§ MR. BLACKI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the laws of the Transvaal, which continue to be administered by the British Government, impose any tax direct or indirect or exact any royalty from the gold mining industry or upon material used in connection therewith; if so, can he state what these taxes or royalties are, and, approximately, what proportion of the gold produced they absorb; and whether they will be enforced by the British Government for the benefit of His Majesty.
§ MR. J. CHAMBERLAINThe Transvaal laws imposed prospectors' or diggers' licences varying from 2s. 6d. to £1 per claim per month, and a 5 per cent. tax on the net profit of the working of the mines, except on certain forms of mining lease, when 10s. a morgen or 2½ per cent. on the gross production was payable. Machinery paid 1½ per cent. on importation, and the mining industry of course 1137 contributed indirectly to the revenue under many other heads of customs (2) I do not know what proportion of the gold production was absorbed by taxation. (3) Any taxes received will of course, be paid into the Transvaal Treasury.