1895.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
CO.
Reference :-
SIB,
No. 217.
(CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.)
FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
Foreign Office, 7th February 1880.
I AM directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to request that you will inform Secretary Sir Michael Hicks Beach that his Lordship, in compliance with the sugges- tions made in your letter of the 20th of September last, consulted the Law Officers of the Crown upon the point raised by the German Ambassador respecting the liability of German subjects at the Cape to military service under the "Burgher Force and Levies Act," and having received this (their?) report proposes to address to his Excellency the note of which a draft is enclosed.
I
am to request that Sir Michael Hicks Beach will be good enough to state whether, in his opinion, his Lordship can safely give the assurance contained in the last para- graph that German subjects recalled for military service, to which they may be liable in Germany, would be entitled to claim their discharge and to leave the Colony.
The Under Secretary of State,
Colonial Office.
Draft.
M. l'Ambassadeur,
am, &c.,
(Signed)
JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE.
Enclosure in No. 217.
Foreign Office, 7th February 1880.
In a note which your Excellency did me the honour to address to me on the 23rd of May of last year you called my attention to the provisions of a law promulgated in the Cape Colony on the 2nd of August 1878 under the title of the "Burgher Force and Levies Act;" you pointed out that foreigners residing in the Colony would be compelled by the Act to serve in a militia force intended not only to maintain order in the Colony, but also, in case of necessity, to repel external enemies, and would be further liable to be employed beyond the boundaries of the Colony. You stated that the Imperial Government denied the right of the Colonial authorities to claim military service of this description from German subjects, who might be prevented thereby from perform- ing the military duties to which they were liable in their own country.
Your Excellency's communication has caused the subject to be fully considered, and the delay which has occurred in returning a reply to it has arisen from the necessity of obtaining complete information from the Colony. I am now able to give such assurances as will, I trust, allay any apprehension that German subjects might be required to perform any duty under the law in question which could not reasonably be exacted from them, or which could interfere with their obligations to their own country.
The situation of the Cape Colony is exceptional. It is exposed to sudden attacks from barbarous tribes on its borders, who in their mode of warfare spare neither life nor property, and the German subjects in the Colony would in the case of an attack from these tribes be as much interested as British subjects in their repulse and defeat. It was in order to provide for the security of the Colony against the neighbouring that the "Burgher Force and Levies Act" was passed. It provided for the enrol- savages ment of the inhabitants for its defence, and, though applicable to foreigners, it applies only to such foreigners as are domiciled. It is presumed that no objection would have been made to this requirement had it not been provided by the 17th section, to which your Excellency referred, that the force might, under certain circumstances, be employed beyond the borders. I am prepared to admit that this provision requires explanation, but I think your Excellency will be satisfied with the explanation which I am able to give. The service" beyond the borders of an enemy over the frontier, or an advance beyond it to prevent an invasion of the " is never intended to be more than the pursuit Colony by outlying native tribes. The service demanded is only such as would cheer- fully be given by domiciled foreigners in defence of their domiciles.
Your Excellency's observation that this service might interfere with the service owing by German subjects in Germany has received special consideration, and I am able to
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