§ MR. LABOUCHEREI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to an advertisement in the public Press of the prospectus of the Mashonaland Development (Willoughby's) Company, in which it is stated that the promoter of the company has obtained 71 from the British South Africa Chartered Company a concession of 600,000 acres of land in any part of Mashonaland, outside a radius of three miles of any proclaimed goldfield or established township; whether the entire land of Mashonaland belongs to the Chartered South Africa Company; if so, from whom possession has been obtained; whether the vendor himself was the owner of the entire land of Mashonaland, and had a right to sell it irrespective of the assent of its inhabitants; whether this assent was obtained, and, if so, how and when; and whether such sale has been sanctioned by Her Majesty's Government; and, if so, whether any investigation of the title of the vendor took place, and any stipulations were made with regard to the native population?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON,) Tower Hamlets, PoplarI have seen the advertisement referred to in the first paragraph of the question. The British South Africa Company are assignees for value during a term which has 98½ years to run, of the rights of Lo Bengula to grant and lease farms, grazing grounds, and town areas, in Mashonaland, and to hold for their own benefit the rents and other profits arising from such grants. The company acquired these rights from one Edward Amandus Lippert, to whom Lo Bengula had granted them. If by "vendor" in the third paragraph of the question Lo Bengula is meant, the answer is that Lo Bengula has control, as paramount Chief, though he probably has not the sole ownership, of the lands of Mashonaland. The assent of the Mashonas was not necessary to validate the concession, as it covered only that which Lo Bengula had a right to grant. The Lippert concession and its transfer to the British South Africa Company were approved by Her Majesty's late Government. No investigation of the title of the vendor (Lo Bengula) took place on that occasion, and no stipulations were then made with regard to the native population; but Her Majesty's Government had already considered the position and claims of Lo Bengula in the Mashona country, and the right of natives in the company's field of operations had been safeguarded by Article 14 of the Charter granted to the company in October, 1889. 72 The whole Lippert concession appears to be understood by the Chartered Company as referring to unoccupied lands. I may add that the Directors assure the Colonial Office that they have no intention of interfering with native occupation in this sparsely-populated country, and that their local administrator, Dr. Jamieson, will be careful not to sanction the selection by Sir John Willoughby's Company of any blocks of land, the acquisition of which would be inconsistent with native rights under the company's Charter.
§ MR. LABOUCHEREIs there no one connected with the Colonial Office on the spot to see that the Directors of the company keep their engagements?
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONWe have no administration in Mashonaland, and no right to exercise jurisdiction.