Sir Edward Grey in reply contended that a refusal to
aid the Transvaal to obtain Chinese labour except under proper conditions ought not to be described as thwarting the Colony. Recruiting in China could not go on Without diplomatic machinery, and it was the duty of the Government to say that this machinery would not be used in any part of the world for an improper purpose. He declined to believe that when the Transvaal had got responsible government, freely elected, on a proper suffrage, and with a full sense of responsibility, there would be a moral conflict between the Colony and the Mother-country. If the Transvaal ,decided to continue the importation of Chinese labour, he believed there would be no difficulty in arriving at an agreement between the self-governing Transvaal and the Mother-country that the importation should continue only under conditions which were neither offensive nor repugnant to public sentiment in this country or in the other great self. governing Colonies. Mr. Chamberlain followed in a speech in which be solemnly warned the Government of the dangers of interference with a self-governing Colony, and condemned their policy as injudicious and impossible.
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