DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11200, 21 October 1899, Page 5

DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT.

SPEECH BY MR. CHAMBERLAIN. BRITAIN'S POLICY JUSTIFIED. EXCITING SCENES. London, October 20. In the House of Commons, in the debate on the Address-in-Reply, Mr. Stanhope, in moving an amendment condemning the method in which the negotiations with the Boers had been carried out, accused Mr. Chambirlain and Mr. Cecil Rhodes of deliberately promoting war. Sir W. Harcourt disagreed with the mover, but denied the existence of British suzerainty, quoting Mr. Chamberlain's old speeches. The interference of Great Britain in the internal affairs of the Transvaal was, he said, unwarrantable. Mr. Chamberlain, in a heated reply, which gave rise to some excited scenes, made a brilliant justification of his policy. He had, he said, always struggled for, and hoped and believed, that peace would be maintained, but he had ultimately been driven to the conclusion that President Kruger was adverse to the British. He had, he admitted, failed to see early enough that war was inevitable, the Boer armaments thus being for one moment stronger than those of Great Britain. The divergence between the Government and the Opposition on the main issues was really slight. President Kruger had appealed to the God of Battles, and Great Britain had accepted the Transvaal's challenge, believing her quarrel just. Tempestuous cheers greeted Mr. Chamberlain's speech, and the amendment was negatived by 362 against 135. The speech occupied two hours and. three-quarters. Mr. Balfour traced the war to the Boer oligarchy's anxiety to retain corrupt gains. THE BRITISH WOUNDED. Capetown, October 20. President Kruger reports that Lieutenant Nesbitt and seven others, who were taken prisoners after an engagement on the Cape-Buluwayo railway near Kimberley, are seriously wounded. IRISH SYMPATHY WITH THE BOERS. London, October 20. Thirty Irish local bodies have passed resolutions sympathising with the Boers in their struggle to preserve their independence.