§ LORD BRABOURNE,in rising to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether the report is correct that the Transvaal Boers have been employing dynamite against the native tribes; and whether Her Majesty's Government have taken any steps to prevent the persecution of those tribes which remained faithful to Her Majesty during the British, administration? said his Question required a little explanation. Their Lordships would remember that upon the accession of Her Majesty's present Government to power the rising of the Transvaal Boers against Her Majesty's authority was at its commencement, and there was a very noisy clamour from a Party in this country in favour of restoring the Transvaal to the Boers. On 567 that occasion he thought it his duty to lay before their Lordships an account of the past doings of the Boers and their uniformly bad treatment of the Native Tribes. The noble Earl (the Earl of Kimberley), who then held the Seals of the Colonial Office, replied that he hoped that this charge against the Boers was of particular rather than universal application, and things would improve. The Boers at the time to which he referred were generally considered to be rebels; but having waylaid and shot down a detachment of one of Her Majesty's regiments, without any declaration of war, and obtained two or three successes over small bodies of our troops, they received the brevet rank of patriots at the hands of Her Majesty's Government. He would not dwell upon those incidents and events, constituting, as they did, in his opinion, one of the darkest, the most painful, and humiliating chapters in our Colonial history. But there was one bright spot in that darkness and in the transactions which followed, and that was to be found in the solicitude expressed by Her Majesty's Government that the Native Tribes should not suffer from the transfer of Her Majesty's Government to the authority of the Boers. Their Lordships would be prepared to admit that, if the Boers were entitled to the name of patriots, the Native Tribes who were there before them had at least an equally legitimate claim to the title. He had noticed in some of the papers statements that the Boers had employed the resources of civilization against the Native Tribes, and on further investigation he found that the employment of the resources of civilization in this instance signified the employment of dynamite for the purposes of blowing up those who were opposed to them. He wished to know whether Her Majesty's Government could give any authentic information upon the subject, and whether they had thought it right to remonstrate with the Boers for thus blowing up the Natives, many of whom had distinguished themselves by their loyalty to this country? He would like to know whether those people would be protected by this country? He was quite aware that by giving up the Transvaal this country got rid of certain responsibilities; but when a great country attempted to get rid of responsibilities, such, trifles 568 as character and reputation were sometimes got rid of at the same time. This country had always preserved a character and reputation for humanity and justice in her dealings with Native Tribes, and we were bound to prevent those from being sacrificed, whose chief offence had been loyalty to our authority and confidence in our goodwill and ability to protect them. He hoped that the noble Earl who now held the Seals of the Colonial Office would give their Lordships some assurance that dynamite had not been used, and that it was untrue that the Natives had been persecuted and destroyed because of their loyalty to this country.
§ THE EARL OF DERBYIn answer to the Question that has been put to me by my noble Friend, I have to say that I have looked carefully through the despatches relating to Transvaal affairs, and I cannot find any mention in them of the statement to which my noble Friend refers—namely, that dynamite has been used in military operations against the Natives. I confess I do not attach quite the importance which my noble Friend does to the circumstance. It may or may not be right that military operations should be carried on; but if they are carried on, I do not see that there is necessarily more inhumanity in the employment of dynamite than in the employment of gunpowder. The only case in which I have seen it publicly stated that dynamite has been used was in certain operations against a Chief of the name of Mapoch, who owns, or at least claims to own, a territory of more than 3,000 square miles situated in the interior of the Transvaal country, and claims the position of an independent Ruler. This Chief can hardly be said to have been one of those who remained faithful to the British Government, as the only record of him which I can find is this—that during the whole time that the Transvaal was administered by British authorities he steadily and persistently refused payment of taxes, and he never did pay any, but maintained a position of independence. In October last Mr. Hudson, our Agent at Pretoria, wrote that the Transvaal Government were anxious, if possible, to avoid a war upon this Chief; but it appears that it has not been possible to avoid it, and some military operations are going on. In answer to the more 569 general Question of my noble Friend, I have not seen any evidence of that to which he refers—namely, that a systematic persecution has been directed against the Native Tribes who remained faithful to the British Government. Unfortunately, there has been a great deal of filibustering outside the borders of the Transvaal State. That has been carried on by irresponsible adventurers, partly Boers, and partly, I am afraid, Englishmen; and Her Majesty's Government are now in communication with the local authorities at the Cape, with a view to take such measures as may be possible to check proceedings in the country. I am bound to say that I do not feel very sanguine because of the difficulties in the way. We have to deal with a savage country, where there are no roads, and which lies far beyond the borders of the British Empire. Under these circumstances, unless we establish a Protectorate over the country, which I do not think anybody would desire, I do not think it will be easy to prevent disorder; but we shall do what we can; and, as I have said, we are in communication with the Cape Government on the subject. I do not believe that the motives of these filibusters have been of a political character; it rather seems to me that the disturbances have arisen from a desire to acquire land without paying for it. It is impossible to deny that the Government of the Transvaal have not done all that they might have been called on to do, in order effectually to repress these disorders. But it is difficult to give a general account of the state of matters in a brief answer to a Question; and perhaps the best answer I can give my noble Friend is, that the whole of the Papers on this subject are in the hands of the printers, and will be delivered in the course of the next few days; and when he has read them, he and your Lordships will be in a position to know as much as I know what is taking place in that country.