§ MR. A. MILLSasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether it is contemplated that the whole debt of the Transvaal Territory, estimated by Lord Carnarvon at about £300,000, should be eventually met by the Imperial Treasury; whether the £100,000, placed on the Supplementary Estimate, represents the total amount to be asked from Parliament; and, whether there are any other grounds, besides the alleged fertility of the Transvaal, for anticipating the repayment of Imperial advances?
§ MR. J. LOWTHERIt is not intended to ask the Imperial Treasury to discharge the debt of the Transvaal State, nor do we propose to ask Parliament for any further sum than the £100,000 of which Notice has been already given. With regard to the Debt, I should mention that while the Estimate must of necessity be only approximate, so far as can be ascertained, the total Debt—previous to the sum now asked for in the Supplementary Estimate—was about £220,000. The grounds for anticipating repayment of the advance, though they appear to be regarded by my hon. Friend as somewhat problematical, are, in addition to the great fertility of the country—which I may observe is not merely alleged, but thoroughly ascertained—its extensive mineral resources.