upporter of the President and brother of a member of the
Executive Council. No department has yet been created; but a chief
has been appointed at a good salary, and the Pass Law has been
proclaimed in one district of the Witwatersrand out of several; so
that a measure which was designed to effect an immense saving in
expense and convenience to the mining industry was by the appointment
of an improper man and the neglect to organize a department rendered
quite useless, and by partial promulgation it was made even
detrimental.{16}

It has been aptly said of the Boers--and the present instance
illustrates the truth of the remark--that reform with them seems to
be impossible; because, in the first place, they do not know what to
do; in the second place, if they did, they have not got the men to do
it; and, in the third place, if they had the men, they show no
conception of a duty higher than that of utilizing every opportunity
for personal advantage.{17} To the uninitiated it may well be a
puzzle that President Kruger should encourage a system aiming so
directly at the strangling of an industry which is the mainstay of
the country; but in order to appreciate his motives it is necessary
to see things from his point of view. He and his party are not
desirous of cheapening the cost of production. He does not aim at
enabling the ever-increasing alien population to work lower-grade
mines, and so double or treble the number of immigrants, even though
it should profit the revenue of the country. A proposal was once made
to proclaim as a public field the town lands of Pretoria--that is to
say, to enable the public to prospect, and if results warranted,
to open up mines on the lands--some thousands of acres in
extent--surrounding the town. The President attended the debate in
the Second Raad and violently opposed the measure. The appeal at the
end of his address is perhaps as instructive as anything Mr. Kruger
has said. 'Stop and think what you are doing,' he exclaimed, 'before
you throw fresh fields open. Look at Johannesburg. See what a trouble
and expense it is to us. We have enough gold and enough gold-seekers
in the country already. For all you know there may be another
Witwatersrand at your very feet.'

In January, 1891, the average wage for native labourers was L2 2s.
per head per month. In 1893 it had risen to L2 18s. 10d., in 1895 to
L3 3s. 6d. In other South African States wages rule from 15s. to 30s.
per month, and the