THE RAND MINES.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
BIR,—Something is to be said in favour of the proposal to "nationalise" the gold mines of the Rand. In the first place if the whole Transvaal is to be British territory it may be argued that what applies at home applies there,—the Government has a title to all gold mines as such. In the second place it is particularly desirable that it should exer- cise its prerogative on this occasion, for if one thing has injured the welfare of the Transvaal more than another it has been the speculative gold mining on the Rand. Acquisition by the Government would stop gambling. In the third place, there is a certain economic fitness in such a " nationalisa- tion" that there would not so evidently be in the case of the nationalisation of land as such everywhere. The Mint, as the bimetallists are never weary of telling us, is the chief market for gold and silver; the use of these metals as money is so important that all other uses may be disregarded. Be it so; then where there is a monopoly of the manufacture there may fitly be a monopoly of the raw material, there being no other considerable market for said material but the one. It is true that at present the material sold costs nothing to the Mint, being brought by individuals to be coined through the Bank of England. But in the case of silver the Mint is a par-
chaser of the material which it uses, and it would be in a position of perhaps greater advantage if the Government, owning the Mint, owned also a great portion of the gold supplies destined to find their way to the Mint. We have been told by several high authorities (Goschen, Giffen, and others) that the stock of gold is perilously small for currency needs the world over. The supply from Government mines would be better husbanded and more gradually produced, according to currency needs not merely mainly but only. There would be fewer alternations between a cheap standard and a dear one. One advantage would be that the mines would last longer, with the general approval, instead of as now to the general regret, of all moralists and philan- thropists. Another would be that under Imperial manage- ment there would be better conditions of labour for the native workmen. The proposal does not involve that Government exercises any right of expropriation without compensation. It means rather that, in face of the taxation certain to be laid on these mines, the mine-owners should be asked,—Will you remain as you are and pay a seriously heavy tax, or will you be bought out at a price in which that tax is considered ? The price would be brought down, not only by the tax, but by the fact that the exhaustion of the mines at the present rate of production is not far distant The economic gain to the State would be less than the social gain to the Transvaal itself ; but both might be considerable. As an investment the mine might be at least as profitable as the Suez Canal shares of Mr. Disraeli, and politically, the Imperial control of the middle region would secure imperial vigilance where it is most wanted. In default of this "nationalisation " of the existing gold mines on the Rand, it might be well to assert the claim of the Crown to all gold
yet to be discovered.—I am, Sir, &c., J. BONAR.
[Mr. Bonar forgets that the shares are internationally held, and that the price would probably stagger even the British Treasury.—ED. Spectator.]
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