present of an immensely
valuable piece of property and gave him title under which he could
cut it up into small plots and readily sell it. This action of the
Government, however, required confirmation by the Raad. The matter
came before the Volksraad in due course and that body deliberately
revoked the decision of the Government and refused Mr. Eloff any
title except what he could claim according to law. But Mr. Kruger is
not so easily beaten. He soon discovered that the piece of ground
acquired by Mr. Eloff was exactly the piece which it was necessary
for the Government to have for a coolie location, and without more
ado the Government bought it from Mr. Eloff for L25,000.

The ingenuity of the Boer mind in getting the last possible
fraction of value out of any transaction, is well exemplified in this
matter. One would naturally conclude that a deal so profitable would
satisfy anybody. But not so! The piece of ground commands the
approach to many valuable private plots and residences, and it was
soon found that apart from intrinsic worth it might have a
blackmailing value; thus towards the end of 1898, after the deal had
been completed, the owners of these residences and estates were
privately approached with the information that the coolie location,
consisting of shelters built of scraps of iron, paraffin tins, and
old pieces of wood, was to be removed to this site (probably to
facilitate the transference of the present location site, which is
also very valuable, to some other favourite), but that if sufficient
inducement were offered by landowners in the neighbourhood, the
decision would be reconsidered!

The grant of a Municipality to Johannesburg has often been quoted as
an example of something done by Mr. Kruger in the interests of the
Uitlanders. The principal conditions of that grant are that all
burghers of the State, whether they have property or not, shall be
entitled to vote for the election of councillors; that each ward
shall be represented by two councillors, one of whom must be a
burgher; and that the chairman, or burgomaster, shall be appointed by
Government and shall have the right of veto. The elections in at
least two of the wards are completely at the mercy of the police and
of the poor Boers who have no interest whatever in the town. The
burghers in Johannesburg--police, Boers, and officials--who may
number a couple of thousand, including the naturalized lot, have
therefore a permanent and consi