HC Deb 01 February 1900 vol 78 c266
MR. BAINBRIDGE

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, at the date of the Bloemfontein Conference, and in view of that Conference possibly leading to negotiations of a critical character, he had obtained information as to the strength of the Boer army in relation to the British forces available in Natal and in Cape Colony.

MR. J. CHAMBERLAIN

There is no regular Boer army, but the number of men capable of military service was, I believe, substantially known.