§ SIR LEWIS PELLY (Hackney, N.)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether Her Majesty's Government recognize Pondoland as belonging to Great Britain or to any other Power, either absolutely or as a Protected State; whether any negotiations are pending between Her Majesty's Government and any other Power concerning Pondoland; and, whether Government are in a position to give assurances that Pondoland will not be occupied, either directly or indirectly, by any Foreign Power?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Sir HENRY HOLLAND) (Hampstead)My right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to the Question. Her Majesty's Government exercise a Protectorate over the whole Coast of Pondoland, and consider the country as being under their influence, and do not recognize a right on the part of any other Power to interfere in its concerns. I stated, in my answer of the 15th instant, that in August, 1885, in reply to a proposal for placing Pondoland under the protection of the German Empire, the German Government had stated that they were not in a position to entertain the Petition; and the hon. Member has probably seen in to-day's newspapers the statement from the semi-official North German Gazette, which confirms this view. No negotiations are pending between Her Majesty's Government and any other Power respecting Pondoland. Her Majesty's Government consider that no Foreign Power could occupy Pondoland without their consent.