SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT (Sheffield, Ecclesall)asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he would present to Parliament a copy of the Petition with regard to the franchise and commandeering recently presented to Sir Henry Loch in the Transvaal, and signed by 13,000 British, subjects there resident?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. S. BUXTON,) Tower Hamlets, PoplarYes, Sir. If desired, I will present the Paper at once.
SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he could now give any information upon one or two points connected with a question which was asked for him on Tuesday by the hon. Member for Preston? The Under Secretary had promised to obtain information from South Africa as to the relative proportions of population in the Transvaal Republic. He wished to know whether the Under Secretary would procure that information under three heads—first, the number of Boer citizens within the Transvaal; secondly, the total number of foreign persons resident in the Transvaal; and, thirdly, the total number of persons of British origin resident in the Transvaal, as distinct from the rest of the foreign population; and whether he would make the information public, through the ordinary channels of communication, as soon as he received it, seeing that the House would not then be sitting. Then as to the right hon. Gentleman's answer yesterday, when he stated that the total European population was 119,000, did he mean to include in that the Boer citizens or the foreign residents only?
§ MR. S. BUXTONThe figure 119,000, from the Census of 1890, included every one but natives; but that figure is now necessarily very much out of date. The three points on which the hon. Gentleman desires information are just the three points which suggested themselves to me. But the information we obtain cannot be more than approximately correct. As to the publication of the information, I will see about it.
DR. CLARK (Caithness)asked whether it would be possible, except under the Census which was made every 10 years, to give the number of foreigners in England? Were the Boers to be expected to do more in that respect than was possible in this country?
§ MR. S. BUXTONProbably the South African Republic will be able to give us the figures approximately as we should be able to give figures approximately.
DR. CLARKThey have no means of getting the information accurately from one Census to another any more than we have.
§ MR. S. BUXTONIf they have not got the information they cannot give it to us.
SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTsaid, that the hon. Gentleman's answer of the other day as to the recent franchise law was not quite clear. Did the law prohibit any foreign residents whose parents had been previously naturalised from obtaining the franchise?
§ MR. S. BUXTONI have not yet received the text of the new law; and, indeed, I do not know whether it is absolutely passed yet in all its stages. But, as I understand from the short summary of the Debates which I have seen in the South African papers, the position is this: Children whose parents were not naturalised will be in the same position as new residents, and will have to undergo the same process of naturalisation.
MR. TOMLINSONDoes the hon. Member for Caithness ask these questions as the agent for the Transvaal Republic?
§ [No answer was given.]