§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the number of cat-o'-nine-tails provided for the flogging of refractory Chinese indentured labourers in the Transvaal mines; by whom and under what conditions are these floggings inflicted, and what is the maximum, if any, of the number of lashes which may be inflicted; what is the weight of these cat-o'-nine-tails, and are they made on the model of the cat-o'-nine-tails supplied to ships of His Majesty's Navy or on what other model.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) There are no cat-o'-nine-tails. The maximum of strokes inflicted with a cane, which is the instrument of whipping, would be twenty-four. The whipping would be given in the presence of the governor or deputy-governor of the prison, and the goaler, and the visiting medical officer, who certifies to the fitness of the prisoner to undergo the punishment. The sentence being by a magistrate cannot be carried out till the record has been sent to and confirmed by a Judge of the High Court.