THE SITUATION IN THE TRANSVAAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8210, 14 August 1906, Page 3

THE SITUATION IN THE TRANSVAAL.

PROBABILITY OP A STRUGGLE, i •If the British come out on top in the Transvaal 1 am going dack, if ) riot I'll give the country a wide j berth,' was a remark made to an j Auckland Herald representative j last week by Mr E. R. Oudaille, j who ha a resided in Johannesburg ; for the ; ast four years, »md is aeon of the well known pioneer of the Gabriel's Gully goldflelds in Otago. Mr Oudailly was in Capetown di'viug the latter stages of the war, and since then ho has engaged in railway contracting and building in t'ua 'LVansvaal. He stated that when ho left ?or a trip to New Zealand things were very dull in Johannesburg; people were waiting to see what would happen, and, like himself, would decline to live under Dutch rule. In the Transvaal everything was at standstill, building hid ceased, and railway work was at an end in the meantime. 'But mining work must be going on?' •Yes,' repliedMrOudaille,'but if the Ohinese were repatriated there would only be a cortain number of mines worked.' Afekeii his opinion on the political situation, Mr Oudnille replied that the Biitish residents feared the Boera would come into power. It svoul;i be a toss up of a vote or two mhioh party was dominant.. The Bours kept very quiet and very aeoret, but they would be ready to flgif'l at any time, md were always looking forward to getting their country back again. He did not agree witfi the cabled newspaper opinion, that of the Toronto Globe, that the Batrs would appreciate the magnanimity of their being treated aa trustworthy friends. The census of 1904 cave the British adult residents as 57,713 and Dutch 35,693. The British being in the majority, should have greater voting power, or more ttembsr?, but under the Constitution they would not, and it would rest on a vote or two which came into power. People were leaving the country. It was estimated that 12,000 had left since January, bat, of course, out of the total there were a great many who would go back if the British were in power. The living in the Transvaal was so expensive, anout 100 pet ceut more than if New Zealand, that it cost no more to take a holiday in Europe that to live in the country. The Administration at present was bad, for officials were ■sent out from England who knew nothing of the requirements of the •country. Very likely Mr Stead was right in saying the Boera 'nuld have the power. There were a certain ■number of British who sympathised with the Boere, and would vote with them, but those British were chiefly J those who had axes to grind, and j were going with the party fhey thought would rule. The Prflmier of England himself was a oro-Boer, and so was the Homo Secretary.' •And what will happen if the Boers get into power?' (' 'The progress of the country will come to a standstill), for the reason that the Biitish will not be governed by the boers, and the Dutch and German olement will run the country. The German coming to New Zealand becomes a Britisher, bat in South Africa he becomes a Boer.' The Uape to Cairo railway, said Mr Oudaille, was now 30 miles north "of the Zambesi Falls, but progress was very slow, not more that 50 miles a year. This wan xather faster than in New Zealand, but it was a slow rate in a country of such tremendous distance as Africß. The bequest of £1,200,000 by the late Alfrod Beit would construct about 1000 .miles, as the country was such that construction was easy. Ho could not say the distance betwen the Cairo end and the Zambedi Falls end, for the country in between has never been surveyed. On the subject oi' Chinese labour, Mr Ondaille said the Chinese coolies were doing remarkably good work, and were bettor labourers than the Kaffirs. He was for some years in Chinese territory, and had employed a good number of them, and had found them good, peaceable workmej once they got used to the Europeans. In the Simmer and Jack mine at Germiston, there were 5,000 Ohinese and 1,100 whites, and a 500 head stamper battery was Kept going. The underground workings totalled 67 miles, and the output was 20,000 oz of gold per month, the average yield per ton of material being s>£ dwt, end the dividend was 7percent per annum. The Simmer East mine bad 2,000 coolies, and if the Chinese were deported it would simply be a deserted village, as the mines ' could not be worked j at all without the Chinese. The conglomerate bed, from wheh the gold was extracted was five miles wide and 60 miles long, and in the shallow levels the workings were 2,000 ft down. 'lhe deepest bore so far was 5,300 ft, but the bed got deeper still towards the east. To sink a shaft took four years, and another four years were required to develop the procerty, the capital required being anywhere between £1,000,000 and £1,5"0,000. There was no fear of the Ohinese returning to China if they were allowed to stay aa they had better food and waj.;es than in China and 75 per ceut of their earnings was going out into local trade. 'The imports since the war,' said Mr Oudaille, 'have, been 80 per oent. British, but if the Dutch get into power they propose to do away with preferential trade, and the imports will be from Germany and Holland. There will be war again there yet, as sure as the day dawns when the Boers obtain the power. It is wellknown that there will be a revaluation as soon as the Dutch get into power. The Boers don't want cheap labour there because it means moro Brtiish also, and the Boers want as few British as possible. It will yet be Mpjuba ov«r again. If the British gain the power, and much of the country is Irrigated, there will be room for a great deal of settlement and the country would go ahead, but if the Boers get the power, well 1, for one am not going baok.'