§ 38. Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into the origin and circumstances of the incursion into the South African Republic of an armed force was likewise appointed to inquire into the administration of the British South Africa Company and to report thereon, and further to report what. alterations are desirable in the government of the territories under the control of the company; whether he is aware that the Select Committee in their Report, dated 13th July, 1897, stated that the part of the inquiry relating to the administration of the British South Africa Company would require a lengthened investigation with which it would be impossible to deal at that period of the Session; whether any inquiry was held into the administration of the British South Africa Company by any Select Committee of the House, and, if so, when; and was any Report of such Committee presented to the House, and, if so, when; and whether it is proposed, having regard to the provision in the charter reserving to the Crown the right and power under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom at the end of twenty-five years, the date of the charter, 2639 29th October, 1889, to add to or repeal any of the provisions of the charter or to insert other provisions in substitution for or in addition to its other provisions so far as relates to public and administrative purposes and the charges preferred from time to time against the methods of administration of this company, that inquiry into its administration will be instituted with such expedition as to enable a Report to be furnished to Parliament before the 29th October, 1914, the time of the completion of twenty-five years from the date of the granting of the charter?
Mr. HARCOURTThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. No further Select Committee was appointed and the question of alterations in the administration was dealt with by the Government, whose proposals were laid before Parliament in February, 1898, and received legislative shape in the Southern Rhodesia Order in Council of 20th October, 1898. With regard to the concluding part of the question, steps are being taken largely to increase the number of elected members, and with what is substantially a general election impending in Southern Rhodesia, His Majesty's Government do not at present contemplate any action such as is suggested.
§ Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLDo I understand from the right hon. Gentleman that the second part of the reference to the Raid Committee was never carried into effect, and that from that day to this there has been no Parliamentary inquiry into the administration of this company?
§ Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLI am very sorry to hear it.
§ 39. Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, having regard to the fact that Sir Leander Starr Jameson has been appointed president of the British South Africa Company in succession to the late Duke of Abercorn, and that, in February, 1892, when Sir Leander Starr Jameson caused their kraals to be burnt and several natives to be shot on the suspicion of their being implicated in the death of an adventurer, named Guerolt, in the Maroe district. the late Lord Loch, as High Commissioner, had to remind him of the importance of observing strictly all legal require 2640 ments in the treatment of prisoners, and that no sentence of death can be carried out without the consent of the High Commissioner, the Colonial Office will exercise a still stricter supervision of the relations between the British South Africa Company and the natives of the territories over which that company has control, with a view to their protection from oppression, the security of their property, and the maintenance of their civil rights?
Mr. HARCOURTThe reference in the first. part of the question is, I understand, to Sir H. Loch's letter, which is printed at page 12 of the Parliamentary Paper 'C. 7171. I would, however, observe that in judging Dr. Jameson's action in the matter it is only fair to consider Sir H. Loch's later letter printed at page 21, in which he disclaimed a desire to interfere with Dr. Jameson's discretion. I do not, however, in any case see the relevance of this correspondence to questions relating to the present position of the natives in Southern Rhodesia, which is regulated by the Order in Council of 1898, and is the subject of constant attention by the Resident Commissioner and High Commissioner for South Africa.