§ Mr. CHARLES BUXTONasked the Under-Secretary for the Colonies whether any limit had been placed to the fines which may be proposed under the proposed Sedition Ordinance for Southern Nigeria; whether he was aware that the Ordinance was stated by the Attorney-General of the Colony to have been drafted at home; whether this statement was made in order to meet the objection made locally that the Ordinance, while possibly suited to India, was unsuitable to the African hinterland; and whether, during the fifty years which had elapsed since the Lagos district was ceded to the Crown, any seditious act or acts had been proved against any members of the Yoruba tribes?
§ Colonel SEELYThe fines which may be imposed under the Seditious Offences Ordinance are not specified in the ordinance, but, as in this country in such cases, are left to be determined in each case, subject to the proviso that they shall not be excessive. The statement of the Attorney-General that the Ordinance was drafted in England is correct, but I should add that it was not passed until the draft had been considered by the Governor of Southern Nigeria and his legal advisers, and until certain amendments suggested by them had been approved by the Secretary of State. It would not be strictly correct to say that there has been no hostility between the Government of Lagos and any of the Yoruba tribes since 1861, the date of the cession; but I have 930 no hesitation in saying that the loyalty of the people generally is beyond dispute, and gives no cause whatever for dissatisfaction. The Ordinance referred to is a codification, for local purposes, of the common law of England, which was already in force in the Colony, but which was not readily ascertainable on the spot by the local inhabitants. The penalty of transportation for life, which is provided by the Indian penal code, has not been included in the Southern Nigerian law. I may sum up the matter by saying that this legislation is simply the translation of the existing law of the Colony, that is the Common law into Statute.
§ Mr. CHARLES BUXTONWill an opportunity be given for further consideration in this House before the Ordinance is finally approved by the Colonial Office?
§ Colonel SEELYThe question can be raised on the Colonial Vote. But I think there is a misapprehension in the matter. There is nothing new in this Ordinance; it is simply a codification of the existing law, and, as far as that goes, it is to the advantage of the people of the Colony, showing them what the law is.