This study contributes to debates on the efficacy of institutions in settler colonies by comparing the Cape Colony’s fiscal path to the experiences of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. I find that the Cape’s fiscal trajectory was divergent. Agricultural and mining taxes were important surrogates of income taxes in other colonies, but the Cape’s narrow interests pushed for insulation from direct taxes. This made the Cape’s fiscal path unsustainable with comparatively low per capita taxes, high deficits, and the highest level of indebtedness. I argue that the instrumentality of ‘‘responsible government” status was conditional on how imported self-government institutions were endogenized.

中文翻译：

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“负责任的政府”殖民地的财政能力：比较视角下的开普殖民地，c。1865–1910

本研究通过将开普殖民地的财政路径与澳大利亚、新西兰和加拿大的经验进行比较，有助于就定居者殖民地的制度效力进行辩论。我发现开普的财政轨迹是不同的。农业和采矿税是其他殖民地所得税的重要替代品，但开普省的狭隘利益推动了与直接税的隔离。这使得开普省的财政道路不可持续，人均税收相对较低，赤字高，负债水平最高。我认为，“负责任的政府”地位的工具性取决于进口的自治政府机构是如何内生化的。