§ MR. MUNRO FERGUSONI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he is aware that under Article 2 of the Convention of 1884 Her Majesty's Government has the right to place a British Commissioner in Swaziland "to maintain order and prevent encroachments"?
§ * MR. W. H. SMITHHer Majesty's Government have been careful to ascertain precisely their legal position under the Convention in regard to intervention in Swaziland, and have been advised that it would not be competent for Her Majesty, without a breach of Article 12 of the Convention, to take Swaziland under her protection in the recognised meaning of that expression; but Her 1259 Majesty's Government can, of course, exercise the powers of Article 2 of the Convention, which includes the appointing of Commissioners to maintain order. It will be seen that the establishment of a protectorate involves the assumption of administrative control, which could not be exercised by Commissioners appointed under Article 2 of the Convention.