§ SIR MANCHERJEE BHOWNAGGREE (Bethnal Green, N.E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the fact that on the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 a proclamation was issued by Sir Theophilus Shepstone stating that all claims against the late Government would be acknowledged by Her Majesty's Government, and paid out; whether he is aware that among those whose claims were to be so recognised there wore a number of volunteers who formed a border force for the protection of the frontier against the raids of the Chief Sekukuni, and who were promised, in lieu of the unpaid balance of their allowances, a farm of 4,000 morgen north and north-west of the Zulu mountains; and whether he will take the matter now into his consideration with the view of giving effect to the pledges conveyed by the proclamation, as the claims in question have never been granted.
§ MR. J. CHAMBERLAINThe proclamation of Sir Theophilus Shepstone of 12th April, 1877, contained a general promise of this character. I regret that I have not been able yet to trace the detailed records of those claims, and I am not therefore in a position to express any opinion. The claims were regarded as settled in 1877, according to the Report published in Parliamentary Paper C. 2144, page 378.