Orange Republic since Great Britain has secured her borders. There was a convention at Aliwal North, and the boundary line was permanently settled on March 12, 1869.
Since that time the Basutos have been a peculiarly flourishing people, living under the chieftainship of a junior Moshesh, but undoubted subjects of the Queen of England. Their territory is a part of the Cape Colony, which they help to support by the taxes they pay. Their hut tax, at the rate of 10s. a hut amounts to £4,000 a year. Why it should not come to more I do not understand, as, according to the usual calculation of four to a hut, there should be about 32,000 huts among them, which would give £16,000. They also contribute £2,000 a year in other taxes. In the year ended 30 June, 1876, they were governed, instructed, and generally provided for at the rate of £7,644 15s. 1d. As their revenue is hardly £5,000, this would shew a serious deficiency,—but they who do the finance work for Basutoland have a very large balance in hand, amounting, after the making up of all deficiencies at the date above named, to £22,577 4s. These figures are taken from the last published financial Report of the Cape of Good Hope. I need not tell an experienced reader that no book or document is produced so unintelligible to an uninitiated reader as an official financial report. Why should Basutoland with a revenue of £5,000 a year have a Treasury Balance of £22,577 4s.? Every clerk concerned in the getting up of that report no doubt knows all about it. It is not perhaps intended that any one else should understand it. I have said above that the Basutos are governed and instructed.
