§ MR. J. L. MORGAN (Carmarthenshire, W)I beg to ask the Secretary of Stale for the Colonies (1) whether, under the new constitution of Rhodesia, there will be any means by which holders of land or minerals by grant from native owners prior to grants to the Chartered Company will be able to establish or 539 enforce their rights in a Court of Law; (2) whether under the High Commissioner's Proclamation, having the force of law in Rhodesia, no such grant is receivable in evidence unless it has been previously approved by the Secretary of State; (3) whether any, and, if so, what concessions in Rhodesia to others than the Chartered Company have been approved by the Secretary of State; (4) whether there is any form of judicial inquiry by which the Secretary of State can be guided as to the questions of fact and Native Law which must be determined in order to ascertain whether any concession was validly granted; (5) whether he is aware that the African-Portuguese Syndicate, composed of Mr. Reuben Bemingfield and other colonists of position in Natal and Cape Colony, have for many years past been endeavouring to secure a legal determination of their alleged rights under grant from the Chief Umtassa, but have been unable to do so, although successive Secretaries of State have declared the matter to be one for judicial determination; and whether a proclamation will be issued by the High Commissioner enabling such a determination to be given?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. J. CHAMBERLAIN,) Birmingham, W.(1) No fresh provisions on this point are contemplated in the new Order in Council. (2) No such grant can be recognised by any Court of Law unless approved by the Secretary of State. (3) I am not aware of any. (4) There is no established machinery for this purpose. (5) The claims of the African-Portuguese Syndicate have been before the Secretary of State for some years past. I cannot find that my predecessors have declared the matter to be one subject to judicial determination. I myself, on the production by the Syndicate of some further evidence, made a suggestion with a view to bringing the matter before a Court of Law; but this suggestion has not been acted upon; and I am not prepared to state what further steps, if any, I shall take in the matter. The whole question has formed the subject of voluminous correspondence, and it is impossible to give full explanations in answer to a question in Parliament.