§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, it may he of interest to the House that I should state that, after full consideration of the condition of affairs in South Africa, Her Majesty's Government have decided that the arrangements, under which the chief Civil and Military authority in the neighbourhood of the seat of war is distributed among four different persons, can no longer be deemed adequate to the requirements of the present juncture. They have, therefore, decided on appointing Sir Garnet Wolseley to the supreme Civil and Military command in Natal, the Transvaal, and the Native territories to the Northward and Eastward of these Colonies, now the seat of war. It will be remembered that this district is at a distance of more than 1,000 miles from Cape Town, where, during the approaching Session of the Cape Parliament, Sir Bartle Frere must be engaged on important and pressing affairs. Papers will at once be laid on the Table explaining the precise nature of the change, and the reasons for it.
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERI did not quite gather from what fell from the right hon. Gentleman whether the Transvaal was to be under the new arrangement or not?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERYes; I said that Sir Garnet Wolseley was to be Governor of Natal and the Transvaal.
§ MR. CHILDERSsaid, that unless the amount of the Estimates and Expenditure for the war in South Africa were laid on the Table before Thursday fortnight, he would ask when hon. Members might expect it to be produced?