of things which I think no observer of South African affairs would have considered to be possible had not Kimberley with its eighteen thousand much-consuming mouths been established on its border. As regards the Cape Colony generally, if quite the same thing need not be said, it must be acknowledged that its present comparative success is due almost entirely to the diamonds,—or rather to the commercial prosperity caused by the consumption in which diamond finders and their satellites have been enabled to indulge. The Custom duties of the Cape Colony in 1869, before the diamond industry existed, were less than £300,000.[1] In 1875 that sum had been very much more than doubled. And it must be remembered that this rapid increase did not come from any great increase of numbers. The diamond-digging brought in a few white men no doubt, but only a few in comparison with the increase in revenue. There are but 8,000 Europeans in the diamond fields altogether. Had they all been new comers this would have been no great increase to a population which now exceeds 700,000 persons. The sudden influx of national wealth has come from the capability for consumption created by the new industry.
- ↑ In 1869 the amount was £295,661. In 1875 it was £735,380. In 1869 the total revenue was £580,026. In 1875 it was £1,602,918; the increase being nearly to three-fold. The increase in the expenditure was still greater;—but that only shews that the Colony found itself sufficiently prosperous to be justified in borrowing money for the making of railroads. The reader must bear in mind that these Custom Duties were all received and pocketed by the Cape Colony, though a large proportion of them was levied on goods to be consumed in the Diamond Fields. As I have stated elsewhere, the Cape Colony has in this respect been a cormorant, swallowing what did not rightfully belong to her.
