§ SIR BRAMPTON GURDON (Norfolk, N.)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Swaziland is now regarded by His Majesty's Government as a Dependency of the Transvaal Colony, or as a Protectorate under the direct supervision of the Crown; and whether His Majesty's Government will make the situation clear to the Transvaal authorities and to the Swazi people.
(Answered by Mr. Churchill.) The position of Swaziland is that of a Protectorate, administered by the Governor of the Transvaal Colony, which is responsible for the finances, under the provisions of the Order in Council of June 25th, 1903. See page 57 of House of Commons Return, No. 130, of Session 1905. The Government and Legislature of the Transvaal have not, as such, any 201 authority in Swaziland. The Order in Council was published in the Transvaal and in Swaziland, and the Secretary of State has no doubt that the situation is clearly understood by the Transvaal authorities and by the Swazis, so far as the latter can understand the subtleties of British Constitutional Law.