§ MR. DAVITT () Mayo, S.I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any report has been supplied from any source to the Colonial Office of the number of natives who have been killed and the number of villages or towns burned by the various expeditions which have been engaged under British officers in Sierra Leone, the hinterland of that Colony, and in other parts of West Africa since July last; whether he can supply any such reports to the House, or say where the information sought for can be obtained; how many executions have been carried out for crimes committed by natives in the hinterland of Sierra Leone during the same period of time; what was the number of such crimes; and in what manner were the criminals tried?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. J. CHAMBERLAIN,) Birmingham, W.I do not know why the honourable Gentleman fixed on a particular date in July. Since that date very little has taken place, so I thought it would be better if I made my reply more general. I have not been furnished with reports of the numbers of natives killed and of villages destroyed in the recent military operations in the hinterland and colony of Sierra Leone. There were several hundred murders by natives of Europeans and natives, apart from casualties in fighting, and 83 executions on convictions for murder have been reported. The prisoners were tried by a Deputy Judge of the Supreme Court, with Assessors selected from the Special Jury list. I may add that the most serious part of the disturbances and operations occurred before July.