HL Deb 10 June 1880 vol 252 cc1579-85
THE EARL OF CARNARVON

said, he rose to put some Questions to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, of which he had given his noble Friend private Notice, and which he regarded of considerable importance. Their Lordships were aware that previously to the change of Government the action of Sir Bartle Frere in reference to Zululand was subjected to severe censure by Members of the present Administration; and his noble Friend (the Earl of Kimberley) was one of Sir Bartle's most unsparing critics. As soon as the change of Government occurred there was a demand on the part of many of the supporters of Her Majesty's Ministers and of a portion of the Press for the recall of Sir Bartle Frere. Her Majesty's Government seemed to have taken time to consider the matter, and they arrived at the conclusion that whatever might be their opinion of his action in the Zulu difficulty, it was desirable in the public interest to maintain him in his position. He thought the Government were right in their decision; but it appeared to have given rise to much dissatisfaction among their supporters, and renewed pressure was brought to bear upon Ministers. The consequence was that a few days ago there appeared in one of the public papers a paragraph to this effect— We understand that Sir Bartle Frere's salary as High Commissioner will be paid to about the end of the present month, and that then all further payments on this account will cease. It appeared that some inquiry on the subject was made in "another place," and in reply to it the the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies was reported to have made this statement— The paragraph, so far as the Government are concerned, is quite true. The functions of the High Commissioner having been transferred to Sir George Pomeroy Colley, and he having received a largo salary for the discharge of these functions, the Government does not think it would be right to ask the House to vote the salary twice over. He confessed he was exceedingly perplexed on reading those statements, and thought there must have been some grievous blunder in the matter. He would remind the House of the facts with respect to Sir Bartle Frere. He received two distinct salaries—one of £5,000 a-year from the Cape as Governor of the Cape Colony, and another of £1,000 a-year as High Commissioner for South Africa generally—an office in which he had to give much time and attention to Native affairs. In addition, he received a personal allowance of £2,000 per annum to defray expenses. Now, the reduction which Her Majesty's Government proposed could not be made from his salary of £5,000 as Governor of Cape Colony, nor from that of his salary of £1,000 as High Commissioner, for that also was paid by the Colony, and not by this country. When Sir Garnet Wolseley was sent out a provisional arrangement had to be made by which all the duties of High Commissioner in the Eastern and North-Eastern country were assigned to him, while those of High Commissioner in the Western and North-Western country were left still in the hands of Sir Bartle Frere. Sir George Colley had taken the place of Sir Garnet Wolseley; but why that should induce Her Majesty's Government to reduce the allowance to Sir Bartle Frere it was difficult to understand. At first blush the course pursued seemed very harsh, and it would almost appear as if it had been devised with the intention of putting a pressure on Sir Bartle Frere which would make him resign his office. He had been asked to undertake a grave responsibility which it was not his business to undertake, but he did so under pressure and through a sense of public duty; and he did so at an advanced period of his life, when he could not hope to make money by his office, but ran the risk of losing by it. The temporary provisional allowance was made to him in 1877 for two years, and would have come to an end in 1879; but the late Secretary of State for the Colonies, who was then in Office, urged strongly its renewal, on the ground that the calls on Sir Bartle Frere for additional expenditure were as numerous as before, and the Treasury consented to the allowance being renewed for two years more, which would not expire till March or April in next year. It was but reasonable to suppose that Sir Bartle Frere had made his financial calculations accordingly; and yet, though the time for which that allowance had been renewed had as yet nine months to run, Her Majesty's Government had resolved that Sir Bartle Frere was to have no more of this year's allowance than the £500 already taken on account by the late Government. Her Majesty's Government, in thus acting, were, no doubt, technically within their rights; but, to say the least, they were acting on their extreme rights. He should like to know whether Sir Bartle Frere had been informed of this, and, if he had been, when? Again, did Her Majesty's Government intend that the sum of £500 was to be taken as representing payment for services already rendered? He hoped Her Majesty's Government would give a satisfactory answer on that point. He thought that the proceeding of Her Majesty's Government was neither handsome nor usual, and that certainly it was not fair to Sir Bartle Frere. The change was a very sudden one, and he believed it had been made without any notice or warning. He was asked to forego a portion of the salary which had been given to him, and which, by every principle of business, he was entitled to rely upon. It was an unwise course in itself to adopt, and it was exceedingly unfair. Sir Bartle Frere had a very difficult duty to perform. In his instructions to Sir George Colley his noble Friend (the Earl of Kimberley) said:— I attach great value to your cordial cooperation with Sir Bartle Frere in that (Confederation) and any other question on which your common action may be required. It was unfair to place any colonial servant of the Crown in the position in which this proceeding on the part of Her Majesty's Government placed Sir Bartle Frere. If he resigned now it would be said that he did so because he was touched on the money question. The reason which had influenced Her Majesty's Government in the matter must be a political one, for it could be neither a colonial nor a public one. It would have been far better and far wiser in every way if Her Majesty's Government had acted on their previous conviction and recalled Sir Bartle Frere. That at least would have been a straightforward and intelligible course, whatever objections might have been taken to it. Sir Bartle Frere had been accused of being wanting in some of the qualities of a Colonial Governor; he had been accused of insubordination, disobedience, and so forth; but was that any reason why the Government should depart from the ordinary rules and principles on which Colonial Governors should be treated, giving them a halfhearted confidence and passing slights upon them? They must be maintained on a proper footing. He felt very strongly on this matter, because he thought that whatever might have been the faults of Sir Bartle Frere very scant justice had been done to him. He begged to ask whether Sir Bartle Frere retained the title of High Commissioner, and continued to perform his duties as the holder of that office; whether in future he was to be deprived of the whole allowance of £2,000 a-year; whether the sum of £500 was paid to him for services already rendered; whether it was part of his annual allowance of £2,000; and whether he had been informed of the change about to be made?

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY

said, he was obliged to his noble Friend for having given him an opportunity of clearing up the misapprehension which existed upon the subject to which he had called attention. At the same time, he thought it would have been better if his noble Friend had waited for his explanation before proceeding to comment on and censure the action of Her Majesty's Government in the matter. He understood his noble Friend to speak from memory in respect of the original arrangement for the allowance of £2,000 a-year; but he thought it would be more satisfactory to their Lordships if he read for the House the letter which his noble Friend, when Colonial Secretary, wrote to the Treasury, asking for that special allowance. It was in these terms:— January 26, 1877. Sir,—I am directed by the Earl of Carnarvon to acquaint you that in consequence of the serious Native difficulties now existing in South Arrica, and the necessity of promoting as far as possible a uniformity of action among Her Majesty's Colonies, and a clear and beneficial understanding between the Governments of those Colonies and those of the neighbouring Republics, as well as with the representatives of Portugal or other foreign Powers in South Africa, it has been determined to invest Sir Bartle Frore, who is about to assume the Government of the Cape, with special powers not possessed by his predecessors in the office. 2. Under the charter of Griqualand West he will be Governor of that Province as well as of the Cape, and will further be required to give much time and attention to Native affairs in connection with Natal, and to all the arrangements necessary for the union of that Colony with the Cape. He will also be appointed Her Majesty's High Commissioner for South Africa generally, instead of being merely 'High Commissioner for the territories adjacent to the Eastern Frontier.' He will in these capacities be charged with the supervision of British interests in South Africa, including necessarily a constant observation of proceedings on the East Coast in connection with the suppression of slavery and the disposal of liberated Africans, and it will be necessary that he should be placed in a position to travel to the different Colonies and States and remain absent from his Government for such time as any emergency may seem to require. 3. The salary of the Governor of the Cape is barely adequate to meet his expenditure on purely Colonial objects, and the local Legislature would justly object to its being expended beyond the Colony, and Lord Carnarvon, after a very careful consideration of the whole case, and of the serious events now occurring in South Africa, does not hesitate to press with all earnestness upon the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury the expediency of making a special allowance to Sir Bartle Frere as High Commissioner; it being of the utmost importance that his efficiency at this particular moment should not be crippled by want of funds. 4. Lord Carnarvon proposes to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury the sum of £2,000 for the present year and £2,000 for 1878, hoping that it will not be necessary to apply for any extraordinary assistance later. The expenditure during the two first years is necessarily determined by the extraordinary circumstances of the time, and will be far heavier at the commencement of his administration than later. I have, &c., R. G. W. HERBERT. Now, the point which his noble Friend insisted on was that the two years for which Sir Bartle Frere had been promised that allowance had not yet expired.

THE EARL OF CARNARVON

begged his noble Friend's pardon. He had said that the two years expired in 1879, but that, at the request of the late Secretary of State for the Colonies, the sum was granted for another two years, and that that period had not yet expired.

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY

The circumstances were these: Sir Garnet Wolseley was sent out as High Commissioner over the North-Eastern portions of South Africa, and as General commanding the Forces in the field. He presumed that the late Government thought that was merely a temporary arrangement, and that it ought not to disturb the arrangement made with Sir Bartle Frere. The state of things was now different. The late Government determined that what was done when Sir Garnet Wolseley was sent out should be continued, and that there should be placed under Sir George Colley, as High Commissioner for South-East Africa, the whole of that territory which on Sir Garnet Wolseley being sent out was detached from that before then under Sir Bartle Frere. He had thought desirable to add to that the strip of territory known as "Keate's Award," so that this territory which had hitherto been under Sir Bartle Frere would for the future be committed to Sir George Colley, whose commission included the territories to the North and East of the Transvaal and Natal and to the West of the Transvaal. Sir Bartle Frere would retain the title of High Commissioner, and exercise authority as such on those frontiers which were not included in Sir George Colley's commission. Those being the circumstances, Her Majesty's Government had to consider whether there were any good reasons for continuing to Sir Bartle Frere the special allowance of £2,000 a-year, that allowance having been recommended by his noble Friend (the Earl of Carnarvon) for expenses to which Sir Bartle Frere was put on account of having to visit distant parts of South Africa which were no longer in his commission. He had £5,000 a-year as Governor of the Cape and £1,000 a year as High Commissioner, which were exactly the salaries enjoyed by his predecessors in respect of those offices. He did not see any slight whatever on Sir Bartle Frere, or any wrong act on the part of Her Majesty's Government, in the withdrawal of a special allowance given to him for reasons which had ceased. His noble Friend seemed to think that the Government were so anxious to deprive Sir Bartle Frere of the allowance, that they did so without having considered for a moment what the effect of withdrawing it from him might be in reference to any calculations which he might have based on its continuance. But the Government had not omitted that consideration. In the despatch in which he was informed that he was not to receive for the future any portion of the extra allowance of £2,000 he was also informed that he would receive the £500 already voted, and that if he had incurred any expenses which he thought would properly be chargeable to a further instalment of his allowance for 1880–81 the question whether they could be allowed would be considered. Further, that if hereafter the occasion should arise when, in his opinion, the Public Service required that he should incur any extraordinary expenses for travelling beyond the Cape Colony as High Commissioner he was to apply for sanction of such expenditure. He asked, was that a proceeding on the part of Her Majesty's Government which any impartial person could regard as unfair? The question whether the Vote of £2,000 should be asked for was settled with the Treasury the week before last. Sir Bartle Frere was informed of the decision in a despatch dated June 1. It had been made known to him by telegraph also. The salary of Sir Bartle Frere would stand—£5,000 a-year as Governor, £1,000 a-year as High Commissioner, with an allowance of £750 a-year for a house paid from the colonial funds. In addition to his salary of £2,000 a-year as Governor of Natal, Sir George Colley would receive £2,500 a-year to be voted by Parliament.

EARL GRANVILLE

said, it was a convenient practice of the House which enabled noble Lords to ask Questions without Notice; but he protested against a Question like that put by the noble Earl (the Earl of Carnarvon), of which only private Notice had been given, being brought forward in a speech which was highly calculated to raise a debate upon a matter of much gravity. Such a proceeding was not in accordance with the practice of their Lordships' House, more especially when the question was not one of urgency.