Part 6 (2/2)
CHAPTER IX.
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 a.n.a.lysis. 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 Siecle_, 3rd April, 1900.]
2.--_The Proportion of Gold per Ton._
Gold ore is found in infinitesimal quant.i.ties 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 Wit.w.a.tersrand 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.
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