THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GOLD MINES.[12]
1.--_That Gold is Mine!_
Let us see in what terms Dr. Kuyper justifies the Boer policy of
exaction:
"The Leonards and their set are very ready to tell us that the
taxes in Johannesburg exceed in proportion those levied in every
other country.... As to the quota paid by Uitlanders to the State,
we beg leave to remind the British of two points: first, that they
are exempt from all military service; secondly, that it is a far
more serious matter for the Boers to pay with their lives, and the
lives of their sons, than it is for these wealthy owners of gold
mines to pay so much per cent. upon their enormous dividends; and
that if they do pay the Transvaal some thousands of pounds, they
pocket their millions. Moreover, love for the Transvaal has never
entered their metallised hearts."
This little gem merits careful analysis. Mr. Kuyper shares the belief
that one has only to go to Johannesburg to shovel in the gold. If the
working of mines were so simple a matter, Boer intelligence would be
equal to the undertaking. As they are not worked by them, it must be
because there are difficulties. These difficulties have been overcome
for them by the Uitlanders. Once overcome, the Boers present themselves
and say: "That gold is mine!"
"Why then did you not take it yourselves?"
The Boers, who pride themselves upon driving their teams of oxen, but
who consider that to in-span them is work only fit for Kaffirs, consider
gold mining beneath them, let alone that they have not the capacity for
it. They leave it to the Uitlanders: all the same, Dr. Kuyper holds it
just that it is they who should take the profit.
[Footnote 12: _Le Siècle_, 3rd April, 1900.]
2.--_The Proportion of Gold per Ton._
Gold ore is found in infinitesimal quantities in large deposits of waste
matter. In 1898 of the 77 Gold Mining Companies at work, three-fourths
reported a yield of 1/2 oz. per ton; some only 6 to 7 dwts. per ton.
Consequently we find mines worked where one ton of rock will yield 1/2
oz. of ore, or perhaps only half as much. There are other mines which
swallow up the capital, and give no return at all.
3.--_Cost of Production._
In 1892 gold producing in the Transvaal cost 35s. 6d. per ton; in 1897
the cost was reduced to 28s. 6d.; in 1898 to 27s. 6d. This reduction of
cost is in no way due to any reforms made by the Government, but to
improvements in the methods employed, and especially to the more
extensive use of compressed air drills.
Out of 8,965,960 tons of ore raised in the Witwatersrand nearly 18.2 per
cent. had to be thrown out; that is: about 1,634,500 tons of ore were
rejected as sterile. In some cases the proportion of sterile ore has
amounted to as much as 40 per cent. The cost of production from the
deep levels is 34s. 6d. Out of the profits of each month, expenses and
the cost of working material have to be met. (Speech of Mr. Rouliot,
President of _The Chamber of Mines_, January 26th, 1899.)[13]
Mr. J.H. Curle in his valuable work _The Gold Mines of the World_,
published in 1899, estimated the debts of the Rand Companies at
£5,515,000. "It is not unusual," he writes, "for the directors of a deep
level mine to spend £500,000 before one single ton has been crushed."
[Footnote 13: See the _Revue Sud-Africaine_ (Paris), February 26th,
1899.]
4.--_A Gold Mine is an Industrial Undertaking._
According to the report of the Industrial Commission appointed to
inquire into the mining industry, there were, in 1896, 183 gold mines in
the Transvaal. Of these 79 had been gold-producing, while 104, still in
process of development, had as yet produced nothing. Of the 183 only 25
had paid dividends.
In 1898, a year of great progress, of the 156 mines situated in the
Rand, 40 only were paying dividends, representing, on an average, a
return of 8.7 per cent.
In reality, a gold mine is as entirely an industrial undertaking, as is
any other form of commerce; for its proper development it requires men
of the highest capacity, not a mere set of adventurers, as Dr. Kuyper
and other Pro-Boers tell the simpletons who judge without examining
facts. This is what is said on the subject by Mr. Curle, who saw the
mines at work during his extended and conscientious enquiry:
"The average mine manager, whether in South Africa, or India, or
Australia, or wherever I have met him, is an extremely capable man.
Of course, there are exceptions--some managers are not capable;
some are not even honest, but, as a rule, those in actual charge of
our gold mines to-day are men who can be relied on, but I do not
wish to confine my praise to the managers only. The mine captain,
whose valuable qualities are known more to the manager than to
outsiders, is usually a most capable man, and devoted to his work.
Many and many a time, after his hard day's work should have been
over, has a mine captain cheerfully started off with me on a three
or four hours inspection of his workings, only too delighted to
oblige, and asking merely that his visitor should show an
intelligent interest in what he saw. To these men, and to the other
heads of departments, to battery managers, cyanide works managers,
assayers, samplers, surveyors, office staff; the shareholders in
every mine owe a debt which they do not realise and which is often
inadequately acknowledged. Amongst these men--I could give hundreds
of examples--there is the greatest sense of duty to their
employers, and from one year's end to another, by day and night, in
the bush, on mountain tops, in fever swamps, in wild and deep
places all over the world, they faithfully carry through their
arduous work."
Such is the type of Uitlander the gold mines have attracted; add to
them, mechanics and the most highly skilled artisans: for it is to the
interest of the mines which pay high salaries to employ the most skilled
labour.
A population such as this, has nothing in common with the adventurers
who rushed to the placers of California, or with the fancy picture of
the "wealthy metal-hearted mine owners," presented to us by Dr. Kuyper.
5.--_Distribution of the Gold Production._
Dr. Kuyper speaks of "the vultures" who come to rob the country of its
gold; we would point out to him that before gold can be extracted from
the rock, a vast amount must be sunk in it. We have just seen that the
cost of production often exceeds the profits.
Dr. Kuyper, in his childish innocence, imagines that "the vultures"
carry off the gold as soon as it is extracted.
Had he taken the trouble to ascertain the facts, he would have seen that
the greater part of this gold remains in the Transvaal, and either goes
to the Government, or to defray the cost of production.
I borrow the following figures from the supplement to _The Critic_ of
July 8th, 1899.
Let us take the last five years:--
Gross Profits. Dividend to Paid to Boer
Shareholders. Government.
1894 £7,930,481 £1,595,963 £2,247,728
1895 8,768,942 2,329,941 2,923,648
1896 8,742,811 1,918,631 3,912,095
1897 11,514,016 2,923,574 3,956,402
1898 15,942,573 4,999,489 3,329,958
----------- ----------- -----------
£52,898,823 £13,767,598 £16,370,387
=========== =========== ===========
Thus upon £52,898,823 worth of gold produced between the years 1894 and
1898 only 25 per cent. of this amount went to the shareholders, 30 per
cent. was paid to the Transvaal Government, while the cost of production
absorbed 45 per cent. The two last figures show that about 75 per cent.,
that is to say, three-quarters of the entire production remained in the
Transvaal; and we have only taken the average of the last few years,
during which the cost of production has been reduced to a minimum,
thanks to the perfecting of the methods of working.
Let us add that while according to the above table in 1898 the estimate
of the revenue was £3,329,000, the expenditure rose to £3,476,000. In
1899, the estimate of the revenue was £4,087,000.
From 1894-97 the amount paid directly into the Transvaal Exchequer had
exceeded the shareholders' dividends; and when the reverse happened in
1898, the Government of Pretoria determined to put that matter right.
6.--_Cost of Production and the Transvaal._
Dr. Kuyper also complained that the entire cost of production was not
absorbed by the Transvaal. In his statement of January 26th 1899, Mr.
Rouliot proved that the greater portion was in point of fact expended
there. He gave the following figures concerning the expenditure of
fifty-six companies in 1898.
The mines had only imported direct to the amount of £369,000, paid for
machinery, which could only be constructed in Europe, and for Cyanide,
to avoid having to buy the latter from a local trust, which raised the
price 100 per cent.
Through local firms they had imported machinery and certain products to
the amount of £324,438. From local merchants they had bought machinery,
&c., to the amount of £2,487,660. They had paid £767,600 to the Dynamite
Monopoly. They had distributed £3,329,000 in salaries to their employés,
native or European. If we take it that the expenditure of the sixty
other Mining Companies, gold or coal, in the vicinity of Johannesburg,
was similar to the above, we have a total of something like nine million
pounds sterling put in circulation, _plus_ purchases of dynamite, _plus_
merchandise bought through the medium of local tradespeople. Thus we see
that the bulk of the cost of production actually remained in the
Transvaal.
7.--_What the "Vultures" brought._
Before Dr. Kuyper's "vultures" came to despoil it, the Transvaal was in
a very shaky condition. It was heavily in debt and the Exchequer was
empty; the Boer having always had a horror of paying his taxes. In 1884
when Messrs. Krüger and Smits came to London to sign the famous
Convention, and stayed at the Albemarle Hotel, they found themselves,
after the first few weeks unable to pay their bill, and Baron Grant had
to come to their assistance. Now the "vultures" have been pouring some
millions annually into the coffers of the Transvaal; a certain
proportion of which has stuck to the fingers of Mr. Krüger, his family
and intimates. The "vultures" have brought riches, industry, and
civilisation into a wild and uncivilised country. The simile of the bird
of prey is more applicable to the Boer than to the Uitlander.