§ MR. BYLES (Salford, N.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury if he is aware that the native chief Tilonko made application to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on Friday last for special leave to appeal to His Majesty in Council against the decision of a court-martial in Natal which had sentenced him to ten years penal servitude and a fine of 500 head of cattle; that the application was dismissed with the costs on the ground that there was no right of appeal; that Tilonko's objection to the jurisdiction of the court-martial was on the grounds that he was not a military man, that he had not been taken in the field, that he had never taken up arms against the Government, 740 and that the civil Courts were sitting at the time of his trial; and whether any power resides in the Imperial Government to abate the heavy sentence awarded by court-martial on this distinguished subject of His Majesty.
§ MR. CHURCHILLI have seen the account of the proceedings before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in The Times of the 3rd instant, when their Lordships decided that they could not entertain an appeal. His Majesty's Government are not in a position to interfere in the matter.