§ 39. Mr. Edmund Harveyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the result of the inquiries which have been 1910 made as to the 10 years' old African boy who was sentenced earlier in the year to training in a reformatory and sent from Northern Rhodesia to the Transvaal, where he was seen in handcuffs; and what steps are being taken to prevent the recurrence of similar treatment of juvenile offenders?
§ The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Colonel Oliver Stanley)I have received from the Governor of Northern Rhodesia a full report on this incident. The boy in question, who was charged with serious indecent assault on a girl of 3½, had been sentenced to six strokes with a cane and ordered to be detained in a juvenile reformatory for four years. As there is at present no reformatory in Northern Rhodesia, it has been the practice for juvenile delinquents—whether European or African—to be sent to the Union. The Governor states that he proposes to put an end to the practice of sending juveniles so far from home, and he is considering immediately the required amendment of the law. The majority of juvenile delinquents in Northern Rhodesia are now sent to a Salvation Army institute, and it is hoped to extend the probation system, particularly in the case of juvenile offenders. The Governor has given orders that handcuffs shall not be used in the future in cases of this kind.