Court of Transvaal. Demographics The State Almanac for 1897 states that the total white population was 245,397; with the total black population being 622,544. Religion Initially, the state and church were not separated in the constitution; citizens of the ZAR had to be members of the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk, a denomination which had broken from the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1858, these clauses were altered in the constitution to allow for the to approve other Dutch Christian churches. The Dopper Church was approved by the in 1858, which had the effect of allowing Paul Kruger, a Dopper himself, to remain a citizen of the ZAR. The Bible itself was also often used to interpret the intention of legal documents. The Bible was also used to interpret a prisoner exchange agreement, reached in terms of the Sand River Convention, between a commando of the ZAR, led by Kruger, and a Commando of the Orange Free State. President Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff had issued a death sentence over two ZAR citizens, for treason. Kruger argued with President Boshoff that the Bible said punishment does not mean a death sentence and at the prisoner exchange, it was agreed that the accused would be punished if found guilty. After consulting Commandant Kruger's Bible, Boshoff commuted the men's sentences to lashes with a sjambok. Citizenship Citizenship of the ZAR was legislated by the constitution as well as Law No 7 of 1882, as amended on 23 June 1890. Citizenship was gained by being born in the republic or by naturalisation. The voting age was 16 years. Persons not born in the republic could become citizens by taking the prescribed oath and procuring the letters of naturalisation. The oath involved abandoning, discarding and renouncing all allegiance and subjugation towards foreign sovereignties and in particular their previous citizenship. Under a law of 1855, only white people were permitted to be citizens of the ZAR and to own land. The constitution of the ZAR stated: "The volk (people) are not prepared to allow any equality of the non-white with the white inhabitants, either in the church or the state". The Witwatersrand gold rush led to an influx of Indians and Chinese into the new city of Johannesburg that was emerging on the veld, which led the volksraad to pass Law Number 3, which was aimed at stopping Asian immigration into the Transvaal. Under Law Number 3, all Asians which