SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC.

Constitution and Government.

THE South African Republic, also known as the Transvaal, was originally formed by part of the Boers, who left the Cape Colony in 1835 for Natal, but quitted that Colony on. its annexation to the British Crown. The Vaal river bounds the territory on most of its southern frontier. On the north it is bounded by the Limpopo river, on the east by the Portuguese possessions, Swazi, and Zululand, on the west by Bechuanaland, the country of the Bangwaketsi and other tribes. In 1852 the independence of the Transvaal was recognised by the British Government, and the constitution of the State is based on the 'Thirty-Three Articles,' passed May 22, 1849, and the Grondwet,' or Fundamental Law of February 19, 1858. The Constitution has since been frequently amended down to October 1881. The legislative power of the State is vested in a Volksraad of 44 members, elected for four years, onehalf retiring every two years. The franchise qualification is residence for five years, the oath of allegiance, and payment of 251. The executive is vested in a president, elected for five years by all enfranchised burghers, assisted by a council consisting of two official members (the StateSecretary and the Vice-President) and two non-official members elected by the Volksraad. On April 12, 1877, the Transvaal was annexed by the British Government, and an administrator with an Executive Council and Legislative Assembly appointed. In December 1880 the Boers took up arms against the British Government, and as a result a treaty of peace was signed March 21, 1881, and a Commission appointed to define the relations between Great Britain and the Transvaal. According to the agreement thus made (ratified by the Volksraad October 26, 1881), self-government was restored to the Transvaal so far as regards internal affairs, the control and management of external affairs being reserved to Her Majesty as Suzerain. A British Resident was appointed, with functions analogous to a Consul-General and Chargé d'Affaires. A convention with the Government of Great Britain was signed in London, February 27, 1884, ratified by the Volksraad, August 8, by which the State is to be known as the South African Republic, and the British suzerainty considerably restricted.

President.-S. J. Paul Krüger, elected April 1883.

The Republic has no standing army, all able-bodied citizens being called out in case of war.

The Dutch Reformed Church is the dominant religious body, but various English churches are represented. There are schools in the large towns and throughout the districts, at which English and Dutch are taught, and for the scattered populations there are itinerant teachers. Government gives assistance to the public schools, but much is also done by private enterprise.

Revenue and Population.

The revenue of the Republic was 105,1307. in 1878, and expenditure, 152,0007. In 1882 the former was 263,5231., and the latter 253,0697. The estimated revenue for 1883 was 209,156ł. and expenditure 217,1157. The diminished revenue and increased expenditure is accounted for by a war with a native chief in which the Republic was engaged in 1883. The estimated revenue for 1884 was 266,8021. and expenditure 264,4697. The revenue is derived from land sales, quit rents, customs, hut-tax, stamps, transport dues, and licenses.

The Republic had a debt of about 563,0687. in 1882, including the sum of 382,000l., the expenses incurred by the British Government since annexation, and for which, according to the agreement of 1881, it is liable. By the convention of February 27, 1884, this was reduced to 250,000l. The public debt in 1884 is officially stated to amount to 380,750l. The debt is secured partly on the fixed property of the State, and is partly a charge on the publie revenue. The State lands were valued in 1884 at 400,000. The debt due to Great Britain bears interest at three and a half per cent., and is to be extinguished by a Sinking Fund in 25 years. The area of the Republic is estimated at 114,360 square miles, divided into 13 districts, and its white population in 1884 at 50,000, of whom 40,000 are Dutch; the native population is estimated at 700,000. These figures, however, cannot be regarded as trustworthy. The boundaries of the State are precisely defined in the convention of February 27, 1884. The chief town of the colony is Pretoria. On the western boundary are two new settlements, Stellaland and Goshen.

Trade and Industry.

The principal exports are wool, cattle, hides, grain, ostrich feathers, ivory, butter, gold and other minerals, and the total is officially estimated at 600,0007. The imports, on which dues were charged for 1883 amounted to 369,3541., and it is estimated that as much more was smuggled into the country.

The Transvaal is specially favourable for agriculture as well as

stock-rearing, though its capacities in this respect are not yet developed. It is estimated (1884) that 50,000 acres are under cultivation. Wheat of a superior kind is the chief crop, though sugar, coffee, and cotton are also grown; cattle, sheep, and ostriches

are reared.

The country is possessed of considerable mineral wealth, which has not yet been worked to any extent. Gold is known to exist, it is supposed in considerable quantity; in 1879, 78,290oz., valued at 300,6117., were passed through the custom-house of Cape Town and Durban. Excellent coal is found in the east of the country, which is being worked to a small extent, while iron is also known to abound; lead, silver, and tin have also been found.

The southern boundary of the Transvaal is about 200 miles from Durban, 430 from Port Elizabeth, and 700 from Cape Town; while its eastern boundary is not 40 miles from Delagoa Bay. Negotiations were in progress in 1884 for the construction of a line of railway from Lourenzo Marques to the Transvaal frontier, from which the Transvaal Government proposed to continue the line to Pretoria, with branch lines to important centres, but no arrangement has yet been made. Before the recent war the Transvaal was joined to Natal by telegraph, but at present it only extends from Pretoria to Standerton, 120 miles; the country has been connected with the Orange Free State by telegraph.

Weights and measures are the same as in Cape Colony, and the currency is English money only.

British Resident.-R. Rutherford.

Books of Reference.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Colonial Office List for 1884. London, 1884.

Convention between Her Majesty and the South African Republic. London,

1884.

Correspondence respecting the Debt due to H.M.'s Government by the Transvaal State. London, 1882-83.

Correspondence respecting the affairs of the Transvaal and adjacent territories. London, 1884.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Aylward (Colonel A.), Dutch South Africa; in 'Bulletin of the American Geographical Society,' No. 1. New York, 1883.

Baines (T.), The Gold Regions of South Africa. London, 1877.

Clark (Dr. C. B.), The Transvaal and Bechuanaland. London, 1883.

Cape of Good Hope Directory for 1883. Cape Town, 1883.

Fynney (F. B.), Geographical and Economic Features of the Transvaal, in

Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,' vol. xlviii.

Guide to the Goldfields. Pretoria, 1883.

Jeppe (F.), Transvaal Book, Almanac, and Directory, published annually. Pretoria, 1884.

Jeppe (F.), Transvaalsche oder Süd-Afrikanische Republik, in Petermann's 'Mittheilungen,' Ergänzungsheft, No. 24.

Norris Newman (C. L.), With the Boers in the Transvaal and Orange Free State in 1880-81. London, 1882.

Penning (W. H.), Transvaal Goldfields, in Journal of the Society of Arts, Vol. XXXII. London, 1884.

Rehman (Dr. Anton), Das Transvaal-Gebiet des Sudlichen Afrikas, in Mittheilungen der K. K. Geographischen Gesellschaft in Wien. Band xxvi. Vienna, 1883.

Roche (H. G.), On Trek in the Transvaal. London, 1878.

Sandemann (E. F.), Eight Months in an Ox-Waggon. London, 1880.

Silver's Handbook to the Transvaal. London, 1877.

Silver's Handbook to South Africa. London, 1880.

Weber (Ernest de), Quatre ans au pays des Boers. Paris, 1882.

TUNIS.

(AFRIKIJA.)
Bey.

Sidi Ali, son of Bey Sidy Ahsin, born October 5, 1817. Succeeded his brother, Sidi Mohamed-es-Sadok, October 28, 1882.

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The reigning family of Tunis, occupants of the throne since 1691, descend from Ben Ali Tourki, a native of the Isle of Crete, who, by force of arms, made himself master of the country, acknowledging, however, the suzerainty of the Sultan of Turkey, in existence since 1575. As such they assumed the title of Bey,' or Regent. This suzerainty remained in force, with short interruptions, till the reign of the last Bey, who succeeded in obtaining an Imperial firman, dated October 25, 1871, which liberated him from the payment of the tribute paid by his predecessors, but clearly established his position as a vassal of the Sublime Porte.

Government, Revenue, and Army.

After the French invasion of the country in the spring of 1881, the treaty of Kasr-es-Said (May 12, 1881) confirmed by decrees of April 22, 1882, placed Tunis under the protectorate of the French. The French Resident is called Minister Resident, and with two secretaries practically administers the government of the country under the direction of the French Foreign Office, which has a special 'Bureau des Affaires Tunisiennes.' In August 1882, the appointment of a staff of French judges was announced. From January 1884 they superseded the Consular Courts, and to this arrangement the Great Powers have given their adhesion.

The events of 1881-2 so unsettled Tunisian finance that no figures given as to the revenue and expenditure of the Regency can be regarded as trustworthy. The French Chargé d'Affaires issued in December 1882 a statement carefully scheduled like a French budget, and showing an apparent surplus of income over expenditure. The following figures are taken from the Official Statement: Revenue for the financial year ending June 30, 1882, 502,5101.; expenditure, 390,4007. The expenditure for 1883 was officially stated to be 454,9607., and the estimated expenditure for 1884 408,4807. The estimated revenue for 1885 is 593,550l. and expenditure 591,5917.; the latter includes the sum of 263,6191. for the service of the debt. An extraordinary credit of a million sterling was granted by the French Chambers for the expenses connected with the occupation of Tunis in 1883.

The public liabilities were mainly contracted between the years