§ MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether he will communicate to the House the text or substance of the Vote of Censure lately passed by the Transvaal Volksraad upon Her Majesty's Ministers; whether it is a fact that the Transvaal Budget of the year shows a deficit of £200,000; whether he can obtain a summary of the Transvaal Budget; and, whether any time has been fixed for the payment of the £450,000 owing by the Boers to Her Majesty's Exchequer, or any portion of that sum?
§ MR. EVELYN ASHLEYSir, the substance of the Resolution adopted by the Transvaal Volksraad, which the hon. Member, with rare wit, calls a Vote of Censure on Her Majesty's Ministers, was to the effect that the Raad, having seen that the Imperial Government had resolved to take into its own hands the Government of Basutoland under certain conditions, and considering that such a step requires the confirmation of the Cape Parliament, now in Session, resolves that the said step is considered injurious to the peace, welfare, and future union of South Africa, and that this Resolution should be communicated, among others, to the Cape Parliament and the Imperial Government. The Governor at the Cape asked for instructions as to what he should do with the Resolution; and the Secretary of State, on the 26th of July, directed him to inform the Transvaal Government that, in the absence of any explanation of the reasons for which they adopted the Resolution and sent it to the Imperial Government, they must decline to discuss with the Government of the Transvaal a matter which lies altogether beyond the functions of that Government. As to the second Question, I cannot say what deficit, if any, the Transvaal 65 Budget of the year shows. We have not the figures; and, although we could obtain a summary of it, there would be no advantage in doing it. As to the last Question, I must refer the hon. Member to a Return which I laid on the Table of the House three weeks ago, from which he will see that the Debt is £380,000, and not £450,000. No time has been fixed for the payment of this sum, as by the terms of the Convention—which the hon. Member should consult—it is to be paid by an Annuity for 25 years of £6 0s. 9d. per cent.
§ MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTasked whether one of the conditions of the Convention was not that £100,000 should be repaid last August; and, whether the Resolution of Censure was communicated to the Government through the British Resident in the Transvaal?
§ MR. EVELYN ASHLEYYes, Sir; the Resolution was communicated through the British Resident. As to the £100,000, I have so often explained the matter in this House that I really cannot repeat it.