representation as adopted by the convention.
Similar amendments were offered by the Orange River
Colony in which the Dutch leader sympathized with
the leader of the Afrikanderbond at the Cape in desiring
to swamp out, rather than represent, minorities.
In Natal, which as an ultra-British and ultra-loyal
colony, was generally supposed to be in fear of union,
many amendments were offered. The convention
then met again at Bloemfontein, made certain changes
in the draft of the constitution, and again submitted
the document to the colonies. This time it was
accepted. Only in Natal was it thought necessary
to take a popular vote, and here, contrary to expectation,
the people voted heavily in favor of union. The
logic of the situation compelled it. In the history
of the movement Natal was cast for the same role as
Rhode Island in the making of the Federal Union of
the United States of America. The other colonies,
once brought together into a single system, with power
to adopt arrangements in their own interests in regard
to customs duties and transportation rates, sheer
economic pressure would have compelled the adhesion
of Natal. In the constitution now put in force
in South Africa the central point of importance is
that it established what is practically a unitary
and not a federal government. The underlying reason
for this is found in the economic circumstances of
the country and in the situation in which the provinces
found themselves during the years after the war.
Till that event the discord of South Africa was generally
thought of rather as a matter of racial rivalry and
conflicting sovereignties than of simple questions
of economic and material interests.
But after the conclusion of the compact of Vereiniging
in 1902 it was found that many of the jealousies and
difficulties of the respective communities had survived
the war, and rested rather upon economic considerations
than racial rivalries.
To begin with, there was the question of customs relations.
The colonies were separate units, each jealous of
its own industrial prosperity. Each had the right
to make its own tariff, and yet the division of the
country, with four different tariff areas, was obviously
to its general disadvantage. Since 1903 the provinces
had been held together under the Customs Union of
South Africa—made by the governments of
the Cape and Natal and the Crown Colony governments
of the conquered provinces. This was but a makeshift
arrangement, with a common tariff made by treaty,
and hence rigidly unalterable, and with a pro-rata
division of the proceeds.
Worse still was the railroad problem, which has been
in South Africa a bone of contention ever since the
opening of the mines of the Rand offered a rich prize
to any port and railway that could capture the transit
trade.
The essence of the situation is simple. The center
of the wealth of South Africa is the Johannesburg
mines. This may not be forever the case, but
in the present undeveloped state of agriculture and
industrial life, Johannesburg is the dominating factor
of the country.