MR. ALEXANDER MARTHUR (Leicester)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will inform the House as to the authority under which the Chiefs Dinuzulu, Ndabuko, and Tshingana, having last April been sentenced to imprisonment in Zululand, have now been transported to St. Helena; what arrangements have been made, during the detention of these Chiefs in St. Helena, for the maintenance of the family of Cetewayo, which is dependent on Dinuzulu, and for the wives and children of Ndabuko and Tshingana; and whether Her Majesty's Government has sanctioned or modified the sentences passed on the seven other Zulus who were tried by the Special Court at Etshowe?
§ BARON H. DE WORMSThe authority for the removal of these Chiefs is the "Colonial Prisoners Removal Act, 1884." Sir Charles Mitchell reports that the families will be no worse off on account of the absence of these Chiefs, as the latter, of course, never did any work. They have plenty of cattle and lands; and the Secretary of State is ordering that they are to be fully protected in the enjoyment of their property. The cases of the 10 other Zulus have been carefully considered; the sentence in all but one case will be modified; and I may add that the sentence of death in Umpikwa's case will not be carried out. I shall be happy to show the Despatch to the hon. Member at a later date; but it is obviously undesirable that its details should be made public in this country before it reaches the hands of the Governor, which will not be for another three weeks or so.