30. Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has made any inquiry into the frequency of death sentences in Fiji; if so, with what result; and whether in any case during the past five years any death sentence has been commuted by higher authority?
Mr. HARCOURTI have made inquiry into the frequency of death sentences in Fiji, but no solution of the problem has at present been devised. There have been four commutations of death sentences in Fiji in the last five years.
31. Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that in Crown Colonies largely populated by Indian labourers there is nearly always an inadequate proportion of women, and that therefore crimes of violence due to marital jealousy are common; and whether he will consider what steps can be taken to remedy this evil, of which evidence is to be found in the frequency of death sentences and executions in such Colonies?
Mr. HARCOURTI am aware that crimes of violence have unfortunately occurred in the Colonies which contain a considerable Indian population, owing to causes of the nature suggested by the hon. Member. The question whether the proportions of women emigrants recruited for such Colonies should be increased will receive attention when the report of Mr. MacNeill and Mr. Chimmanlal is under consideration.
Mr. HARCOURTI believe the report, will be presented by the India Office very shortly. I cannot say the exact date.
32. Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the number of death sentences and executions in Southern Nigeria is, in comparison with the population, more than four times as great as in Northern Nigeria; whether this 1514 difference is due to the fact, if it be a fact, that accused persons in Southern Nigeria are not allowed the benefit of counsel in their defence; and, if not, whether he can state to what other cause the difference is due?
Mr. HARCOURTIt was the case in 1912, but the difference cannot be due to the reason which my hon. Friend suggests, as counsel were generally employed in the defence in criminal cases in Southern Nigeria, but not in Northern Nigeria. The number of capital cases in Northern Nigeria was less than usual in 1912. In Southern Nigeria most of such cases occur in the Eastern and Central Provinces, where many of the tribes are of a primitive type and have little regard for human life, but I am glad to observe from figures lately received, that the number of executions carried out in Southern Nigeria in 1913 is the lowest in the last five years.
Mr. F. HALL (Dulwich)Can the right hon. Gentleman say why the natives in Northern Nigeria are not allowed to retain counsel in defence of their action?
33. Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the number of death sentences and executions in Ceylon; and whether, having regard to the comparative prosperity and advanced condition of the people of this island, he can explain why the number of executions there in proportion to the population is nearly eight times as great as on the adjoining mainland of Madras?
Mr. HARCOURTThe number of executions in Ceylon during 1913 was twenty-one, which is a smaller number than there has been for some years. I cannot admit that the proportion of executions to population need necessarily be the same as that which prevails in another country inhabited by a different people with different, proclivities to crime, and it is unfortunately the case that crimes of homicide have been of exceptionally frequent occurrence in Ceylon. Arrangements have recently been made which permit imprisonment for life and removal to the Andaman Islands to be substituted for the death penalty in all but the most serious cases of murder.