The question of the Transvaal War Contribution Loan was raised
during the discussion on the Vote on Account in the Commons on Monday by Mr. McCrae, who asked the Govern- ment to inform the House and the country why the first install ment had not been issued. Sir Robert Reid contended that the bargain was illusory and could not be carried out, as the loan would raise the burden on the white population to £160 per head. In his reply Mr. Lyttelton admitted that it would be competent for the Government to force through legislation and raise ten millions of money. But they deliberately refrained from taking such a course with the present nominative Assembly because, though anxious to obtain a contribution to the heavy cost of the war, they were still more anxious to avoid any suggestion of compulsion, and to secure that the contribution should be paid in the willing spirit in which it had been promised. Sir Michael Hicks Beach begged the. Government to consider whether, when granting representative government, they ought not to exact security for this debt of honour by retaining in their own hands the revenue from the Premier Diamond Mine and from other mining rights. Mr. Lyttelton, replying to a question from Sir A. Rolla, stated that the guarantee given by the Transvaal was not set down in writing beyond the statement in the Blue-book, and that the obligation of the mine-owners was not legal, but voluntary.
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