944 THE FEDERATIONS AND THE UNION [PART IV 
Colonies and of Rhodesia, together with the territories under 
the administration of the High Commissioner for South 
Africa, in a customs union which was concluded in 1903, and 
renewed in 1906. In connexion with this union the statistical 
service of South Africa was unified and located in a head office 
at Capetown. The grant of responsible government to the 
Transvaal and Orange River Colony seemed for a moment to 
throw things back : the Intercolonial Council was not a 
popular institution, and the South African Constabulary was 
deemed too dear ; as a result the Council was dissolved, the 
joint liabilities were divided between the two Colonies,! and 
the South African Constabulary ceased under that name to 
exist and was replaced by local police forces under Colonial 
control. For the railways, however, a new board of manage- 
ment was constituted with five members, two from the 
Orange River Colony, and three from the Transvaal, which 
managed the railway system of the two Colonies. It was felt 
that any attempt at separate management was out of place. 
The establishment of responsible government was almost at 
once followed by the rise of an effective demand for a federal 
government. One sign of this feeling was the discussion of 
a Federal High Court for South Africa as a Court of Appeal, 
to some extent in place of the Privy Council, which took 
place first in South Africa in 1905, and then at the Colonial 
Conference of 19072 even before the actual issue of the new 
letters patent granting responsible government to the new 
Colonies. The causes for the rise of this feeling were various. 
One important consideration was the railway question : the 
Cape and Natal were ever at variance with the Transvaal as 
to the share of traffic from the Rand to the sea. There are 
three great routes available, via Delagoa Bay, via Natal, 
and via the three Cape ports of Port, Elizabeth, East London, 
and Capetown itself. The prosperity of the railways in each 
Colony practically depended on their success? in securing 
a considerable proportion of the through traffic, and the 
Transvaal was thus in a preponderating position. Its hands, 
* Cf. The Government of South Africa, ii, 4. 
! Parl, Pap., Cd. 3523, Pp. 207 seq. 
* Cf. The Government of South Africa, i, 212 seq; Cd. 3564, Pp. 20 seq.