Boer Politics

of the Boer

s always had a horror of paying taxes;

land in 1877, the Government was being crushed by deb

December, 1880, was caused by the determination of Colonel Owen Lanyon, the

howed ￡143,000 revenue, and ￡184,000 expenditure. From April 1st, 1884, to Marc

evenue rose to ￡1,577,000. The crisis of 1890 caused it to

￡2,24

2,9

3,9

3,9

3,3

explosives from 1895 to 1898; the share of licences of claims from 1895 to 1899; n

sessment of

m 175,000 are males. The number of burghers aged between sixteen and sixty, e

represent, however, a budget of over four millions of pounds; or, ￡133 per head. If our 10,800,000 electors in France had a prop

there been an oligarchy so favoured. It is true that all do not profit in the same proportion. "The Transvaal Repub

s of Boer

to ￡1,080,382; and in 1899, they were estimated at ￡1,216,394. Salaries amountin

new anything about them. Each elector represents more than ￡40 of official salaries. At the same rate the pay of the French Government officials would amount annually to about four hundred and thirty-two millions pounds s

Side of the

oria Government, from which may be gathered the extraordinarily rapid rate of increase: In the fourteen years-1886-99-the budget expenditure amounted to ￡37,031,000, of whic

, &c. ￡7

xpenditure

xpenditur

ervices

works 5

-

,91

-

surplus of

rvice expenditure, remuneration to influential electors, and the various political

,216,000, included a sum of ￡326,640 for the p

or fifty-eight in all. Now the estimate of salaries for the legislature is ￡43,960, o

ile the gross estimate for education in the budget for that year amounted to ￡63,000, which works thus out at a cost of ￡8 6s. 1d. per head for the Boer children. Dr. Mansveldt, Head of the Education Department of th

ew T

or the insatiable government in Pretoria. At a meeting of the Chamber of Mines, on Novemb

n completed, and the machinery set up. It appeared to him, however, that the government intended to appropriate some of their profits, although it had given no facilities for the preparatory works on the mines, d

on of other mines. In his report of January 26th, 1899, Mr. Rouliot says: "Had this new tax formed part of a general scheme for the readjustment of taxation, it might have been defended, but those who are con

t to Rais

e Government of Pretoria blamed the mining companies for the failure. Mr. Rouliot said, on January 26th

to abstain from plain speaking; on the contrary, I hold it to be my duty to be frank and to state to the government that if it failed in its negotiations, it is due to its bad financial policy; to its

the Volksraad, show that the Government of Pretoria offers no better guara

ng the Ui

the old characteristic of all oligarchies. The Boer may cheerfully aug

who pretend that the Uitlanders are a bad lot