the distance is 200 miles, the Republic was robbed by a stroke of the
pen of £519,600--one of the biggest 'steals' even in the Transvaal.
During the two years for which Dr. Leyds was responsible as the
representative of the Republic for the management of this affair,
none of these peculiar transactions were detected--at any rate none
were reported or exposed; but on the accession to office of an
ignorant old Boer the nest of swindles appears to have been
discovered without any difficulty. And it is generally admitted that
Dr. Leyds is not a fool. This exposure took place at the end of the
Session of 1894, and, inured as the Uitlanders had become to jobs,
this was an eyeopener even for them, and the startled community
tax-payers--who had to bear the brunt of it all.
[Revenue.]
Turning to the finances of the country, the following tables are as
instructive as anything can be:
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.{10}
Fiscal period. Revenue. Expenditure. Remarks.
£ £
Aug. 1, 1871 to July 31, 1872 ... 40,988 ... 35,714
" 1, 1872 " Jan. 31, 1873 ... 43,239 ... 41,813
Feb. 1, 1873 " " 31, 1874 ... 49,318 ... 45,482 Gold discovered
in Lydenburg.
" 1, 1874 " " 31, 1875 ... 58,553 ... 61,785
" 1, 1875 " " 31, 1876 ... 64,582 ... 69,394
" 1, 1876 " " 31, 1877 ... 62,762 ... 64,505
" 1, 1877 " April 12, 1877 ... 25,752 ... 17,235
April 12, 1877 " Dec. 31, 1877 ... 54,127 ... 70,003
Jan. 1, 1878 " " 31, 1878 ... 76,774 ... 89,063
" 1, 1879 " " 31, 1879 ... 93,409 ... 177,596
" 1, 1880 " " 31, 1880 ... 174,069 ... 144,943
" 1, 1881 " Oct. 14, 1881 ... 25,326 ... 186,707 British Govt.
Aug. 8, 1881 " Dec. 31, 1881 ... 37,908 ... 33,442 Boer Govt.
Jan. 1, 1882 " " 31, 1882 ... 177,407 ... 114,476
" 1, 1883 " " 31, 1883 ... 143,324 ... 184,344
" 1, 1884 " Mar. 31, 1884 ... 44,557 ... 18,922
April 1, 1884 " " 31, 1885 ... 161,596 ... 184,820
" 1, 1885 " " 31, 1886 ... 177,877 ... 162,709 Sheba floated.
" 1, 1886 " Dec. 31, 1886 ... 196,236 ... 154,636 Rand proclaimed
Sept. 8, 1886.
Jan. 1, 1887 " " 31, 1887 ... 637,749 ... 594,834 Shares quoted
Johannesburg
Stock Exchange.
Telegraph
opened
Johannesburg
April 26, 1887.
" 1, 1888 " " 31, 1888 ... 884,440 ... 720,492 Boom, Nov. 1888
" 1, 1889 " " 31, 1889 ...1,577,445 ...1,201,135 to Jan. 1889.
Slump, Mar. 1889.
" 1, 1890 " " 31, 1890 ...1,229,061 ...1,386,461
" 1, 1891 " " 31, 1891 ... 967,192 ...1,350,074 Baring Crisis.
" 1, 1892 " " 31, 1892 ...1,255,830 ...1,187,766 Railway reached
Johannesburg
Sept. 15.
" 1, 1893 " " 31, 1893 ...1,702,685 ...1,302,054
" 1, 1894 " " 31, 1894 ...2,247,728 ...1,734,728
" 1, 1895 " " 31, 1895 ...2,923,648 ...1,948,249
" 1, 1896 " " 31, 1896 ...3,912,095 ...3,732,492
" 1, 1897 " " 31, 1897 ...3,956,402 ...3,898,816
" 1, 1898 " " 31, 1898 ...3,329,958 ...3,476,844
" 1, 1899 " " 31, 1899 ...4,087,852 ...3,951,234 (Budget).
The figures for the period from 1871 to the end of 1887 are taken
from Jeppe's Transvaal Almanac for 1889. They represent the
ordinary Revenue and Expenditure arrived at after the deduction
of the items 'Special Receipts,' 'Special Deposits,' 'Deposits
Withdrawn,' 'Advance Refunded,' 'Advances made' and 'Fixed Deposits'
from the totals given in the Official Government Returns.
The figures for the years 1888 to 1899 are those of the published
Government Returns after the deduction of--
Fixed deposits from 1888 to 1893 inclusive.
The sale and purchase of explosives from 1895 to 1898 inclusive.
The owner's share of claim licenses from 1895 to 1899 inclusive.
Delagoa Bay Customs Dues paid to the Netherlands Railway for 1898 and
1899.
[Dynamite Monopoly.]
The dynamite monopoly has always been a Monopoly very burning
question with the Uitlanders. This concession was granted shortly
after the Barberton Fields were discovered, when the prospects of an
industry in the manufacture of explosives were not really very great.
The concessionaire himself has admitted that had he foreseen to what
proportions this monopoly would eventually grow he would not have had
the audacity to apply for it. This, of course, is merely a personal
question. The fact which concerned the industry was that the right
was granted to one man to manufacture explosives and to sell them at
a price nearly 200 per cent. over that at which they could be
imported. It was found upon investigation after some years of
agitation that the factory at which this 'manufacture' took place was
in reality merely a depot in which the already manufactured article
was manipulated to a moderate extent so as to lend colour to the
President's statement that a local industry was being fostered. An
investigation held by order of the Volksraad exposed the imposition.
The President himself stated that he found he had been deceived and
that the terms of the concession had been broken, and he urged the
Raad to cancel it--which the Raad did. The triumph was considerable
for the mining industry and it was the more appreciated in that it
was the solitary success to which the Uitlanders could point in their
long series of agitations for reform. But the triumph was not
destined to be a lasting one. Within a few months the monopoly was
revived in an infinitely more obnoxious form. It was now called a
Government monopoly, but 'the agency' was bestowed upon a partner of
the gentleman who had formerly owned the concession, the President
himself vigorously defending this course and ignoring his own
judgment on the case uttered a few months previously. _Land en Volk_,
the Pretoria Dutch newspaper, exposed the whole of this transaction,
including the system of bribery by which the concessionaries secured
their renewal, and among other things made the charge which it has
continued to repeat ever since that Mr. J.M.A. Wolmarans, member
of the Executive, received a commission of one shilling per case
on every case sold during the continuance of the agency as a
consideration for his support in the Executive Council, and that he
continues to enjoy this remuneration, which is estimated now to be
not far short of £10,000 a year. Mr. Wolmarans, for reasons of pride
or discretion, has declined to take any notice of the charge,
although frequently pressed to take action in the matter. It is
calculated that the burden imposed upon the Witwatersrand Mines alone
amounts to £600,000 per annum, and is, of course, daily increasing.
[The Franchise Laws.]
The question of the franchise, which has achieved the greatest
prominence in the Uitlander agitation, is one with which few people
even in the Transvaal are familiar, so many and peculiar have been
the changes effected in the law. Lawyers differ as to whether certain
laws revoke or merely supplement previous ones, and the President
himself--to the grim amusement of the Uitlanders--frequently goes
astray when he speaks on franchise. The first law on burgher and
electoral rights is No. 1 of 1876, which remained in force until
1882. By it the possession of landed property or else residence for
one year qualified the settler for full burgher privileges. Law No. 7
of 1882 was the first attempt of the restored Republic to deal with
the question. It was then enacted that an alien could be naturalized
and enfranchised after five years' residence, such residence to be
proved by the Field-cornet's books of registration. It has already
been explained that these records in nine cases out of ten were
either improperly kept or non-existent.
In 1890 Law No. 4 was passed, creating the Second Volksraad and
altering the Grondwet (or constitution) accordingly. By this law the
franchise was indirectly altered without repealing those portions
which may be at variance with or repugnant to the implied
alterations, and this was done by simply defining what class of
electors should vote for members of the First Raad, and what class
for members of the Second. Thus, 'the members of the First Volksraad
shall be elected by those enfranchised burghers who have obtained the
right of voting before this law comes in force, or thereafter by
birth in the State, and on having attained the age of sixteen years.'
Secondly, all those who became naturalized and enfranchised after
this law was passed could not vote for members of the First
Volksraad, but a subsequent article in the law provides that the
higher rights can be obtained by those who shall have been eligible
for ten years for election to the Second Volksraad; and it is then
explained that, in order to be eligible for the Second Volksraad,
it is necessary to be thirty years of age, to be a member of the
Protestant Church, to live and have landed property in the Republic,
and to have been a naturalized subject for two years. Thus the full
electoral privileges were only obtainable after fourteen years'
residence in the State, and the possession of the other
qualifications of religion, property, etc.
Next came Law No. 13 of 1891, which was rather a codification than an
alteration of previous laws. In 1892 another law was passed again
explaining, but not materially altering the franchise. In 1893 Law
No. 14 was passed as an amendment of previous laws: further juggling
the position--further hedging in the sacred preserve. As the law was
superseded in the following year it is unnecessary to go into
details; but note how the measure became law! It was not published in
the _Staats Courant_ for three months as required by law; it was not
published at all; nor was any special resolution taken affirming that
it was a matter of extreme urgency and therefore to be held exempt
from that rule of procedure; so that the High Court ought to be able
to declare it null and void. The circumstances of its introduction
could not be considered to warrant the plea of urgency. On the 29th
and 30th June, 1893, memorials upon the franchise question were laid
before the Raad. From Johannesburg came one memorial bearing 4,507
signatures out of the grand total of 6,665 memorialists. It was in
favour of _extension_ of the franchise. Another memorial from 103
Free State burghers was in favour of _extension_, another from
Barberton from 40 burghers also for _extension_. Seven memorials,
bearing 444 signatures, were _against_ extension. All the others
concerned minor alterations in Law 13 of 1891, and did not affect
the franchise. The Raad appointed a commission and on the 8th of
September received its report, together with a draft law which had
not before seen the light of day. After a discussion lasting part of
one morning the law was passed provisionally; and to be of full force
and effect until confirmed by the Raad in the following year. Thus
again were the fundamental political conditions entirely altered by
the passing of a law which _two hours before_ had not been heard of.
Law No. 3 of 1894 purports to supersede all other laws. Therein it is
laid down that all persons born in the State, or who may have
established their domicile therein before May 29, 1876, are entitled
to full political privileges. Those who have settled in the country
since then can become naturalized after two years' residence dating
from the time at which their names were registered in the
Field-cornet's books. This naturalization confers the privilege of
voting for local officials, Field-cornets, landdrosts,{11} and for
members of the Second Raad. It is however stipulated that children
born in the country shall take the status of their fathers. The
naturalized subject after having been qualified to vote in this
manner for two years becomes eligible for a seat in the Second
Volksraad--_i.e._, four years after the registration of his name in
the Field-cornet's books. After he shall have been qualified to sit
in the Second Volksraad for ten years (one of the conditions for
which is that he must be thirty years of age) he may obtain the full
burgher rights or political privileges, provided the majority of
burghers in his Ward will signify _in writing their desire that he
should obtain them_ and provided the President and Executive shall
see no objection to granting the same. It is thus clear that,
assuming the Field-cornet's records to be honestly and properly
compiled and to be available for reference (which they are not), the
immigrant, after fourteen years' probation during which he shall
have given up his own country and have been politically emasculated,
privilege of obtaining burgher rights should he be willing and able
to induce the majority of a hostile clique to petition in writing on
his behalf and should he then escape the veto of the President and
Executive.
This was the coping-stone to Mr. Kruger's Chinese wall. The
Uitlanders and their children were disfranchised for ever, and as far
as legislation could make it sure the country was preserved by entail
to the families of the Voortrekkers. The measure was only carried
because of the strenuous support given by the President both within
the Raad and at those private meetings which practically decide the
important business of the country. The President threw off all
disguise when it came to proposing this measure of protection. For
many years he had been posing as the one progressive factor in the
State and had induced the great majority of people to believe that
while he personally was willing and even anxious to accede to the
reasonable requests of the new population his burghers were
restraining him. He had for a time succeeded in quelling all
agitation by representing that demonstrations made by the tax-bearing
section only embarrassed him in his endeavour to relieve them and
aggravated the position by raising the suspicions and opposition of
his Conservative faction.
In 1893 a petition signed by upwards of 13,000 aliens in favour of
granting the extension of the franchise was received by the Raad with
great laughter. But notwithstanding this discouragement, during the
following year a monster petition was got up by the National Union.
It was signed by 35,483 Uitlanders--men of an age and of sufficient
education to qualify them for a vote in any country. The discussion
which took place on this petition was so important, and the decision
so pregnant with results, that copious notes of the Volksraad debate
are published in this volume (Appendix). The only response made to
this appeal was a firmer riveting of the bonds. It is but just to say
that the President encountered determined opposition in his attempt
to force his measure through the Raad. The progressive section
(progressive being a purely relative term which the peculiar
circumstances of the country alone can justify) made a stand,
state that two or three of the intelligent and liberal-minded farmers
belonging to this progressive party, men who were earnestly desirous
of doing justice to all and furthering the interests of the State,
declared at the close of the debate that this meant the loss of
independence. 'Now,' said one old Boer, 'our country is gone. Nothing
can settle this but righting, and there is only one end to the fight.
Kruger and his Hollanders have taken our independence more surely
than ever Shepstone did.' The passing of this measure was a
revelation not only to the Uitlanders, who still believed that
reasonable representations would prevail, but to a section of the
voters of the country who had failed to realize Mr. Kruger's policy,
and who honestly believed that he would carry some conciliatory
measures tending to relieve the strain, and satisfy the large and
ever-increasing industrial population of aliens. The measure was
accepted on all hands as an ultimatum--a declaration of war to the
knife. There was only one redeeming feature about it: from that time
forward there could be no possibility of misunderstanding the
position, and no reason to place any credence in the assurances of
the President. When remonstrated with on this subject of the refusal
of the franchise, and when urged by a prominent man whose sympathies
are wholly with the Boer to consider the advisability of 'opening the
door a little,' the President, who was in his own house, stood up,
and leading his adviser by the arm, walked into the middle of the
street, and pointed to the Transvaal flag flying over the Government
buildings, saying, 'You see that flag. If I grant the franchise I may
as well pull it down.'
It is seldom possible to indicate the precise period at which a
permanent change in the feeling of a people may be considered to have
been effected, but the case of the Uitlanders undoubtedly presents
one instance in which this is possible. Up to the passing of this law
quite a considerable section of the people believed that the
President and the Volksraad would listen to reason, and would even in
the near future make considerable concessions. A larger section, it
is true, believed nothing of the sort, but at the same time were so
far from thinking that it would be necessary to resort to extreme
measures that they were content to remain passive, and allow
their more sanguine comrades to put their convictions to the test. It
is not too much to say that not one person in a hundred seriously
contemplated that an appeal to force would be necessary to obtain the
concessions which were being asked. It might be said that within an
hour the scales dropped from the eyes of the too credulous community,
and the gravity of the position was instantly realized. The passage
of the Bill and the birth of the revolutionary idea were synchronous.
In a brief sketch of events, such as this is, it is not possible with
due regard to simplicity to deal with matters in chronological order,
and for this reason such questions as the franchise, the railway,
dynamite, and others have been explained separately, regardless of
the fact that it has thereby become necessary to allude to incidents
in the general history for which no explanation or context is
supplied at the moment. This is particularly the case in the matter
of the franchise, and for the purpose of throwing light on the policy
of which the franchise enactments and the Netherlands Railway affairs
and other matters formed a portion, some explanation should be given
of President Kruger's own part and history in the period under
review.
Mr. Kruger was elected President in 1882, and re-elected in 1888
without serious opposition, his one rival, General Joubert, receiving
an insignificant number of votes. The period for which he was now
elected proved to be one of unexpected, unexampled prosperity,
furnishing him with the means of completing plans which must have
seemed more or less visionary at their inception; but it was also a
period of considerable trial. The development of the Barberton
Goldfields was a revelation to the peasant mind of what the power of
gold is. The influx of prospectors was very considerable, the
increase of the revenue of the State appeared simply colossal; and no
sooner did the Boer rulers begin to realize the significance of the
Barberton boom than they were confronted with the incomparably
greater discoveries of the Witwatersrand. The President did not like
the Uitlanders. He made no concealment of the fact. He could never be
induced to listen to the petitions of that community, nor to do
anything in the way of roads and bridges in return for the very
heavy contributions which the little community sent to the Republic's
treasury. In those days he used to plead that the distance
was great, and the time required for coach-travelling was too
considerable; but the development of the Witwatersrand and the
growth of Johannesburg within thirty-two miles of the capital, while
disposing of the pretexts which held good in the case of Barberton,
found Mr. Kruger no more inclined to make the acquaintance of the
newcomers than he had been before. Notwithstanding that the law
prescribes that the President shall visit all the districts and towns
of the State at least once during the year, notwithstanding, also,
the proximity of Johannesburg, the President has only visited the
industrial capital of the Republic three times in nine years. The
first occasion was in the early days--a visit now remembered only as
the occasion of the banquet at which Mr. Cecil Rhodes, then one of
the pioneers of the Rand, in proposing the President's health,
appealed to him to make friends with the newcomers, and to extend the
privileges of the older residents to 'his young burghers--like
myself.' That was before Mr. Rhodes had secured his concession, and
long before the Charter was thought of.
There is an unreported incident which occurred a year or two later,
concerning the two strong men of Africa--it was a 'meeting' which
didn't take place, and only Mr. Rhodes can say how it might have
affected the future of South Africa had it come off. The latter
arrived by coach in Pretoria one Saturday morning, and, desiring to
see the President, asked Mr. Ewald Esselen to accompany him and
interpret for him. Mr. Rhodes, knowing the peculiar ways of Mr.
Kruger, waited at the gate a few yards from the house while Mr.
Esselen went in to inquire if the President would see him. Mr.
Kruger's reply was that he would see Mr. Rhodes on Monday. Mr.
Esselen urged that as Mr. Rhodes was obliged to leave on Sunday night
the reply was tantamount to a refusal. The President answered that
this was 'Nachtmaal' time and the town was full of his burghers, and
that he made it a rule, which he would violate for no one, to reserve
the Saturdays of the Nachtmaal week for his burghers so as to hear
what they had to say if any wished to speak to him, as his burghers
were more to him than anyone else in the world. 'I do no business on
Sunday,' he concluded, 'so Rhodes can wait or go!' Mr. Rhodes did not
wait. When he heard the answer he remarked to Mr. Esselen, 'The old
devil! I meant to work with him, but I'm not going on my knees to
him. I've got my concession however and he can do nothing.'