HC Deb 03 March 1865 vol 177 cc1093-100

Order for Committee read.

MR. ARTHUR MILLS

wished to put a Question to the right hon. Gentleman who had charge of the Bill, which, through an inadvertence, he had no opportunity of asking him on the second reading. The Bill, as he understood it, was not intended to be contingent on the action of the Cape Parliament, but was meant to take effect whether the Cape Parliament should or should not adopt its provisions. The right hon. Gentleman was well aware that a similar measure had once been proposed to the Cape Parliament and rejected; and he was also well aware that it was opposed by a very large proportion of the inhabitants of British Kaffraria. The right hon. Gentleman had, he understood, said that the main object of proposing the annexation of that small territory of 8,000 or 10,000 square miles to the Cape Colony was that he wished to give an inducement to the colony to undertake the defence of that territory, and that hereafter we should have a ground to expect that the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope, having representative institutions, would be ready to defend that frontier. Now, he wished to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, if the Imperial Government took upon itself, in spite of the expressed wishes of the Cape colonists and of the inhabitants of British Kaffraria, to unite these two districts against their will, he thought he would have a good ground for appealing to the Cape Parliament hereafter to protect its frontier in the event of any disturbance arising? About 1850 the district of British Kaffraria was made a separate colony by letters patent, which were again issued in 1854 and 1860, and it was now proposed to annex it to the Cape for the sake of political convenience, and because, being a frontier district, and its defence being thrown on the Imperial Government, we might hereafter have a fair ground to claim that the Cape should bear a share of the burden of its defence. Hitherto, with the exception of raising the Cape Mounted Police, the Cape had entirely depended on the Imperial Government for its defence. We knew, unfortunately, what Kaffir wars were, and a fresh outbreak might occur. There was the Chief Kreli, who was by no means always quietly disposed; and beyond the frontier of the Cape we had a district under a kind of semi-Imperial jurisdiction. Should we unhappily have any disturbance on that frontier, and the risk of another of those Kaffir wars which generally cost about a million or two sterling each, would the right hon. Gentleman or his successor be able to call on the Cape Colony and say, "Protect yourselves, because we in 1865 insisted on marrying you to the colony of British Kaffraria?" "No," they might answer; "you insisted on forcing the union upon us, and we throw the responsibility on you." Last Session a petition was intrusted to himself for presentation to that House against that annexation. It was signed by a large number of the inhabitants of British Kaffraria British Colonists—and he believed its prayer represented the general feeling of that colony. It was stated that although this measure, which was ultra vires, so far as the Colonial Legislature was concerned, had been thrown out by the Parliament of the Cape, yet it had again been submitted to them through the influence of the Governor of the colony, and the Resolution had been passed by the Legislative Council by 7 against 6. But it appeared that that had taken place after the Western Members, who represented the section of the colony which was most likely to object to the proposal, had gone away. It was of course impossible for him to attempt to oppose with any hope of success a measure of this kind, in which so few Members took an interest, and the whole responsibility of which must rest with the Government; but he should like to know whether the annexation was to take place in the event of the Cape Parliament not assenting. If so, he could not but urge on the Government the importance of not pressing such a measure forward—opposed as it was to the wishes of the colonists—without the most serious consideration.

MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE

had felt, when he saw the hon. Member's notice of Motion on the paper, that it had been given under some misapprehension, since the intention of the Bill was to carry out in the South African colonies those views of which the hon. Gentleman himself had always been an advocate. Here was a little territory—a mere enclave in the extensive region of the Cape Colony—which had been created by the action of the Imperial Government for the express purpose of protecting the frontier of the Cape Colony, by interposing between it and its constant enemies, the Kaffirs, a tract of country which was to be occupied by the Imperial troops, and was to be under the control of the Imperial Government, with a view of civilizing the Kaffir tribes, and converting them into peaceful neighbours. Annual grants of money, at one time amounting to £40,000, had been made for the purpose of this territory, which had been gradually diminished, and at last were stopped altogether. Great improvements had been thus effected on the frontier. The Kaffir tribes had been brought into a far more orderly and peaceable condition, and for some years we had had no renewal of a Kaffir war. But when the grant was withdrawn it was found that the resources of the settlement were too small to maintain it in the position of an independent colony. Beyond the Kei there was a further tract of territory from which the chief Kreli had been driven by Sir George Grey, which it had at one time been expected might have been annexed to British Kaffraria. Probably, if that addition had taken place, the two districts would have furnished such a revenue as would have maintained them as an independent colony. It had, however, been decided that it would be better to be content with the frontier of the Kei, and not to drive the once formidable Kreli into a hostile attitude, but to allow him to occupy a portion of the country beyond the river. The next thing was to decide what should be done with the settlement of British Kaffraria. It had only one port, East London, which could not compete with the ports of the Cape Colony. Consequently, the duties paid on a great portion of the goods consumed there were paid in the Cape Colony. Without coming to Parliament for a grant it was impossible to erect it into an independent colony, and the Secretary of State had made up his mind that the only course to take was to ask the authority of Parliament to annex it to that great colony of which it naturally formed part, the Cape Colony. No doubt that would be an exercise of Imperial authority; but nobody denied that Parliament had a right to exercise that authority, and it was believed that it would be both for the advantage of this country and the colony. It was perfectly true that the Legislative Assembly of the Cape Colony had refused the offer of annexation which had been made, and its motives were not difficult to understand. It wa3 very acceptable to the colonists that there should be a territory between them and the Kaffir tribes entirely under the responsibility of the Crown, for which no demand could be made on them. The Governor had informed Her Majesty's Government that many people in the colony were under the impression that the retention of this small territory by the Crown would adjourn the evil day when they would be called on for further contributions towards their own defence. It was needless to say that such an impression was entirely erroneous. British Kaffraria possessed no legal exponent of its own views, for the Governor was both Executive and Legislature; but it was true that petitions had been received from certain persons residing at the capital, King William's Town, deprecating annexation. Their motives, too, were not difficult to be understood. There was a good deal of advantage derived from the expenditure in the territory necessary for the maintenance of establishments beyond its own means, and there were future prospects connected with a demand which had been made for a Legislative Assembly, which might account for their views. On the other hand, petitions had been received from a number of persons in the country districts protesting against the representations of what they called a clique in King William's Town, and expressing their wishes to form a portion of the Cape Colony. Under these circumstances, the hon. Gentleman could hardly deny that the Secretary of State had exercised a wise discretion in proposing to annex this territory to the Cape Colony, rather than come down to the House and ask for a Vote of money to continue it as an independent colony. The Governor had informed them that when the change had been accomplished by Imperial Act it would meet with very general assent. This Bill, it was true, was imperative; but it was to be hoped that the Colonial Legislature, when they were informed of the definitive decision of Parliament, would make all necessary provision for the annexation. If they still refused, the Bill gave the Governor full powers to effect the amalgamation. Great care had been taken that no disadvantage should arise to any parties from the change, and under these circumstances he hoped the hon. Gentleman would withdraw his opposition to the Bill.

MR. MARSH

thought this was the fairest Bill he had ever known proposed upon this subject, because in former attempts to deal with it the respective colonies were left to settle the limits by themselves. He hoped that the matter would be settled amicably at the Cape, and he certainly believed that one result of the arrangement would be a saving of expense to this country.

MR. ADDERLEY

was of opinion that the opposition to the Bill proceeded rather upon the ground that such a measure ought not to pass without observation and explanation than upon objections to the Bill itself. For his own part, he did not think the Government had any alternative but to propose some such Bill as this. No one could dispute the power of the Imperial Parliament to deal with this subject. It was in the power of the Sovereign even to abandon to hold territory, held, as this, as a Crown colony, and it was within the power of the Imperial Parliament to bring it within the boundaries of the Cape. The Queen would only have to cancel the Letters Patent of 1860, which constituted Kaffraria into an independent Crown colony, and then the question would, no doubt, present itself very differently to the minds of those who now opposed its annexation. Then as to the wisdom of the measure itself. No doubt it appeared a violent proceeding to annex Kaffraria against the wishes of the inhabitants of the colony, and against the desire of the representatives of the Cape. It was possible that the Governor erred in making the arrangement at all appear to them to be dependent upon their consent. The inhabitants of Kaffraria objected because they did not want to be put to the expense of defending their own territory, and preferred being wholly undertaken for by British taxpayers to being taxed themselves; and the Cape representatives objected because as long as Kaffraria was maintained by England there was a barrier against all invasion of their country kept up for them at our expense—in fact, we should be obliged to defend their frontier. The Cape desired to have all the pleasures of self-government without the expense. Those were good reasons there, but they were equally strong the other way with the Imperial Government. The hon. Member for Taunton seemed to fear the risk of our involving ourselves in future Kaffir wars by giving the Cape the plea that we had caused them by this uninvited arrangement; but it was difficult to perceive the danger when the relations of the Imperial Government to the Cape, including Kaffraria, would be only the same as they were now towards the Cape itself. There would be danger in allowing the present state of things to remain. Either we must annex the colony in question to the Cape now, or we must say that we never would do so. Things were in a state which would not bear delay or indecision. It would be a mere delusion for the British Parliament to undertake to defend for ever so extended a frontier, which the Crown had only undertaken under the existence of temporary difficulties, and, under all the circumstances, he felt bound to* support the proposition of the Government.

MR. ARTHUR MILLS

explained, that he never intended to question the right of the Imperial Parliament to deal with this subject.

MR. CARDWELL

, with reference to one question raised by the hon. Member (Mr. Arthur Mills), reminded the hon. Gentlemen that we could never be in a worse position to call upon the Cape Government to defend their own frontier than we were at present, and he believed, when the measure was adopted, the Imperial Parliament would be in a better position to deal with the whole subject.

House in Committee.

(In the Committee.)

Clause 2 (Interpretation.)

MR. ADDERLEY

asked for some definition of "British Kaffraria."

MR. CARDWELL

said, that the Trans-kei territory had never been annexed to Kaffraria.

Clause agreed to.

Clauses 9 to 13 agreed to.

Clause 14 (Continuance of Laws of British Kaffraria after Incorporation.)

MR. CARDWELL

, in answer to Mr. ARTHUR MILLS said, that the laws at present existing in British Kaffraria would still remain in force, but that they might be altered by the local Parliament—of course, with the sanction of the Crown.

MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE

said, that according to the statement of the Governor, the laws of British Kaffraria were identical with those at the Cape.

Clause agreed to.

Clause 15 agreed to, with a verbal Amendment.

Clause 16 agreed to.

Clause 17 (Civil List for British Kaff-raria.)

MR. ARTHUR MILLS

wished to know how the amount which was to be paid to officials for loss of office had been determined.

MR. CARDWELL

said, that as the sum required had not been stated by the Governor, he had been obliged to fix it himself.

Clause agreed to.

Remaining Clauses agreed to.

House resumed.

Bill reported; as amended, to be considered on Monday next.

House adjourned at a quarter before Ten o'clock till Monday next.