§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a large Boer commando is about to attack the Basuto Chief, Magato; whether he can inform the House of the reasons for this attack; and whether Magato's territory is within the boundaries of the Transvaal?
§ MR. BUXTONI have no official information as to the relations between the Government of the South African Republic and the Chief Magato. The Chief resides in the Zoutpansberg district of the Republic.
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTAs this is an important question, I would ask the hon. Gentleman whether he will make official inquiry and obtain information? There are many thousands of natives involved in this matter.
§ MR. BUXTONI certainly am not going to give any such pledge. This is a question affecting the internal administration of the Transvaal, and under the London Convention we are expressly excluded from interfering. If there were any question affecting British subjects arising in connection with it, then it would be another matter.
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTI would ask the hon. Gentleman whether he is not aware that under the Convention of 1884, the clauses of which are still binding, Her Majesty's Government agreed that the interests of the natives of the Transvaal should be protected?
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERI would ask the hon. Gentleman whether the House of Commons is not entitled to receive information as to an event of such importance occurring in the Transvaal?
§ MR. BUXTONEvery hon. Member has the ordinary means of information in regard to it, but what the hon. Member opposite asked was whether I would make special official inquiries with regard to this matter, and that I declined to do.
§ SIR JOHN GORSTI would ask whether we are not under an obligation to protect the interests of the native races in South Africa?
§ MR. BUXTONIf any question arose as to any breach of the London Convention, of course we have a resident Consul General in the Transvaal who would report instantly to the High Commissioner, and the High Commissioner would at once communicate with us. What I understood the hon. Gentleman to ask was that we should at once, without referring to the High Commissioner, make inquiries on this side of the water, and that I declined to do.
§ SIR E. ASHMEAD-BARTLETTWhat I desired the hon. Gentleman to do was what I again ask him to do, and that is to ask Her Majesty's representative in the South African Republic for information on this point, so that we may know the truth about it.
§ MR. ARNOLD-FORSTERMay I ask the hon. Gentleman whether he is aware that there is the greatest difficulty in obtaining information from the Transvaal; that the sources of information are exceedingly unreliable; and that, except we obtain official information, we are not aware of what takes place?
§ MR. BUXTONOf course, we have an official representative in the Transvaal, whose duty it is to send us any information which he thinks will be important or necessary to us in order to decide this or any other question. In the ordinary course of his duty he will send us, through the High Commissioner, such information as we require. That is a different matter from what I understood the hon. Member to desire us to do.