I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if his attention has been called to the suggestion of General Ian Hamilton that some of the Boer prisoners of war at St. Helena should be afforded an opportunity of engaging in agriculture in Canada, and, in the event of that Government or the Commonwealth of Australia or New Zealand being willing to receive some of these men, if His Majesty's Government will consider the question, having regard to the absence of any occupation for them in St. Helena; and whether, in such event, upon the conclusion of peace, the Government will consider the issue of a grant equivalent to the estimated value of the passage to South Africa, and the re-establishment upon their farms of any Boers willing to settle in such British colonies.
I do not think it possible to enlarge these prisoners pending terms of peace being arranged.