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43276

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PUBLIC RECORD

OFFICE

No. 51.

(CENTRAL SOUTH AFRICAN RAILWAYS.)

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

[Brakpan-Witbank Railway; interpretation of Article IV. of the Modus Vivendi between the Transvaal and Mozambique.]

MY LORD,

-

Royal Courts of Justice,

November 23, 1906.

us by We were honoured by your Lordship's commands signified to Mr. Graham, in his letter of the 8th October last, stating that he was directed by your Lordship to draw our attention to paragraph 4 of our opinion of the 12th July,* in which we dealt with the question whether Article IV. of the Modus Vivendi between the Transvaal and Mozambique applied to lines of railway constructed since the South African war.

That in connexion with this matter he was now to transmit, for our considera- tion, an extract from a despatch from the High Commissioner for South Africa, enquiring, with reference to the new Brakpan-Witbank line shortly to be opened, whether Article IV. was to be taken to apply to traffic reaching stations on lines existing before the war over lines which in part existed before the war and in part had been constructed since the war. That the railway map at the end of the enclosed General Manager's report for 1905 would make the point raised by the High Commissioner clear, and a copy of the Modus Vivendi was also enclosed for convenience of reference.

That it appeared to your Lordship to follow from our previous opinion that Article IV. did not apply to such traffic, for the new route to Johannesburg viâ the Beth- lehem-Kroonstad line with regard to which that opinion was given was partly over lines and to stations existing before the war and partly over lines newly constructed. That he was, however, to invite an expression of our opinion on the point raised by the High Commissioner.

We were further honoured by Mr. Graham's letter of the 17th October stating that, with reference to his letter of the 8th, he was directed by your Lordship to transmit to us the copy of a despatch from the High Commissioner forwarding corre- spondence on the subject with the Transvaal Law Department.

We have taken the matter into our consideration and, in obedience to your Lordship's commands, have the honour to

Report

That in our opinion Article IV. of the Modus Vivendi applies only to traffic passing between Lourenço Marques and Johannesburg by the line which was in existence at the date of the Modus Vivendi.

We have, &c.,

JOHN L. WALTON. W. S. ROBSON.

The Right Honourable

The Earl of Elgin, K.G.,

&c.,

&c.,

&c.

* No. 37.

25 Wt 1049 12/06 D & S

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