The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1911. FRUITS OF UNION.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1270, 27 October 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1911. FRUITS OF UNION.

» . Under tho heading "Fruits of Union" a prominent South African journal mentions a few of the more ' disquieting facts concerning the j Botha Administration; only a few, but sufficient to show the extremely i unsatisfactory position in which the sub-continent now finds itself placed. The back-veld Dutch, encouraged by the narrow-minded, anti-British section of their clergy, and by rancorous politicians of the Hertzog type, J arc making a determined attempt to 1 regain, if not to increase, their for- ' mer ascendancy. It will be a bad day for South Africa if men such as these : ever got the upper hand. General ( Botha, on his return from England, • was expected to purify the political atmosphere and show these restless recalcitrants their proper place; but ' the amiable, easy-going Premier has e returned and done nothing. Mean- c while the anti-British Dutchmen are t going to disquieting lengths in dis- r playing their apparently ineradic- 'J able racial animosities. The Johan- s nesburg Star recently unearthed { some doings of these back-velders. At a Pict Ketief, a village on the eastern c border of the Transvaal, a meeting c was recently promoted by Hot Volk t with the avowed object of starting an v Agricultural Society. Tho gathering r proved to be but part of the anti- n British movement. Though the meet- t ing was confined to known members t of tho Nationalist political organisa- i tion, the minute-book, supplemented v by certain verbal information, has by some means reached the Johannesburg journal, which has not hesitated " to give the Picfc Rctief burghers a full measure of' publicity. Two Englishmen were employed at the local courthouse and one at the local post office; so stated "a prominent Gov- m eminent official who delivered a v bitter tirade on the language quns- j fcion." The meeting decided that the ti fault lay with the Government in Ceraploying Englishmen, and that the !• information bo communicated to the li Minister oi Justice forthwith. • The tl

I Minister of Justice is Mr. Hertzog, :, the Boar politician who, in the name of equal rights, would compel English children, willing or unwilling, to learn his own language—Dutch. The Boers in question, like many more of their congeners, arc apparently bent upon having, if possible, a clean sweep made of English officials from.tlieir midst. The Bcsidcnt Magistrate and his clerk, though both can speak and write Dutch, are to bo removed; that is, if Mr. Hertzog responds sympathetically to the urgent appeal from the "oprceht" Doppcrs . i ot Piet Jietief. _ Then, the local police force was considered, and its composition found to be unsatisfactory. Of its nineteen members, four were found to be English, while fifteen worn Dutch. That small proportion of "foreigners" might have been expected to pass without serious objection, especially as tho four are conversant with Dutch; but no, tho meetdecided that the ranks of tho police must be freed from the pre- • snncc of Englishmen. The four officers, whose sole faults arc their land of birth, and that they fought against the Boers in the war, arc likewise to bo got rid of if Mr. Hertzog will oblige. Tho fifteen Boer policemen were approved, being from the veld they were as Caesar's wife, and that despite the fact that, according to the Star, while six of the number can speak the two languages, eight can speak Dutch alone, and one can write neither Dutch nor English. This action of Pict Rcticf Dutchmen is but impudent persecution. Tho lessons of the recent war seem to have been quickly unlearned by some sections of South Africans. It seems almost impossible to get these men of the back-veld out of their ruts. At this Piet Betief gathering a committee was appointed, with tho Dutch minister, the Kev. B. H. Swart, chairman, "to watch and fight for the rights of the Dutch." The legislation of the Botha Ministry has been usually of a poor and makeshift order: administration has been confused, extravagant, and whenever possible of a clearly partisan character. And these peculiarities have been quick to affect South Africa- commercially and financially. The money market in particular supplies abundant evidence that the Botha Ministry docs not possess public confidence. Fears concerning the mere probability of the reactionary clement obtaining an upper hand in the Government have undoubtedly exerted the opposite of an assuring influence upon some of tho wealthy corporations of the country. Since tho Dutch came into power less fresh capital has been embarked in South African schemes than was invested during many previous years. Stocks and shares have been treated with comparative indifference and prices have besn forced down to an extent that suggests lack of confidence in the outlook. Well-known and typical securities as they stand to-day—or did a month ago—when compared with their position at the date of the Union reveal the serious depreciation that has taken place. The following Rand companies may be advanced by way of example; the prices quoted are those at the beginning of Union, May, 1010, and as they stood on September 1, 1911 : — Hay, 1910. Sept., 1911. £ s. d. j; s. d. Rand Mines 9 15 0 (i IG a Kast Bands 5 15 0 3 13 9 Cond, Goldiields ... 6 10 0 3 IS 9 Kandfouteins 2 8 9 2 0 0 .I'burg Investments 1 1G C 1 2 (i Modderfontcins ... 12 11 3 11 1 3 General Minings ... 2 10 0 15 0 AlVican Farms 17 0 0 IS (i i What this startling decline in market prices represents in depreciated capi- ' tal valuation is as follows: — i Decline Total ' pershare, depreciation. ; £ s. d. & t .Rand Mines 2 IS 9 5,183,325 1 Kast Hands 2 13 5,015,787 t Cond. Goldiields ... 2 113 5,122,222 \ Kandfonteins .... 0 8 !) 1,212,500 i J'burg Investments 014 0 2,785,0-30 : ."Uodilerfonteins ... 1 10 0 150,000 l General Minings... 15 0 2,343,750 ( African l-'arras .... 0 10 C 311,055 t ■ Aggregate depreciation .£22,733,039 I Possibly the opinion may be express- a ed that this depreciation is due to J cauess other than those connected with r the Government. That, however, is t not the opinion held in South Africa. s The Natal Mercury, for instance, = says: "These securities are peculiar- \, ly liable to fluctuate in market pricre r according to the greater or less eonfi- a dence reposed in _the politicians who t control our public affairs. It is the o habit of investors and speculators to ii weigh prospects as well as to note c realised facts. It is impossible to v, maintain that these figures indicate J the existence of that confidence in o the country's economic outlook which w it was supposed the advent of Union v> would beget." 0 ' tl