§ SIR GILBERT PARKER (Gravesend)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state the terms of the agreement between the Portuguese East African Territory and the South African Colonies as to Customs duties; and also state if there is any 1397 difference in duties levied oh goods coming into the Transvaal by way of Delagoa Bay and by way of Cape Colony and Natal, and, if so, what is the nature of the difference.
§ *MR. LYTTELTONThe hon. Member no doubt refers to the Agreement for a modus vivendi made between the High Commissioner for South Africa and the Governor-General for Mozambique on 28th December, 1901, by Article XI. of which it is provided that goods entering the Transvaal in transit from Lorenço Marques shall have equal treatment with and pay no higher duties than the same class of goods sent in transit from Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth, and Capetown. It preserves the provisions of the Treaty of 11th December, 1875, between Portugal and the South African Republic, and allows the importation free of duty into the Transvaal of any goods excepting spirits, the growth, produce, or manufacture of the Portuguese Province of Mozambique.