In the House of Lords on Friday, July 28th, the
South African debate was opened by Lord Camperdown. Lo'rd Selborne, as Under-Secretary for the Colonies, made a firm but temperate speech, his strongest point being that, though President Kruger had previous to the granting of the Con- vention given the most explicit assurances that be would make no differences between Boers and Outlanders, he had ever since then been restricting not only the political rights, but even the individual liberty, of the Outlanders. Lord Selborne also acknowledged with evident sincerity the good work done by Mr. Schreiner and Mr. Hofmeyr. After Lord Kimberley had made a speech whidh ended in favour of firm and friendly pressure, "such pressure as will make it plainly and clearly understood by all concerned that this country is in earnest," Lord Salisbury summed up the situa- tion with great lucidity. " We have," he said, " to save, to rescue British subjects from treatment which we should not think it right to endure in any country, even if there were no Conventional engagements between us, but which it is doubly wrong that we should endure when the very terms of the Protocols and Conventions of 1881 and 1884 obviously pro- tect them from any such disgraceful treatment." It was necessary, he went on, to consider not only the feelings of the Transvaal, but, what was much more important, the feelings of oar fellow-subjects at the Cape. As the general conclusion of his speech Lord Salisbury declared: " We have pat our hands to the plough, and we do not intend to withdrew."
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