HC Deb 15 March 1906 vol 153 c1402
MR. J. WARD (Stoke-upon-Trent)

.: I beg to ask the Under - Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Kaffirs in Natal are British subjects, and, if so, what rights they possess as such; whether he has any official information showing that the lands and property of a whole tribe were recently confiscated, without any form of trial before a legally-constituted tribunal; that the tribe are now menaced with starvation; and that the natives are often subjected to this method of procedure, as a means for inducing them to sell their labour at a low rate of wages.

* MR. CHURCHILL

The Secretary of State will make careful inquiry into the matters referred to by the hon. Member, and I hope to be able at no distant date to lay Papers on the Table dealing with the recent native troubles in Natal. But meanwhile I must remind the hon. Member that the situation in Natal has not yet ceased to be one of emergency to the whole white population, and that the colony itself is in the enjoyment of complete responsible self-government.

MR. KEIR HARDIE (Merthyr Tydvil)

Will steps be taken to see that the land reserved to the Kaffirs under the dominion of the Imperial Parliament is kept for them?

* MR. CHURCHILL

asked for notice of the Question.

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