§ MR. WALTER M'LAREN (Cheshire, Crewe)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has had notice of the fact that an appeal is now pending before the Privy Council upon the question of the validity of the warrant by virtue of which the Zululand officials claim the right to try Cetshwayo's son, Dinuzulu, by the Special Commission now sitting in Zululand; whether the Lord Chancellor, upon the occasion of the Privy Council granting leave for the said appeal, used these words with reference to such notice, viz.: "Anybody who with notice proceeds to try him (Dinizulu) now would be guilty of a very grave dereliction of duty;" and whether he has reason to fear that this warning will be disregarded?
§ BARON H. DE WORMSNo appeal is actually pending; but leave to appeal has been granted. The jurisdiction of the Special Commission to try Dinizulu does not depend upon the validity of the warrant for his removal from Natal. I am informed that the Lord Chancellor did use the words in question; but he was under the impression that if the trial proceeded and sentence of death were passed, Dinizulu might be executed before the appeal could be heard. This, however, is not the case, as distinct instructions have been long ago sent to the Governor that no sentence passed on any of the accused chiefs is to be carried out until the proceedings have been reviewed by the Secretary of State. I may also add that the Governor reported to the Secretary of State that further postponement of the trial was most undesirable and possibly dangerous; and that delay had already caused apprehension, and created a bad impression on the well-disposed. In these circumstances the Secretary of State considered it proper that the trial should proceed.