but serves to enrich individuals for the most part resident in
Europe, the injustice of such a tax on the staple industry becomes
more apparent and demands immediate removal.

After showing that the dynamite monopolists make a profit of 47s. 6d.
per case on No. 1 dynamite, and 55s. on blasting gelatine, over and
above the price at which the mines could buy explosives if there were
no monopoly or protection, the report goes on:--

The Mining Industry has thus to bear a burden which does not enrich
the State or bring any benefit in return, and this fact must always
prove a source of irritation and annoyance to those who, while
willing to contribute to just taxation for the general good, cannot
acquiesce in an impost of the nature complained of....

Your Commission inspected the factory at Modderfontein, and it must
be admitted that the construction of the works and general equipment
are in many respects admirable, and it appears to us greatly to be
regretted that so much money should have been invested in an
undertaking for the manufacture of any article whereof the
ingredients have to be imported at a great cost, four tons of raw
material being required to produce one ton of the manufactured
article.

It has been proved to our satisfaction that none of the raw material
used is found in this country, or only in such small quantities as to
make it practically valueless for the purpose required.... All these
drawbacks, which make it almost impossible to establish a bonâ-fide
industry, fall on the mines and render their task, especially that of
the low-grade mines, extremely difficult and discouraging. Another
point that has been brought to the notice of your Commission is the
prejudicial effect exercised by this monopoly in practically
excluding from the country all new inventions in connection with
explosives, and, in view of the numerous dynamite accidents that have
taken place from time to time, it is to be regretted that it is not
possible to make satisfactory trials of other and less dangerous
explosives for the working of the mines. These questions have
received the careful consideration of your Commission, who are forced
to the conclusion that the factory has not attained the object for
which it was established, and that there is no reasonable prospect of
it doing so. Further, that there are good grounds for believing that
the contractors have failed to comply with the conditions of their
contract.

For the aforesaid reasons, and in view of the opinion expressed by
the Volksraad Dynamite Commission, that the legal position of the
Government against the contractors is undoubtedly strong, your
Commission desire to recommend that the case be placed in the hands
of the legal advisers of the State, with a view to ascertaining
whether the contract cannot be cancelled.

Meanwhile your Commission recommend that the Government avail itself
forthwith of its right under Article 15 of the Regulations, to take
away the agency of trading in gunpowder, dynamite, cartridges, and
other explosives from the above-mentioned persons and at once take
into its own hands the importation of dynamite and other explosives
for the benefit of the mining industry, subject to a duty of not more
than 20s. per case or such other less sum as may be determined from
time to time.

This protective duty, while considerably increasing the revenue of
the State, will at the same time offer ample protection to any
industry of this description in the Republic. In the event of
cancellation being advised to be possible, free trade in explosives
to be at once established, subject to a duty of 20s. per case or such
other less duty as may be determined upon from time to time, and
manufacturing of other explosives in the Republic to be allowed, and
also to be protected by the same import duty....

Your Commission desire further to observe that it is not clear to
them, judging from the published accounts of the South African
Explosives Company for 1895 and 1896, that the Government receives
the proportion of surplus profit secured to it under the contract,
viz., 20 per cent., and would strongly recommend, in accordance
with Article 6 of the contract, an immediate investigation of the
Company's accounts by qualified accountants, in conjunction with the
financial adviser of the Commission, in order to find out what amount
is still due to the Government under this head.

As to railways:--

Your Commission have followed with great attention and interest the
evidence and statistics submitted on this point. From those it
appears that not only are the tariffs charged by the Netherlands
Railway Company such that by the reduction of the same the industry
would be considerably benefited, but that such a reduction would
necessitate that the neighbouring States and Colonies would also have
to reduce their tariffs considerably.

Your Commission have come to the conclusion that, taking into
consideration the evidence submitted to them, and taking the gross
revenue of traffic of goods at about £2,000,000 (as in 1896) it would
be desirable to recommend so to regulate the tariff that the gross
revenue for 1896 would have been reduced by £500,000, equivalent to
an average reduction of 25 per cent. Further, your Commission deem it
desirable that the Government shall make such arrangement as will
secure to them in the future a voice in the fixing of the tariffs of
the N.Z.A.S.M., and express their confidence that as soon as
prosperous times will warrant such a course a further reduction in
tariffs will be effected. Your Commission wish to recommend that the
reduction will be chiefly applied to traffic of coal, timber, mining
machinery, and foodstuffs, according to a scale to be agreed upon
between the Government and the N.Z.A.S.M. Your Commission are of
opinion that in this manner the industry will be met in a very fair
way. Your Commission wish to express the opinion that it is
absolutely necessary that the reduction in all local tariffs will be
brought about as speedily as possible, while they express the hope
that where the co-operation of the neighbouring States and Colonies
is required, negotiations will be initiated and carried out so
speedily that the reductions to be so initiated will come into force
not later than 1st January next. Several witnesses and some of the
Commission have urged the expropriation of the N.Z.A.S.M. by the
Government. Your Commission, however, for several reasons known to
them, and after same have been communicated to those members of the
Commission who wished to urge the expropriation of the N.Z.A.S.M., do
not at the present moment desire to urge expropriation provided by
the other means terms can be secured from the Company so as to obtain
the reduction at present urgently required on the basis as above set
forth. Your Commission have been informed that the Company have
proposed to adopt the dividends of the three years 1895, 1896, and
1897 as a basis for the expropriation price, and your Commission can
agree to such proposal. The expropriation price being thus fixed, the
Company will have all the more reason to co-operate towards the
lowering of the tariffs. Further, it appears from the evidence of the
managing director of the N.Z.A.S.M., that in consideration of the
reduction of tariffs, he wished to have secured to the Company a
certain period of existence. Your Commission cannot recommend this
course, because they do not deem the same to be in the interests of
the State, and it would be contrary to the wishes of the public.

As to gold thefts:--

According to the evidence submitted to your Commission, gold thefts
are on the increase, and although the Volksraad has given the matter
their favourable consideration, and have, at the instance of the
Mining Industry, so amended the Gold Law as to provide for the
punishment of the sale and being in possession of raw gold, still it
has been stated to your Commission in evidence, that the gold thefts
amount to about 10 per cent. of the output, equivalent to an amount
of £750,000 per annum. It follows that the administration of the law
must be faulty, because there are only very few instances where the
crime has been detected and punished. If those figures are not
exaggerated, and your Commission have no reason to suppose so, then
this matter deserves the serious consideration of the Government. The
suppression of this crime can be considered as a real saving to the
industry, and this amount of three-quarters of a million would,
especially in times of depression, exercise a large influence on the
yield and financial position of the mines. The industry ask that the
penal clauses regarding this matter shall be eliminated from the Gold
Law, and that a separate law be passed, more or less on the basis of
the I.D.B. Law of Kimberley, Cape Colony, and that measures shall be
taken by which the injured parties shall be enabled to exercise
control, and have supervision over any department to be established
for the detection and suppression of thefts of new gold. Your
Commission are of opinion that the Government could grant this
request without injuring their dignity, on the basis hereinafter
mentioned. On the contrary, it would remove the blame from the
present administration, viz., that these thefts can be practically
carried on with impunity.

As to the Local Board:--

The evidence which has been laid before your Commission has contained
suggestions to establish a Board on which Government nominees and
representatives of the mining industry and of the commercial
community of the Witwatersrand should sit, so that the Government
representatives should have the benefit of the experience of men
whose daily occupation it is to look closely into all the affairs
appertaining to the mines, &c. Your Commission is of opinion that it
is advisable that these suggestions should be acted upon. The scope
of this Board should consist of the supervision of the administration
of the following laws, viz.:--

The Liquor Law as far as it concerns the proclaimed goldfields, the
Pass Law, and the Law relating to Gold Thefts; and the Board will
further have an advisory voice in the supply of natives to the mines,
which your Commission has recommended your Government to take into
its own hands. The area under the surveillance of the Board should
include the Heidelberg, Witwatersrand, and Klerksdorp districts, and
other goldfields as may be found desirable hereafter. Your Commission
suggests that the Board consists of the following: Five members to be
appointed by the Government, and four delegates to be appointed by
the following bodies, with the consent of the Government, viz., one
delegate of the Chamber of Mines, one of the Association of Mines (or
in case of an amalgamation, two representatives of the new Chamber),
a nominee of the Mine Managers' Association, and a nominee of the
commercial community of Johannesburg. Your Commission would advise
that a separate detective force be placed under the department, whose
duty it should be to detect any infringements of the above-mentioned
laws, and to bring the offenders to justice in the ordinary course of
law. It should also be in the sphere of the Board's work to report to
the proper authorities any laxity on the part of the officials who
have to administer the above-mentioned laws. The Board is to report
to the Executive Council upon the working of the laws referred to,
and to suggest alterations. It must be well understood that the power
of this Board must in no way clash with the sphere of the Minister of
the Mines department and the Licensing Board, but co-operate with the
same. We should adduce as a reason the more for the creation of such
a Board that Government could depute to them the right to receive
deputations, hear their arguments, and report to the Government on
the subject, whereby a great saving of time would be the result. We
would recommend that the Commission be appointed at once, and that
they shall frame their proposals for regulations and submit them at
once to the Government.

The establishment of a local mining board has been strongly urged by
witnesses. From an industrial and financial point of view this
country must be considered as still in its infancy, and, without loss
of dignity or prestige, the Government may accede to the above
request. Experience in these matters can only be attained after the
lapse of long years, and by coming in contact with experts from other
countries the State will reap the benefit of the knowledge obtained
in their country, where these problems have for decades exercised the
minds of their leading citizens.

In conclusion, your Commission fervently hope that they have truly
and faithfully interpreted the object of the inquiry, and that their
suggestions and recommendations, if acted upon, will confer a lasting
benefit on the country and people.

The evidence, as has been stated, was all given on oath, and some
very interesting details came out. In one case Dr. Leyds's system of
misrepresentation was exposed. Whilst the Commission was actually
taking evidence the then State Secretary in an interview with the
Paris _Temps_ strongly supported the dynamite monopoly, and stated
that the price charged, namely, 90s. per case, was the same at which
the Chamber of Mines had offered to enter into a sixteen years'
contract with Nobel's factory. A witness questioned on this point
explained that this was quite true as regards price, but that Dr.
Leyds had suppressed the essential fact that whereas out of the 90s.
paid to the monopolists the Government only receive 5s. by way of
duty, they would out of the 90s. which it was proposed to pay for
Nobel's dynamite receive no less than 38s. per case as duty, and that
if the contract proposed by the Chamber had been made the Government
would have profited during the previous four years to the extent of
£1,200,000 instead of £150,000. Upon another occasion light was
thrown on dark places in a rather disconcerting fashion. Mr.
Christiaan Joubert, Minister of Mines, took one of the witnesses in
hand with the object of showing that the people of Johannesburg had
only themselves to thank for the loss of confidence in this business.
The following questions and answers are from the official report:--

Should not the Chamber of Mines co-operate with the Department of
Mines to get a law protecting European shareholders from being
defrauded by swindlers?--I don't know if such a law could be framed
without interfering with what, in other countries, is considered to
be personal liberty. You have to come to the point whether the man
intended to swindle, and that can only be settled by the Court, as a
matter of personal judgment. If a good law could be devised it would
be beneficial.

Is there no possibility for the Chamber of Mines to work with the
Department for the passing of such a law?--I don't know if laws exist
in France, Germany, England, or America, to that specific effect; but
if so, I would be guided by the wisdom and immense experience of the
law makers of those countries, otherwise we might be rushing in where
angels fear to tread.

Is it then possible? Are you willing to discuss the matter with
us?--Oh, yes; but I do not think that that is exactly what is wanted
in order to restore confidence. Lots of things combine to shake the
confidence of investors. For instance, to deal with some small and
homely matters, I was told by a member of the Sanitary Board
yesterday that an application for the underground rights of the
Market Square, had been made by Mr. Jan Meyer, a leading member of
the Volksraad. That does not help to restore confidence. The Sanitary
Board applied for a portion of the Telephone Tower Park in order to
erect a Town Hall. They were refused. Now, some one has made an
application for the right to erect swimming baths. That does not
restore confidence. I hope the mere publication of these things will
prevent them from succeeding. The Sanitary Board applied for the
Union Ground, also for public purposes, but it was granted to private
applicants on the quiet. They have hawked it about and borrowed money
on it. It was offered to many of the big capitalists here, but they
would not touch it. The Sanitary Board are told that a building is to
be put up, in which fifty rooms will be set aside for them, but they
are not satisfied that the authorities should do good by stealth and
blush to find it fame.

I cannot understand how mere applications can shake
confidence?--Well, they do, because they are only made when there is
a chance of their being granted. But, if you want facts, I will tell
you what shook the investor's confidence as much as anything that has
happened for years--that was the Ferreira claim-jumping raid, which
it was sworn to in Court had been suggested by you yourself, Mr.
Joubert.

Not 'suggested' by me--

The Chairman said the witness was straying away from the original
question.

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 constituted 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
assurances 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 nobodies. 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 assume 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 assurance
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 circumstance 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 pass 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 quantities of mealies to be distributed among those
who were supposed to be starving. Inquiries instituted 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 quantities 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 competition 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 ship 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 instituted
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 shipped.
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 establishing 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 snowball. 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 assurance 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