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 failure to facilitate the introduction of natives from outside and to protect them is largely responsible for the high figures paid on the Rand.  Unquestionably the ill-will of the Boer Government is to blame for the consistent neglect of this growing need of the mines.  If decent protection and facilities were given, the wage could be reduced to L1 15s. per month.  The Government has it in its power to give the mines labour at this price, but, as a matter of fact, there is no desire to see the lower-grade mines working.  A reduction of L1 a month—­that is, to L2 3s. 6d.—­would mean an annual saving of L650,000, and the main reason why nothing has been done to obtain this reduction is that President Kruger holds that the gold fields are already big enough and that their further extension would be a calamity.

Early in 1895 considerable suspicion and uneasiness were aroused by indications of the growth of the German policy.  The commercial section of the community was disturbed by reports of secret arrangements favouring German importers.  Facilities were given, and ‘through rates’ quoted from Hamburg to Johannesburg at a reduction which appeared to be greater than any economies in sea transport, coupled with the complete elimination of agency charges, would warrant.  The formal opening of the Delagoa Bay Railway by the President furnished him with an opportunity to express with significant emphasis his friendliness for all things German.  At a banquet given in honour of the German Emperor’s birthday, January 27, 1895, the President, after eulogizing the old Emperor William, the present Emperor, and the loyalty of the Germans in the Transvaal, continued: