| Imports. £ |
Exports. £ | ||
| Cape Colony | 31,425,000 | 21,804,000 | |
| Natal | 13,858,000 | 2,229,000 | |
| Delagoa Bay | 4,727,000 | 449,000 | |
| South African total | £50,010,000 | £24,482,000 |
The noteworthy rise in the imports for 1903 was occasioned by the belief on the part of merchants that the mines of the Transvaal would soon be worked at the pre-war rate of speed, and that a rapid further expansion with a commensurate effect upon general trade could be looked for. The inadequacy of the manual labour supply rendered that impossible, and resulted in a severe commercial depression. The ranks of the unemployed became swollen, and the country was in a parlous state. After the proclamation of peace, the population of the Transvaal comprised not only the inhabitants of Republican days, but was augmented by a large number of white settlers, some of whom came out during the war and desired to remain, others following with sanguine hopes for their future in a country of whose wealth they had heard such attractive reports. South Africa is at present almost entirely dependent upon the mining industry for its prosperity, and restricted operations consequently caused serious disappointment to, and hardship upon, the people of the Transvaal in particular. By supplementing the available supply of native labour by about 40,000 Chinamen, the output is now larger than it was before the war, general business has improved, and the field for the white wage-earner has become widened. Before the
figures are given for imports and exports in transit, but nearly the whole must be accounted for by the Transvaal. The Inspector-General of Customs in that colony gives the value of imports viâ Delagoa Bay at £1,781,252. These figures no doubt include the port dues, transit duty, and possibly railway charges.
