HC Deb 04 December 1893 vol 19 cc373-4
MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Queen's Order in Council of May 9, 1891, conferred any jurisdiction over the subjects and territories of Lobengula beyond that contained in the mining concession that he had granted at the request of Her Majesty to Messrs Rudd and others, in contradiction to the assurances given in the previous year to him by Her Majesty that, if he granted the concession, He is the King of the country, and no one can exercise jurisdiction in it without his permission; and that The men employed by the Company (the South Africa Imperial Chartered Company) to manage the digging for gold will recognise him as King of the country, and will have such powers as he entrusts to them; and, if so, whether any intimation was conveyed to Lobengula that these assurances were no longer to be maintained?

THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. S. BUXTON, Tower Hamlets, Poplar)

The Order in Council of May 9, 1891, does not purport to confer jurisdiction, but, as authorised by the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890, provides the machinery for exercising jurisdiction which had already been, or might thereafter be, acquired by Her Majesty. Neither Her Majesty's late Government under this Order in Council, nor the Company under its Charter (which the Order in Council recognised and confirmed), had, up to the date of the outbreak of hostilities, as a matter of fact exercised any power of legislation or administration over the Matabele. Both the High Commissioner and the Company confined their exercise of authority to Mashonaland. There can be no doubt that Lobengula acquiesced in the exercise by the white authorities of jurisdiction over the whites in Mashonaland and over the natives immediately connected with them. If, as a result of the defeat of the Matabele and the breaking up of their military system, it proves inevitable to assume an active exercise of jurisdiction within Matabeleland proper, as heretofore in Mashonaland, the Order in Council and Charter provide the necessary machinery.

MR. LABOUCHERE

Can the hon. Gentleman tell me by what right jurisdiction is being exercised in Matabeleland at the present moment by either the Chartered Company or the High Commissioner?

MR. S. BUXTON

By the right of conquest.