MR. CARVIL (Newry)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the claims of individuals in respect of depredations by the Boers or of property commandeered by the late Transvaal Government during the war have been paid in whole or in part, while the claims of companies as such have been repudiated in toto; and whether, seeing that the shares in these companies are owned in the main by British subjects, he can take stops to have this difference set aside: and will he say whether any, and if so, what distinction is drawn between companies registered in England and those of the Transvaal.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain.) These payments are being made as an act of grace, and without admitting any liability. The object which the Government has had in view in making such payments is to assist individual loyalists who have suffered direct losses dining the war, in the same way as assistance is being given to Boers under the terms of surrender. Acting on this principle, claims from companies and large firms have not been entertained, and no distinction has been drawn between companies registered in England and those registered in the Transvaal.