en
informed, in custom dues, prospecting licences, railway receipts, etc.,
so that the revenue in 1898 amounted to L3,983,360, the fact must not be
lost sight of, on the other hand, that gold to the value of
_L20,000,000_ was exported from the State during the same year 1898,
almost entirely by the Uitlanders.

At the same time, it must not be forgotten that although the, chief item
in custom dues is collected on goods which are imported at Johannesburg,
yet these goods are not entirely used or consumed by the Uitlanders, for
a considerable quantity is sent over the whole Republic by the wholesale
merchants to the retail dealers who do business with the burghers in the
villages and the country, so that much of what is imported into
Johannesburg is destined for consumption by the original burgher of the
Republic.

With regard to the contention that the mining industry is more heavily
taxed than in any other country, and that the cost of the necessaries of
life is higher, this Government desires to remark that this contention
is entirely contradicted by facts and statistics. The value of goods
imported into the South African Republic during 1898 amounted to
L9,996,575, and the custom duties levied thereon to L1,058,224, or 10.6
per cent. Under the Customs Union of the adjacent British Colonies the
import duties amounted to 15 per cent, of the value of the goods, a
comparison which yields a difference of nearly 50 per cent. in favour of
the Republic. When the matter is examined in detail the case is even
stronger. In the Colonies certain articles, such as bread stuffs, are
subject to a special duty of 2s., say about 30 per cent, of the value,
in corn, and 40 per cent. in meal. In this Republic the duty on both the
foregoing articles is 7-1/2 per cent.; butter is especially taxed at 3d.
per pound, or 30 per cent., under the Customs Union, while in the
Republic it is subject only to the 7-1/2 _ad valorem_ duty. Coffee and
other necessaries of life, on being compared, would show a similar
difference, and this Government therefore trusts that Her Majesty's
Government will exonerate it when it points out the incorrectness and
unreliability of the information supplied to the Secretary of State, on
which he bases his conclusion that the cost of living is unusually high
in consequence of the taxation levied by the State; that such is not the
case will be at once shown by a comparison with the taxation of the
neighbouring Colonie