§ MR. W. E. M. TOMLINSONI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the statement, made in the official Report of Sir Evelyn Wood's interview with the Swazi King and Council on September 5th, 1881 (Blue Book, C. 7611, p. 53), that those British subjects who entered the Transvaal after the annexation have certain privileges as regards military services; and whether he can state what those privileges were, and whether they now exist; and, if not, when, and under what circumstances, they were abrogated?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON Tower Hamlets, Poplar)I have seen the statement made by Sit E. Wood. The hon. Gentleman will find if he will refer to Article 28 of the Convention of 1881, and to Article 15 of that of 1884, that those British subjects who established their domicile in the Transvaal between April, 1877, and August 1881, are specially exempt from compulsory military service. This article has never been abrogated, and remains in force.