§ MR. C. P. SCOTT (Lancashire, Leigh)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury at what period in the year 1899 the Government were informed that if war ensued between the Transvaal and this country, as a result of the differences which were made apparent at the Bloemfontein Conference, the Free State would undoubtedly throw in her lot with the sister Republic; and whether the attention of the Government was called to a Report issued by the Intelligence Department of the War Office four months before the outbreak of the war, entitled Military Notes on the Dutch Republics of South Africa, of which copies have within the past few days been placed in the library of the House of Commons.
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.All the information the Government received upon the subject dealt with in the question was either in 180 the nature of opinion, and therefore necessarily conjectural, or else depended upon the assurances of ex-President Steyn, which were, unfortunately, mendacious.