The Transvaal from Within: A Private Record of Public AffairsFitzpatrick, Percy
History
The Transvaal from Within: A Private Record of Public Affairs
Fitzpatrick, Percy
Jameson's Raid, 1895-1896; Transvaal (South Africa) -- Politics and government -- 1880-1910
given as to this traffic only indicate and suggest the wide area
covered by this monopoly, which hitherto has made but halting and
feeble efforts to keep pace with the requirements of the public.
Dealing as it does with the imports of the whole country, which now
amount in value to L10,000,000, the figures we have given must serve
merely to illustrate its invertebrate methods of handling traffic, as
well as its grasping greed in enforcing the rates fixed by the terms
of its concession. Its forty miles of Rand steam tram-line and
thirty-five miles of railway from the Vaal River, with some little
assistance from the Delagoa line and Customs, brought in a revenue
of about L1,250,000 in 1895. Now that the Natal line is opened the
receipts will probably amount to nearly L3,000,000 per annum, all of
which should swell the ordinary revenue of the country, instead of
remaining in the hands of foreigners as a reservoir of wealth for
indigent Hollanders to exploit. The total railway earnings of the
Cape and Natal together over all their lines amounted to L3,916,566
in 1895, and the capital expenditure on railways by these colonies
amounts to L26,000,000. The greater portion of these receipts come
from the Rand trade, which is compelled to pay an additional
L2,500,000, carrying charges to the Netherlands Company, which has
L7,000,000 of capital. Thus, railway receipts in South Africa amount
now to L7,000,000 per annum, of which the Rand contributes at least
L5,000,000.
The revenue of the company is now considerably over L3,000,000 per
annum. The management claim that their expenses amount to but 40 per
cent. of revenue, and this is regarded by them as a matter for
general congratulation. The Uitlanders contend that the concern is
grossly _mis_managed, and that the low cost of working is a fiction.
It only appears low by contrast with a revenue swollen by
preposterously heavy rates and protected by a monopoly. The tariff
could be reduced by one-half; that is to say, a remission of taxation
to the tune of one and a half million annually could be effected
without depriving the Company of a legitimate and indeed very
handsome profit.
[Selati Railway.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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