Handbook of the Mozambique Company, Province of Manica-Sofala

Preface

. The compiler of this Handbook has taken the greatest pains to acquire from official sources all the regulations of the Mozambique Company up to the date of going to press. The Mozambique Company only took possession of the territories placed under their administration by the Royal Charter, on the 18th of July, 1892, and they have issued as quickly as possible the most urgent regulations ; these, however, are naturally liable to be withdrawn, altered, and added to, in consequence of the changes which necessarily take place in a country rapidly passing from an undeveloped and savage condition to a state of civilization.

CONTENTS. -ACE Preface ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... v Introduction ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ix The Mozambique Company ... ... ... ... ... ... i The Gold-Fields of Mozambique ... ... ... ... 13 The Royal Charter of iith of February, 1S91 ... ... ... :o Royal Decree of 30TH of July, 1S91 ... ... ... ... 34 The Statutes (Articles of Association) ... ... ... ... 39 Basis for the Administration of the Company's Territories 5S Mining Regulations ... ... ... ... ... ... .7 Tonnage Dues at Company's Ports ,.. ... ... ... 81 Hut Tax ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 82 Commercial and other Licences ... ... ... ... 83 Acquisition of Lands ... ... ... ... ... ... 85 Military and Civil Employes ... ... ... ... 97 Intendencias ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 104 Royal Letters in Council — Classification of Lands at Beira ... ... ... 1.4 Import and Export Tariffs ... ... ... ... ... 127 Confirmation of Possession ... ... ... ... 12S Intendencias... ... .v ... ... ... ... 130 Employment of Foreigners ... ... ... ... 133 Customs Tariff ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 131 Goods in Transit ... ... ... ... ... ... 158 Cutting Timber and Firewood ... ... ,.. ... ... 161 Modification of Licences ... ... ... ... ... 167 Modification of Import Duties ... ... ... ... ... 168 Anglo- Portuguese Convention ... ... ... ... 169 Beira Railway Company (Prospectus) ... ... ... ... 177 United Gold-Fields of Manica (Prospectus) ... ... ...

Introduction

. The Mozambique Company, which was incorporated in 1888 for the purpose of acquiring a concession of the mineral rights over the country comprised in the hydrographical basins of the rivers Pungue and Busi in South-East Africa, com menced with a capital of £40,000 in shares of £1 each, the whole of the money being available for working capital, nothing having been paid for the concession. In the latter part of 1889 the capital was increased to £80,000 by the issue of £40,000 new shares, which were all subscribed for privately. The Company, in the first instance, established settlements at Beira and Massi-Kesse, making a road and organizing regular communications between these places. They then proceeded with the exploration of the gold-bearing country around Massi- Kesse, and discovered the gold-mines of the Umtali Valley, thus first making known to the world this now celebrated gold-field.

Numerous sub-concessions were granted, principally to English and South African syndicates, to prospect for and work gold mines, a royalty of 20 per cent, of their profits being paid by the sub-concessionaires. In 1890 the Company applied to the Portuguese Govern ment for the right to administer the whole of the provinces of Manica and Sofala, and on February 11, 1891, the Govern ment granted them a royal charter, giving them sovereign rights over these provinces. The accompanying maps show the extent and important situation of the territory thus acquired by the Mozambique Company, which covers an area of 60,000 square miles (larger than England and Wales), has a coast-line of upwards oi X Introduction. 200 miles, extending from the mouth of the Zambesi on the north to the mouth of the Sabi river on the south, and com mands the Bay of Pungue, the only port by which quick and easy access can be obtained to Mashonaland and the great British territories south of the Zambesi, the latter covering a greater area than France and Germany combined, with a healthy climate, rich in minerals, and marvellously fertile and productive.

The town of Beira, situated on the Bay of Pungue, is the head-quarters of the Mozambique Company, and is entirely owned by them. The Governor and all the higher officials of the Company reside there, and this, combined with its favourable situation and being the virtual starting-point of the railway, has caused its rapid rise in size and importance. The grant of the royal charter to the Mozambique Company was accompanied by an obligation to construct a railway from the Bay of Pungue to the British possessions, which Portugal had agreed to make under the Anglo-Portuguese treaty of June 11, 1891, and with the object of providing funds for this undertaking the capital of the Company was increased to £1,000,000 in shares of £1 each. Overtures, however, having been made to the Mozambique Company by English capitalists to build the railway on favourable terms, it was arranged that a concession for the construction of the railway should be given to an English Company, which was duly formed, and the railway is now in course of construction, whilst it is expected that the first section of seventy-five miles will be in working order by the beginning of 1893.

Owing to this arrangement it was found unnecessary to issue the full capital of the Mozambique Company, and consequently only £400,000 was issued and privately subscribed for by the directors and their friends without any appeal to the public. The shares are £1 each fully paid, and there is no liability attaching to them. Owing to political complications between the Governments of Great Britain and Portugal, it was not till the early part of 1892 that the Portuguese Government handed over the adminis tration of the territories of Manica and Sofala to the Mozam bique Company. In May, 1892, the Company appointed Colonel Machado, an officer well known for his administrative capabilities, as their Governor, and he proceeded with a large Introduction. XI staff of officers to Beira, where he was met by Mr. Ennes, the Royal Commissioner of the Portuguese Government, who formally handed over possession of the country to the Company on July 1 8 last.

The first acts of the Company were to divide the country into districts, appointing capable officers to the command of each, to organize an efficient police force throughout the territory, and to establish a letter and parcel post service to the interior and along the coasts. They also lighted and buoyed the harbour, and improved the harbour and custom house services, in order to facilitate and encourage the trade with the interior. They further established at Beira a high court for the administration of justice, and appointed judicial officers throughout the country. All this has been welcomed with the greatest satisfaction by the inhabitants, and they have expressed themselves well pleased with the prospects before them under the liberal and progressive rule of the Mozambique Company. Since the Company took possession there has been a great influx of population, and applications are being received in large numbers for prospecting and mining licences, farm lands, and town sites, and every encouragement is given for settlement in the country, the development of the mines, the making of roads and other means of communication, as well as laying out new towns where they are required.

It is not generally known that the climate of Beira is perfectly healthy, and the Mozambique Company have never had any sickness amongst their employes since they first established themselves in the country. There is a belt of low lying land about sixty miles in extent between Beira and the interior which is without doubt malarial in parts and infested with the tsetse fly. It is to bridge this piece of country, and thus enable quicker and cheaper communication with the interior, that the Beira railway is being constructed. All the land beyond this belt of sixty miles enjoys a climate as healthy as the Transvaal, but is more fertile, being well watered with numerous streams, whilst all sub-tropical products, such as maize, tobacco, coffee, vines, etc., grow in profusion. This portion of the country is also rich in gold, and is covered with ancient workings of some long-forgotten race.

These Introduction. XII ancient workers, as in India, never penetrated to any great depth, and there is a field for gold-mining unequalled in any other part of the world. It must not be forgotten that in 1848 California, before the discovery of gold, was almost an unknown country inhabited by some few savages. San Francisco, which in 1848 contained only a few huts, has now a population of more than 400,000 people, and its commerce extends to all quarters of the world. Why should not Manica and Sofala follow in the steps of and rival California, for it possesses as great riches in gold and a soil even more fertile ? The object of this Handbook is to set forth the charter and the various regulations of the Company, showing on what terms lands and mines can be acquired and trading operations carried on in the Company's territories.

HANDBOOK OF the MOZAMBIOUE COMPANY. Article reprinted from the " Mining Journal" of November 5, 1892. THE MOZAMBIOUE COMPANY. HISTORY OF THE ENTERPRISE— ITS PRESENT POSI- TION AND PROSPECTS— THE BEIRA RAILWAY— THE COMPANY'S ADMINISTRATION. The public has heard a good deal of late about the Mozambique Company, which was formed early last year for the purpose of working, under a royal grant, the richest and most favourably situated portion of the Portuguese territory in South-Eastern Africa. The unfortunate differences which for some time existed between this company and the Portuguese Government on the one hand, and the British South Africa Company and the British Government on the other — differences which have since happily been wholly dispersed — served to bring the Mozambique Company very prominently before certain sections of the public ; but, notwithstanding this fact, much uncertain knowledge prevails with regard to the objects' and scope of the Company's operations which it would be well once for all to dissipate.

Information, which will suffice to give the public a clearer understanding of the exact position, is now in our possession, and we trust that the present article will be regarded as a useful contribution to the sum of public knowledge with regard to one of the most important exploration and development enterprises which has come into existence during recent years. B The Company's Territories and its Resources. The two maps which we publish will assist the reader in grasping the precise geographical position of the territory embraced within the scope of the Company's operations. Our first map indicates the location of the territory in its relation to the other South African countries, while the second map gives an enlarged plan of the territory itself. The country, as we have said, comprises the richest and most favoured portion of Portuguese South-Eastern Africa.

It extends along the coast from the mouth of the Zambesi to the mouth of the Save, and inland from the coast to the frontier of the British South Africa Company's territory, as defined by the last Anglo- Portuguese Convention. It includes within its area the celebrated gold fields of Manica and Sofala, and the more recently discovered auriferous deposits in Gorongoza and around Massi-Kesse. The extent of the territory is about 60,000 square miles, and the Company controls the only natural and economical route to the Mashonaland gold fields, and to a considerable portion of the British sphere of influence in South Africa. The town of Beira, which is daily increasing in population and commercial importance, more particularly as a result of the construction of the Beira Railway, which is rapidly being pushed forward, is also owned by the Mozambique Company.

Generally speaking, the Mozambique Company possesses privileges very much like those of the great chartered companies of this country, and it would seem that both the scope of its operations and the character of its administration have been modelled upon the best principles involved in the establishment and experience of the most successful British chartered companies. To begin with, it is granted sovereign rights over its territory. It has power to levy and collect taxes and customs' dues. It may grant mining licences and titles to land ; it possesses the monopoly of pearl and coral fishing, and of ivory hunting and trading ; and is the virtual owner of the freehold of a country larger than England and Wales. The Mozambique Company's territory contains within its area gold mines, which have been well known as productive for cen turies, although they have only been worked by rude native methods.

When vigorously developed by means of modern appliances, it is expected these mines will prove as valuable as any in South Africa. The Company will grant leases and mining rights to sub-companies on mutually advantageous terms, and persons familiar with the development of the Transvaal gold fields can form an opinion of the importance which this portion of the Company's income may attain. Silver, copper, and other metals also exist, and precious stones have been found. The greater part of the country is eminently adapted for agricultural purposes, being well watered by numerous streams, and presenting such a variety of climate and physical conditions that all the tropical and sub-tropical products, including maize, tobacco, coffee, vines, etc., can, it is understood, be raised in abundance, while the climate of the greater portion of the territory is perfectly healthy.

Then, again, the construction of the Beira Railway, which will cross the Company's territory from east to west, and which enterprise was described in a recent issue of The Mining Journal,* brings the centre of the territory within easy communication of the sea-coast, permitting facilities for the transport of mining and other machinery requisite for the development of the natural resources of the territory such as have not hitherto been available in connection with any of the South African gold-mining fields. The latest official information with regard to the Company is to the effect that the various operations are being vigorously carried on, and numerous applications are being received for prospecting and mining licences, farm lands, and town sites, and the revenue at Port Beira has increased nearly sevenfold during the present year.

The works for the railway from Beira to Massi- Kesse are being pushed on as rapidly as possible, and the opening of the first section is expected to take place within a few months. This will naturally benefit the revenues of the Company, and attract immigrants. The Company and its Administration. The Mozambique Company has offices in London, Lisbon, and Paris for transfer of shares, and there is a committee of English directors in London. The nominal capital of the com pany is £1,000,000 in shares of £1 each, but of this only * See The Mining Journal, August 1 ., 1S92. £400,000 has been issued and privately subscribed by the directors and other parties without any appeal to the public. The balance of £600,000 was intended to be applied to the construction of the railway, stipulated by treaty with England to be built from the port of Beira to the British frontier ; but as this has been undertaken by an influential English company, this portion of the capital is not required.

The Chairman of the Company is Senhor Barbosa du Bocage, and the Managing senhor barbosa du bocage, Chairman of the Mozambique Company. Director in Portugal is the Marquis de Fontes Pereira de Mello. The English head-quarters of the Company are at Broad Street House, Old Broad Street, London, E.C., where the control of affairs are in the capable hands of Mr. C. Algernon Moreing, M.Inst.C.E., M.InstM.M., F.G.S. (of the well-known firm of mining engineers, Messrs. Bewick, Moreing, and Co.), the Managing Director and Chairman of the London Committee. The other directors of the company are — Messieurs J. A. Couvreur, Count de Mendia, and E. F. Pinto Basto, Lisbon ; Edmund Bartissol, Chairman of the Paris Committee, A. Duparchy and Theo. Berger, Vice-President of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, Paris ; and F. R. Despard and Col. Paiva D'Andrada, in Africa.

Senhor i Barbosa du Bocage, the Chairman of the Company, whose portrait we give on the preceding page, is a distinguished Portuguese statesman. He occupies the position of a Counsellor of State, the highest official dignity in Portugal, and is also a peer of the realm. He has been prominently brought before public notice in this country in his late capacity of Secretary of State for the Colonies and for Foreign Affairs in the Portuguese Government. He is a member of many scientific societies, and marquis de fontes pereira de mello, Managing Director of the Mozambique Company in Lisbon. is well known as the author of a standard volume on the African Fauna and Flora. He has long taken a leading part in the deliberations of the Geographical Society of Lisbon, over which he has frequently presided.

We also give a portrait of the Marquis de Fontes Pereira de Mello, the managing director of the Mozambique Company in Lisbon. The Marquis is the nephew and heir of the great statesman whose name he bears, who died a few years ago. He is a captain in the Portuguese Royal Engineers and a peer of the realm. The third portrait is that of a gentleman whose name is familiar to many of our readers. Mr. C. Algernon Moreing, who is really the life and soul of the company so far as its London administration and management are concerned. Mr. Moreing is well known in City circles as a successful mining of extensive and varied experience, and the details engineer of his of his professional career having been published in our columns renders it unnecessary for us on this occasion to recapitulate them ; but we may just state, however, that his professional work has necessitated his visiting nearly all C. ALGERNON MOREING, ESQ., M.INST.C.E., M.INST.M.M., F.G.S., Managing Director of the Mozambique Company in London. quarters of the globe, and he now holds the position of consulting engineer through his firm (Messrs. Bewick, Moreing, and Co.) to several important mining and allied concerns.

He is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a member of the Council of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, and a fellow of the Geological Society. He is also a member of Council of the International Exhibition of Mining and Metallurgy, held at the Crystal Palace in 1890, and has a seat on the Committee of the mining section of the London Chamber of Commerce. The Portuguese Government in their charter granted to the Company entire immunity from taxation for twenty-five years subject to the payment of 7\ per cent, upon the net profits of the Company, until such time as the dividend on its cash share capital shall exceed 10 per cent., when the percentage shall be increased to 10 per cent. While dealing with this phase of our subject it may be added that the Articles of Association, which have been approved by the Government, provide that there shall be a committee of directors in London, which shall, in conjunction with the entire board, have the general management of the Company's business, and which shall specially exercise sole control over the opera tion of the Company in Africa as well as the financial manage ment in Europe.

It is no doubt largely owing to this wise provision that the Mozambique Company has attracted so large an amount of attention amongst business men in this country. At this point it may be stated that the Company, under its charter, is authorized, generally, to undertake, as we have already indicated, the government and administration of the country. This includes the regulation of customs, postal, and other public services, and a series of exclusive rights, which are included in the privileges granted to them in virtue of the charter, of which the following may be briefly mentioned as the chief: To construct and work roads, railways, canals, ports, quays, docks, telegraphs, and other works of public and private utility ; to navigate the interior rivers of the territory in con formity with Article 12 of the Anglo- Portuguese Convention, to exercise and authorize the exercise of the mining industry ; to fish for coral, pearl, and sponge ; to hunt elephants, or grant licences therefor ; to establish banking societies ; to exercise dominion over all state lands, and to transfer the same in perpetuity, subject to a small quit-rent; to collect the "Mussoco" tax ; to collect taxes for entry, exit, or transit of merchandise, and customs duties generally ; to import into Portuguese Mozambique produce of kinds not produced in Portugal, with a reduction of 50 per cent, import duty; to colonize and establish settlements and townships ; to collect taxes in money or labour for works of public utility ; to grant to individuals or companies agricultural, mining, commercial, or industrial concessions ; and, generally, to practise all acts necessary for the exercise of the rights and privileges laid down.

History of the Enterprise. We have already stated that the Mozambique Company was incorporated under royal charter in February, 1891 ; but so far back as 1878 an undertaking was established with a view to developing the mineral deposits, then, as now, known to exist in the provinces of Manica and Sofala. It was with a view to exploiting and developing these historical gold fields that a company was formed in Paris in the year just mentioned, under the title of the Compagnie de Fondateurs du Zambese, by Colonel Paiva d'Andrada, who, it will be seen, is interested in the present enterprise. Considerable sums of money were spent in connection with this undertaking, and good accounts of the mineral possibilities of Manica and Sofala were forthcoming, but before very long the ardour cooled and the matter dropped.

Sub sequently, another expedition was promoted by the indefatigable Colonel Paiva d'Andrada, and gold was discovered in considerable quantities ; but the difficulties of transport and communication were so great, and as the requisite funds were not forthcoming with that regularity and rapidity which was necessary for the success of the expedition, the exploitations once more came to a close. Little was heard of mineral or other developments in the provinces of Manica and Sofala from this time until 1888, when a company, called the Mozambique Company, was established with a capital of £40,000. The leading spirits of this concern were Count Penha Longa (Pinto Leite) and Edmund Bartissol, of Paris, a wealthy member of the French Chamber of Deputies and a director of the present company. This company, which was essentially promoted for the development of the mineral deposits of the country, discovered Pungwe Bay and established the Port of Beira.

The port was so named after the Beira Alta Railway in Portugal, for which railway Mr. Bartissol was at that time contractor. This company explored the interior, and laid down a route which might be used in the development of Manica. It also succeeded in the establishment of new trade settlement up the Pungue River, and finally built a station at Massi-Kesse, where they located their head quarters, and established an administration. Subsequently the Mozambique Company granted concessions to numerous English and South African syndicates, and these various companies discovered rich veins throughout Manica. It was then resolved, with the co-operation of Mr. C. Algernon Moreing and one or two other gentlemen, to increase the capital of the company to £80,000. It was about this period when the British South Africa Company, who were vigorously pushing forward their operations in Mashonaland, found themselves in a position of hostility to the Mozambique Company.

As the result of the serious misunderstandings which occurred, forts in the Mozam bique territory were blown up and the officers of the Company taken prisoners by the company. After many regrettable incidents, a modus vivendi was arrived at between the companies, and on the nth of June last year matters in dispute were finally adjusted in a manner which was fairly satisfactory to all parties concerned. This settlement left much of the richest of the gold-bearing country in the possession of the Mozambique Company. At the present time a commission, consisting of British and Portuguese officers, are engaged in defining the limits of possession and jurisdiction as between the territories of the Mozambique Company and the British South Africa Company, in pursuance of the Anglo- Portuguese Convention of June last year.

Mainly, we believe, at the instigation of Mr. Moreing, the Mozambique Company, which had previously held its rights as those per taining to a mineral concession from the Portuguese Government, applied to that Government for a charter, corresponding, in many respects, to that which the British South Africa obtained from our own Government. In consideration of this, the Mozambique Company undertook to build a railway from Beira to the British frontier, the construction of which was stipulated in the Anglo-Portuguese Convention. This necessitated the nominal increase of the capital to £1,000,000, the whole of which was to be subscribed in cash. Ultimately, however, an English company, with its head-quarters in London, was formed for the purpose of constructing the railway, thus relieving the Mozambique Company of their obligation in this particular.

The capital of the Beira Railway Company is £600,000, all of which is fully subscribed, and the fact of its being so allows the capital of the Mozambique Company to remain at £400,000, all of which is fully subscribed. When the charter, which is dated February 11, 1891, was granted, the Company immediately proceeded to take over the administration of the territory, and sent out in May last year, Colonel Machado, who had once acted as Governor-General of Mozambique, as Governor. The Beira Railway. From what we have said it will be understood that the natural resources of the Mozambique Company's territory are of the most remarkably varied and valuable character. The agricultural possibilities of the country are immense, but it is mainly to the admittedly rich mineral resources that the Com pany, at present, chiefly look, from a commercial and industrial point of view, and in the development of these the Beira Railway will be largely instrumental.

This railway has already been described in our columns, but we may repeat that it has been formed ostensibly to provide a natural channel of com munication for the English and Portuguese possessions. A glance at the map of South-Eastern Africa, showing the railway route from Beira to Fort Salisbury, will indicate the immense saving in distance effected. At present, transport from Vryburg to Fort Salisbury is effected by means of a waggon route through the heart of a vast and varying region of what we may perhaps term Central South Africa, whereas the new railway will place Fort Salisbury in direct communication with Pungue Bay, which is already a port of call for ocean passenger steamers as well as for trading vessels. It may be readily conceded that it is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the new railway for the development of British interests between the river Zambesi and the Transvaal, and as furnishing direct access to Fort Salisbury and Central South Africa.

It has been calculated that the transport of goods from the Cape to Fort Salisbury costs £45 per ton, and takes three months on the road, and even this is practicable only in the dry season. It is estimated that by the new railway, goods will be expeditiously delivered, at all times of the year, and at less than one-third of this cost. This, of course, is a most material con sideration, for the country through which the railway passes is not only rich from an agricultural point of view, but from a gold-bearing and general mineral aspect. The railway will run through the whole widthof the Portuguese province of Manica and Sofala, which, as has been already ex plained, are comprised within the territory of the Mozambique Company. The enterprise itself is vast in its possibilities rather than in what is likely to accrue immediately, because, apart altogether from the Mozambique Company's interests, this railway will tap the new territories of the British South Africa Company, which have, so far, been so difficult of access.

A good deal has been said in the past about the climate of Mozambique territory. So far, however, as Beira is concerned, which is the centre of administration of the territory, it may be confidently stated from the most authoritative information that it is perfectly healthy, being free from fever and malaria, and cooled by bracing sea breezes. It will be rather surprising for many to know that there has not been any sickness on the staff of the Company since it was established, and no life has yet been lost by death from climatic causes. Conclusion. In establishing the administration of a vast enterprise like that of the Mozambique Company, immense opportunities present themselves for framing laws and regulations which are according to the best practice and experience of those which already exist in enlightened communities.

To the importance of all this the administration of the Mozambique Company has been amply alive, and the new code of mining laws for the provinces of Manica and Sofala, for the codification of which Mr. Moreing is mainly responsible, and of which laws we published a copious summary a few months ago, are no exception to this rule. The regulations for the acquisition of lands on lease, and for the provisional occupation of the same in the Mozambique territory, have also been framed on a liberal and equitable basis. The future prospects of the country over which the Company has dominion cannot be regarded as being otherwise than of a most promising character. From a financial and administrative point of view, also, everything would seem to be encouraging. From the customs a large revenue was estimated, but the returns from this source have already, we understand, exceeded anticipations.