THE Earl of CAMPERDOWNSeeing the noble Earl the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies in his place, I beg to ask him a question of which I have given him private notice—namely, whether it is true, as has been stated in the newspapers, that certain letters and important documents implicating certain Members of Parliament and others have been discovered in Pretoria, and, if so, whether the documents will be laid upon the Table of the House.
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (The Earl of SELBORNE)My Lords, the facts are as follows. When the Boer Governments fled from Bloemfontein and Pretoria, they left behind them in the archives a mass of private correspondence. This correspondence has been under examination by the British authorities on the spot, and by the last two mails Her Majesty's Government have received instalments of it, but we are informed that there is more to come. The portion that we have seen is all previous to the outbreak of the war, and consists chiefly of letters passing between British subjects at the Cape and persons in the two Republics, but includes copies of two letters purporting to have been written by an English Member of Parliament. Her Majesty's Government have also in their possession copies of letters and an extract of a letter purporting to have been written by two other Members of Parliament. Two of them were dated just before the outbreak of war; the other is a request, couched in a form which is certainly open to criticism, for information respecting the administration of martial law. The most interesting feature of the South African correspondence is the general admission of substantial grievances and of the necessity for reform. There are, however, some suggestions that President Kruger might make temporary concessions and wait for a reaction in this country. I am, of course, quite incompetent to give a legal opinion, but as far as the personal opinion of the Secretary of State for the Colonies is concerned, none of the letters ascribed to British subjects in this country are treasonable, but they are not proper letters to be written by British 575 subjects when Her Majesty's Government were engaged in difficult and important negotiations. We propose to send them in the first instance to the alleged writers and to ask if they desire to offer any explanation. Her Majesty's Government will await their reply before deciding on the question of publication.