§ MR. HAROLD COXI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn 764 to the draft Local Government Bill of the Transvaal; whether the Bill restores town regulations which were in vogue under the Kruger régime, forbidding any coloured person, irrespective of race, to use the footpaths, and excluding natives and Asiatics from the tramcars; and, if so, will he say if he proposes to take any action in the matter.
§ COLONEL SEELYNo, Sir. The draft has not yet reached the Colonial Office.
§ SIR GILBERT PARKER (Gravesend)In view of the constitutional responsibility this country has in the Transvaal and in view of the fact that a draft of this Bill has been in the hands of private citizens here for the last fortnight, can the hon. Gentleman explain the failure of the Government to receive it?
§ COLONEL SEELYI am afraid I cannot, on the spur of the moment. I will communicate the observations of the hon. Gentleman to those concerned.