§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War under what authority, statutory or otherwise, have Boers taken prisoner in the late war, who have been deported to India, Ceylon, or Bermuda, been detained in imprisonment, and in many instances treated as common criminals, for nearly a twelvemonth after the conclusion of the peace.
The hon. Member had the following Questions down on the same subject:
To ask the. Secretary of State for War how many Boer prisoners of war are at present detained in Bermuda, and under what circumstances are they now detained, and when will they be sent back to South Africa.
To ask the Secretary of State for War at what stations in India are Boers, who have been taken prisoners in the late war, imprisoned at the pre cent time, and what are the numbers of the Boers detained at each station; by whose authority, and on whose responsibility, was a communication made to Boers thus imprisoned that default in taking the oath of allegiance would prolong their stay in the hotter districts, whereas the taking by them of that oath would secure their removal to cool hill stations; and what course does the War Office intend to take with reference to these prisoners.
§ THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL (Mr. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN, Worcestershire, E. for MR. J. CHAMBERLAIN)Perhaps the hon. Member will allow me to answer these Questions.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLNo, Sir, I will not.
§ *MR. SPEAKERThen do I understand it is not the intention of the hon. Member to put these questions?
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLYes, Sir, I put them to the Secretary for War. This is a matter for personal explanation. The Postmaster General is no doubt willing to answer, but I decline to allow him because I have received, and I have in my possession, a letter from the right hon. Gentleman the Secretary for War promising me that he would answer these three, questions to-day.
§ MR. BRODRICKMy reply is that the whole matter was handed over to the Colonial Office in June last, and, therefore, the hon. Member must address his Questions to my right hon. friend.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLWhy did you send me a letter saying that you would answer these questions to-day?
§ MR. BRODRICKI said I was willing to give an answer to a question you asked me, that question being whether I would reply to these questions.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLAnd now you decline to reply to them.
§ *MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! The right hon. Gentleman has stated that these are matters for the Colonial Office, and, therefore, the hon. Member must address them to that Department.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLNow I want to ask the Secretary for War a question, of which I have given him private notice. It is: Whether the control and treatment of the Boers who were taken prisoners in the late war, and who have been deported to India, Ceylon, and the Bermudas, and detained there notwithstanding the conclusion of the war and the proclamation of peace, 575 are within the purview of the War Office, and within his sphere as Minister for War.
§ *MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! The hon. Member is merely carrying on a debate as to whether these questions should be dealt with by the War Office or the Colonial Office. He has been told that the Colonial Office deals with them, and I think he is now carrying the privilege of putting supplementary questions too far. If he wishes to make any more inquiries he must put his question down.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI can only say that I put my question to the right hon. Gentleman in accordance with a request which he made to me. The hon. Member proposed to address the questions to the right hon. Gentleman the Postmaster-General, but he had left the House.