§ MAJOR SEELY (Isle of Wight)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in view of the pledge given by His Majesty's Government that in the matter of Asiatic labour the Transvaal shall be treated as though it were a self-governing colony, and in view of the fact that the census recently taken in that colony renders the taking of a vote on the matter possible and easy, he will direct that such vote be taken before permitting any importation of Asiatic labour, in order to decide the question whether there is a majority of the inhabitants of that colony in favour of such importation.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI have really nothing to add to the answer given, I think, on 16th February,† by my right hon. friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies. It is quite true that since that date a census has been taken; but the mere fact that a census has been taken will not provide the machinery by which a plebiscite could be obtained, and the Government, in these circumstances, see no reason to depart from the policy already announced.