§ MR. MOLTENO (Dumfriesshire)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what have been the respective proportions of the trade of the Transvaal, in tonnage, carried via the ports of the Cape, Natal, and Delagoa Bay, respestively, in each year since the modus vivendi came into force; what was the proportion carried via the same ports in the last complete year before the war; and whether he is aware that the trade of the ports of the Cape and Natal is languishing, while the port of Delagoa Bay is stated to be so congested that the warehouses are all full, and goods are being stored in the open.
(Answered by Mr. Churchill.) The hon. Member's Question is understood to refer to commercial sea-borne traffic imported through the coast ports to the Transvaal. Statistics, either before the war or later, enabling a full Answer to be given are not available, but it would appear that this traffic during the period December, 1903, to May, 1905, was divided in the proportion of about 44 per cent, to Delagoa Bay, 40 per cent, to Natal, and 16 per cent, to the Cape. I have no official information to the effect of the last part of the Question.