The Newtown bee., 1900-01-19

Trsnsvsal started the scheme of proclaim ing all gold bearing land, so tbst on 8 certain day parcels of land were declared open and the person who first staked out this ground and had the same recorded could own them. .-...-.
 But from the day the SC claims are taken up the owner must pay each month a license to the government, no matter whether the owner is working his clsim or not.
 Nearly all the mines in the Transvasl are owned or controlled by English capi- tai and little over year ago the gov ernment thought they were not getting enough money out of the Englishmen in claim licenses, so law was passed mak- ing it necessary for the mines to give the government per cent. of all the gold mined. AS the output had reached the enormous figure of $120, 900, 900 year the Transvaa1 government was receiving about $6, ,000, 600 year in gold taxes to l say nothing about still larger sum in claim licenses.
 A10h1S SO0AS HGO SA&S @AAAAaSAsS SS1@~ w 8 company concession for the manufac-
 ture of dynamite, the government itself
 holding large interest iR the company
 as their reward for granting the conces. sion.
 The import duty on all other dynamite l was made so high that it was impossible for any other country in the world to en- ter the trade and for several years the government factory has been selling dy-
 namite to the mines at s5 shillings per case, while with ordinary import duties ' it could be landed and sold in the Trans vaal at s fair profit for 50 shillings per case. The cost of the consumption o1 | dynamite st the price of s5 shillings per
 case amounts to about $7,500 per month | for each mine, and with the 100 mines in l operation there before the war and with
 100 per cent profit in this explosive, il
 can be readily figured what the govern ment has been getting out of this one
 concession. During the past two yeart
 other concessions have been granted or these same lines as the one for dynamite but luckily, enough time has not passed to get them in working order.
 The import duties on everything uset !, in the mines are very high, besides thu
 charge of $40 ton for freight on al
 goods coming from the coast to Johannes
 burg over the Transyaa1 railway, dis tance of about 300 miles. Private vehi
 cles of every kind must have licenses a
 cost of $15 8 year fer each one. Ever
 Kf fir employed in the mines must have s pass iss ued monthly at cost of 90 cent 5 each time. As there are 100, 900 of thes natives employed in the Johnnesbur ! mines the income to the government fror I this source is by no means small. A f firms doing business are taxed on tn f turn over each year by two or three ser
 arate taxes, the total amount being nt F far from per cent. of the amount g business done.
 The B5er farmer pays no taxes of an n kind and has not done 80 for years. Fac
 year the assessors levy taxes on the Bo. @ the same as on the Outlander. but Il
 Boer never pays his while the Outlander q must be paid at once or his property vi
 be confiscated.
 al Second. In answer to the questio
 Were life and property before the VI II safe In Boer dominion, would say th j. the Boers have an intense hatred of g ,tI English speaking people, and if dispu Al between an Englisnman and Boer ht IT to be settled in court the Boer was su !. to win. h one or two cases where u l- judge has decided in favor of the Englis
 man Kruger has promptly had the judi Id reslgn and put one in that he knew woa ,el favor the Boer without regard to q V merita of The case. However, t cam
 be said slaas nAn's life or property v ae ln any great danRsr b tho TranssA'