§ MR. E. J. C. MORTONI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has received any particulars of the arrest in January last of Mr. H. J. Taylor, an Englishman resident at Umtali, and agent of a Company holding interests adverse to those of the Chartered Company; whether he is aware that Mr. Fort, the Magistrate who tried the case, was also the prosecutor, and in the service of the Chartered Company; is he aware that the offence alleged in the summons is stated to be that he encouraged the natives of Manica to believe that he is the Ron or big Chief, and thereby on the 6th January caused the Queen Chicanga to ignore the authority and message of the acting Resident Magistrate and refuse to send in native labour to him; whether this is an offence against the law anywhere; and who appointed Mr. Fort, and who can dismiss him?
§ MR. S. BUXTONAccording to the newspaper reports which I have seen of the affair referred to, the person arrested and charged was Mr. William Moncroft Taylor alias "Umtunga George," not Mr. H. J. Taylor. Mr. Fort, the Magistrate, was appointed and is removable by the High Commissioner. It does not appear from the Report whether he or the police acted as prosecutor. But in very primitive communities the duties are often combined. The charges as given in the newspaper report do not agree with the statement of them set out in the third paragraph of the question. The actual charges appear to have been (1) That he interfered with the administration of the Government. (2) That he incited the natives to resist the Government. (3) That he was a person dangerous to the peace of the district. Charge No. 2 is an offence in every country, and charges Nos. 1 and 3 are offences in many countries. As I have stated, in reply to the Member for West Cavan, the Secretary of State has called for a Report on the case.