§ MR. BUTCHER (York)To ask the Postmaster General, as representing the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether his attention has been called to the fact that the Rev. Arthur J. Bulmer, Congregational Minister of Zeerust, Transvaal, and for some time Acting Chaplain to His Majesty's Forces, was arrested by the Boers at the commencement of the late war for remaining loyal to the British Government, and was kept in prison for three months, that his home was destroyed, and that his wife and family were compelled, after suffering privations, to come over to England for refuge; and whether the Government will take steps to enable these and other loyal refugees, who are destitute of means, to return to their homes and relatives in South Africa.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain, for the Secretary of State for the Colonies.) The ease of Mr. Bulmer has not been brought before the Colonial Office. It is impossible to lay down any general rule for the treatment of such eases, but any applications made to the Department are referred to Lord Milner for his recommendations.