§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has noticed in The Times of 23rd June a telegram stating that Mr. Cecil Rhodes, during a Debate in the House of Assembly of the Cape Colony upon a Resolution condemning his dual capacity 332 as Premier of the Colony and Director of the Chartered Company of South Africa, incidentally announced that the Imperial Government would give £100,000 towards the extension of the railway beyond Makefing, on the condition that no competing line was allowed; and whether any such promise has been made; if so, by what authority?
§ MR. S. BUXTONThe telegraphic summary is clearly incomplete. The facts are as follows:—The Imperial Government have agreed that, subject to certain conditions, the Bechuanaland Government shall be permitted to promise a subsidy of £10,000 a year for 10 years on the completion to their satisfaction of the railway extension to Gaberones, and a similar additional amount for a similar term on the completion of the line to Palapye. The grant of the subsidy will not involve any additional charge on Imperial Funds, as the greater facility of transport will enable the Bechuanaland Government to effect savings equal to or exceeding the subsidy; apart from the increase of Revenue that may be expected to result from the opening up of the country to settlers, and apart from the strategic and other advantages arising from railway connection between the Southern and Northern Protectorates.