Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-11-10
ENGLISH CHARGES AGAINST Beers.

Free Press, no doubt unintentionally,
makes some misleading statements. 1t
says:
The dynamite monopoly, which charged
an exc rbitant price for mining materials,
was but one of these grievances. Among
other wrongs complained of were the exclu.
sion of all languages except the Dutch from
the schools, although the Outlanders sup
ported them largely; the Withholding of the
right to trial by jury and the right to vote of
those who paid fivs-sixths of the enormous
taxes of the country, the rate of taxation
having reached the enormous amount of $50
per capita, sum having no parallel in a
country without a national debt and having
no elaborate public works.
Because dynamite is used very largely
in mining operations, the monopoly
granted by the Transyaal government
prominent issue in the troubles leading
to the war. While the price charged is
very high, the complaint of the 'Out.
landers" is against the monopoly more
than against the price. This is suscep-
tible of proof by comparison of the
prices of dynamite in the Transvaal and
In the British diamond mines at Kmber-
ley. In spite of the fact that the dyna.
mite imported into the Transvaal must
be hauled farther and pay an import tax,
the British South African Chartered
company charges more for dynamite at
Kimberley than is demanded by the
Trans vaal monopolsts at Johannesburg.
Consequently the cry of extortionate
prices is largely sham.
As to The wrong" of excluding all
languages except the Dutch from the
schools. that is absurd. Where in the
United States is any language but Eng
fish allowed as the basis for public
school instruction? There are many
communities where the foreign-born
predominant and pay the major portion
of the school taxes, yet their language is
excluded, and all native Americans be-
lieve Justly so. No nation which derives
growth from immigration could maintain
its individuality for decade If It per-
mitted any other language than its own
to be taught in its public schools. The
fact that the English In the Transvaal
objected to having their children taught
in the BOer tongue is prima facie evi-
dence of their insincerty in declaring
they desired easier naturalization laws.
Johannesburg is the home of the
English who are engaged in mining
operations. 1t is but few miles from
Pretoria. the capital of the Transyaal,
and is within the jurisdiction of the lat
ter city. Its population is almost wholly
foreign. The foreigners have no more |
right to take part in municipal affairs
than nnnaturalig"d foreigners 10 New
York or Boston. Johannesburg il +
ruled directly by town council and a !
Durgomaster, who is government off !
lial, and these are citizens Of r. rxa /
Vatl, as they shoul" '""'
The IT, 'e'
Zee Press inadvertently omitted |
an important phrase in the complaint of
trial by jury. The English complain
that iuries by which they are tried are
not their peers but burghers. When an
Italian laborer in the
Barre stone quarries is party to suit at
law, is the jury selected from the
co-laborers and countrymen or
from the ranks of American citizens
D. the courts of any country draw
jurics from among foreignersS
In the matter of taxation the English
have no gF0und for complaint, They
pay only their pro rata, the same as the
Beers. If the latter, who are for the
most part farmers, can stand the rate,
the English, who must be making
good living to induce them to remain
ing no vote is irrelevant to the issue in
that connection. The property of
foreigners, whether resident or not, has
to pay its pro rata in the United States
why should it be exempt in the Trans
vaal? If the English in that country
pay large part of the total tax col
lected, it is because they own the most
valuable properties-the gold mines.
III Tue lTunsNddl lueIe are tue TlCHrSI
gold fields in the world. They are
worked by English capital and the out
put is shipped to England. The Trans
vaal charges tax of p per cent on the
profits of the mines, yet so rich are they
that even this small tax amounts to
hundreds of thousands of dollars year.
Now add these hundreds of thousands
derived from gold mines alone to the
ordinary taxes and divide the sum by
the total of the foreign tax-paying pop
ulation and you have an average tax for
each that will stagger you. The mines
pay the taxes. Just how "exorbitant"
the gold tax is Is indicated by the fact
that stockholders in the mines during
the year preceding this war received
dividends on stock varying from sixty
m ono hundrad ppr cent nar annum 7