The Transvaal.

Manawatu Herald, 1 August 1899, Page 2

The Transvaal.

The news of the resignation of Oom Paul, the President of the Transvaal Republic, has naturally occassioned much comment, the difficulty having arisen over" the dynamite monopoly. The Raad has proposed a reduction in the price of explosives, and Mr Kruger desires, apparently to placate the British, to do away. with the monopoly altogether. From an African paper we are enabled to illustrate some of fhe proportions of this monopoly, as we find that blasting gelatine c~>sts in Pretoria £2 17s od to £3 os 3d, leaving an average profit to the company of £2 os gd per case; dynamite No. 1 costs £2 3s 6d to £2 5s gd, leaving a profit of £2 is id ; dynamite No. 1 A costs £2 2s 8d to £2 ss, showing profit of £2 12s sd ; dynamite No. 2 costs £1 17s 7d to £2 2s 2d, showing profit of £1 19s ; dynamite No. 3 costs £2 2s lid to £2 6s 4d, or average profit of £2 2s 1 id; and Gelignite costs £2 2s lid to £2 6s 4d, leaving £2 os iod as profit. These figures are taken from the auditor's report of the affairs of the Dynamite Company for the term 15th June, 1894, to 31st Dec, 1896. For the turn over, which^in a mining district must be enormous, we find the auditors show that there is a sum of £135,000 due to the government for the 20 per cent share in the profits from June 1894 to December 1896.