§ MR. J. RAMSAY MACDONALD (Leicester)I beg to ask the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies whether Dinuzulu, while paying a courtesy visit to bid farewell to the Governor of Natal during the present month, was subjected to an inquisitorial investigation before his Excellency, or other officials, and severely cross-examined with reference to the public charges which, for a long time past, have been permitted to be made against him of complicity in rebellion and murder; whether His Majesty's Government acquiesced in this trial of a loyal chief without the legal formulation of any charge, and gave authority to the representative of His Majesty in Natal to be party to this trial; whether His Excellency or the Natal Government propose to publish any report of the trial; and whether His Majesty's Government, in the interests of racial peace in Natal, will now take steps to protect Dinuzulu from newspaper charges, provocative of public disturbance, that he is disloyal to the British Sovereignty.
§ MR. CHURCHILLDinuzulu has, I understand, had a series of interviews with the Governor of Natal, but I am not aware that anything in the nature of a trial has taken place. It is not in the power of His Majesty's Government to control Press comments, and Dinuzulu must take his chance with the rest.