§ MR. MACKARNESSI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Colonial Office is in possession of any information which can be given to the House as to the causes and extent of the strike of white labourers in the mines at Johannesburg; and whether any 625 coloured labourers have joined in the strike.
§ MR CHURCHILLI have no information other than that which appears in the newspapers. Lord Selborne will no doubt report to us in his regular duty upon the general course of affairs in the Transvaal; and transmit to the Secretary of State any Minutes which the responsible Ministers of that Colony may lay before him. I have every reason to believe that the Government of the Transvaal would be desirous of affording all possible information to the House of Commons upon the condition of affairs in the Colony; and the Secretary of State will not hesitate to apply to them whenever necessity arises. But I am sure my hon. friend will agree with me that special inquiries should be limited to extraordinary occasions, and I see no reason to suppose that anything had occurred which is of an extraordinary character, or with which the Transvaal Government is not fully competent to deal.