NATAL. Constitution and Government. The colony of Natal, formerly an integral part of the Cape of Good Hope settlement, was erected in 1856 into a separate colony under the British Crown, represented first by a LieutenantGovernor, and since 1882 by a Governor. A charter of constitution was granted in 1856, and modified in 1875 and 1879; the charter now in force was granted in 1893. The Province of Zululand was annexed to Natal on December 30, 1897, and the Transvaal districts of Vryheid, Utrecht and part of Wakkerstroom, in January, 1903. By the Constitution Act (Law No. 14, 1893), which came into force July 20, 1893, the legislative authority resides in the King, a Legislative Council, and a Legislative Assembly. His Majesty is represented by the Governor, whose assent (revocable within two years, in manner prescribed) is required to all bills before they become law. The Governor appoints the ministers, and, with their advice, the members of the Legislative Council. He issues writs for general election of members of the Legislative Assembly, fixes the place and time of the sessions of the legislative bodies, and may prorogue or dissolve the Assembly. He may also, by message, transmit the draft of any bill to be introduced in either house. The Legislative Council consists of twelve members (including one for Zululand), each of whom must be at least thirty years of age, must have resided ten years in the colony, and must be the registered proprietor of immovable property of the net value of 500l. Members hold their seats for ten years. The President is appointed by the Governor. The Legislative Assembly consists of forty-three members (including two for Zululand and two each for the districts of Vryheid and Utrecht) chosen by the electors. Each Legislative Assembly continues for four years, unless sooner dissolved. It meets annually or oftener, appoints its Speaker, and adopts (with the approval of the Governor) its own standing rules and orders. Money bills must originate in the Assembly, and the Legislative Council may accept or reject but not alter them. No money bill, however, for any purpose not first recommended to the Assembly by message of the Governor can be passed in the session in which it is proposed. No person can be a member of the Assembly who is not a duly qualified and registered elector. Members receive an allowance of 17. a day during the session. Electors are qualified by the possession of immovable property of the value of 50%., by payment of rent for such property of the annual value of 10., or (having resided three years in the colony) by having an income of 961. per annum, inclusive of allowances. Electors (1903), 18,774. The executive authority is vested in a body of not more than six ministers, each of whom must be, or must within four months become, a member of one of the legislative bodies. Each may sit or speak in either house, but may vote only in that of which he is a member. Governor of Natal.-Col. Sir Henry Edward McCallum, R. E., A.D. C., K.C.M.G. The Governor has a salary of 5,000l. per annum. The Ministry, as at present constituted, is as follows: Premier and Treasurer.-Hon. Sir G. M. Sutton, K. C.M.G., M.L.C. Colonial Secretary.-Hon. J. G. Maydon, M. L. A. Minister of Justice and Minister of Education.-Hon. Thomas Watt, M.L.A. Secretary for Native Affairs and Minister of Lands and Works.—Hon. G. Leuchars, M.L.A. Minister of Agriculture.-Hon. W. F. Clayton, M.L.A. The Premier has a salary of 1,5007.; the other members of the ministry receive 1,000l. a year. Agent-General in London.-Hon. Sir W. Arbuckle, K. C.M.G. Area and Population. The colony (including the Province of Zululand, 10,461 square miles, and the Vryheid and Utrecht districts, 6,970 square miles) has an estimated area of 35,306 square miles, with a seaboard of about 360 miles. is divided into 42 Magisterial Divisions. The European population has nearly trebled since 1879. of the total population in 1879, 1891, 1901 and 1903 were : The colony The returns The figures for 1901 and 1903 include the province of Zululand; those for 1903 include the districts of Vryheid, Utrecht and Paulpietersburg. The military and aliens are not included, nor are refugees from the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. The districts of Vryheid, Utrecht, and Paulpietersburg, with a population of about 10,250 whites and 70,000 natives were transferred from the Transvaal to Natal in January, 1903. Population of the borough of Durban (estimated) December 31, 1903, 79,000; 34,000 Europeans; 30,000 natives; 15,000 Asiatics; and of Pietermaritzburg, October, 1902, 19,521 Europeans; 10,478 natives; 4,677 Asiatics; total, 34,676. Instruction. There are 2 Government high schools, 30 Government primary schools, 2 Government art schools, 5 Government Indian schools, 2 Government schools for coloured children, 61 Government-aided schools, and 154 Government-aided farmhouse schools for European children. Also there are 18 Indian schools, 161 native schools, and 5 coloured sehools, all of which receive Government aid; and a considerable number of private schools in the colony. Six of the aided schools are secondary schools for girls, and one is a home for deaf and dumb children. The aggregate number of European pupils in regular attendance at the Government and inspected schools was 10,743 for 1903; the average daily attendance 80 per cent. of the number on the registers. At the high schools there is an average daily attendance of 310 pupils. About 3,300 children attend private unaided schools, and it is estimated that only a small percentage of white children are receiving no education. The number of those receiving gratuitous education (1902-3) was 1,343. The direct Government expenditure on schools for 1902-03 was 138,7921. (including expenditure for furniture, buildings, and maintenance). Fees paid by pupils in Government schools for 1902-03 10,2071. An annual exhibition of the value of 150l. a year, tenable for 4 years, at a University of the United Kingdom; an annual mining scholarship of 807. a year for four years, annual bursaries of 10l., 207., and 401., of an aggregate annual value of 2807., and all tenable for three years, are established by the Government, and two perpetual scholarships of 150l. and 80l. per year respectively, tenable for three years, have been privately founded, and are administered by the Education Department. There are 161 Government-aided schools for natives, with a total attendance of 10,154, which received in 1902-03 grants in aid to the amount of 6,0667.; and 18 Government-aided schools for the children of Indians, with a total attendance of 2,032 in 1902-03, and for which a grant of 1,2221. was voted. Finance. The general revenue and expenditure of the colony, exclusive of loan funds in the last five years ended June 30, were as follows: The following are the principal items of ordinary revenue for the year ended June 30, 1903-Railways, 2,286,9637.; customs, 1,068,6407.; excise, 54,3677.; land sales, 70,5917.; post office, 173,2267.; telegraphs, 63,9187.; stamps and licences, including native hut tax, 301,0841.; port and harbour dues and wharf dues, 77,8587. The principal items of expenditure for the year ended June 30, 1903, were: Railways, 1,610,0417.; public works, 271,8637. Total loan expenditure, 1,683,2177. The Public Debt on June 30, 1903, was 14,019,1437. Defence. There is a body of mounted police numbering 938 Europeans, and of volunteers 3,197, including a volunteer naval defence corps of 199 men. The cost of the police force for the year ended June 30, 1903, was 365,5717., and the colony contributed 71,8717. to the expense of the volunteers during the same period, exclusive of the payment of volunteers and police on active service. The total special expenditure incurred, owing to the war, 964,5507., of which 569,0997. was for pay and equipments of the volunteers on active service, and 49,5217. for the police. During 1904 the volunteer force has been remodelled as militia. was Industry. Of the area of Natal (exclusive of the Province of Zululand), estimated to be 12,000,000 acres, 2,250,000 acres have been set apart for Native occupation, about 6,363,779 acres have been acquired by grant or purchase from the Crown by Europeans, 1,782,145 acres are in process of alienation, and about 1,604,076 acres remain unalienated from the Crown. These figures do not include the Province of Zululand with an area of about 6,688,000 acres, of which about 210,000 acres have been alienated; neither is the 'New Territory' included, which has a total acreage of about 4,460,800 acres. Of the area of the whole Colony, in 1903 243,067 acres were under cultivation by Europeans, the leading crop for export being sugar, though large quantities of maize, oats, and other cereal and green crops are grown. Tea-planting has been recently introduced. The principal agricultural products of the last two years are shown in the following table (the muid = 180 lbs.). 1 And 4,484 tons of oat hay. 2 And 7,601 tons of oat and millet hay. 3 Quantities in lbs. + Quantities in cwts. Much of the sugar-cane is grown merely for fodder. 5 Quantities in lbs.; tobacco of European culture only; the tobacco grown by natives and Indians is of inferior quality and only used by the natives for snuff, &c. Other crops are potatoes, turnips, and vegetables. The wool clip in 1902 amounted to 2,043,160 lbs.; in 1903 to 1,517 lbs. Estimated total number of acres under cultivation by Natives, 486, 489, and Indians, 38,712 acres, making a total of 768,268 acres under cultivation in the Colony. Of live stock owned by Europeans in 1903 there were 257,632 horned cattle, 115,096 goats, 509,978 sheep, and 29,320 horses; and in possession of the Native population in 1903, there were 365,616 horned cattle, 610,512 goats, 109,296 sheep, and 24,743 horses. The coal-fields of the Colony, which are of large extent, are now in direct communication with the seaport of Durban. The number of persons em. ployed in and about them in 1903 was 5,063. The output for the year 1902 was 592,821 tons, value at pit's mouth, 512,5747.; in 1903 to 713,548 tons, value 418,9751. Exported in 1903, 23,302 tons. Some attempts have been made to utilise the rich beds of iron ore which have been found in many parts of the Colony, and others are being made. Copper is stated to have been discovered in the northern part of the colony, but no attempts to work it have yet been made. Gold was produced in 1902 to the amount of 78 oz., value 3317.; in 1903 there was no gold output. Commerce. The total value of imports and exports by sea, including raw gold but not specie, has been as follows: 1 Or, including Overland Exports, 10,454,2291. For 1904, imports 10,991,3007.; exports (by sea and land) 9,010,3901. The values of the principal imports and exports by sea in 1902 and 1903 The imports into Natal from Great Britain amounted (according to colonial statistics) in 1902 to 8,253,6847.; in 1903 to 8,560,1777. The exports to Great Britain from Natal amounted in 1902 to 2,220,0727.; in 1903 to 1,462, 0067. The following are the values of the imports into Great Britain from Natal and the exports from Great Britain of domestic produce and manufactures to Natal for six years, according to the Board of Trade Returns :— |