§ MR. EDWARD HARDCASTLE (Salford, N.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether the Suzerainty of the Transvaal was retained by the British Crown when the troops were withdrawn from that country; what is the nature and value of that Suzerainty; and whether under it British subjects, who are said already to outnumber the Boers, are entitled to the franchise?
§ MR. W. H. SMITHThe Convention of London, made in 1884 between Her Majesty and the South African Republic, contains no express reservation of the Queen's right of Suzerainty, and, although Her Majesty retains under the Convention the power of refusing to sanction treaties made by the South African Republic with Foreign States and nations and with certain native tribes, it is a cardinal principle of that settlement that the internal government and legislation of the South African Republic shall not he interfered with. No persons, whether British subjects or otherwise, can at present obtain the franchise within the 1169 South African Republic unless they make a declaration of allegiance to it, which involves, to a considerable extent, the renunciation within the Republic of their national rights and obligations as subjects of the Queen.