was felt
to be worse than any detail of finance was that this corporation of
foreigners had gradually obtained complete control of the finances of
the State, and through the railway system it practically dictated the
relations with the other Governments in South Africa, by such
measures for instance as the imposition of a charge of 8-1/2d. per
ton per mile on goods travelling over their lines coming from the
Cape Colony, whilst the other lines are favoured by a charge of less
than half that. The burdens placed upon the mining industry by the
excessive charges imposed for political purposes were, in the case of
the poorer mines, ruinous. The right which the Company had to collect
the Customs dues for account of the State, to retain them as security
for the payment of interest on their shares and debentures, and to
impose a charge for collection quite disproportionate to the cost,
was another serious grievance. It was hopeless, however, to deal with
the whole question. The Government had set its face against any
reform in this quarter. It was not possible to obtain even ordinary
working facilities such as any business corporation unprotected by an
absolute monopoly would be bound to concede of its own accord, in
order to catch a measure of trade.

The Government have the right, under the agreement with the
Company, to take over the railway on certain conditions, of which
the following are the most important:

(_a_) The Company shall receive one year's notice of the intention to
take over.

(_b_) The Company shall receive twenty times the amount of the
average of the last three years' dividends.

(_c_) The Company shall receive as a solatium for the unexpired
period of the concession an amount equal to one per cent. of its
nominal capital for each year up to the year of expiring (1915).

The Government can take over the Krugersdorp-Johannesburg-Boksburg
Tramway against payment of the cost of construction.

If the Volksraad should not during this Session{08} decide to
nationalize the railway no change can take place before 1898, so that
the three years 1895 to 1897 would have to be taken as a basis and
therefore the 6 per cent. for 1894, the only low dividend, would not
come into the calculation. This would of course considerably increase
the purchase price--_e.g._,

1895 9 per cent.
1896 14 " (estimate),
1897 14 " "
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