for the year, besides which the Government contributed £34,525 to the expenses of the volunteers, who number 1,531 men.

Commerce and Production.-There were 203,293 acres cultivated by Europeans in 1895. The leading crop for export is sugar, of which 20,401 tons were exported. Of tea 737,000 pounds were gathered from 2,297 acres. Corn, wheat, oats, and green crops are grown. The natives had 376,780 acres under cultivation. Europeans owned 27,758 horses, 229,512 cattle, 950,187 sheep, and 60,582 Angora goats, and natives 30,871 horses, 508,938 cattle, 19,282 sheep, and 285,517 goats. The coal output in 1895 was 160,115 tons. The total value of imports in 1895 was £2,469,303. The principal articles are haberdashery and apparel, iron manufactures, leather goods, flour and grain, cottons, woolens, machinery, and beverages. The value of the exports was £1,318,502. Gold, wool, and other products of the Dutch republics make the bulk of the exports. The export of wool was £452,412; of gold bars, £203,623 of coal, £72,315; of sugar, £56,961; of hides and skins, £46,270; of Angora hair, £28,610; of bark, £21,345.

Navigation.-During 1895 there were 540 vessels, of 788,495 tons, entered, and 536, of 781,571 tons cleared. The shipping of the colony consisted of 13 sailing vessels, of 674 tons, and 12 steam vessels, of 820 tons.

Railroads. The railroads, which belong solely to the Government, have a length of 402 miles. There is a line from Durban to the border of the South African Republic, 307 miles, connecting with a railroad that runs through to Johannesburg and Pretoria, the total distance from the port of Durban to Pretoria being 511 miles. Branches have been built to Verulam, Isipingo, and Harrismith, in the Orange Free State. The capital expenditure up to the end of 1895 was £6,117,211; gross receipts for 1895, £526,494; expenses, £278,756, leaving a net revenue equal to 4.05 per cent. on the capital.

Cabinet Changes. On Feb. 13 Sir John Robinson resigned the premiership on the ground of ill health. Harry Escombe, the Attorney-General, reorganized the ministry. In September the Government, in compliance with a request of the South African Republic, granted rebates amounting to the whole customs duty on numerous articles of the transit trade. The general elections took place near the end of that month, and the ministry sustained an unexpected defeat. Mr. Escombe and his colleagues resigned, and on Oct. 5 Mr. Binns formed a new ministry, in which he took the post of Colonial Secretary, with the premiership, Mr. Bale became Attorney-General and Minister of Education, Mr. Hime Minister of Public Works, Mr. Hulett Minister for Native Affairs, and Mr. Arbuckle Treasurer. Indian Immigration.-The people of Natal were greatly excited at the beginning of the year by the arrival of two ship-loads of East Indians. The importation of coolies to work on the plantations on time contracts has long been permitted, but the settlement in the country of Indians whose contracts have expired or the immigration of free Indians has always been unpopular, and various restrictions and regulations, based ostensibly on sanitary or other legal grounds. have been adopted to deter Indians from remaining in Natal. An Indian is liable to be arrested at any time unless he can produce a pass to show that he is a free Indian and not an indentured laborer. An indentured Indian on becoming free pays a poll tax of £3 a year as long as he continues to live in the colony. Although British subjects, they are denied the electoral franchise under a law withholding it from natives of all countries not endowed with parliamentary institutions. The Government high schools

are closed to Indian students. To prevent the landing of the Indians from the ships the inhabitants of Durban organized themselves to obey leaders and to assemble at the wharves prepared to resist their landing by force. They demanded that the Government send them back to India at its own expense, and that a law be made forbidding the further immigration of free Indians. The ships were held in quarantine, and meanwhile a bill was passed conferring powers on the Government to im pose quarantine indefinitely on ships with Indians on board. Another bill established new licensing restrictions upon traders on the pretense of preventing unsanitary conditions. A law to exclude undesirable immigrants was not directed exclusively against Indians.

Zululand. The territory that was formally annexed by Great Britain in May, 1887, extending north of the Tugela river, the boundary of Natal, to the border of Tongoland and to the South African Republic on the northwest, has an area of about 12,500 square miles and a population estimated in 1895 at 1,246 whites and 165,121 natives. The Resident Commissioner, Sir Marshal Clarke, administers the country under the direction of the Governor of Natal, who is also Governor of Zululand. The police force is composed of 250 natives. The Zulus, who raise cattle and till the soil, pay a hut tax of 148. Gold, silver, lead, copper, tin, iron, asbestos, and coal are found. Companies organized for gold mining have not yet met with success. There are 87 miles of telegraph. The revenue in 1895 was £51,746, and the expenditure £66,172.

Orange Free State.-The Constitution proclaimed on April 10, 1854, and amended on Feb. 9, 1866, and May 8, 1879, vests the legislative power in the Volksraad, consisting of 58 members, elected for four years, half of them retiring every two years, by the votes of the burghers possessing real property worth £500, or paying £36 a year for leased property, or having an income of £200, or owning £300 worth of personal property. The executive power is vested in a President elected for five years. The President is T. Steyn, elected Feb. 21, 1896.

The area of the republic is estimated at 48,326 square miles. There was in 1890 a white population of 77,716, consisting of 40,571 males and 37,145 females. The natives numbered 129,787, of whom 67,791 were males and 61,996 females, making the total population 207,503. Education is controlled by the Government, but is not compulsory, nor is it free, except for the poor. There were 162 Government schools in 1895, with 220 teachers and 4.867 pupils.

The revenue for ten months ending Dec. 31, 1895, was £259,589, and the expenditure £271,935. Of the receipts, £93.190 were import duties, £41,618 stamp duties, £28,576 transfer duties, £26,347 postoffice and telegraph receipts, £10.425 quit rents, and £7,810 the native poll tax. Of the disbursements, £40,169 were for salaries, £40,000 for public works, £36,755 for education, £23,905 for posts and telegraphs, £10,043 for police, and £3,900 for the artillery.

Every able-bodied man in the country between sixteen and sixty years of age can be called into military service by the field cornet of his district in case of war. The number of burghers fit for service in 1896 was 17.381. There is an artillery corps. which was doubled in 1896, when a new fort was built for the protection of the capital, Bloemfontein. The present strength is 102 men, besides a reserve of 350 men who have served their term.

The land is divided into about 6,000 farms, having a total area of 24.675,800 acres, of which 250,600 acres are cultivated. Most of the land is only

adapted for grazing. There were 248,878 horses, 276,073 draught oxen, 619,026 other cattle, 6,619,992 sheep, 858,155 goats, and 1,461 ostriches in the country in 1890. There are good coal mines, and gold is found. The diamonds of the Orange Free State are usually of fine quality; the product in 1894 was 282,598 carats, valued at £428,039. Foreign commerce passes through the Cape and Natal ports. The imports for 1895 were estimated at £926,567, of which £676,716 came from Cape Colony, £168,966 from Natal and the South African Republic, and £80,885 from Basutoland. The estimated value of the exports was £1,515,845, of which £519,987 went to Cape Colony and £931,860 to the South African Republic. Wool is the chief export, and hides, diamonds, and ostrich feathers come next in order. The railroad from Norval's Point, on the Orange river, to Bloemfontein, 121 miles, and the continuation to Viljoen's Drift, on the Vaal river, 209 miles, were built by the Cape Government, and have been transferred to the Government of the Republic. Bloemfontein is connected with the telegraph systems of Natal, the South African Republic, and Cape Colony by 1,500 miles of telegraph lines.

Politics and Legislation. The railroad built through the Orange Free State by the Cape railroad administration, connecting the colonial lines with those of the South African Republic, became the property of the Free State Government for the price of £850,000, and passed into its possession on Jan. 1, 1897. An aliens bill revoking the franchise exercised by resident foreigners was discussed in May. The members of the Raad were equally divided on the question, though the bill involved an amendment of the Constitution, which conferred on aliens the full franchise denied to Uitlanders in the Transvaal. Another bill was passed in June granting the franchise to Uitlanders only after three years' residence, but not requiring them to forswear allegiance to their native country. To make this a law three fourths of the Volksraad must ratify it in the succeeding year. A treaty of amity and friendship with Germany was ratified. A commission was appointed to revise the Constitution and submit the proposed amendments at the next session of the Volksraad. The Raad agreed to the principles of closer union with the Transvaal, and afterward ratified the political treaty nego tiated by the two Presidents. The customs union with Cape Colony was ratified on June 20.

South African Republic.-The legislative authority is vested in two houses, each consisting of 24 members elected in as many districts. The members of the First Volksraad are elected by the firstclass burghers, comprising white male citizens who resided in the country prior to May 29, 1876, or who took part in the war of independence in 1881 or the Malaboch war of 1894, and their sons from the age of sixteen. The Second Volksraad is elected by the second-class burghers, comprising naturalized aliens and their sons from the age of sixteen. A white alien can become naturalized after residing two years in the country by registering his name, taking the oath of allegiance, and paying a fee of £2. Naturalized citizens of twelve years' standing may be made first-class burghers by special resolution of the First Volksraad. Sons of aliens registered at the age of sixteen may become naturalized at the age of eighteen and acquire the rights of first-class burghers at the age of forty. Aliens entering the Republic since Jan. 1. 1897, must be provided with means of identification and prove that they can support themselves, and must further have traveling passports good for three months, or for one year if they intend to remain. The executive power is vested in a President, elected for five

VOL. XXXVII.-8 A

years by the votes of the first-class burghers. He is assisted by an Executive Council, consisting of 4 official members and 2 nonofficial members, elected by the First Volksraad. The State President is S. J. P. Krüger, elected for his third term on May 12, 1896. The Vice-President is Gen. P. J. Joubert. The Executive Council in the beginning of 1897 was composed as follows: Commandant General, Gen. P. J. Joubert; State Secretary, Dr. W. J. Leyds; Superintendent of Natives, Commander P. Cronje; Minute Keeper, J. H. M. Kock; unofficial members, M. A. Wolmarans and S. W. Burger.

The revenue for six months in 1896 was £2,076,030, more than double that of the full year 1891. The increase is due to the receipts for licenses, royalties, etc., from the gold fields. The expenditure for the six months was £1,490,068, leaving a balance of £1,510,945 in the treasury on June 30, 1896. Besides the revenue from the gold mines, the income of the Government is derived from land sales and quit rents, customs duties, a native-hut tax, transport dues, and stamps. The revenue from the gold mines in 1895 amounted to £1,848,571 out of a total of £3,539,955. In the estimates for the full year 1896 the revenue was taken at £3,862,193 and the expenditures at £4,216,657. In the latter sum are included the extraordinary expenditure of £300,000 for preventing the spread of the rinderpest, £730,000 for public works, £943,510 for the purchase of war material, and £585,350 for other purposes. The public debt amounted in September, 1896, to £2,690,579, consisting principally of a loan of £2,500,000 contracted with the banking house of Rothschild and a debt of £156,662 due to the British Government on account of the British occupation in 1870-'80. The only permanent military force is the horse artillery, numbering 32 officers and 368 men. There is a force of 1,170 volunteers. In case of war every able-bodied citizen is called to arms.

The area of the South African Republic is 119,139 square miles. The census of 1890, which made the white population 119,128, divided into 66,498 males and 52,630 females, was very incomplete. In 1896 the white population was estimated at 180,000 and the native population at 609,879. Pretoria, the capital, has about 8,000 inhabitants. Johannesburg, the center of the mining district of Witwatersrand, had a population on July 15, 1896, of 102,714, of whom 51,225 were whites, 7,093 of mixed race, and 44,396 natives. The Government schools, in which Dutch is the language of instruction, had 7,679 pupils in 1895, in which year the Government expended £63,778 on education. In Johannesburg and other places the alien residents maintain separate English schools.

The soil is well adapted for agriculture as well as grazing, but the latter has been heretofore the chief industry, while grain and other produce has to be imported. There are 12,245 farms, of which number the Government owns 3,636, resident owners and companies 6,997, and alien owners and companies 1,612. The principal exports are gold, wool, cattle, hides, grain, ostrich feathers, ivory, brandy, and minerals. The dutiable imports in 1895 were valued at £9,816,304, of which £6,440,215 came from European countries and £3,536,677 from the neighboring countries and others. The duties collected were £1,085,419. The incorporated mining companies in 1895 numbered 170, with a total nominal capital of £43,544,983 and a working capital of £12,037,225. The output of the gold mines, situated principally at Witwatersrand and Barberton, was £8,569,555 in 1895, against £7,667,152 in 1894, £5,636,122 in 1893, £4,638,879 in 1892, and £2,917,702 in 1891. In six months of 1896 the product was £4,067,976.

low-grade mines to pay dividends the Uitlanders would diminish freight rates on the railroads and abolish all import duties on necessaries of life, and in these demands they are likely to have the sup port of the Transvaal Government. The agriculturists of Cape Colony and Natal, on the other hand, induced their governments, in June, 1897, to raise the railroad rate on imported grain 50 per cent. The Cape Colonists complain that under the pass law respectable colored people from their colony are required to wear badges and to be in their houses by nine o'clock at night, but the Uitlanders desire to apply the pass law more stringently. In August the Volksraad modified the pass laws by exempting ministers, teachers, and tradesmen from wearing badges, but requiring them to carry passes costing £3 a year. The Dutch Africanders of the republics as well as of the British colonies find fault with the Transvaal Government for importing from Holland men to fill Government posts and to teach in the Government schools. Yet it would be impossible to find in South Africa many persons trained to official life and capable of carrying on correspondence in English, German, and French, as well as Dutch, or teachers who can teach all those languages, as the new school law for the Witwatersrand requires. Since the Government of the Republic has agreed to grant subventions to the English schools on the Rand, the great educational grievance of the Uitlanders has dwindled to small proportions. The Government paid out £46,893 for education in 1896, and school fees and voluntary contributions amounted to £18,413, making the cost of educating an average number of 7,738 children in 395 schools £65,305, very nearly per pupil. Of the total number in average attendance 93 per cent, were in the elementary grades, leaving only 7 per cent. in the intermediate schools. Only 20 per cent. received instruction in English, showing the preponderant position of Dutch as the language of the country and of the courts of law. In pursuance of a law passed in the latter part of 1896 for the education of children of poor parents and foreigners in the gold fields, the Government offered to grant £30,000 for this purpose in 1897 in the way recommended by the Superintendent of Education after consultation with a committee representing the English, French, German, American, and Dutch nationalities, on condition that Dutchspeaking children receive their education in the national language, and that the whole scheme conform to the educational laws and resolutions of the Volksraad. It is proposed to teach English-speaking and other foreign children in their own language only in the primary grades. In the middle education Dutch will continue to be the medium of instruction. The total sum appropriated for education in 1897 was £150,000, giving four times as much to Boer children as to Uitlanders. The actual proportions of the British and Africander nationalities are variously estimated. The French consul, M. Aubert, estimated the population of Johannesburg itself in 1897 at 136,000 persons, of whom 50,907 were whites. The number of actual Europeans, apart from immigrants from British South African colonies and the Orange Free State, was ascertained to be 24,489, of whom 16,265 were English, Scotch, and Irish, 3,335 Russians, 2,263 Germans, 819 Dutch, 442 French, 311 Swedes and Norwegians, 206 Italians, 139 Swiss, and 709 from

£9

other countries.

In the autumn of 1897 the Government decided to promulgate a law passed in 1896, establishing a municipality in Johannesburg, which had hitherto been held back at the request of the Uitlanders themselves, who were not satisfied with the act. Half the members of the municipal council are to

be burghers, and the burgomaster, who has the casting vote, is appointed and paid by the Government and has power to suspend the operation of any resolution deemed to be in conflict with the law of the land, the final decision resting with the Government, not with the High Court. The council has power to make regulations for safety, public order, morality, and health, to issue loans, and to enter into contracts for public works, subject to the sanction of the Government. A bill to prohibit the working of stamp mills and mines on Sunday failed to pass the Volksraad, to the disappointment of the Doppers, who charged members with receiving bribes to vote against the measure. Notwithstanding the decrease of revenue and the necessity of borrowing £600,000 to meet the year's expenses, the Volksraad increased the salaries of its members to £1,200 a year. The Uitlanders and others raised a protest against the granting of the full burgher franchise to 800 Johannesburghers who took up arms for the Republic at the time of the Jameson raid. The Volksraad adopted a motion for the alteration of the qualification of members, with a view to exclude undesirable and disloyal persons. A law introducing voting by ballot will come into force in 1898. The Volksraad resolved that no state official shall be a candidate for the presidency without first resigning office.

The commercial and financial crisis in Johannesburg, that was aggravated by the Uitlander revolution at the beginning of 1896, was rendered more formidable in 1897 by a heavy decline of mining shares in the market, and extended throughout the Transvaal, owing to the ravages of the rinderpest and scarcity in the northern districts. The primary cause was overtrading and overstocking, such as had preceded a similar crisis in 1890. The excessive competition of importers, encouraged by the unrestrained granting of credit, resulted in a commercial collapse, which involved the banks and mercantile houses of Cape Colony and Natal and reacted on the banking and mining concerns in London, depressing still more the speculative value of mining stocks. The check given to importations and mining activity affected the finances of the Transvaal Government, causing its surplus to disappear, and even necessitating recourse to temporary loans, for expenditures went on increasing and votes for the relief of burghers impoverished by the rinderpest constituted an additional drain on the treasury. There were 4,803,000 tons of ore extracted in 1896, yielding on an average a little less than half an ounce of pure gold per ton. Though this yield was slightly inferior to that of former years, it is not found that the ore of the deeper levels, except in some localities, is poorer than the surface outcroppings. The machinery represents 138,000 horse power and was valued at £5,330,000, an increase of 21.6 per cent. over 1895. All the Transvaal mines, gold and coal, represented at the end of 1896 a nominal capital of £67,333,000, of which only 37 per cent. had been actually invested in the purchase of the mines and plant."

An industrial commission was appointed to report to the Volksraad on the measures of relief required from the Government. This commission, which began its investigations on April 15 and made its report on Aug. 6, sifted out the practical grievances of the Uitlanders that affected the goldmining industry. There were 183 gold mines in the Transvaal in 1896, of which 79 produced gold of the total value of £8,603,821, while 104 vielded no gold, most of them being in a state of development and equipment, and only 25 companies declared dividends, the total amount being £1,718.781. The high cost of production prevented many of the