Part 5 (1/2)
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 mismanaged, 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 const.i.tuents, 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 began wondering what more might be in store for them-the unfortunate 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 s.h.i.+lling 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 Wit.w.a.tersrand Mines alone amounts to 600,000 per annum, and is, of course, daily increasing.
The Franchise Laws.