§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEasked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether the Secretary of State for the Colonies has received an application from Mr. Forssman, Consul General for Portugal in the Transvaal, for compensation for losses and injuries incurred by him during the siege of Potchefstroom, and what is the amount of compensation which he claims?
MR. GLADSTONESir, the Secretary of State for the Colonies has received such an application as that to which my right hon. Friend has referred. The amount claimed by way of compensation is £219,000. Probably it would be premature, and not altogether decorous, for Her Majesty's Government to give any opinion as to the first impression which they formed with respect to the claim. Therefore, on that ground, I will withhold any such opinion. But the claim itself will have to be forwarded to the Commission to be duly examined by them.