Weekly journal-miner., 1909-04-14
NATION ARISES IN SOUTH
 AFRICA
A COMMONWEALTH TO INCLUDE CAPE COLONY, THE TRANS VAL, NATAL AND
 ORANGE.


 LONDON, April 9.-The new South
 African Commonwealth is soon to be-
 come an accomplished fact. Accord
 ing to cable dispatches from Cape Town, the parliaments of Cape Colony, the Transvaal, Natal and Orange River
 Colony will take action on the eonsti-
 tuition recently formulated by a spec
 ial body of representatives.
 Next June the union convention
 again will meet to put the finishing touches to the plan of government, which then will be brought to London
 for imperial approval and for the
 Kings signature.
 Indications are that the new gov
 ernment will be strongly centralized. It will follow the Canadian rather than the American or Australian plan in reserving all powers not specially delegated to the provinces. Practi- eally all the interests and affairs of the provinces are placed in the hands of a central parliament the purely To- cal and administrative business of each province only being in the hands of a provincial council, which is also subject finally to the authority of the central parliament. This plan is radical departure from the methods of the home country and of the other col Onial federatiOns and was decid ed upon evidently with a view to avoiding the eonfusions, the contra dietions, and the frequent arbitrary effects of party government.
 The suffrage in the new common wealth is to be exercised throughout, in all elections, local and general, and in the secondary election for members of the upper house of parliament, in accordance with the principle of "pro- portional representative with the sin gle transferable vote" By this prin- eiple a voter, for instance, in the with thirty-six representa- tives, could vote either once for each candidate or give two votes for the eighteen he should select. The re- suit would be that no considerable mi nority would be without representa- ton fairly proportioned to its strength.
 The principle of equality in the up per house, as in the United States senate, is applied in the South African but not completely. Each of the four provinces chooses eight senators through the vote of it's pro rincial council and its members of the assembly, or lower house, and to hese are added eight senators nomi- lated by the governor general in coun- il. The members of the house of ss- embly are chosen by the provinces according to the adult nale European population. The na- ives who HOW have the vote are not O be deprived of it, but none can at ain it in the future, and they are not ligible to the parliament.
 Inc constitution IL necessarily in the orm of an act of the British Parlia- 1ent, but amendments to some of its provisions may at any time be made y the parliament of South Africa, nd any of them may be changed at ny time by a two-thirds vote of the ssembly and senate in joint session. 10th English and Dutch are made of eial languages. All laws and doeu- Ients are to be published in each alike, nd either may be used in debates or ourt proceedings.
 The parliament will meet in the as embly building at Cape Town. The Overnment offices are to be at Preto- a, the capital of the Transvaal, while ie supreme court and other high ,urts will be established in the chief ty of the Orange River Colony, The railroads, seaports, c., are to be managed by eommis- on at cost, and foreign commerce is
 be apportiOned; the Transvsal, trough Delagoa Bay, getting 50 per mt, Natal 30, and Cape Colony 20.