. Mr. Kuyper shares the belief
that one has only to go to Johannesburg to shovel in the gold. If the
working of mines were so simple a matter, Boer intelligence would be
equal to the undertaking. As they are not worked by them, it must be
because there are difficulties. These difficulties have been overcome
for them by the Uitlanders. Once overcome, the Boers present themselves
and say: "That gold is mine!"

"Why then did you not take it yourselves?"

The Boers, who pride themselves upon driving their teams of oxen, but
who consider that to in-span them is work only fit for Kaffirs, consider
gold mining beneath them, let alone that they have not the capacity for
it. They leave it to the Uitlanders: all the same, Dr. Kuyper holds it
just that it is they who should take the profit.

[Footnote 12: _Le Siecle_, 3rd April, 1900.]

2.--_The Proportion of Gold per Ton._

Gold ore is found in infinitesimal quantities in large deposits of waste
matter. In 1898 of the 77 Gold Mining Companies at work, three-fourths
reported a yield of 1/2 oz. per ton; some only 6 to 7 dwts. per ton.
Consequently we find mines worked where one ton of rock will yield 1/2
oz. of ore, or perhaps only half as much. There are other mines which
swallow up the capital, and give no return at all.

3.--_Cost of Production._

In 1892 gold producing in the Transvaal cost 35s. 6d. per ton; in 1897
the cost was reduced to 28s. 6d.; in 1898 to 27s. 6d. This reduction of
cost is in no way due to any reforms made by the Government, but to
improvements in the methods employed, and especially to the more
extensive use of compressed air drills.

Out of 8,965,960 tons of ore raised in the Witwatersrand nearly 18.2 per
cent. had to be thrown out; that is: about 1,634,500 tons of ore were
rejected as sterile. In some cases the proportion of sterile ore has
amounted to as much as 40 per cent. The cost of production from the
deep levels is 34s. 6d. Out of the profits of each month, expenses and
the cost of working material have to be met. (Speech of Mr. Rouliot,
President of _The Chamber of Mines_, January 26th, 1899.)[13]

Mr. J.H. Curle in his valuable work _The Gold Mines of the World_,
published in 1899, estimated the debts of the Rand Companies at
L5,515,000. "It is not unusual," he writes, "for the directors of a deep
level mine to spend L500,000 before one single ton has been crushed."

[Footnote 13: See the _Revue Sud-Africaine_ (Paris), February 2