§ MR. THOMAS BAYLEY (Derbyshire, Chesterfield)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that in 1890 and 1891 concessions, which have since been acquired by the North Charterland Exploration Company, under the British South Africa Company, were obtained from the chief Mpeseni and ten subordinate chiefs in Angoniland, in return for which they were to receive annual payments amounting to £860 for 99 years; whether it is correctly stated that the payments have not been made, and that the recent disturbances in Angoniland are partly consequent thereon; and whether he will inquire into these statements, and take them into consideration in deciding the treatment to be accorded to Mpeseni and others for their alleged rebellion?
MR. CURZONThe validity of the alleged concessions has never been acknowledged by Her Majesty's Government, Mpeseni not being the hereditary 1655 or paramount chief of the territory in question, and there being other claims upon it of superior weight. The South Africa Company have expressed their readiness for the present to make a payment of £200 a year to Mpeseni. The recent disturbances are attributed by our officers, not to the withholding of the larger sum, but to other causes. Every consideration consistent with the public safety will be shown to Mpeseni, who has now surrendered, and to others engaged in the recent rebellion.