THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether care would be taken that the Papers on the South African Question should be presented to Members of Parliament as soon as possible? In explanation, he might state that he understood the Papers which had been presented to most hon. Members that (Monday) morning were in possession of the Press on Saturday morning, and not only so, but copies of them were seen in some of the clubs. There might 1318 be some convenience in the Papers being sent to the Press; but he thought care should be taken that they should be in the hands of Members of Parliament as soon. It was only fair that such information should be communicated to hon. Members at the earliest possible date.
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, in reply, said, that matter should be attended to. He was not aware that what the noble Marquess described had occurred, and he hardly supposed that his right hon. Friend the Colonial Secretary, who was not then in his place, could have known of it. But the Government would do what they could to put such Papers as soon as possible in the hands of Members. He understood that another batch of Papers were to be laid on the Table in the course of a week or so, and they would, no doubt, be printed and distributed as quickly as possible.