GENERAL MINING AND FINANCE POSITION Those half-yearly Kaffir dividends may
not be exciting but they are very good. In fact, it is partly just because they are not exciting that they are good. Some of the older (Continued on page 1x66.) mines now past their heyday are paying less ; others, not yet come to their lusty prime, are paying more. But the really impressive thing is that in the great majority of cases the dividends are unchanged, in other words, that the South African gold mining industry has succeeded in achieving a high degree of stability. The big prop in this structure is, of course, the steadiness of the price of gold itself around 140s. an ounce ; the other factor is the policy of the companies in varying the grade of ore treated so as to keep profits on a pretty even keel. It is a pity, in these promising conditions, that the question of native labour supplies should again be causing investors a little worry.
This question was well ventilated by Sir George Albu at the meeting of the General Mining and Finance Corporation. The shortage, he said, had recently eased but was still being felt despite increased mechanisation—and requirements must expand as more mines now in the development stage are brought into production. Apart from this problem, and that of heavy taxation, Sir George was justifiably optimistic. The Corporation's income, he disclosed, is being drawn more and more from dividends from its investments—a much more stable basis for profits than market dealings— and the main producing interests, such as West Rand Con- solidated and Durban Deep—were doing well. With its close connexion with the powerful Central Mining-Rand. Mines group, the General Mining is well placed to play an increasingly important part in the Rand mining industry. The £r shares, quoted at Ls, yielding 5 per cent. on the 1937 dividend, fully deserve their high status.
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