NIGERIA (FLOGGING.)

March 12.

Mr. MOLTENO asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether a provincial court ordinance had been introduced into Nigeria providing for flogging without placing any limitation upon the number of strokes which may be inflicted.

Mr. HARCOURT: No, Sir. The proposed provincial courts ordinance does not authorize corporal punishment for any offence for which it is not already a lawful punishment, nor does it increase the number of strokes. which may be awarded for such offence.

Mr. MOLTENO asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he would state what are the crimes for which flogging may be administered under the new provincial court ordinance of Nigeria.

Mr. HARCOURT: In the Southern Provinces, pending the enactment of a criminal code, the law regarding corporal punishment which will be administered by the provincial courts is the English law in force on January I, 1900, subject to the limitations imposed by chapter xxx. of the Southern Nigeria laws. In the Northern Provinces the Northern Nigeria criminal code, chapter x., of the laws, governs the matter.

SIERRA LEONE.

March 19.

Mr. MACCALLUM SCOTT asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it is proposed to close the nursing home in Sierra Leone Colony to native practitioners possessing European qualifications; and, if so, upon what grounds is this decision based?

The SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. Harcourt): The Government of Sierra Leone have proposed to make a new rule, under which private practitioners would not be allowed to treat patients in the nursing home at Freetown. This rule would apply to all private practitioners, and would not affect native practitioners employed by the Colonial Government. The proposal is at present under consideration.

THE NATIVE IN PARLIAMENT.

By Our Parliamentary Correspondent.

SINCE the opening of Parliament, the interest of members in native races has been focussed mainly upon two questions: (1) The New Hebrides; (2) Portuguese Slavery.

Mr. Bowskill's arrest has figured more largely in the Portuguese slavery question than the actual condition of the slaves, for several reasons. First, because it is fairly well known that when Sir Edward Grey speaks next in the

House upon native questions he will make a statement of exceptional importance upon the whole subject; hence, the comparative absence of questions. upon the Order Paper. But another reason for the prominence of the Bowskill case is that the real cause of this is due to an effort of the Portuguese to establish another form of slave traffic, highly organized and under official sanction, to supply the labour shortage of the plantations, both on the islands and the mainland. This latter situation had already been anticipated by Lord Cromer, and to it was due the publication of What is Slavery? a reprint of which, circulated by the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society in both Houses of Parliament, created a considerable impression, and, in point of fact, prepared the members somewhat for the arrest of Mr. Bowskill. It is just possible that Sir Edward Grey will make his announcement on Portuguese Slavery and the progress of Mr. Bowskill's case on the Easter adjournment.

It is of supreme importance not only to secure a fair trial for Mr. Bowskill, but an exhaustive inquiry into all the circumstances which led up to the San Salvador rebellion. The persistence of Mr. S. J. G. Hoare, the member for Chelsea, and the incisive questions he has put to Mr. Acland, almost daily, have thrown a flood of light already upon the whole situation. Mr. Swift MacNeill, by an amusing question, held up to public ridicule the Portuguese official who, having by his illegal action brought about a rebellion, bolted for safety and hid in Mr. Bowskill's bathroom!

THE NEW HEBRIDES.

"How does that transaction differ from slavery?" commented Sir William Byles upon an admission of Mr. Harcourt that 33 labourers had been transferred in the New Hebrides for £1,650, or £50 a head. In what respect this differs from an act of slave traffic every one else is asking, but nobody seems capable of giving a satisfactory reply.

Mr. Joynson-Hicks has been endeavouring to obtain from Mr. Harcourt the publication of reports which it is common knowledge are reposing in the official archives of both the Admiralty and Colonial Offices; sooner or later some of these at least will become public, and it is a terrible story they will tell. Mr. Harcourt on the 25th of July acknowledged to Mr. Joynson-Hicks that he realized " the gravity of the reports," but he still refused to publish them.

Mative Affairs in South Africa.

WE are glad to announce that at the end of last year a meeting was held at Cape Town, at which Senator Colonel Stanford took the chair, as a result of which it was decided to form a Society, to be called the Native Affairs Society, to watch the national native policy and to further legislation for

the betterment of native conditions. The meeting was convened by the Rev. Saul Solomon and Mr. Arnold Wynne, at the instance of Mr. R. C. Hawkin, a member of our own Committee, who was then on a visit to South Africa, who attended and made a valuable speech on the work of the Society, in which he asked his hearers to "share with us some of the responsibilities of our trusteeship for the coloured and black races under our influence." Among others who attended the meeting were Mr. Theo. Schreiner, M.L.A., Mr. M. Alexander, M.L.A., and Rev. Mr. Robson, some of whom were appointed as a Committee for the new organization. Mr. Hawkin dealt in his speech with the important question of the native title to the land in Rhodesia, and referred to the Protectorates, especially Basutoland.

Mr. Arnold Wynne said that the new Society was not only intended to co-operate with the London body on all matters concerning the native, but to assist the administrator in promoting the welfare of the natives, not for their own benefit alone, but in the interests of the whole country.

Our Society cordially welcomes the formation of this organization, which it feels is likely to be of great assistance in considering and handling questions connected with South African natives and in influencing public opinion in the sub-continent on questions affecting native welfare.

THE NATIVE LAND ACT.

In our last issue we referred to the discontent existing among the native population as to the Native Land Act. A petition has been sent by the Rev. J. L. Dube, President of the South African Native National Congress, to General Botha, Minister for Native Affairs, from which we make the following extracts, as it seems to give a clear statement of native objections:

You, Sir, are no doubt aware that money now is being raised to send a deputation to England to make an appeal to the King against the injustice of the Natives Land Act which became law on June 19 of this year, a step which you deprecate, as appears from your speeches. You are reported to have said that a political question of this kind would be better settled here; with which we entirely agree. But it has been pointed out to you, Sir, that we have already done all that we found possible to do with the Government here, before the Bill was passed; but scarcely any notice was taken of our representations.

Now, however, lest it be said that we have not exhausted every possible means to get redress of our grievances from the local authorities, before sending our deputation to England, we are making this appeal to you, Sir, and propose making a final one to Parliament if not successful.

Your petitioner avers that practically all the well-informed Natives of South Africa feel that never under the British flag have they suffered an act of greater injustice, and one which is more likely to embitter the hearts of the most loyal Native subjects against the Union Government.

We make no protest against the principle of separation so far as it can be fairly and practically carried out. But we do not see how it is possible for this law to effect any greater separation between the races than obtains now. It is evident that the aim of this law is to compel service by taking away the means of independence and self-improvement. This compulsory service at reduced wages and high rents will not be separation, but an intermingling of the most injurious character of both races.

Mative Races and the "Dignity of Labour."

AMONGST the stock arguments advanced by King Leopold and his confederates in their piratical enterprise in the Congo was the "lazy native," and premising the indolence of the native, they proceeded to justify their methods. of teaching" the dignity of labour." It was the old argument of the Southern planters; it has been a perennial amongst the Portuguese of West Africa, and is to-day a prevalent delusion throughout Central and South America. Indeed, wherever rapid exploitation of native races is being pursued, the "lazy devils" argument is used in justification of every proposal for the adoption of various forms of force, from the lash to the Cepo. We have the Royal authority of King Leopold for the following words: 'You will find the native essentially lazy and indifferent "; whilst the Presisent of the Appeal Court of Justice in the Congo said in public that the native was" entirely refractory to all kinds of work, only respects the law of force, and knows no other persuasion than terror." It matters little whether the labourer be a Creole, an Indian or an African; the prevailing theory amongst a large section of the community, but principally amongst an interested section of it, is that the "native" has more than his share of inherent idleness, which can only be eradicated by a liberal application of the whip or palmatoria, and in many cases the knife and the gun.

What are the facts? The real colonial objection to the Indian labourer, for example, is due to his thrifty and industrious habits; that he can make two sticks of cane grow for the one of the white man; that he will raise a small harvest of rice on a patch of land which the white despises as "waste.” The Creole in the West Indies and the African East and West are replying to the allegation by pushing with extraordinary success the growth of copra, cocoa, palm oil, and rubber.

In a recent article in the Economist the writer calls attention to the development of tropical agriculture in the British Crown Colonies within. a period of seven years. He says:

"Mr. Harcourt, during the discussion upon the Colonial Office vote, gave some striking figures demonstrating the economic success attending

British enterprise in the Crown Colonies and Protectorates. Most of these colonies a century ago were groaning under the yoke of slavery; others less than 50 years ago were in the throes of barbarism. But slavery and indigenous barbarism have given way to abounding prosperity, for these sunny lands are now covered with cotton fields and cocoa-nut groves, cocoa farms and rubber plantations. The increase of vegetable exports from the British Crown Colonies and Protectorates during the last seven years is told in the following figures :—

Mr. Harris, writing in the Contemporary Review of November last, dealt with the rapid production of rubber in the Orient. Until the year 1875 there were no rubber plantations in the Federated Malay States, the Straits Settlements, or Ceylon. It was due to that intrepid explorer, Mr. Wickham, that seeds were obtained and planted at Kew Gardens under the direction of Sir Joseph Hooker, with the result that 7,000 plants were raised and despatched to Ceylon and Singapore. In 1898 the first consignment reached Europe, represented by a single ton weight; in 1912 this had grown to twenty-eight thousand tons and British capital invested in rubber plantations had reached the figure of £60,000,000.

Mr. Harris continued :

The world's demand to-day is approximately 100,000 tons, and the dominating fact is that the East Indies are about to satisfy that demand single-handed, for according to the Special Supplement of the Times of April 22 last, the estimated harvests of the Orient are :