Page:George McCall Theal, History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872, Volume 1 (4th ed, 1915).djvu/27

1795] desired effect of doing much towards conciliating the colonists.

Another popular proclamation was issued on the 30th of October, relative to auction sales. From the proceeds of the sale the auctioneer was to deduct three and a half per cent for the government and one and a half per cent for himself on movable property, and one and three-fourths per cent for the government and three-fourths per cent for himself on fixed property. Purchasers of goods under the value of £20 at any sale were relieved of the payment of stamp duty on their accounts as made out from the vendue rolls.

The committee of the high court of justice ceased to exist, but in its stead a much more popular board, termed the burgher senate, was created. This board consisted of six members, the senior of whom was president. Vacancies were filled by the head of the government from a fourfold list of names furnished by the board itself. The members were not by virtue of their office judges in the high court of justice, though any of them could be appointed judges without resigning their seats in the senate. The duties of the burgher senate were to represent to the government matters affecting the colonists, to keep the roads in order, to provide watchmen for the town, to propose to the head of the government the best method of levying taxes for these purposes, to farm out the public windmills, to regulate the prices of bread and meat, to fix tradesmen's wages, &c., &c., in short to perform all the duties—except judicial—of the burgher councillors and the commissioners of the high court of justice in former times. The creation of this board was announced soon after the capitulation, but the arrange- ments for its establishment could not be completed before the end of January 1796.

These measures had equally good effects in Stellenbosch as in Capetown. Landdrost Bletterman, however, expressed a wish to retire from service, assigning as a reason that