d question of liability to cancellation was arbitrarily
settled by the Government in its own favour.

The crop of scandals in 1897 was as the rolling snowball. It is
unnecessary to refer to them all in detail. The Union Ground, one of
the public squares of Johannesburg, was granted to a syndicate of
private individuals upon such terms that they were enabled to sell
the right, or portion of it, at once for L25,000 in cash. The
Minister of Mines, in his official capacity, strongly recommended the
transaction, and was afterwards obliged to admit that he himself had
an interest in it. The Volksraad however refused to confirm it, and
the purchaser of the concession fell back upon the President for
protection. The latter advised him to remain quiet until the
presidential election, which was about to take place, should be over,
and gave the assurance that then he would see that the grant was
confirmed by the Raad. In the session of 1898 his Honour strongly
supported the proposal and it was duly carried.

The Eloff location scandal was another which greatly disturbed even
the Volksraad. Mr. Frickie Eloff is President Kruger's son-in-law and
enjoys the unsavoury reputation of being interested in every swindle
which is worth being in the Transvaal. A piece of ground lying to the
north-west of Johannesburg close up to the town had originally been
proclaimed as a goldfield, but no reefs having been found there and
the ground not having been pegged, it was afterwards withdrawn from
proclamation. The Mining Commissioner of Johannesburg in the course
of his duties discovered some flaw in the second or withdrawing
proclamation. He advised the head office in Pretoria of this
discovery and stated that it might be contended that the
de-proclamation was invalid, and that great loss and inconvenience
would follow if the ground were pegged and the title upheld. Within
twenty-four hours the ground was pegged by Mr. Eloff, but it is not
known whence he derived the inspiration. His claim was strongly
opposed by the local officials. They reported that the ground was
known to be of no value, and advised that as the cost of licenses
would be very considerable the obvious policy of the Government would
be--if the title could not be upset--to wait until Mr. Eloff should
tire of paying licenses on valueless ground. The Government, however,
decided otherwise: they converted Mr. Eloff's claims into residential
stands; that is to say, they made him a