The Transvaal from Within Part 20

Witness said that the Minister of Mines had wanted examples of what shook confidence, so he was obliged to give them.

The report of the Commission created a very favourable impression. The majority of people believed that although it might not be entirely acted upon, yet it would be quite impossible for the President and the Volksraad to disregard suggestions made by so influential a group of officials as those forming the Commission, and that at any rate most of the recommendations would be accepted. The unbelieving few who knew their President Kruger, however, waited for something to be done. Presently ominous rumours went round about differences in the Executive. Then came the scenes in the Volksraad, when the President revealed himself and charged Mr. Schalk Burger with being a traitor to his country for having signed such a report, followed by the usual fight and the usual victory for the President, and the usual Committee const.i.tuted mainly of extreme Conservatives appointed to report upon the other Commission's report; and then the usual result: Something for nothing. The Netherlands Railway made an inconsiderable reduction in rates, which it appears was designed to buy off, and did succeed in buying off, further scrutiny of its affairs. With regard to the two big monopolies, Dynamite and Railway, it appears that the Volksraad Commission accepted the private a.s.surances of the monopolists as sufficient warrant for reversing the conclusions of the Industrial Commission. The proposed Local Board for the goldfields was promptly ruled out as an unthinkable proposition, a government within a government, and was so denounced by the President himself. But the report of the Volksraad Committee contained one supreme stroke of humour. It adopted the recommendations of the Industrial Commission to remit the duties upon certain articles of consumption so as to make living cheaper, but as a condition it stipulated that in order that the State revenue should not suffer, the duty upon other articles of consumption should be increased so as to rather more than counterbalance the loss. That was one result which the Uitlanders had in the beginning confidently expected: Something for nothing. But the other result upon which they had also calculated was a valuable one. They had put their case on record and for the future the task of justifying the Uitlanders' cause was to be reduced to the formality of pointing to the Industrial Commission's report.

The third event of importance, and an event of much greater importance than has generally been recognised, was the Queen's Record Reign celebration in Johannesburg. 'Britons, hold up your heads !' was the watchword with which the late Mr. W. Y. Campbell started to organize what he eventually carried out as the biggest and most enthusiastic demonstration ever made in the country. No more unselfish and loyal subject of her Majesty ever set foot in South Africa than Mr. Campbell, whose organization and example to 'Rand Britons,' as he called them, did more to hearten up British subjects in the Transvaal than has ever been fully realized or properly acknowledged. The celebration was an immense success in itself, and besides restoring the hopes and spirits of British subjects it promoted generally a better feeling and a disposition to forget past differences.

One of the consequences of the Raid and Reform had been a split in the Chamber of Mines caused by the secession of a minority who held views strongly opposed to those of the Reform party. It has always been the policy of the Government to endeavour to divide the Rand community. This is no vague general charge: many instances can be given extending over a number of years. The accidental revelations in a police court showed that in 1891 the Government were supporting from the Secret Service Funds certain individuals with the object of arranging labour unions to coerce employers upon various points. The movement was a hopeless failure because the working men declined to have anything to do with the so-called leaders. When the split took place in the Chamber of Mines, it became the business of Dr. Leyds and the President to keep the rift open. This was done persistently and in a very open manner-the seceders being informed upon several occasions that a fusion of the two Chambers would not be welcome to the Government. Both before and since that time the same policy has found expression in the misleading statement made on behalf of the Government upon the compound question (namely, that the companies were aiming at compounding all the natives and monopolizing all the trade of the Rand), a statement made to divide the mercantile from the mining community. The fostering of the liquor industry with its thousands of disreputable hangers-on is another example; the anti-capitalist campaign carried on by the Government press another. And the most flagrant of all of course is the incitement to race hatred. Divide et impera, is a principle which they apply with unfailing regularity whether in their relations with other countries, in the government of their own State, or in their dealings with private individuals. Happily for the Rand community the effort to settle their internal differences was successful; towards the end of 1897 the fusion of the two mining chambers took place, and the unanimity thus restored has not since been disturbed.

By this time even the most enthusiastic and sanguine friends of the Government had to some extent realized the meaning of the 'something for nothing' policy. They began to take count of all that they had done to please Mr. Kruger, and were endeavouring to find out what they had got in return. The result, as they were disposed to admit, was that for all the good it had done them they might as well have had the satisfaction of speaking their minds frankly as the others had done. The Raad's treatment of the Industrial Commission report had estranged all those who had taken part in the deliberations of the Commission, and as Mr. Kruger had been careful to select only those whom he believed to be friendly to him he suffered more in the recoil than he would otherwise have done. He fell into the pit which he had himself dug.

Mr. Kruger was fast losing his friends, and another affair which occurred about this time helped to open the eyes of those who still wished to view him in a favourable light. Mr. Chamberlain in the course of some remarks had stated that the President had failed to fulfil the promises which he had made at the time of the Raid. His Honour took an early opportunity to denounce Mr. Chamberlain to Mr. J. B. Robinson and the manager of the then Government newspaper in Pretoria. 'I would like Mr. Chamberlain to quote,' he said, 'any instances of my failure to keep my promises, and I will know how to answer him.' The challenge was published and Mr. Chamberlain promptly cabled instructions to the British Agent to ask President Kruger whether he had said this and if so whether he really did desire a statement by Mr. Chamberlain of the character indicated. Mr. Kruger took his own peculiar way out of the dilemma; he repudiated the intermediaries, denounced the statement as untrue, and said that he was not in the habit of conveying his requests through irresponsible n.o.bodies. The result was the immediate resignation of the newspaper man and final rupture between the President and Mr. Robinson. Thus were two more thick-and-thin supporters cast off at convenience and without an instant's hesitation, and thus were provided two more witnesses to the 'something for nothing' policy. This incident was the immediate cause of the fusion of the Chambers.

It had all along been realized that while Lord Rosmead continued to act as High Commissioner in South Africa there would be no possibility of the Uitlanders' grievances being again taken up by her Majesty's Government. The High Commissioner had committed himself to the opinion that it would be unsuitable and indeed improper to make any representations on the subject for a considerable time. Moreover, his age and ill-health rendered him unfit for so arduous a task. Many hard things have been said and written about the late High Commissioner, but it must be admitted that with age and infirmity weighing him down he was confronted by one of the most desperate emergencies which have ever arisen to try the nerve of a proconsul. It is true that the responsibilities of Government are not to be met by excuses: the supports of the Empire must stand the strain or be condemned. But it is also true that those who regard themselves as victims may not lightly a.s.sume the functions of independent judges: and thus it was that in a mood of sympathy and regret, with perhaps some tinge of remorse, the news of Lord Rosmead's death was accepted as evidence unanswerable of the burden which in the autumn of his days he was called upon to bear.

When the name of Sir Alfred Milner was mentioned as the coming High Commissioner all South Africa stood to attention. Seldom surely has a representative of the Queen been put through such an ordeal of examination and inquiry as that to which Sir Alfred Milner's record was subjected by the people of South Africa. Not one man in a thousand had heard his name before; it was as some one coming out of the great unknown. The first feeling was that another experiment was being made at the expense of South Africa; but almost before the thought had formed itself came the testimony of one and another and another, representing all parties and all opinions in England; and the Uitlanders in the Transvaal began to hope and finally to believe that at last they were to have a man to deal with who would exhibit those qualities of intelligence, fairness, and firmness, which they regarded as the essentials. Every word that was said or written about the new High Commissioner was read and studied in South Africa. Every reference made to him by the representatives of the various political parties was weighed and scrutinized, and the verdict was that it was good! Fair firm and able. There had not been a discordant note nor a voice lacking in the chorus which greeted the appointment; and the judgment was, 'They have given one of England's very best.'

The impression had somehow gained ground in South Africa that the first act of Sir Alfred Milner would be to visit the Transvaal and endeavour to arrange matters. The hearts of the Uitlanders sank at the thought of even the ablest and best-intentioned of men tackling so complicated a problem without any opportunity of studying the local conditions and the details. It was therefore with undisguised satisfaction that they received the new High Commissioner's a.s.surance that as the representative of her Majesty he had plenty of work before him in visiting and making himself acquainted with the conditions and requirements of her Majesty's dominions in South Africa, the people of which had the first call upon his services. The statement cleared the political atmosphere and had a distinctly cooling effect upon the overheated brain of the Boer party, who had by this time convinced themselves that Pretoria was firmly established as the hub of the universe and that an expectant world was waiting breathlessly to know what President Kruger would do next.

Mr. Conyngham Greene, an experienced member of the Diplomatic Corps, who had been appointed towards the end of 1896 to succeed Sir Jacobus de Wet as British Agent in Pretoria, had by this time gained some experience of the ways of Pretoria. Probably few servants of the Crown have been called upon to perform a service more exacting or less grateful than that which fell to the British Agent during the period in which Mr. Conyngham Greene has held the post. Conscious that his Government was prevented by the acts of others from vindicating its own position, hampered by the knowledge of immense superiority of strength, dealing with people who advanced at every turn and under every circ.u.mstance their one grievance as a justification for all the acts of hostility which had preceded that grievance or had been deliberately perpetrated since, he was compelled to suffer snubs and annoyances on behalf of his Government, with no relief but such as he could find in the office of recording them. A good deal had been done by Mr. Conyngham Greene to establish visible and tangible evidence of the desire of her Majesty's Government to interest themselves in the condition of British subjects and-as far as the exigencies of a very peculiar case would for the time permit-to protect them from at least the more outrageous acts of injustice; but the strength of the chain is the strength of the weakest link, and it was always felt that until the link in Cape Town was strengthened there was not much reliance to be placed upon the chain.

Very frequently surprise has been expressed that, after the fortunate escape from a very bad position which the Jameson Raid afforded to President Kruger's party, the Boers should not have learned wisdom and have voluntarily undertaken the task of putting their house in order. But having in mind the Boer character is it not more natural to suppose that, inflated and misled by a misconceived sense of success and strength, they should rather persist in and exaggerate the ways which they had formerly affected? So at least the Uitlanders thought and predicted, and their apprehensions were amply justified. In each successive year the Raad has been relied upon to better its previous best, to produce something more glaring and sensational in the way of improper laws and scandalous measures or revelations than anything which it had before done. One would imagine that it would pa.s.s the wit of man to devise a means of exploiting the Uitlanders which had not already been tried, but it would truly appear that the First Volksraad may be confidently relied upon to do it.

In the year 1897 some things were exposed which appeared, even to the Uitlanders, absolutely incredible. What is now known as the 'donkeys and mealies scandal' was one of them. For the ostensible purpose of helping burghers who had been ruined by the rinderpest the President arranged for the purchase of large numbers of donkeys to be used instead of oxen for draught purposes, and he also arranged for the importation of quant.i.ties of mealies to be distributed among those who were supposed to be starving. Inquiries inst.i.tuted by order of the Volksraad revealed the fact that Volksraad members and Government officials were interested in these contracts. The notorious Mr. Barend Vorster, who had bribed Volksraad members with gold watches, money, and spiders, in order to secure the Selati Railway Concession, and who although denounced as a thief in the Volksraad itself declined to take action to clear himself and was defended by the President, again played a prominent part. This gentleman and his partners contracted with the Government to supply donkeys at a certain figure apiece, the Government taking all risk of loss from the date of purchase. The donkeys were purchased in Ireland and in South America at one-sixth of the contract price. The contractors alleged that they had not sufficient means of their own and received an advance equal to three-quarters of the total amount payable to them; that is to say for every 100 which they had to expend they received 450 as an unsecured advance against their profits. It is believed that not 10 per cent. of the animals were ever delivered to the farmers for whom they were ostensibly bought. An attempt was made in the Volksraad to have the matter thoroughly investigated and to have action taken against the contractors, but the affair was hushed up and, as far as it is possible to ascertain, every penny payable under the contract has been paid and lost.

In the matter of the mealies (maize, the ordinary native food), large quant.i.ties were bought in South America. It was alleged in the Volksraad that the amount was far more than was necessary and that the quality was inferior, the result being that the Government were swindled and that the State, being obliged to sell what it did not require, was entering unfairly into compet.i.tion with the merchants and producers in the country. But the real character of this mealie swindle can only be appreciated when it is known how the contract originated. The contractors having bargained to deliver donkeys, approached the President with the explanation that donkeys being live-stock, would have to be accommodated upon an upper deck where there was ample ventilation; the result of which, they said, would be that the s.h.i.+p would be top-heavy and would be obliged to take in ballast. Surely, it was argued, it would be folly to carry worthless ballast when good mealies, which were in any case badly needed in the country, would serve the purpose of ballasting equally well and would, of course, show a very large profit. A contract for mealies was therefore entered into. When the inquiry was inst.i.tuted in the Volksraad certain awkward facts came to light, and it devolved upon Mr. Barend Vorster to explain how it happened that the mealie 'ballast' arrived and was paid for before the donkeys were s.h.i.+pped. That worthy gentleman may still be thinking out the explanation, but as the money has been paid it cannot be a cause of great anxiety.

In order to preserve a true perspective the reader should realize that the President defended both these affairs and that the exposures took place while the recommendations of the Industrial Commission were being discussed in the Raad and fiercely combated by the President himself.

The matter of the Selati Railway was again brought into prominence in 1897. It is quite impossible as yet to get at all the facts, but it is very generally believed that a swindle of unusual dimensions and audacity remains to be exposed, and that a real exposure would unpleasantly involve some very prominent people. At any rate the facts which became public in 1898 would warrant that suspicion. The Selati Railway Company alleged that they had been unjustly deprived of their rights, and the Government admitting repudiation of contract took refuge in the plea that in making the contract they had acted ultra vires. It was, in fact, an exemplary case of 'thieves falling out' and when the case got into the law courts a point of real interest to the public came out; for the Company's lawyers filed their pleadings! The following account of the case is taken from the newspapers of the time. The plea of the Selati Railway Company states that-

the Government was very desirous that the railways should be built, and that for the purpose the business should be taken in hand by influential capitalists, and that, having full knowledge of the sums asked for by the original concessionaires they insisted upon the said capitalists coming to an agreement with the concessionaires and paying them the amounts asked; that it was thus understood between the said capitalists and the Government of the South African Republic that the sum named in the concession as the price to be paid to the concessionaires for the formation of the Company was wholly insufficient under the altered conditions, and that further sums had to be expended to cover not only the increased amount demanded by the original concessionaires, but also other sums of money which were asked by and paid to different members of the Executive Council and Volksraad of the South African Republic and their relatives and friends as the price for granting the concession.

The matter came before the High Court, and several of the exceptions put forward on behalf of the Government were sustained. Regarding the accusation mentioned, Mr. Advocate Esselen, who was counsel for the State, excepted that names and particulars should be inserted, and also that the State was not bound by the action of the Government or Executive. He quoted the Volksraad resolution or besluit upon which the concession was granted, showing that 10,000 was mentioned as the sum to be received by the concessionaires, and then proceeded:-

'Now, I say that the Government could not contract with the Company at a higher figure than is above set forth. The measure of authority granted to the Government is set forth in the Volksraad besluit which I have read, and the Government could not exceed its authority. Second, the defendant Company makes allegations which are tantamount to fraudulent dealing on the part of the agents of the State. But it will be said that it is the State which sues, and that it cannot be heard to avail itself of the wrongful acts of its agents. In this matter, however, it is the State Secretary who sues on behalf of the State. The State is not bound in any event by the acts of individual members of the Government. It was the Government which was entrusted with a power of attorney on behalf of the State.'

This doctrine, so fatal to concessionaires and their methods, led to the following interesting colloquy:-

Mr. Justice JORISSEN: Do you persist in this exception, Mr. Esselen?

Mr. ESSELEN: Certainly I do.

Mr. Justice JORISSEN: You have been very fortunate in succeeding on two exceptions. Without pressing you in the least, I am inclined to suggest that you withdraw this exception.

Mr. ESSELEN: I cannot possibly withdraw it, but I am willing to allow it to stand as a special plea and to argue it at a later stage.

Mr. Justice JORISSEN: As I said, I don't wish to press you, but it seems to me that this is a very dangerous question.

Mr. ESSELEN: It is a very important question.

Mr. Justice JORISSEN: It is not only an important but a perilous question.

In an amended plea filed by the Selati Railway Company they give the names of persons to whom the Company had to pay certain sums of money or give presents-in other words, bribes-in order to obtain the Selati contract. The following are the names filed by Baron Eugene Oppenheim:-To W.E. Bok, then member and minute keeper of the Executive Council, on August 12, 1890, in cash 50; the late N.J. Smit, sen., then Vice-president of the South African Republic, and member of the Executive Council, on August 12, 1890, in cash, 500; F.C. Eloff, son-in-law of the President and then Private Secretary to his Honour, on August 12, 50 in cash. By De Jongh and Stegmann, on behalf of Baron Oppenheim, to C. van Boeschoten, then Secretary of the Volksraad, on October 6, 1893, in cash, 100. By B.J. Vorster, jun., one of the concessionaires, on behalf of Eugene Oppenheim, on or about August, 1890, the following: To Jan du Plessis de Beer, member of the Volksraad for Waterberg, 100; Schalk W. Burger, member of the Volksraad for Lydenburg, now member of the Executive Council, 100; P.L. Bezuidenhout, member of the Volksraad for Potchefstroom, 100; J. Van der Merwe, member of the Volksraad for Lydenburg, 100; A.A. Stoop, member of the Volksraad for Wakkerstroom, 50; F.G.H. Wolmarans, member of the Volksraad for Rustenburg, 50; J.M. Malan, member of the Volksraad for Rustenburg, Chairman of the first Volksraad, 50; N.M.S. Prinsloo, member of the Volksraad for Potchefstroom, 50; J.J. Spies, member of the Volksraad for Utrecht, 70; B.H. Klopper, Chairman of the Volksraad, 125; C. van Boeschoten, Secretary of the Volksraad, 180. By J.N. de Jongh, on behalf of Baron Eugene Oppenheim, about the end of 1892 or the beginning of 1893, to the late N.J. Smit, sen., then Vice-President of the South African Republic, and member of the Executive Council, shares in the defendant Company to the value of 1,000; F.C. Eloff, son-in-law of and then Private Secretary to the State President, shares in the defendant Company to the value of 2,000; P.G. Mare, then member of the Volksraad for Utrecht, now Landdrost of Boksburg, shares in the defendant Company to the value of 500. By B.J. Vorster, jun., on behalf of Baron Eugene Oppenheim, about July or August, 1890, to C.C. van Heerden, member of the Volksraad for Wakkerstroom, one spider; A.A. Stoop, member of the Volksraad for Wakkerstroom, one spider; F.G.H. Wolmarans, member of the Volksraad for Rustenburg, one spider; B.W.J. Steenkamp, member of the Volksraad for Piet Relief, one spider; J.P.L. Lombard, member of the Volksraad for Standerton, one spider; H.F. Grobler, member of the Volksraad for Middelburg, one spider; W.L. de la Rey, member of the Volksraad for Bloemhof, one spider; D.W. Taljaard, member of the Volksraad for Standerton, one spider; J.C. van Zyl, member of the Volksraad for Heidelburg, one spider; J.P. Botha, member of the Volksraad for Pretoria, one spider; H.P. Beukes, member of the Volksraad for Marico, one spider; J.F. van Staden, member of the Volksraad for Vryheid, one spider; J.M. Malan, member of the Volksraad for Rustenburg, one spider; N.M.S. Prinsloo, member of the Volksraad for Potchefstroom, one cart; T.C. Greyling, member of the Volksraad for Heidelberg, one cart. Total value, 1,440.

Twenty-one members of the First Volksraad out of twenty-five! The Vice-President! The son-in-law and Private Secretary of the President! The Secretary of the Volksraad and the Minute Keeper of the Executive!

The Volksraad, one would think, would be bound to take cognizance of such a statement and to cause an investigation to be held. They did take cognizance of it after the manner peculiar to them. But the last thing in the world to be expected from them was an impartial investigation: nothing so foolish was ever contemplated. There were too many in it, and an investigation into the conduct of officials and Raad members would be establis.h.i.+ng a most inconvenient precedent. Some members contented themselves with a simple denial, others scorned to take notice of such charges, and others tried to explain them away. No opinion need be expressed upon the methods of the concessionaires; nor does it matter whether the company, by its neglect or default, had justified the act of the Government. The point which is offered for consideration is that the indisputable fact of bribes having been taken wholesale was ignored, whilst the disputed question of liability to cancellation was arbitrarily settled by the Government in its own favour.

The crop of scandals in 1897 was as the rolling s...o...b..ll. It is unnecessary to refer to them all in detail. The Union Ground, one of the public squares of Johannesburg, was granted to a syndicate of private individuals upon such terms that they were enabled to sell the right, or portion of it, at once for 25,000 in cash. The Minister of Mines, in his official capacity, strongly recommended the transaction, and was afterwards obliged to admit that he himself had an interest in it. The Volksraad however refused to confirm it, and the purchaser of the concession fell back upon the President for protection. The latter advised him to remain quiet until the presidential election, which was about to take place, should be over, and gave the a.s.surance that then he would see that the grant was confirmed by the Raad. In the session of 1898 his Honour strongly supported the proposal and it was duly carried.

The Eloff location scandal was another which greatly disturbed even the Volksraad. Mr. Frickie Eloff is President Kruger's son-in-law and enjoys the unsavoury reputation of being interested in every swindle which is worth being in the Transvaal. A piece of ground lying to the north-west of Johannesburg close up to the town had originally been proclaimed as a goldfield, but no reefs having been found there and the ground not having been pegged, it was afterwards withdrawn from proclamation. The Mining Commissioner of Johannesburg in the course of his duties discovered some flaw in the second or withdrawing proclamation. He advised the head office in Pretoria of this discovery and stated that it might be contended that the de-proclamation was invalid, and that great loss and inconvenience would follow if the ground were pegged and the t.i.tle upheld. Within twenty-four hours the ground was pegged by Mr. Eloff, but it is not known whence he derived the inspiration. His claim was strongly opposed by the local officials. They reported that the ground was known to be of no value, and advised that as the cost of licenses would be very considerable the obvious policy of the Government would be-if the t.i.tle could not be upset-to wait until Mr. Eloff should tire of paying licenses on valueless ground. The Government, however, decided otherwise: they converted Mr. Eloff's claims into residential stands; that is to say, they made him a present of an immensely valuable piece of property and gave him t.i.tle under which he could cut it up into small plots and readily sell it. This action of the Government, however, required confirmation by the Raad. The matter came before the Volksraad in due course and that body deliberately revoked the decision of the Government and refused Mr. Eloff any t.i.tle except what he could claim according to law. But Mr. Kruger is not so easily beaten. He soon discovered that the piece of ground acquired by Mr. Eloff was exactly the piece which it was necessary for the Government to have for a coolie location, and without more ado the Government bought it from Mr. Eloff for 25,000.

The ingenuity of the Boer mind in getting the last possible fraction of value out of any transaction, is well exemplified in this matter. One would naturally conclude that a deal so profitable would satisfy anybody. But not so! The piece of ground commands the approach to many valuable private plots and residences, and it was soon found that apart from intrinsic worth it might have a blackmailing value; thus towards the end of 1898, after the deal had been completed, the owners of these residences and estates were privately approached with the information that the coolie location, consisting of shelters built of sc.r.a.ps of iron, paraffin tins, and old pieces of wood, was to be removed to this site (probably to facilitate the transference of the present location site, which is also very valuable, to some other favourite), but that if sufficient inducement were offered by landowners in the neighbourhood, the decision would be reconsidered!

The grant of a Munic.i.p.ality to Johannesburg has often been quoted as an example of something done by Mr. Kruger in the interests of the Uitlanders. The princ.i.p.al conditions of that grant are that all burghers of the State, whether they have property or not, shall be ent.i.tled to vote for the election of councillors; that each ward shall be represented by two councillors, one of whom must be a burgher; and that the chairman, or burgomaster, shall be appointed by Government and shall have the right of veto. The elections in at least two of the wards are completely at the mercy of the police and of the poor Boers who have no interest whatever in the town. The burghers in Johannesburg-police, Boers, and officials-who may number a couple of thousand, including the naturalized lot, have therefore a permanent and considerable majority over the Uitlanders, who probably number over 40,000 adult white males.

The scope and value of this grant were made manifest when the now notorious sewerage concession came under discussion. The Munic.i.p.ality had upon several occasions endeavoured to get the right to introduce a scheme for the disposal of the sewage of the town, and had applied for authority to raise the necessary funds, but had been refused. Suddenly a concession was granted by the Government-they called it a contract-to Mr. Emmanuel Mendelssohn, the proprietor of the Standard and Diggers News, the Government organ in Johannesburg. He said that he got it for nothing-possibly a reward for loyal services; but he also stated that he was not the sole owner. The value of the grant was estimated by the concessionaire himself to be about 1,000,000 sterling, and in the lately published proposals which he made to one of the big firms interested in the Transvaal he indicated how a profit of 100,000 a year could be made out of it. The Town Council unanimously and vigorously protested; but the Government took no notice of their protest. They then decided to apply to the Court for an order restraining the Government from making this grant, on the ground that they had no power to alienate a right which belonged to the town itself. In order to make the application to Court it was necessary, in terms of the const.i.tution of the munic.i.p.ality, to obtain the signature of the Burgomaster. That official as representing the Government refused point blank to authorize the council to dispute the Government's action in a Court of Law, and the council were obliged to apply for an Order of Court compelling the Burgomaster to sign the doc.u.ments necessary to enable them to contest in the Courts of the country the validity of an act of the Government which was deemed to be infringement upon the rights of the town. In the face of this the President capitulated for the time being; but neither he nor the concessionaire makes any secret of the determination to find a quid pro quo.

The year 1898 brought in its turn its full share of fresh encroachments and exactions. The bare enumeration of the concessions, privileges, and contracts, proposed or agreed to, is sufficient to indicate what must be the condition of mind of one whose interests are at stake under such a regime. Not all 'concessions,' 'contracts,' and 'protected factories' confer exclusive rights, but many might easily in effect do so and all are infringements upon the rights of the public. Here are some from the official list of 1899;-Dynamite, Railways, Spirits, Iron, Sugar, Wool, Bricks, Earthenware, Paper, Candles, Soap, Calcium Carbide, Oil, Matches, Cocoa, Bottles, Jam, &c.

A large loan had been constantly talked of throughout the year, but no one knew for what purpose it could be required. The Government vouchsafed no information at all but negotiations were carried on both in Pretoria and in Europe. Month after month went by, but the millions were not forthcoming, and the Government believed or affected to believe that their failure was due to a conspiracy among the capitalists, and in retaliation they directed and subsidised a fierce anti-capitalist campaign in their press. The explanation of failure, which did not occur to them, may have been that investors believed that the course pursued by the Transvaal Government must inevitably lead to conflict with the paramount power, and they had no faith and no a.s.surance that in the event of such a conflict taking place the British Government would take over loans which must have been contracted only for the purposes of war against England.

The juggling with the dynamite question continued throughout the year. The President had successfully defeated the aim of the Volksraad, and the investigation and reports which had been ordered by that body in 1897 to be made by lawyers and auditors, although duly handed into the Government, were suppressed by the President and not permitted to be shown to the Raad. On the contrary, the astounding proposition was made that in return for a very inconsiderable reduction in the cost of dynamite (half of which was to be made up by the Government sacrificing its share of profits) and a possible further reduction of 5s. per case under certain conditions, the monopoly should be renewed for a period of fifteen years, all breaches in the past to be condoned, and cancellation on the ground of breach of contract in the future to be impossible. This proposal, it was publicly notified, would be laid before the Raad during the first session of 1899. The existence of the dynamite monopoly was at this time costing the industry 600,000 a year, and on every possible occasion it was represented to the Government that, if they really did need further revenue, in no way could it be more easily or more properly raised than by exercising their undoubted right to cancel the monopoly and by imposing a duty of such amount as might be deemed necessary upon imported dynamite. It was also pointed out that the proposed reduction in the cost of dynamite would offer no relief whatever since it was far more than counterbalanced by the taxes upon mynpachts and profits which were then being imposed.

During this year the Volksraad instructed the Government to enforce their right to collect 2-1/2 per cent. of the gross production from mynpachts (mining leases). All mynpachts t.i.tles granted by the Government contained a clause giving the Government this power, so that they were acting strictly within their legal rights; but the right had never before been exercised. For twelve years investors had been allowed to frame their estimates of profit upon a certain basis, and suddenly without a day's warning this tax was sprung upon them. It was indisputably the right of the Government, but equally indisputably was it most unwise; both because of the manner in which it was done and because there was no necessity whatever for the doing of it, as the revenue of the country was already greatly in excess of the legitimate requirements. Immediately following this came a resolution to impose a tax of 5 per cent. upon the profits of all companies working mining ground other than that covered by mynpacht. The same objections applied to this tax with the additional one, that no clause existed in the t.i.tles indicating that it could be done and no warning had ever been given that it would be done. The proposal was introduced one morning and adopted at once; the first notice to investors was the accomplished fact. These measures were particularly keenly resented in France and Germany.

The grievance of hasty legislation was in these cases aggravated by the evidence that the taxes were quite unnecessary. President Kruger still fought against cancellation of the Dynamite Monopoly, by which the State revenue would have benefited to the extent of 600,000 a year, if he had accepted the proposal of the Uitlanders, to allow importation of dynamite subject to a duty of 2 per case-a tax which represented the monopolists' profit, and would not therefore have increased the cost of the article to the mines. He still persisted in squandering and misapplying the public funds. He still openly followed the policy of satisfying his burghers at the Uitlanders' expense; but the burghers have a growing appet.i.te, and nothing shows the headlong policy of 'squaring'-nothing better ill.u.s.trates the Uitlanders' grievance of reckless extravagance in administration-than the list of fixed salaries as it has grown year by year since the goldfields became a factor.

TRANSVAAL FIXED SALARIES.

s. d.

1886 51,831 3 7 1887 99,083 12 8 1888 164,466 4 10 1889 249,641 10 10 1890 324,520 8 10 1891 332,888 13 9 1892 323,608 0 0 1893 361,275 6 11 1894 419,775 13 10 1895 570,047 12 7 1896 813,029 7 5 1897 996,959 19 11 1898 1,080,382 3 0 1899 (Budget) 1,216,394 5 0 That is to say, the Salary List is now twenty-four times as great as it was when the Uitlanders began to come in in numbers. It amounts to nearly five times as much as the total revenue amounted to then. It is now sufficient if equally distributed to pay 40 per head per annum to the total male Boer population.

The liquor curse has grown to such dimensions and the illicit liquor organization has secured such a firm hold that even the stoutest champions of law and order doubt at times whether it will ever be possible to combat the evil. The facts of the case reflect more unfavourably upon the President than perhaps any other single thing. These are the facts: The law prohibits the sale of liquor to natives; yet from a fifth to a third of the natives on the Rand are habitually drunk. The fault rests with a corrupt and incompetent administration. That administration is in the hands of the President's relations and personal following. The remedy urged by the State Secretary, State Attorney, some members of the Executive, the general public, and the united pet.i.tion of all the ministers of religion in the country, is to entrust the administration to the State Attorney's department and to maintain the existing law. In the face of this President Kruger has fought hard to have the total prohibition law abolished and has successfully maintained his nepotism-to apply no worse construction! In replying to a deputation of liquor dealers he denounced the existing law as an 'immoral' one, because by restricting the sale of liquor it deprived a number of honest people of their livelihood-and President Kruger is a total abstainer!

The effect of this liquor trade is indescribable; the loss in money although enormous is a minor consideration compared with the crimes committed and the accidents in the mines traceable to it; and the effect upon the native character is simply appalling.

Much could be said about this native question apart from the subject of drink, for it is one which is very difficult of just appreciation by any but those who have had considerable experience of and personal contact with the natives. It is one upon which there is a great divergence of views between the people of Europe and the people of South Africa. South Africans believe that they view it from the rational standpoint, they believe also that Europeans as a rule view it more from the sentimental. The people who form their opinions from the writings and reports of missionaries only, or who have in their mind's eye the picturesque savage in his war apparel as seen at Earl's Court, or the idealized native of the novelist, cannot possibly understand the real native. The writer holds South African views upon the native question, that is to say that the natives are to all intents and purposes a race of children, and should be treated as such, with strict justice and absolute fidelity to promise, whether it be of punishment or reward: a simple consistent policy which the native mind can grasp and will consequently respect.

With this in mind it will, perhaps, be believed that the recital of certain instances of injustice is not made with the object of appealing to sentimentalism, or of obliquely influencing opinions which might otherwise be unfavourable or indifferent. The cases quoted in this volume are those which have been decided by the courts, or the evidence in support of them is given, and they are presented because they are typical cases, and not, except in the matter of public exposure, isolated ones. The report of the case of Toeremetsjani, the native chieftainess,{48} is taken verbatim from one of the newspapers of the time. The woman is the head of the Secocoeni tribe, whose successful resistance to the Transvaal Government was one of the alleged causes of the annexation. A good deal could be said about the ways of Native Commissioners in such matters. Much also could be said about the case of the British Indians and the effect upon the population of India which is produced by the coming and going of thousands of these annually between India and the Transvaal, and their recital of the treatment to which they are subjected, their tales of appeals to the great British Government, and their account of the latter's inability to protect them. Much also could be said of the Cape Boy question, but sufficient prominence has been given to these matters by the publication of the official doc.u.ments and the report of the inquiry into Field-Cornet Lombaard's conduct, which was held at the instance of the British Government.

It is not suggested that if the Government in the Transvaal were influenced by the vote of the white British subjects, or if it were entirely dominated by such vote, any encouragement would be given to the Indian hawkers and traders, or that there would be any disposition whatever to give voting rights to coloured people of any kind, but it is suggested that a more enlightened and a more just system of treatment would be adopted; and in any case it is to be presumed that there would be no appeals to the British Government, involving exhibitions of impotency on the part of the Empire to protect its subjects, followed by the deliberate repet.i.tion of treatment which might become the subject of remonstrance. The untutored mind is not given to subtleties and sophistries; direct cause and effect are as much as it can grasp. These it does grasp and firmly hold, and the simple inferences are not to be removed by any amount of argument or explanation, however plausible. There is scarcely an Uitlander in the Transvaal who would not view with dismay the raising of the big question upon such grounds as the treatment of the natives, the Cape boys, or the Indians; and the fact that the Transvaal Government know this may account for much of the provocation on these questions. It is nevertheless undeniable that white British subjects in the Transvaal do suffer fresh humiliation and are substantially lowered in the eyes of the coloured races, because appeals are made on their behalf to the British Government, and those appeals are useless. The condition of affairs should be that such appeals would be unnecessary, and would therefore become-in practice-impossible. Such a condition of affairs would obtain under a friendly and more enlightened government, and the only security for the voluntary continuance of such conditions is the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of the Uitlander population.

In the midst of all that was gloomy unfavourable and unpromising there came to the Uitlanders one bright ray of suns.h.i.+ne. Dr. Leyds who had been re-elected State Secretary on the understanding that he would resign immediately in order to take up the post of plenipotentiary in Europe, and whom the Boers with a growing anti-Hollander and pro-Afrikander feeling would no longer tolerate, relinquished his office. In his stead was appointed Mr. F.W. Reitz formerly President of the Free State, a kindly, honourable, and cultured gentleman, whose individual sympathies were naturally and strongly progressive but who, unfortunately, has not proved himself to be sufficiently strong to cope with President Kruger or to rise above division upon race lines in critical times. Shortly afterwards Mr. Christiaan Joubert, the Minister of Mines, a man totally unfit from any point of view to hold any office of responsibility or dignity, was compelled by resolution of the Second Volksraad to hand in his resignation. His place was filled by a Hollander official in the Mining Department who commanded and still commands the confidence and respect of all parties. The elevation of the Acting State Attorney to the Bench left yet another highly responsible post open and the Government choice fell upon Mr. J.C. s.m.u.ts, an able and conscientious young barrister, and an earnest worker for reform. An Afrikander by birth and educated in the Cape Colony, he had taken his higher degrees with great distinction at Cambridge and had been called to the English Bar.

But there came at the same time another appointment which was not so favourably viewed. There was still another vacancy on the Bench, and it became known that, in accordance with the recommendation expressed by the Raad that all appointments should whenever possible be first offered to sons of the soil, i.e., born Transvaalers, it was intended to appoint to this judges.h.i.+p a young man of twenty-four years of age lately called to the bar, the son of the Executive Member k.o.c.k already referred to in this volume. The strongest objection was made to this proposal by all parties, including the friends of the Government; the most prominent of all objectors were some of the leading members of the bar who, it was believed, carried influence and were in sympathy with the Government. A delay took place and it was at one time believed that President Kruger had abandoned his intention, but it is understood that pressure was brought to bear upon the President by a considerable party of his followers, and in the course of a few days the appointment was duly gazetted.

The selection of educated and intelligent Afrikanders, sincerely desirous of purifying the administration, for such responsible offices as those of State Secretary and State Attorney, was gratefully welcomed by the Uitlander community, who believed that only through the influence of such men consistently and determinedly exerted could a peaceful solution of many difficult questions be found. It is but bare justice to these gentlemen to state that never were they found wanting in good intention or honest endeavour, ready at all times to inquire into subjects of complaint, anxious at all times to redress any legitimate grievances. To them and to many other less prominent but no less worthy officials of the Transvaal Civil Service, whom it is impossible to name and to whom it might prove to be no good turn if they were named, is due an expression of regret that they may perhaps suffer by references which are not directed against them but which are justified by a rotten system and are called for by the action of others over whom these men have no control. n.o.body but one intimately concerned in Transvaal affairs can appreciate the unpleasant and undeserved lot of the honest official who necessarily, but most unjustly, suffers by a.s.sociation with those who deserve all that can be said against them.