§ MR. MORRELLI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, since the introduction of Chinese labour, although the output of gold has increased, the revenue of the Transvaal has shown no expansion, and the takings for Customs and railways have fallen off; if so, to what extent; whether the number of bankruptcies in the Colony have increased; and whether he can give the figures for the last two years.
§ MR. CHURCHILLMy hon. friend's Question is couched in terms which do not enable me to give a precise Answer, but I am happy to be able to give him the following figures. The gold output for the Transvaal for the month of June, 1904, (the month in which the first batch of Chinese coolies arrived on the Rand), was £1,309,766. The output for the, month of November, 1906, (the last month for which official statistics are available), was £2,296,984. The ordinary revenue of the Transvaal for the past three years has been—
| Year ended June 30th, 1904 | £4,423,000 |
| „ „ „, 1905 | £4,386,000 |
| „ „ „, 1906 | £4,587,000 |
| The Transvaal Customs revenue during the same period has been— | |
| Year ended June 30th, 1904 | £1,760,000 |
| „ „ „,1905 | £1,591,000 |
| „ „ „,1906 | £1,699,000 |
| The net receipts of the Central South African Railways for the same period were— | |
| Year ended June 30th, 1904 | £1,617,000 |
| „ „ „, 1905 | £1,760,000 |
| „ „ „, 1906 | approximately £1,635,000 |
| on the same basis. |
§ In the matter of insolvent estates, during the year ending June 30th, 1904, 154 notices of intention to surrender were gazetted, 414 orders of sequestration were filed, and 250 warrants from the Master of the Supreme Court were executed. In the year ended June 30th, 1905, 167 notices of intention to surrender were gazetted, 385 orders of sequestration were filed, and 260 warrants from the Master of the Supreme Court were executed. The figures for the year ended June 30th, 1906, are not yet available.