BRITISH POLITICS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9104, 25 March 1908, Page 5

BRITISH POLITICS.

THE CHINESE IN THE TRANSVAAL. SCENE IN THE HOUSE. Press Association —Copyright. London, March 24. In the House of Commons, on the debate on the second reading of the Consolidated Revenue Bill the Right Hon. A. Lyttelton caused a great commotion in the Ministerial benches. He strenuously protested against the Government sanctioning in December the re-enactment, dating from last August, for two and ahalf years, of every line of the late Government’s ordinance and regulation regarding indentured Chinese labour which, for four years and from ten thousand platforms, the Liberals had held up to execration and scorn. He declared that the enactment was deliberately sanctioned behind the back of Parliament and was a breach of pledges made to Parliament.

Mr Asquith: Do you say we, in assenting to the 'ordnance, intended to break our pledge? Cries of “You did break it I” Mr Lyttelton, continuing: The Government’s intentions must he explained by the Government themselves. Neither in Blue Book nor King’s Speech has assent been mentioned.

Mr Winston Churchill (Under-Sec-retary for the Colonies), admitted that there had been some element of exaggeration during the period of election, but the prediction of vicious results from the system had been justified. Happily, the Transvaal’s noble efforts had reduced the coolies from 63,000 to 28,000, and he predicted that by the end of 1908 not upwards of 10,000 would remain in the Transvaal. Any ordinance or regulations which had been sanctioned formed a necessary part of liquidation.

Mr A. Bouar Law (Conservative) quoted Mr’Asquith’ri speech of February, 100 G, as proof of the change in the Liberal attitude.

Received March 25, 8.2 a.in. Loudon, March 2-1. Mr Asquith, replying to Mr A. Lyttleton, reprobated language calculated to add difficulties to self Government in the Transvaal. His pledge.had been fulfilled in the letter and In tho spirit. In a speech made in 1900, he undertook to defeat any attempt to establish the permanence of Chinese labour.

Mr Balfour, in a trenchant reply, while emphasising the violation of pledges accepted the declaration that the speech meant something it did not contain, and asked Mr Asquith to produce the correspondence with the Transvaal relating to tho assent to tho re-enactment of the Chinese Immigration Bill.

The Consolidated Revenue Bill was read a second time.

The Standard states that Mr Lyttelton accidentally discovered that assent had been given to the reenactment, while examining the Transvaal’s official records.