§ Sir GILBERT WILLSasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will order a further inquiry into the case of Mr. Leyer, who was recently dismissed from his position as Native Commissioner and assistant magistrate at Chilanga, Northern Rhodesia, in view of the fact that the Committee of Inquiry acted both as prosecutors and judges, and that he was not informed that the inquiry was really his trial, at which he was not legally represented, and having regard to his record of long service in Rhodesia?
Mr. HARCOURTNo, Sir. Mr. Leyer was not dismissed on the report of the Committee of Inquiry (which sat in the 1513W summer of 1913), but on his failure to reply in a satisfactory manner to a statement of charges drawn up by the High Commissioner's legal adviser, and formulated in a letter from the Imperial Secretary of 28th October. The High Commissioner then suspended Mr. Leyer in terms of Section 34 of the Northern Rhodesia Order in Council, 1911. After very careful consideration of the case, I decided that Mr. Leyer was not a fit person to exercise judicial authority, and I therefore confirmed his suspension from office.