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INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING 
 
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED 
 
 LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA 
 MELBOURNE ' 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 NKW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 
 ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO OF CANADA, LTD. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
INDEXING 
 
 AND 
 
 PRECIS WRITING 
 
 BY 
 
 G. B. BEAK, M.A.OxoN., F.R.G.S. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 A COMPENDIOUS GERMAN READER," "THE AFTERMATH OF WAR," ETC. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED 
 
 ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 
 
 1908 
 
GEHERAl 
 t 
 
 GLASGOW t PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD. 
 
NOTE 
 
 I AM not aware that the present volume differs materially from 
 other text-books on the same subject, although it will possibly 
 be found to cover a somewhat wider field than usual, and a 
 Key is available for purposes of reference. I propose to make, 
 however, no apology for another addition to precis literature, 
 because I believe that the study of precis writing deserves more 
 attention than it now gets. 
 
 I desire to express niy deep sense of obligation to the 
 Controller of His Majesty's Stationery Office for permission 
 to reproduce official documents, to the Editor of the Times 
 for the Police Court Keports and other material taken from 
 its columns, and to those authors or their representatives 
 who have very kindly consented to the quotation of passages 
 from their works. 
 
 G. B. BEAK. 
 
 OXFORD, 1908. 
 
 
 189722 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. 1. INTRODUCTORY l 
 
 2. INDEXING 
 
 A. INDEX DEFINED ....... 5 
 
 B. OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS 5 
 
 C. RULES FOR INDEXING 6 
 
 D. FORM AND UNIFORMITY 7 
 
 E. ENCLOSURES 12 
 
 F. BREVITY 12 
 
 3. RULES FOR PRECIS WRITING 
 
 A. PRECIS DEFINED 13 
 
 B. OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS 14 
 
 C. SUBJECT-MATTER AND METHOD .... 14 
 
 D. FORM . . 15 
 
 E. BREVITY 16 
 
 F. STYLE 17 
 
 II. EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS 
 
 1. OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE 19 
 
 2. LAW EVIDENCE ....... 27 
 
 3. PUBLIC SPEECH 38 
 
 4. GENERAL LITERATURE . ... 47 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PACK 
 
 III. OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 1. COLONIAL CONFERENCE 50 
 
 2. SUEZ CANAL DUES ...... 54 
 
 3. TENURE OF LAND IN FIJI . . . . . 61 
 
 4. LABOUR IN THE TRANSVAAL MINES ... 67 
 
 5. REMOVAL OF NATIVE PRISONERS FROM NATAL . 79 
 
 6. FLOGGING OF NATIVES AT NAIROBI ... 97 
 
 7. NAVY ESTIMATES 143 
 
 8. CONGO COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY .... 154 
 
 9. THE Loss OF THE DUBLIN CROWN JEWELS . 180 
 
 IV. LAW EVIDENCE 
 
 1. THE CONCLUSION OF THE DRUCE CASE . . 194 
 
 2. THE CASE OF VON VELTHEIM .... 204 
 
 3. THE DRUCE PERJURY CASE 215 
 
 4. A CHARGE OF FALSE PRETENCES . . . 228 
 
 V. PUBLIC SPEECHES 
 
 1. LORD CURZON ON THE TRUE IMPERIALISM . . 233 
 
 2. LORD CROMER ON FREE TRADE . . . . 243 
 
 3. MR. CHURCHILL ON AFRICAN AFFAIRS . . 252 
 
 4. THE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT, 1908 . . . 260 
 
 5. THE CONGO DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS . 266 
 
 VI. GENERAL LITERATURE 
 
 1. A. C. BENSON 'THE UPTON LETTERS' . ..288 
 
 2. OSCAR WILDE ' INTENTIONS ' 290 
 
 3. HERBERT SPENCER * EDUCATION ' . . . 291 
 
 4. HILAIRE BELLOC ' ESTO PERPETUA ' . . . 293 
 
 5. JOHN RUSKIN' THE SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE' 295 
 
 6. JOHN BUCHAN 'THE AFRICAN COLONY' . . 296 
 
 7. ROBERT Louis STEVENSON' VIRGINIBTIS PUERISQUE' 298 
 
 8. WALTER PATER' MARIUS THE EPICUREAN ' . 299 
 
 9. GEORGE MEREDITH 'AN ESSAY ON COMEDY' . 301 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 THE history of Precis Writing is practically impossible 
 to trace with any exactitude, for no records, apparently, 
 of its original adoption and gradual growth exist. The 
 art is clearly one of comparatively recent origin and the 
 outcome, presumably, of strictly modern conditions. Not 
 to go further afield than the United Kingdom, the Foreign 
 Office, both on account of its wealth of correspondence 
 and its particular method of conducting that correspon- 
 dence, was undoubtedly the first Government Department 
 to adopt precis writing, and still remains the office in 
 which it is most practised. 
 
 The appointment of Precis Writer, which to-day is 
 virtually equivalent to that of Private Secretary, was 
 first officially recognised during the reign of Queen Anne, 
 by which time it was probably realised that the Secretary 
 of State for Foreign Affairs could not possibly himself 
 wade through all the original documents with which he 
 was called upon to deal. But for at least a century and 
 a half subsequent to the Hanoverian Succession the Chief 
 Foreign Secretary and even the Monarch were in the 
 habit of perusing in full 'the more important despatches. 
 Although memoranda were invariably drawn up for her 
 information, the Letters of Queen Victoria go far to show 
 that Her late Majesty was not always content with a 
 summary or resume of official documents, but preferred in 
 many cases to consult the documents themselves. 
 
 Lord Palmerston again usually struggled with original 
 reports, unless their illegibility was extreme, when he 
 P.w. A <g 
 
2 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 called for either a 'readable copy' or a precis of them. 
 In his minutes, which were written in a bold, clear hand, 
 with a capital letter for every noun, he frequently criticised 
 both the style and the handwriting of his subordinates : 
 
 " Mr. B W seems to think that Secretaries of State 
 
 have nothing else to do but to read his despatches, admire his 
 long sentences, his multitude of words, and his never-ending 
 remarks. It is highly desirable that he should be more pithy 
 and concise." 
 
 "These Consuls are too bad; there is hardly one of them that 
 writes a decent hand and with readable ink. P. 29/1/51." 
 
 " Reading Mr. R 's handwriting is like running penknives 
 
 into one's eyes. P. 21/4/64. ' 51 
 
 But precis writing was always practised and its value 
 clearly recognised. Lord Clarendon, for instance, on 
 quitting office in 1866, addressed a letter of thanks to 
 the Clerks of the Foreign Office, in which he expressed 
 his regret that he had not become " personally acquainted 
 with those gentlemen who had from time to time furnished 
 such valuable memoranda for his information and guidance." 
 
 Presumably, Secretaries of State to-day have not to cope 
 with some of the difficulties of which Lord Palmerston 
 complained. Good ink is plentiful and inexpensive. Hand- 
 writing, both good and bad, has been largely superseded 
 by the introduction of the typewriter. Nowadays type- 
 written reports have become the rule not only at the 
 centre, but also on the outskirts of the British Empire. 
 Reports, even from lower grade officials and whether 
 clearly written or the reverse, are seldom read before 
 being typed or printed. In the colonies the native clerks 
 have learned to use the type machine ; in the equatorial 
 forest and in the Central African bush the click of the 
 typewriter is as familiar to the native ear as the click 
 of the rifle ; carriers have come to realise that the white 
 man's 'book juju' (typewriter) must be borne with as 
 much care as his ' beef juju ' (firearms). 
 
 The rapid advance, however, of mechanical invention, 
 which has rendered the task of Secretaries of State lighter 
 
 1 The Minutes quoted and many others, and also Lord Clarendon's 
 letter of thanks which follows, will be found in Recollections of the 
 Old Foreign Office, by Sir Edward Hertslet, K.C.B. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 3 
 
 in one way, has been accompanied with a still more rapid 
 advance in the mass of documents with which they have 
 to contend. With this result, that the art of precis writing 
 has become, and is still becoming, one of ever-increasing 
 importance. 
 
 Upon this importance it is unnecessary to dilate at 
 length. Confined in the first instance to Government 
 Offices, the application of precis writing has been extended 
 notably to commerce, law and journalism ; in fact there 
 are few departments of life in which a knowledge of this 
 subject will not prove of service. In business as in 
 Government Departments precis writing has been adopted 
 as a time-saving device, and its importance in this con- 
 nection was recently emphasised on the London stage. 
 In Simple Simon, at a critical moment in the play, the 
 1 Juggernauth,' rushing into his city office and hurling on 
 to the table a bundle of documents, tells his chief clerk 
 to 'epitomise' them. When we read that Sir Ignorant 
 Fees, K.C., has been 'instructed' by Messrs. Rookem and 
 Stowit, we may conclude that Counsel has been furnished 
 with a precis of his case which he may or may not have 
 read before going into Court. Precis writing enters 
 largely into literary, historical and secretarial work, and 
 a knowledge of it may be regarded as indispensable for 
 the journalistic profession. A large portion of modern 
 so-called literary and dramatic criticism is really precis 
 of a most slipshod character, for the majority of the critics 
 of to-day, having no canons to go by, confine themselves 
 to giving the contents of a book or the plot of a play. 
 The popular conception of journalism as the art of making 
 bricks without straw, of scribbling to fill space, is only 
 partly true. While sometimes the language of the 
 journalist is profuse, involved and ornamental ; at others 
 it must be concise, lucid and simple. More especially 
 is this the case when summaries of news, parliamentary 
 debates, public speeches and law evidence are in question. 
 Examples of all of these are included in the present 
 volume, and further models may be found daily in the 
 columns of the Times. It is by means of these summaries 
 that the general reader, who has not time to go through 
 
4 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 his paper from beginning to end, is enabled at a glance 
 to glean the gist of what is happening in the world. 
 
 Adopted originally as a time-saving device, it is only 
 quite recently that the value of precis writing as a means 
 of mental training has come to be recognised. The art 
 was long practised in different professions before being 
 given a place in our educational system. Yet, ignoring 
 the question of practical utility, its value is unquestionable, 
 for it involves not only the exercise of sound judgment 
 and true discrimination, but also the study of language 
 and the cultivation of style. While perhaps there is no 
 language which is more expressive and more beautiful 
 than this English tongue of ours, there is assuredly no 
 other language which is so barbarously and callously 
 abused by those who write and speak it. We have too 
 long been accustomed in the study of other languages 
 to neglect our own or to adopt the roundabout method 
 of translation instead of the direct means which precis 
 writing will be found to afford. The careful study and 
 practice of precis will serve to reveal not only the wealth 
 and beauty of our language, but also its marvellous 
 adaptability. It is with the object of directing attention 
 to this latter point that examples of general literature 
 have been included in this volume, and it will be observed 
 that, although they all write equally pure English, each 
 author quoted possesses a style which is peculiarly his 
 own. 
 
 Many people read a great deal; few ever endeavour 
 to sum up mentally what they have read. With his 
 characteristic insight, Lord Rosebery in a speech on some 
 occasion somewhere warned his hearers against desultory 
 reading, against reading without method and without a 
 definite object. Casual and indiscriminate reading is a 
 most alluring and frequently a most pernicious pastime, 
 unless the reader makes a point of summing up mentally 
 what he has added to his store of knowledge. Perhaps 
 there is no better safeguard against the danger indicated 
 by Lord Rosebery than the cultivation of what, for the 
 want of a better term, may be called the ' precis ' habit 
 of mind. The man who has acquired this habit by 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 5 
 
 practising precis writing in his youth is unlikely to drop 
 it in later life. 
 
 But, putting aside its intrinsic value, the examinations 
 for which a knowledge of precis writing, with or without 
 indexing, is now required, are sufficiently numerous to 
 command the careful attention of both instructors and 
 students. The examinations in question include the 
 following : Diplomatic and Consular Services ; the Indian 
 and Home Civil Services (Post Office Supplementary 
 Clerks, Assistants of Customs and Excise, Assistant 
 Surveyors of Taxes, etc.) ; the London University Matri- 
 culation, the Central Welsh Board, the Society of Arts, 
 the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. 
 
 2. INDEXING. 
 
 Many of the hints to be given will be found to be 
 equally applicable to both indexing and precis writing, but, 
 even at the risk of repetition, for the sake of convenience 
 and in order to avoid confusion, the two subjects will be 
 taken separately. 
 
 A. Index defined. An index, which is also known as a 
 docket, schedule, or abstract, is the arrangement of des- 
 patches, letters, or other documents, forming a connected 
 correspondence on some particular subject, in tabular 
 form and chronological order, giving briefly and distinctly 
 the essence or substance of each of the documents dealt with. 
 
 The point to be borne in mind is that each document 
 must be treated separately. 
 
 B. Official Instructions. The following official instructions 
 to candidates are generally prefixed to the majority of 
 public examination papers : 
 
 "Having read the accompanying correspondence (1) Make 
 an index of the several letters and other papers. The index 
 should deal separately with every letter or document whether 
 covering or enclosed. It should contain the date of each letter 
 or document ; the names of the persons by whom and to whom 
 it is written ; and in as few words as possible the subject of it. 
 The merits of such an index are : (a) to give the main subject 
 of each letter or document, omitting everything else ; (6) to do 
 this briefly, distinctly, and in such a form as readily to catch 
 the eye." 
 
6 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 These instructions are sufficiently clear, and they are 
 usually accompanied by a specimen index and ruled form. 
 Experience has repeatedly shown, however, that the 
 majority of candidates for examination either fail to grasp 
 fully their meaning or else place a wrong interpretation 
 upon them. It has, therefore, been found necessary to 
 treat the subject of indexing in greater detail, and to 
 indicate more fully what is essential and what is not 
 essential to the compilation of a satisfactory index. 
 
 C. Rules for Indexing. The following rules, or rather 
 hints, have been drawn up with the view of enabling the 
 student to avoid the more common mistakes which the 
 unpractised index writer is liable to make, and their careful 
 study at the commencement is calculated to save time in 
 the long run. 
 
 Subject-matter and MetJiod. The first and golden rule for 
 both Indexing and Precis Writing is to grasp thoroughly 
 the subject-matter of the correspondence in question. 
 Select carefully what is essential, and be equally rigid in 
 rejecting what is unimportant. This may appear at first 
 sight somewhat difficult when, as is frequently the case, 
 the mass of documents to be indexed is considerable and 
 runs to great length. On examination, however, official 
 correspondence will prove easy, simple and brief. 
 
 All official letters, and nearly all business letters, are 
 characterised by a uniformity which soon becomes familiar; 
 they are similar in style and in logical arrangement. It is 
 customary to acknowledge the receipt of a letter in the 
 first sentence of the reply to it, to state the gist of its 
 contents, then to give a summary of the point at issue, 
 while the closing paragraphs will sum up, in brief and 
 sometimes forcible but always polite language, the question 
 under consideration, or convey instructions and the 
 decision of the Department concerned in connection with it. 
 
 Short cuts are not to be recommended, and the student 
 should make a point of assimilating the whole corre- 
 spondence before commencing to compile his index. In 
 ordinary examinations, however, the time allowed, although 
 ample for the practised hand, is not more than sufficient 
 for the beginner; the candidate should keep an eye on the 
 
INDEXING. 7 
 
 clock ; should he find himself getting behindhand, he may 
 be reminded that, as a rule but not invariably, a satisfac- 
 tory index of a letter may be gathered from the first 
 paragraph of the reply to it. 
 
 Generally speaking, the convention of one letter, one 
 subject and that, consequently, no letter should deal with 
 more than one subject is strictly adhered to in official 
 and business correspondence. But the convention may be 
 broken, and in this event the student will have to decide 
 which is the predominating subject and introduce the less 
 important by participial or subordinate clauses Much has 
 been written about the difficulties of indexing and precis 
 writing, but for examination purposes the exercise of a 
 certain amount of common-sense is the chief essential. In 
 actual practice, however, it frequently happens that the 
 point which to all intents and purposes is the most essential 
 to-day may be the least essential to-morrow, and vice versa. 
 Unless the writers of the original letters express clearly 
 what they intend to say, they may mislead the index or 
 precis writer, on whose wording possibly a policy may be 
 based or an important decision arrived at. 
 
 To select the salient points of a correspondence is, it 
 must be repeated, the main essential. Without this 
 selection everything else is useless. Before beginning to 
 write, therefore, the student should go through, either 
 rapidly or carefully as the time given may permit, the 
 whole of the correspondence in order to get a clear idea of 
 its general purport and the relative importance of its 
 various parts. If he fails to do this at the commencement, 
 he will probably discover later that he has given undue 
 prominence to some unimportant detail, while omitting 
 some essential point. He must first obtain a true per- 
 spective, and, having done this, he will then proceed to 
 take the letters separately in their order, allotting to each 
 its true significance, and thus compile his index. 
 
 D. Farm and Uniformity. The actual form which the 
 index to a correspondence will assume is clearly indicated 
 in the official instructions which have already been quoted. 
 A specimen index and ruled form are usually provided at 
 most examinations; but the student may prefer, for the 
 
8 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 sake of convenience and neatness, to draw up his own 
 form. In the latter event he may observe that an ordinary 
 sheet of foolscap is eight inches in width, and that it 
 should be divided into four columns as follows : 
 
 a. Column 1 is half an inch wide for the serial number 
 of the despatch or enclosure. 
 
 /3. One and a half inches are allowed for the date of the 
 letter, i.e. the date of sending it. If it is necessary 
 to quote the date of receipt, this can be noted in 
 brackets underneath the preceding date. 
 
 y. The third column is two inches wide for the names or 
 designations of the correspondents. In this column 
 should be copied, below the name of the addressee, 
 any special note on the nature of the document, 
 such as (telegram), (translation), (confidential), 
 (extract). 
 
 8. Four inches will then remain for the fourth column, 
 in which will be inserted the subject-matter of the 
 document. 
 
 It is thus that we arrive at the form on page 9. 
 
 The specimen index given is typical of ordinary official 
 correspondence, and it will serve to illustrate the follow- 
 ing remarks. 
 
 In the first place, every index must have a title, of which 
 the usual form is : ' Index of correspondence relating to ' 
 (here insert subject of correspondence in question). 
 
 With regard to the first column, the letters arranged 
 chronologically according to date of receipt will be numbered 
 accordingly. If further reference to any letter is subse- 
 quently made this will be done by quoting its number 
 only, e.g. 'Enclosure in No. 1,' NOT 'Enclosure in letter 
 of llth October, 1906.' 
 
 In the second column the day of the month should pre- 
 cede the name of the month, thus, llth October, 1906, is 
 better than October llth, 1906. The insertion in this 
 column of the name of the place whence a letter is written 
 is optional, but is usually omitted. If a document be 
 undated, the word 'undated' or the letters 'N,D/ (no 
 date) should be inserted. 
 
INDEXING. 
 
 INDEX OF CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 RELATING TO THE HOLDING OF 
 
 PROTESTANT MISSION SERVICES AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, MALTA. 
 
 Serial No. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Correspondents. 
 
 Subject-Matter. 
 
 1. 
 
 llthOetober, 
 
 The Governor of 
 
 Transmitting a memorial 
 
 
 1906 
 (Received 
 Oct. 16.) 
 
 Malta to 
 The Secretary of 
 State for the 
 
 from the Archbishop of Malta 
 to the King, praying that His 
 Majesty will withhold his 
 
 
 
 Colonies. 
 
 approval to the proposed in- 
 
 
 
 
 sertion in the Royal Instruc- 
 
 
 
 
 tions of a clause relating to 
 
 
 
 
 liberty of conscience and re- 
 
 
 
 
 ligious worship. 
 
 Enclosure 1 
 
 9th October, 
 
 The Archbishop 
 
 Memorial referred to in 
 
 in No. 1. 
 
 1906. 
 
 of Malta to 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 
 
 The King 
 
 
 
 
 (Translation). 
 
 
 2. 
 
 27thOctober, 
 
 The Governor of 
 
 Forwarding copy of a reso- 
 
 
 1906 
 
 Malta to 
 
 lution passed at a public 
 
 
 (Received 
 Nov. 1.) 
 
 The Secretary of 
 State. 
 
 meeting, protesting against 
 the imposition of a lawplacing 
 the Roman Catholic religion 
 
 
 
 
 in Malta on a footing of 
 
 
 
 
 equality with those of all 
 
 
 
 
 other creeds. 
 
 Enclosure 2 
 
 Undated. 
 
 The Secretary of 
 
 Resolution referred to in 
 
 in No. 2. 
 
 
 the Meeting to 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 
 
 The Governor of 
 
 
 
 
 Malta 
 
 
 
 
 (Translation). 
 
 
 3. 
 
 3rd 
 November, 
 
 The Secretary of 
 State to 
 
 Directing that the Arch- 
 bishop be informed that His 
 
 
 1906. 
 
 The Governor of 
 
 Majesty has given no direc- 
 
 
 
 Malta. 
 
 tions on the memorial and 
 
 
 
 
 resolution enclosed in No. 1 
 
 
 
 
 and No. 2 respectively, inas- 
 
 
 
 
 much as there is nothing in 
 
 
 
 
 the new Royal Instructions 
 
 
 
 
 in any way inconsistent with 
 
 
 
 
 the full protection of the 
 
 
 
 
 Roman Catholic religion in 
 
 
 
 
 Malta. 
 
10 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 The designations or offices of the correspondents in 
 column 3 are more important than their names. Strictly 
 speaking, no surnames should appear, but it is very usual 
 to find them in an index of Consular correspondence, and 
 again where the writer is a well-known man, e.g. Mr. 
 Balfour, Sir Edward Grey. But even in this case confu- 
 sion may occur, because the same individual may hold 
 different portfolios in different administrations. In con- 
 sular correspondence, certainly, it is of more importance to 
 know the locality of a consulate than the name of the 
 consul. Custom, however, counts for a great deal ; most 
 official documents are published primarily for the informa- 
 tion of Parliament, and only indirectly for that of the 
 general public. Consequently, it is futile to lay down a 
 hard and fast rule, and the student must use his own 
 judgment as to whether he employs names or titles, 
 remembering always that clearness is essential, and that 
 he should adhere to the same designation throughout. 
 
 It need hardly be remarked, perhaps, that the fourth 
 column will generally prove to be the most important of 
 the group, for it should contain the gist of each letter. 
 It is probably the only column which will present any 
 difficulty. The initial words of the fourth column will be 
 either a Present Participle or the third person singular of 
 the Present Indicative. Either of these forms is equally 
 admissible, although the former is to be preferred. Which- 
 ever form the student may elect to adopt, however, he 
 must be careful to retain throughout. In this, as in other 
 respects, an index should be characterised by uniformity. 
 
 Moreover the initial words should be appropriate to the 
 subject-matter and to the relative position of the writer 
 and the recipient. The Head of a Department, for instance, 
 commands, directs, approves, sanctions; a subordinate re- 
 ports, submits, informs, replies and so on. The Secretary 
 of State for Foreign Affairs does not submit a proposition 
 for the approval of a Consul, nor does an Ambassador 
 * dissent from ' a policy laid down by the Secretary of 
 State. The list of words given below, although by no 
 means an exhaustive one, will probably be found sufficient 
 for ordinary cases. 
 
INDEXING. 
 
 11 
 
 A document should be cited or referred to by its index 
 number alone and not by its date, writer or contents. 
 For instance, the index to a later document may consist 
 simply of a reference to an earlier one in the same corre- 
 spondence, and may run somewhat thus : * Furnishing 
 information asked for in No. . . .' * Eeplying to queries 
 raised in No. . . .' 'Repeating substance of No. . . .' 
 and so on. 
 
 A LIST OF THE MORE USEFUL INTRODUCTORY VERBS. 
 
 Acceding to. 
 
 Acknowledging receipt of. 
 
 Acquainting. 
 
 Admitting. 
 
 Advising. 
 
 Affirming. 
 
 Agreeing to. 
 
 Allowing. 
 
 Announcing. 
 
 Apprising. 
 
 Approving. 
 
 Asking. 
 
 Calling for. 
 
 Calling on. 
 
 Commanding. 
 
 Communicating. 
 
 Complaining of. 
 
 Concurring in. 
 
 Corroborating. 
 
 Criticising. 
 
 Declining. 
 
 Demurring to. 
 
 Denying. 
 
 Desiring. 
 
 Directing. 
 
 Dissenting from. 
 
 Drawing attention to. 
 
 Enclosing. 
 
 Enjoining. 
 
 Enquiring. 
 
 Epitomising. 
 
 Forwarding. 
 
 Granting. 
 
 Informing. 
 
 Instructing. 
 
 Intimating. 
 
 Mentioning. 
 
 Noting. 
 
 Observing. 
 
 Offering. 
 
 Opposing. 
 
 Ordering. 
 
 Praying. 
 
 Pressing for. 
 
 Proposing. 
 
 Protesting against. 
 
 Querying. 
 
 Questioning. 
 
 Recommending. 
 
 Rectifying. 
 
 Referring to. 
 
 Reminding. 
 
 Replying. 
 
 Reporting. 
 
 Requesting. 
 
 Sanctioning. 
 
 Stating. 
 
 Submitting. 
 
 Suggesting. 
 
 Summarising. 
 
 Transmitting. 
 
 Urging. 
 
 Verifying. 
 
 Warning. 
 
 Welcoming. 
 
 Withdrawing. 
 
12 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 E. Enclosures. In official correspondence it frequently 
 happens that an enclosure is of greater importance than the 
 letter in which it is transmitted. For instance, a Consul 
 will sometimes forward the report of a Vice-Consul, merely 
 stating very generally the subject, of such report, but with- 
 out giving the gist of it or criticising its contents. Each 
 of the large Government offices is divided into several 
 departments, and the correspondence between these various 
 departments is conducted in the form not of letters but of 
 minutes. These minutes are usually extremely brief and 
 to the point, couched in the simplest language and shorn of 
 that formal phraseology which is frequently regarded as 
 the main characteristic of official letters. Huge batches of 
 correspondence, enveloped in what are commonly known as 
 'jackets/ are circulated and initialled with such remarks 
 as 'passed for information,' 'forwarded for information 
 and favour of return,' etc., etc., arid sent back with 'seen/ 
 'read,' 'sanctioned,' etc., etc., as the case may be. A 
 minute is seldom lengthy and its phraseology is usually 
 hackneyed, but to an officer a terse official phrase is as full 
 of meaning as a formula to a mathematician. 
 
 The importance of enclosures, then, is such that they are 
 given in an index the same prominence as ordinary letters, 
 although, naturally, they will be numbered differently. 
 Enclosures must therefore be indexed separately as such 
 and not as necessarily forming part of the letter in which 
 they are transmitted. In the first three columns they will 
 be kept absolutely distinct. In the fourth column care 
 must be taken to avoid indexing enclosures twice, first as 
 a portion of the letter in which they are contained and 
 secondly by themselves. 
 
 F. Brevity. The space used for the index of a letter 
 must necessarily depend largely upon its greater or less 
 prolixity. In this connection much stress has frequently 
 been laid upon the importance of adhering strictly to what 
 is commonly known as the Five Line Rule, which requires 
 index-writers not to use more than five lines in column iv. 
 for the index of any one document. A more nonsensical 
 rule was never discussed, and my only purpose in referring 
 to it is to condemn it. Its unsoundness consists in this, 
 
INDEXING. 13 
 
 that, while it handicaps large writing, it can easily be 
 defeated by writing small. It would be safer to lay down 
 a rule that the index of no one letter should exceed a 
 certain number of words. 
 
 Again, too great an insistence on brevity may be attended 
 with disastrous results. As a recent writer on the subject 
 has pointed out : " Brevity is useless when to be brief is to 
 be superfluous ; lucidity is of no avail when it is tanta- 
 mount to obscurity regarding the essential points of the 
 correspondence ; while proficiency in the art of putting the 
 matter in such a form as readily to catch the eye is 
 positively worse than the want of it when the matter so 
 put is irrelevant." In indexing there is a false brevity and 
 a true one, and whether the student arrives at the one or 
 the other will depend largely upon his ability to select the 
 salient point of each document. Brevity is essential, but it 
 is useless without completeness and lucidity, and it must 
 not be ungrammatical. A single sentence, either simple or 
 complex, should as a rule suffice for the index of any one 
 document. "Brevity is to be obtained, firstly, by the 
 careful selection of the true point of the letters and the 
 rejection of non-essentials, and. secondly, by the expression 
 of the true point in a condensed manner." Ambiguity must 
 be avoided, and the wording should be such as to render 
 misapprehension impossible. 
 
 The necessity of brevity in indexing is obvious, from the 
 very form of the index itself ; but it may be observed that, 
 when an index only is required, it is nearly twice as full as 
 when a precis is to be added. 
 
 3. RULES FOR PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 A. A precis which is derived from the Latin praecidere, 
 to cut short, and from the French precis, precise, and which 
 is sometimes termed a memorandum, narrative, or summary 
 is usually defined as the generalisation in narrative form, 
 giving with great conciseness the salient features only, of a 
 series of events which have already taken place. 
 
 Outside the exact sciences, definitions, so far from being 
 helpful, frequently tend to obscure, expand or distort the 
 
14 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 thing which it is sought to define. With regard to the 
 definition given above, it is obviously incomplete, for a 
 precis may be applied to future and fictitious circumstances 
 as well as to events which have already occurred. Again, 
 although it will be written in the past tense when ordinary 
 documents, law evidence and general literature are in 
 question, the present or future tense should be used in 
 epitomising estimates and future events, such, for instance, 
 as a projected campaign or the contemplated promotion of 
 accompany. 
 
 ItNs. probably useless to insist on an exact definition of 
 the term precis. Its fundamental characteristic is its nar- 
 rative form, and it is important to observe that this 
 narrative must be consecutive, distinct, readable and 
 strictly to the point. 
 
 B. Official Instructions. The following remarks, which are 
 usually prefixed to Civil Service examination papers, should 
 be carefully noted : 
 
 " You are desired to write out in your own words a Memo- 
 randum or Precis of the proceedings described in the following 
 letters or telegrams. 
 
 "The object of the precis (which should be drawn up not 
 letter by letter, but in the form of a narrative without marginal 
 references) is to enable anyone who maj' not have time to read 
 the original letters to grasp with ease all the leading features of 
 what passed. 
 
 "The merits of such a precis are (a) to contain all that is 
 important in the correspondence, and nothing that is unim- 
 portant ; (b) to present this in a readable and consecutive shape, 
 expressed as distinctly as possible, and as briefly as is compatible 
 with completeness and distinctness. 
 
 " Attention should be paid to spelling, handwriting, grammar 
 and style." 
 
 C. Subject-matte)' and Method. The student's attention is 
 again directed to a rule already given in connection with 
 indexing. He is again reminded that he must grasp fully 
 the contents of the correspondence with which he has to 
 deal, that he must master thoroughly the subject-matter. 
 A recent writer 1 on the subject has given so excellent a 
 summary of the mental processes involved in the writing of 
 
 1 Precis and Precis Writing, by A. W. Ready, B.A. 
 
RULES FOR PRECIS WRITING. 15 
 
 a precis that I shall make no apology for quoting him : 
 " You have to master a quantity of information ; you have 
 to master it in a very \short space of time ; you have to sift 
 and examine, to admit and reject ; you have to be alert in 
 judgment and prompt in decision. When the subject- 
 matter has been assimilated, rectified and put into form, 
 you have to express the result in a narrative of a peculiar 
 character strictly circumscribed and limited, and denuded 
 of the exuberance of an original composition." 
 
 Before putting his pen to paper the student must read, 
 mark, learn and inwardly digest, the whole of the corre- 
 spondence. Having acquired a general idea of its subject, 
 he will then proceed either to mark carefully the important 
 points or to strike out the non-essentials. By a gradual 
 process of selection and weeding out, he should eventually 
 arrive at the quintessence of the documents, and he will 
 then proceed to write his precis. In the first instance he 
 should compile a rough copy or preliminary precis, and in 
 this he need not be too careful of brevity. The final copy 
 or final precis, however, will contain the pith, and only the 
 pith, of the whole correspondence. There are few writers 
 who can compile a precis at sight without omitting some 
 essential, and the beginner is advised to adopt the following 
 method : a. Glance rapidly through the whole correspond- 
 ence to get a general idea of its subject and contents ; p. 
 Eead the correspondence carefully, and jot down notes or 
 mark important passages, y. From these notes or marked 
 paragraphs write a rough precis. 8. Verify the rough copy, 
 and from it compile the final precis. 
 
 D. Form. Every precis should commence with a title 
 similar in form to that employed in indexing, thus : ' Precis 
 of correspondence relating to, etc.' 
 
 A precis is not a syllabus or a programme, but a con- 
 tinuous, consecutive, readable narrative. Its order will be 
 chronological ; the events which come first in point of time 
 will be given first. The writers of the correspondence are 
 unimportant, as also the method of correspondence, whether 
 by telegram, interview or letter. The precis should begin 
 with the date of the year in which the events to be recorded 
 took place and with a brief statement of the subject-matter. 
 
16 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 The main theme should then be developed gradually and 
 naturally, subsidiary facts being worked in in their relative 
 importance. 
 
 The paragraphing of a precis will depend upon the 
 number of subjects dealt with or the breaks in the narra- 
 tion of the main theme. When the exercise consists of a 
 report or minutes of evidence, the facts and information 
 relating to each subject must be arranged in paragraphs 
 chronologically, and not necessarily in the order in which 
 they appear in the documents under consideration. 
 
 The student need hardly be cautioned, perhaps, that in 
 the compilation of a precis no alteration of fact and no 
 expression of opinion on his part are admissible. He must 
 never allow his own thoughts to appear ; he must never 
 correct a statement however erroneous it may be ; he must 
 never offer any comment however helpful to the solution of 
 the point at issue. He must not add to, or subtract any- 
 thing from, the events related and the opinions expressed 
 in the correspondence itself. 
 
 When both an index and a precis of certain documents 
 are required, the index should be compiled before any 
 attempt is made to write the precis. While the index 
 gives the substance or pith of each document separately, 
 the precis is an abridgment or summary of the whole 
 correspondence. It might be imagined, therefore, that the 
 precis would simply prove to be a glorified index. The 
 student is again warned against this not uncommon error. 
 A precis must never be a mere synopsis or list of headings, 
 but a plain, simple, consecutive narrative. It is almost 
 impossible to compile a satisfactory precis of a correspon- 
 dence from its index, and recourse should be had to the 
 original letters themselves. 
 
 E. Brevity. In accordance with the official instructions 
 already quoted, a precis should be 'as brief as is compatible 
 with completeness and distinctness.' In ordinary cases a 
 precis of a correspondence should not exceed in length 
 one-twentieth of the correspondence itself. When one 
 subject alone has to be treated it will not be found difficult 
 to confine the precis within the limit indicated. In the 
 case of two or more separate subjects they may be dealt 
 
RULES FOR PRECIS WRITING. 17 
 
 with in different paragraphs, but their inter-relation must 
 be shown without, however, confusing them. 
 
 Brevity can only be acquired by practice. A precis 
 should not be overcrowded with facts, and the student will 
 frequently have to decide which of several details to accept 
 and which to refuse. Adjectives and adverbs will, of 
 course, be sparingly used. The narrative must be plain 
 and straightforward ; it should be a mere record of facts in 
 a language divested of all verbose adornment. The space 
 allowed is strictly limited, and this limit involves a rigid 
 suppression of the ornamental; the language should be like 
 gold from which the encompassing sand has been washed. 
 There must be lucidity of construction combined with a ! 
 precision of expression, calculated to produce no blurred 
 effect in the mind of the reader, who should be enabled to 
 grasp the meaning of the precis without effort. 
 
 F. Style. And yet, when due attention has been paid to 
 brevity and the precis has been written within the limits 
 prescribed, the language must not be halting and slipshod. 
 The precis must not only be brief and distinct, it must I 
 also be grammatical, readable and, if possible, interesting. ( 
 Each sentence must be grammatically constructed. In the 
 development of the main theme there should be an easy 
 transition in both thought and expression from one point 
 to another. The sentences must be so connected as to 
 produce an easy flow and certain rhythm of language. 
 
 The precis writer will probably unconsciously adopt the 
 style of the correspondence with which he is dealing, and 
 to this there is no objection. In the case of official docu- 
 ments the style will be formal ; in that of commercial 
 correspondence it will be rather conversational in character. 
 In both cases due regard must be paid to simplicity and 
 clearness and care taken to avoid circumlocution, pleonasm, 
 tautology and verbosity. 
 
 It is obvious that for proficiency in precis writing a 
 knowledge of language is a primary requisite. The words 
 allowed are few, and they must therefore be the best 
 possible. The student should have a copious vocabulary 
 from which to select if he is to express his meaning with 
 the necessary clearness, brevity and precision. In this 
 p.w. B 
 
18 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 connection the use of short words of Teutonic origin is to 
 be preferred to the employment of those which have been 
 introduced from the Romance languages. In precis writing 
 a knowledge of synonyms will be found particularly useful, 
 while the terse official phrase, even if hackneyed, is pecu- 
 liarly expressive. 
 
 The younger student must take care to spell correctly ; 
 the more advanced student should be careful to adhere to 
 conventional spelling, however unscientific he may consider 
 it to be. 
 
 Punctuation is of considerable importance, and the proper 
 use of stops is a safeguard against confusion and misap- 
 prehension. Long sentences should be avoided and, while 
 an even flow of language must be preserved, the words 
 should be arranged more with a view to clearness than 
 to cadence. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE HOLDING 
 OF PROTESTANT MISSION SERVICES AT THE 
 THEATRE-ROYAL, MALTA. 
 
 No. 1. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received October 16, 1906.) 
 
 The Palace, Valletta, October 11, 1906. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to forward to your Lordship, 
 for submission to the King, the accompanying memorial 
 addressed to His Majesty by His Grace the Archbishop, Bishop 
 of Malta, praying that His Majesty may be pleased to withhold 
 his approval of the proposed amendment to the Royal Instruc- 
 tions, referred to in paragraph 4 of your Lordship's despatch of 
 the 15th August last. 
 
 I have, etc., CHAS. M. CLARKE, 
 
 Governor. 
 
 (Translation.) Enclosure in No. 1. 
 
 To His Majesty Edward VII., by the Grace of God King of the 
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of 
 India, etc., etc. 
 
 YOUR MAJESTY, The Right Honourable the Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies, Lord Elgin, in a despatch from Downing 
 Street, dated the 15th August last, and published in the English 
 newspapers only recently, informs His Excellency the Governor 
 of these Islands that the circumstances connected with the 
 mission services held in the Theatre- Royal at Malta, during last 
 May, by the Rev. John M'Neill, have directed the attention of His 
 Majesty's Government to the general question of the treatment 
 
20 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 of different religious denominations in these islands ; and that, 
 therefore, His Lordship proposes to advise Your Majesty to 
 issue Eoyal Instructions amending the present Instructions 
 by the insertion of the following clause : 
 
 " It being our intention that all persons inhabiting Our 
 said Island should have full liberty of conscience and the 
 free exercise of their respective modes of religious worship, 
 We do hereby require Our said Governor and Cominander- 
 in-Chief to permit all persons within Our said Island to 
 have such liberty, and to exercise their respective modes of 
 religious worship, provided they be contented with a quiet 
 and peaceable enjoyment of the same, not giving offence or 
 scandal to the Government." 
 
 YOUR MAJESTY, In my capacity of Bishop of this Diocese, 
 and, consequently of spiritual Head of the whole Island, I 
 permit myself to humbly ask leave to bring to Your Majesty's 
 knowledge that no severer blow can be struck at the religious 
 and civil sentiments of this population, which has ever been 
 most loyal to the Crown, than the approval of the proposed 
 clause regarding the liberty of religious worship in this Island, 
 after a hundred years and more that the Island has been under 
 the Government of Great Britain from whom it has always 
 received reiterated and solemn promises of protection of the 
 Catholic Religion promises, the existence of which has been 
 recognised by the present Government, and admitted recently 
 by the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
 
 YOUR MAJESTY, I venture to hope that Your Majesty will 
 dispense me from enumerating the reasons why the whole 
 Island felt a severe shock when the said despatch was first 
 announced. Your Majesty will allow me to note that, here in 
 Malta, the right of exercising religious worship in public has, 
 for more than a century, been reserved exclusively to the 
 Catholic Church, and this has been admitted by nearly all the 
 Governors of the Island each and every time that my pre- 
 decessors and myself have felt it our duty to remonstrate when- 
 ever a minister belonging to another Church has attempted to 
 perform some act of religious worship in public. 
 
 May Your Majesty, therefore, allow me to make a humble, 
 yet earnest prayer, in the name of the whole population which I 
 represent, that Your Majesty may not be pleased to give Your 
 Royal sanction to the clause proposed by Your Majesty's 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
 
 Yours, etc., P. ARCIVESCOVO, 
 
 Vescovo di Malta. 
 
 Malta, October 9, 1906. 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 21 
 
 No. 2. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received November 1, 1906.) 
 
 The Palace, Valletta, October 27, 1906. 
 
 My LORD, I have the honour to enclose, herewith, copies of 
 the resolution passed at the public meeting of the 14th instant, 
 which I have been desired by the President and Secretary of 
 the meeting to forward to your Lordship, for submission to His 
 Majesty. j have? etc ^ CHARLES M. CLARKE, 
 
 Governor. 
 Enclosure in No. 2. 
 
 P , i Translation of Resolution. 
 
 That it is the opinion of this meeting that, as the Maltese 
 have proclaimed and respected, ever since 1802, the principle 
 of religious toleration, as appears from the "Declaration of 
 Rights of the Maltese " made by the National Congress on the 
 15th June, 1802 (Article 8), the imposition with which we are 
 threatened by His Majesty's Government, in a despatch of His 
 Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies addressed 
 to His Excellency the Governor on the 15th August last, of a 
 law placing on a footing of equality the rights of the religion of 
 the Maltese population, the Roman Catholic and Apostolic 
 religion, which has always been dominant in these Islands, 
 with those of all other creeds, is an unprovoked and unnecessary 
 act of violence, prejudicial to the rights of the Maltese, who, 
 unconquered, placed their country and themselves under the 
 protection of the British Crown ; contrary to the explicit and 
 implicit promises given by Great Britain in the name of the 
 Sovereign, in the Proclamation of General Thomas Graham of 
 the 19th June, 1800, in that of General Henry Pigot of February, 
 1801, in that of the Royal Commissioner Charles Cameron of the 
 15th July, 1801, as well as in the Notification of Governor Sir 
 Thomas Maitland of the 5th October, 1813, and other Acts, and 
 in violation of the fundamental principles of English liberty, the 
 sentiment of the population having in no way been consulted ; 
 and, therefore, this meeting formally and energetically protests 
 against such imposition, respectfully praying His Majesty the 
 King to spare this further insult to the loyalty of the Maltese 
 people towards the British Crown. 
 
 No. 3. The Secretary of State to the Governor. 
 
 Downing Street, November 3, 1 906. 
 
 SIR, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 despatch of the llth ultimo, forwarding a memorial addressed 
 to His Majesty by His Grace the Archbishop of Malta, praying 
 
22 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 that His Majesty may be pleased to withhold His approval of 
 the proposed amendment to the Royal Instructions, and of your 
 despatch of the 27th ultimo, forwarding copies of a resolution 
 to a similar effect passed at a public meeting on the 14th ultimo. 
 2. I have to request you to inform the Archbishop, and the 
 President and Secretary of the meeting that the petition and 
 resolution have been laid before the King, and I am commanded 
 by His Majesty to state that he has been pleased to give no 
 directions thereon, inasmuch as there is nothing in the Addi- 
 tional Instructions now passed under the Royal Sign Manual 
 and Signet, in any way inconsistent with the full protection of 
 their religion, which has always been enjoyed by the Roman 
 Catholics of Malta. 
 
 I have, etc., ELGIN. 
 
 No. 4. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received November 12, 1906.) 
 
 The Palace, Valletta, November 7, 1906. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to transmit to your Lord- 
 ship, together with an English translation, the accompanying 
 memorial which I have been desired by the Members of the 
 Cathedral Chapter of Malta to forward to your Lordship, for 
 submission to His Majesty. 
 
 2. With reference to the last paragraph of the memorial, it is 
 only necessary to point out that the principle of equal religious 
 rights for all subjects of His Majesty is no new one, even in 
 Malta, inasmuch as it was laid down in Clause 39 of Her late 
 Majesty's Instructions to Mr. More O'Ferrall, dated the 27th 
 October, 1847, and in paragraph 7 of Lord Grey's despatch of 
 the 26th November, 1847, which was published in the Malta 
 Government Gazette of the 5th January, 1848. 
 
 I have, etc., CHAS. M. CLARKE, 
 
 Governor. 
 
 (Translation.) Enclosure in No. 4. 
 
 To His Majesty Edward VII., King of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, 
 Emperor of India, etc., etc., etc. 
 
 MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, We the undersigned Canons 
 of the Cathedral Church of Malta cannot but feel deeply pained 
 on learning the intention (of His Majesty's Government) to 
 place the religion of this people eminently Roman Catholic 
 Apostolic on a footing of equality and parity with all other 
 creeds within the limits of this Island. 
 
 This people, which spontaneously placed itself under the 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 23 
 
 British flag, has always, up to the present time, seen its religion 
 established by the Apostle Paul privileged and pre-eminent 
 in this Island, not only under various other denominations, but 
 also under the 100-years' rule of unconquered Albion, in accord- 
 ance with the desire manifested ever since this people gave 
 itself to the British Throne, and with the solemn promises made 
 by His Britannic Majesty's representatives on different occasions. 
 
 The suppression of this privileged position cannot but expose 
 this Island to unpleasant surprises in the future exercise of its 
 public worship, especially if, at any time, the latter were to 
 come into conflict, or were simultaneous with, the public exercise 
 of other creeds. 
 
 Now, therefore, we, the members composing the Chapter of 
 the Cathedral the Chapter to which he belonged who was the 
 Head of the Maltese people when this Island spontaneously 
 placed itself under the British Flag respectfully appeal to 
 Your Majesty, praying you to take into serious consideration 
 our profound grief and entreating Your Majesty not to sanction 
 the law in contemplation relating to the freedom of public 
 worship in our Island. 
 
 And petitioners, etc. 
 Aula Capitolaris, 
 
 25th October, 1906. 
 
 SALV. GAFFIERO, CAN. YES. AUSILIARE. 
 
 GIOVANNI CANCO. PENIT. EBEJER. 
 
 Gius. CANCO. CANTORE MERCIECA. 
 
 ORAZIO CANCO. ARCIPRETE GRIMA. 
 
 FRANC. SAV. YASSALLO ARCIDIACONO. 
 
 E. M. CAN. DEBONO CASSIA, D.D. 
 
 YINC. CAN. CARUANA OATTO, D.D. 
 
 S. CAN. GRECH. 
 
 ANTONIO CAN. TESORIERE CORDINA. 
 
 PAOLO R CAN. FARRUGIA. 
 
 G. BATTA CAN. BUHAGIAR. 
 
 DEBONO CAN. LUIGI, D.D. 
 
 LUIGI CAN. TEOLOGO ATTARD. 
 
 LUIGI CAN. FARRUGIA. 
 
 Gius. CAN. CARUANA DINGLI. 
 
 PANZAVECCHIA I. CAN. CAP. 
 
 CAN. G. Eossi. 
 
 CAN. C. AZZOPARDI. 
 
 FRANCESCO CAN. YELLA. 
 
 ANTONIO CAN. PSAILA. 
 
 MlCHELE CAN. ClAPPARA. 
 
 LUCA CAN. ZAMMIT. 
 I. CAN. FORMOSA. 
 
24 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 No. 5. The Secretary of State to tJie Governor. 
 
 Downing Street, November 24, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 despatch of the 7th November, forwarding a memorial to His 
 Majesty from the Cathedral Chapter of Malta on the subject of 
 the position of the Roman Catholic Church in Malta. 
 
 2. I have to refer you, in reply, to my despatch of the 3rd 
 November, in which I communicated to you His Majesty's reply 
 to a previous memorial of a similar character. 
 
 I have, etc., ELGIN. 
 
 No. 6. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received November 27, 1906.) 
 
 The Palace, Valletta, November 20, 1906. 
 MY LORD, With reference to Your Lordship's despatch of 
 the 3rd inst., I have the honour to transmit, for your informa- 
 tion, the accompanying copy of a letter which I have received 
 from the Archbishop, Bishop of Malta, in reply to a letter 
 addressed to His Grace on the 10th instant, in accordance with 
 Your Lordship's instructions. 
 
 I have, etc., CHAS. M. CLARKE, 
 
 Governor. 
 
 (Translation.) Enclosure in No. 6. 
 
 Archiepiscopal Palace, Valletta, November 14, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have received your esteemed letter of the 10th inst. 
 In reply, I cannot but express my deep regret, and that of my 
 parishioners, at the liberty of religious worship which has been 
 sanctioned in these islands against all our expectations by the 
 Government of Great Britain, after a century and more, during 
 which the exercise of religious worship in public has been 
 exclusively reserved to the Roman Catholic religion. 
 
 I have, etc., P. ARCIVESCOVO, VESCOVO DI MALTA. 
 
 To His Excellency the Governor of Malta. 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 
 
 25 
 
 INDEX OF CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 BELATING TO THE HOLDING OP 
 
 PROTESTANT MISSION SERVICES AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, MALTA. 
 
 Serial No. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Correspondents. 
 
 Subject-Matter. 
 
 1. 
 
 llth October, 
 1906 
 (Received 
 Oct. 16.) 
 
 The Governor of 
 Malta to 
 The Secretary of 
 State for the 
 Colonies. 
 
 Transmitting a memorial 
 from the Archbishop of Malta 
 to the King, praying that His 
 Majesty will withhold his 
 approval to the proposed 
 insertion in the Royal In- 
 structions of a clause relating 
 to liberty of conscience and 
 religious worship. 
 
 Enclosure 1 
 in No. 1. 
 
 9th October, 
 1906. 
 
 Archbishop 
 of Malta to 
 The King 
 (Translation). 
 
 Memorial referred to in 
 No. 1. 
 
 2. 
 
 27th October, 
 1906 
 (Received 
 Nov. 1.) 
 
 The Governor of 
 Malta to 
 The Secretary of 
 State. 
 
 Forwarding copy of a reso- 
 lution passed at a public 
 meeting, protesting against 
 the imposition of a law placing 
 the Roman Catholic religion 
 in Malta on a footing of 
 equality with those of all 
 other creeds. 
 
 Enclosure 2 
 in No. 2. 
 
 Undated. 
 
 Secretary of 
 Meeting to 
 The Governor of 
 Malta 
 (Translation) 
 
 Resolution referred to in 
 No. 2. 
 
 3. 
 
 3rd 
 November, 
 1906. 
 
 The Secretary of 
 State to 
 The Governor of 
 Malta. 
 
 Directing that the Arch- 
 bishop be informed that His 
 Majesty has given no direc- 
 tions on the memorial and 
 resolution enclosed in No. 1 
 and No. 2 respectively, inas- 
 much as there is nothing in 
 the new Royal Instructions 
 in any way inconsistent with 
 tbe full protection of the 
 Roman Catholic religion in 
 Malta. 
 
26 
 
 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Serial No. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Correspondents. 
 
 Subject-Matter. 
 
 4. 
 
 7th 
 November, 
 1906 
 (Received 
 Nov. 12.) 
 
 The Governor of 
 Malta to 
 The Secretary of 
 State. 
 
 Transmitting a memorial 
 from the Cathedral Chapter 
 of Malta, praying the King 
 not to sanction the proposed 
 alteration of the Royal In- 
 structions. 
 
 Enclosure 3 
 in No. 4. 
 
 25th 
 October, 
 1906. 
 
 The Cathedral 
 Chapter 
 of Malta to 
 The King 
 (Translation). 
 
 Memorial referred to in 
 No. 4. 
 
 5. 
 
 24th 
 November, 
 1906. 
 
 The Secretary of 
 State to 
 The Governor of 
 Malta. 
 
 Acknowledging receipt of 
 No. 4 and referring in reply 
 to No. 3. 
 
 6. 
 
 20th 
 November, 
 1906 
 (Received 
 Nov. 27.) 
 
 The Governor of 
 Malta to 
 The Secretary of 
 State. 
 
 Enclosing copy of a letter 
 from the Archbishop of Malta 
 expressing deep regret that 
 religious liberty has been 
 sanctioned in the island. 
 
 Enclosure 4 
 in No. 6. 
 
 14th 
 
 November, 
 1906. 
 
 The Archbishop 
 of Malta to 
 The Governor of 
 Malta. 
 (Translation). 
 
 Letter referred to in No. 6. 
 
 PRECIS OF CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 RELATING TO THE HOLDING OF 
 PROTESTANT MISSION SERVICES AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, MALTA. 
 
 For upwards of a century the exercise of public worship 
 in Malta had been exclusively reserved to members of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, when, in 1906, the British Govern- 
 ment decided, by means of an amendment to the Royal 
 Instructions, to grant to all religious denominations in the 
 island liberty to exercise their respective modes of religious 
 worship. 
 
 The Roman Catholics, both at a public meeting and 
 through their Cathedral Chapter, protested against this 
 decision, on the ground that it was an infringement of their 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 27 
 
 rights, and petitioned the King to withhold his consent to 
 the proposed amendment. 
 
 His Majesty was advised, however, to give no directions 
 on this petition, inasmuch as the amendment contained 
 nothing in any way inconsistent with the full protection of 
 the Roman Catholic religion. 
 
 THE DRUCE CASE: CHARGE OF PERJURY. 
 
 At Bow Street, yesterday, before Sir A. de Rutzen, who again 
 sat specially, Mary Robinson, alias Mary Ann Robinson, was 
 charged, on remand, with committing wilful and corrupt perjury 
 in the evidence which she gave in the Druce case before Mr. 
 Plowden at Marylebone and Clerkenwell Police Courts. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews (instructed by Mr. Sims, of the Treasury) 
 appeared on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The 
 prisoner was not legally represented. 
 
 Chief-inspector Dew, of Scotland Yard, who arrested the 
 prisoner at her flat in Sisters Avenue, Clapham, on January 17, 
 was recalled for the purpose of producing the documents, etc., 
 which he found in the prisoner's possession. The first put in 
 was a certified copy of the prisoner's birth certificate, showing 
 that she was born at East Hill, Wandsworth, on May 24, 1841, 
 the daughter of James Webb, a butcher, and Ann Webb, 
 formerly Voyce. 
 
 A woman who was sitting alone at the back of the Court then 
 rose and asked the Magistrate if she might be allowed to see 
 the brooch before "the lady was put away." She mentioned 
 that she was rather deaf. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. Perhaps that may account for it. We 
 have not arrived at any brooch yet. 
 
 The witness next produced a certified copy of a marriage 
 certificate reciting that the prisoner in the name of Mary Ann 
 Webb was married to William Robinson, a butcher, at Leeds, 
 on March 17, 1862, her father being described as a police super- 
 intendent ; the birth certificate of the prisoner's son, James 
 Henry Webb Robinson, dated September 27, 1866 ; the death 
 certificate of Kate Ellen Robinson, who died at Lead Hill, 
 Worksop, on August 6, 1870, aged six ; the birth certificate of 
 Frederick William Robinson, who was born at the same address 
 in May, 1872. The registration of that birth was carried out 
 by the prisoner herself, and the witness had had photographs 
 taken of her signature in the register. He had since compared 
 it with the prisoner's signature to her depositions taken at the 
 hearing of the Druce case, and to the best of his belief they 
 
28 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 were written by one and the same person. The witness also 
 put in a photograph showing the prisoner with two of her 
 children. He said he obtained it from the prisoner's sister, 
 Mrs. Woollaby. 
 
 The woman who had previously interrupted the proceedings 
 rose and made some inaudible remark. 
 
 Mr. Newton (the magistrate's clerk) asked if she had any- 
 thing to do with the case. 
 
 Inspector Dew. Not that I am aware of. She thinks she is 
 entitled to some millions of money. 
 
 Continuing his evidence, the witness produced a declaration 
 made by the prisoner in relation to a fire which occurred at her 
 residence, Kent House, Thomas Street, New Brighton (N.Z.), on 
 February 20, 1906. In her claim she set out her losses as 
 follows : Books, 127 ; pottery, 220 ; plate, 44 10s. : clothing, 
 77 11s. ; and pictures, 1,820. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews observed that the importance of that 
 document was that everything of value was said to have been 
 destroyed. 
 
 The witness said that from receipts which he had found the 
 prisoner appeared to have obtained the full amounts of her 
 policies namely, 100 from the Sun Fire Insurance Company, 
 and 400 from the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance 
 Company in respect of that fire. 
 
 THE PRISONER AND THE CLAIMANT. 
 
 The following draft of a letter found at the prisoner's flat was 
 also put in and read as follows : 
 
 " Nov. 27, 1906. 
 
 "To Mr. Druce. Sir, You are the grandson of the fifth 
 Duke of Portland without a doubt. I myself was secret corre- 
 spondent, arid he himself acknowledged to me when ill, and 
 thought his end had come, that he was both Druce and Duke of 
 P.; that he had children, who could not for certain reasons 
 (things that had happened in the family) be brought to the 
 front by himself. I can positively declare that Druce and the 
 Duke of Portland were one man. I knew Mr. Druce personally 
 when a girl, through my mother and aunt (1861 and 1862). In 
 1868 I again met Mr. Druce as Duke of Portland, in company 
 with Mr. Dickens in Sherwood Forest, Welbeck Abbey, and 
 remembered him well. My aunt had already told me the man 
 I had to deal with was known by these two names. As corre- 
 spondent to the duke (I then lived in Worksop) I received 
 letters under cover addressed Mr. Druce, etc. These were from 
 the Continent and were sent to me by Mr. Dickens to be given 
 to the Duke of P. at some appointed place. All letters addressed 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 29 
 
 to the Duke of Portland were delivered to him at the abbey. 
 You will hear by this mail from Mr. Harper, a Christchurch 
 solicitor, a lot of news. The Lyttleton Times received a cable 
 dated October 30, that the Druce case was settled financially 
 and no more would be heard of the case. This news I hear 
 from Mr. Harper. A man from Liverpool visited the Baker 
 Street Bazaar, 1869, month August. The Duke of P. was in 
 London at that time, both at the beginning and end of the 
 month." 
 
 The inspector also produced the letter, which was a reply to 
 the above, dated from 65 London Wall, London, E.G., January 
 11, 1907 : 
 
 " Mrs. Eobinson, Rironi, Falsgrove Street, Sydenham, Christ- 
 church, New Zealand. Dear Madam, I am greatly pleased at 
 receipt of your letter of November 27 last, the contents of which 
 are of the utmost importance to the matter in hand. It 
 is quite untrue, and there is no foundation for the statement, 
 that the case has been settled financially or any other way 
 beyond the fact that certain inquiries were made in Melbourne 
 of the relatives of the claimant, which would indicate in the 
 minds of our opponents there had arisen the possibility that at 
 some future date a proposition for a settlement might be inevit- 
 able. We know nothing of any suggestion of settlement arising 
 either from them or from us, so that you may take it definitely 
 and distinctly that the case is proceeding and will be heard in 
 the Courts, it is to be hoped, at a very early date. There will, 
 however, be plenty of time to enable you to personally attend 
 and give evidence of the facts set forth in your letter, and you 
 could hardly fail to appreciate how vital it is to the interests of 
 the claimant that you should do so. Knowing nothing of you 
 personally or of your circumstances, it is difficult for me to 
 forecast what may be your attitude towards a proposition that 
 you should so personally attend in London to give evidence, but 
 I sincerely trust that any personal inconvenience which such a 
 course may involve you in will be considered as something 
 which you, in justice, should undertake, in order to furnish 
 what no other than yourself is able to furnish that is, the 
 facts that you relate in your letter. You may rest assured that 
 any expense which you may be involved in by making the 
 journey, either by way of passage money or expenses connected 
 with the passage, the relinquishment of any employment upon 
 which you may be engaged, or the disturbance to your domestic 
 or household arrangements or business affairs, will be liberally 
 compensated for in return for your undertaking the fatigue and 
 upset of such a journey. If you are required to remain in. 
 
30 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 London for any length of time your convenience will be simi- 
 larly considered. I am not yet in receipt of any communication 
 from Mr. Harper, the solicitor, of Christchurch, whom you 
 mention, and pending such information as his letter may convey 
 there are a great many questions which naturally arise upon 
 the reading of your letter and in respect to which I have no 
 doubt you could furnish full details and most valuable infor- 
 mation. I must content myself, however, for the present with 
 awaiting the receipt of Mr. Harper's letter, which I sincerely 
 hope will come to hand next week. If it does not, you must 
 allow me, in my letter next mail, to put to you a series of ques- 
 tions which it is desired you should answer whenever you may 
 be called upon to give evidence. ... I am quite at a loss to 
 understand why your endeavours to get into communication 
 with Mr. Druce met with so little success. It may be that you 
 addressed them to the solicitors engaged in the former litiga- 
 tion, who would no doubt be unwilling to assist the present 
 claim which is in opposition to that originally set up by Mrs. 
 Anna Maria Druce. I wired you yesterday, as per copy 
 enclosed, the intention of the wire being that you should 
 estimate the expenses necessarily incurred in your attending in 
 London to personally assist me with your intimate knowledge 
 of the duke's affairs, and enable me to test the accuracy of a 
 number of statements which I have from others respecting 
 same. If you reply to that telegram fixing an amount, I shall, 
 of course, infer from the reply that you are willing on payment 
 of that amount to attend in London as desired. If not, let me 
 again urge upon you that in a matter of such enormous import- 
 ance it would not be right for you to allow any consideration of 
 personal convenience to stand in the way of elucidation of the 
 real facts of the case, and I trust that you will take this view of 
 the matter. Of course, if you find any insuperable objection to 
 making the journey to London, I shall have to content myself 
 with asking you to attend your solicitor, Mr. Harper, and 
 enable him to place your statement before a commissioner 
 specially appointed by the English Court for that purpose. 
 The expenses involved in this proceeding will be very much 
 less than that necessarily involved in your making the journey, 
 but the result will be nothing like so satisfactory to the real 
 nature of the inquiry. I put my appeal to you, therefore, on 
 higher grounds than those of the personal interest of the 
 claimant. The facts of the Druce-Portland case have long 
 ceased to be a matter for personal concern, and have become a 
 subject of such great public interest and involve so many 
 individuals in serious consequences one way or the other that I 
 feel sure you will look at the matter as one of abstract justice 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 31 
 
 and act accordingly. I have the honour to remain, Yours 
 obediently." 
 
 The witness said that that letter was unsigned, but the 
 address from which it was dated was at that time the office 
 of G. H. Druce (Limited). He next produced several telegrams 
 which were sent to the prisoner in New Zealand. The first, 
 dated Jan. 10, 1907, and received in Christchurch (N.Z.) next 
 day, ran : 
 
 " What amount money required ? Pay all necessary expenses 
 for you to come home as soon as possible. Wire date of 
 departure and steamer. Case now proceeds. GEORGE HOL- 
 LAMBY DRUCE." 
 
 The next was dated Jan. 31, 1907 : 
 
 "Received your letter last mail to the satisfaction of all 
 concerned. All papers connected with your evidence absolutely 
 must come. You must maintain absolute secrecy everything 
 relating to the subject referred to. Take every possible care 
 books and papers. COBURN." 
 
 Another telegram was sent from London to Montevideo on 
 March 4, 1907 : 
 
 " Mary Robinson, passenger, s.s. Rimutaka. Will meet you 
 at Plymouth and give you my card. Take no notice of any 
 one. GEORGE DRUCE." 
 
 On March 28 the following telegram was sent to the prisoner 
 at Plymouth : 
 
 " Am sorry unable to meet you as promised. Have deputed 
 my solicitor, Mr. Kimber, to do so with Mr. Coburn, who will 
 present you with my card. Hope the documents quite safe and 
 remain in your custody. DRUCE." 
 
 Receipts were also put in showing that from May 18 down to 
 about the end of September the prisoner received 3 19s. a 
 week, the money being generally paid by Mr. Kimber, and 
 once or twice by Mr. Druce. There was also a letter from 
 Mr. E. Kimber, the prisoner's former solicitor, as follows : 
 "15, Walbrook, E.G., London, May 7, 1907. 
 
 " Dear Miss Robinson, I have this afternoon been served by 
 the New Zealand Shipping Company with notice of an applica- 
 tion by them to the Commercial Judge for the speedy trial of 
 your action against them for the recovery of the lost letters of 
 Mr. Charles Dickens and the late Duke of Portland to you. In 
 one aspect of the case this would be advantageous, but in another 
 it will be disadvantageous, unless we can get out of them the 
 grounds of their defence, which it may be possible to do. How- 
 ever, I will speak to you about this when I have the pleasure of 
 seeing you. Yours faithfuly, E. KIMBER." 
 
32 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 The next document was a letter from Mr. Kimber to Messrs. 
 Oswald, Smith & Hanson, the prisoner's personal solicitors : 
 
 " Dear Sir, I duly received yours of the 21st inst. I will 
 request that a cheque be sent to Miss Robinson at once. Will 
 you be good enough to remind her that she has not answered 
 several of my letters, especially the last, in which I told her the 
 importance of getting the brooch and the ring valued by a 
 jeweller. This is for the purpose of exposing Avory's slander." 
 
 [It will be recalled that at the hearing of the Druce case Mr. 
 Horace Avory described the brooch as a twopenny-halfpenny 
 one.] 
 
 DIARIES AND DOCUMENTS. 
 
 The witness said that he also found at the prisoner's flat notes 
 of a sort of diary which the prisoner kept in New Zealand : 
 "Feb. 4. Received large parcel. Found two booklets of the 
 same firm. Feb. 6. Go to Mr. Harper, and deliver to him the 
 letter and booklets ; also copy of letter and journal. Wanted 
 to know whether money was sure. Harper looked very much 
 worried, as though he had had a fright. Lodgings visited by 
 a detective making inquiries. Three other men making a survey 
 of the premises." 
 
 The next document produced was a note which, in the opinion 
 of the witness, was in Mr. Kimber's handwriting : " Miss R. 
 was not surprised at what Mr. Dickens told her in Hyde Park, 
 because she said she heard a great many things from the work- 
 men. What were these things ? Anything abqut Resurrection, 
 or something else." The next was the draft agreement between 
 the Druce Company and Mary Robinson as follows : 
 
 "(1) To pay Mrs. Eldred the money she requires of the Druce 
 Company for my shelter in her house and the food she has 
 supplied me with since I was taken there by Druce, until I am 
 removed from 54 Talbot Road, Bayswater." 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews mentioned that Mrs. Eldred was the 
 landlady of that address. 
 
 The agreement continued : 
 
 " (2) That I am removed from this place, 54 Talbot Road, to 
 more quiet apartments or small cottage, where my nervous 
 system may get proper rest. The rent to be paid by the Druce 
 Company. 
 
 "(3) That wages are required for my assistance to the 
 company's solicitor and for information to him, and for the use 
 of my journal. My board and travelling expenses must be paid 
 for me at the rate of 3 3s. weekly." 
 
 " (4) At the final of the Druce Company's trial an equal pro- 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 33 
 
 portion of money is to be paid to me, by the same proportion as 
 will be paid to all others connected with the case, according to 
 the value of their work." 
 
 The witness said he also found a copy of the Idler for 
 November, 1906, which contained an article on the fifth Duke 
 of Portland, and his brothers and sisters, by " One Who Knew 
 Them " ; also fourteen picture postcards with views of Worksop 
 and its neighbourhood ; an envelope containing Sissons's penny 
 illustrated guide to the Dukeries, addressed to the prisoner, with 
 the postmark October 26, 1907 ; a small engraving taken from a 
 book of Gadshill Place, near Rochester, Kent, the residence of 
 Charles Dickens until his death ; White's Year-Book for Work- 
 sop, 1906, containing a chronicle of the important events 
 connected with the neighbourhood for many years past ; a 
 pencil memorandum dealing with the geographical position of 
 Colombo and a short history of the place. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews observed that Colombo was the place 
 where the prisoner's daughter, Miss Maud O'Neil, was said to 
 have been born. 
 
 The witness next handed in a pencil memorandum apparently 
 of Charles Dickens's movements as follows : " November. 
 Arrived in Boston, 1867. Had reception more than cordial, for 
 it was his second visit. Made a great success with his readings 
 and covered a lot of country, and the fatigue and excitement 
 excessive. He made more friends than money. He arrived in 
 England May, 1868, better, as he said, for the sea voyage. 
 People said he looked seven years younger. In October follow- 
 ing he commenced to travel and start his readings. Thinking 
 the old ones would not do to rely upon, he tried a few new ones. 
 But the strain was great. In February, 1869, he was back in 
 London reading at St. James's Hall and the district until the 
 middle of April. His health failed and he rested. In 1870, 
 from January to March, he gave twelve farewell readings, the 
 last on March 15, at St. James's Hall, the readings selected 
 being 'The Christmas Carol' and 'The Trial Scene from Pick- 
 wick.' " Another memorandum read : 
 
 " In the prints you sent to me I can truthfully say they are 
 both good of the same man, one in a disguised form, the other 
 in a more natural. I knew them both in their true colours too 
 well to forget their faces. The eyes and the forehead are the 
 same. I have seen the fifth Duke of Portland without a beard, 
 with a short beard, and a long one. Mr. Druce in his short 
 beard was as I saw him when 11 years of age. He then carried 
 on the Baker Street Bazaar. When 11 years of age and travelling 
 with my aunt, who was a friend of Mr. Druce's, we met him 
 frequently. He always took a great deal of notice of me on 
 
 C 
 
34 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 account of my father being killed in the American war. I 
 distinctly reniemember being in his company for the first time. 
 It was at Tunbridge Wells. His beard attracted my attention. 
 It was so beautifully groomed, and such a striking likeness in 
 the forehead and eyes to my aunt that people thought they were 
 related to each other April 26. Richmond, Surrey, Star and 
 Garter. Mr. Druce was here with - . May, 1868. Boston, 
 Dickens. October, 1868. Welbeck, Dickens. February, March, 
 1869. Dickens in London somewhere. April, 1869. A copy 
 certificate from Mr. Dickens. July, 1869. Mr. Dickens better; 
 writing a book ; wrote badly. Mr. Druce said Dickens failing 
 fast. October. Mr. Dickens seemed much better for his rest. 
 December, January, February, 1870. Letters from Mr. Dickens 
 to Mr. Druce and myself. March. Mr. Dickens in London. 
 . . . April 1. Mr. Dickens near Hyde Park; looks very ill. 
 Would be in or near London until end of May." 
 
 Miss ROBINSON'S "REMINISCENCES." 
 
 The next was a letter to the prisoner from Mr. E. Kimber, 
 dated from 15, Walbrook, E.G., London, December 6, 1907 : 
 
 " Dear Miss Robinson, Would you like to give some of your 
 reminiscences of Charles Dickens to the publishers, Messrs. 
 George Newnes (Limited) ? If so, I will give them your address. 
 I did not like to do so without communicating with you. It 
 might do you good. Both Sir George and Lady Newnes have 
 been in Court on the Bench, and I have strong reason to believe 
 that they sympathise both with you and the case. They are 
 friends of two of my daughters. Yours faithfully, EDMUND 
 KIMBER." 
 
 Another letter addressed to " W. Gadsby" at Welbeck, which 
 was also among the prisoner's possessions, was read : " I 
 intended to have written to you yesterday. Of course, you 
 may go the day Lord Harewood desires. You had better not, I 
 should think, move your family. You may do as you please 
 till you have seen for certain whether you will suit Lord Hare- 
 wood, since, if not, you may come back to me. With regard to 
 your conduct, my advice is that you keep a regular register of 
 everything of consequence which comes under your observation. 
 Be particularly careful never to state a fact you are not certain 
 of or give an opinion which is not founded on a fact and the 
 plain consequence of that fact. When your memory fails you, 
 or you have not good reasons for an opinion, say so at once. 
 
 TlTCHFlELD." 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 35 
 
 ALLEGED LOVE LETTERS. 
 
 The witness also produced a proof of the prisoner's evidence in 
 which it was recorded that she had been the mistress of the fifth 
 Duke of Portland ; that in 1876 the duke gave her 5,000 in 
 bank notes at Aberdeen, and that the duke had given her other 
 money upon the interest of which she was now living at the date 
 that that proof was taken. There was also a proof of Miss 
 O'Neil, which described her as the companion of Miss Eobinson 
 and stated that she was born in Colombo. Also copies of three 
 letters purporting to have been sent to the prisoner by the fifth 
 Duke of Portland. The first ran : 
 
 " My dearest Mary, I remember this, that, though you were 
 ndt the wife of my youth, you are the joy of my life. You are 
 the most worthy of all my earthly comforts. You possess what 
 I most admire in a woman sweetness and cheerfulness, mixed 
 with kindness of manner. For your study I recommend some 
 of the most useful parts of mathematics. In my eye, they arc a 
 special object of interest. . . . Farewell, my dearest, from your 
 affectionate and dearest friend, JOHN 0. S. BENTINCK, Welbeck 
 Abbey, 1874." 
 
 In reply to Sir Charles, the witness said that he believed the 
 Duke of Portland succeeded to the dukedom in 1854. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. Notwithstanding that, the letter is 
 signed "John C. S. Bentinck." 
 
 The second letter was read as follows : 
 
 " My dearest Mary, You will see me in Eichmond some of 
 these fine mornings. I feel lost here alone. I cannot live with- 
 out your presence. The smallpox is in and near the neighbour- 
 hood of Worksop ; therefore you must remain where you are at 
 present. I should never forgive myself if anything happened 
 to you through that dreadful disease. From your most affec- 
 tionate friend, JOHN CAVENDISH SCOTT BENTINCK, Welbeck 
 Abbey, March, 1871." 
 
 The third letter ran : 
 
 " Dearest Mary, I shall see you in course of a few days ; so 
 be prepared. I cannot stay any longer. Your affectionate and 
 ever-loving friend, JOHN BENTINCK, February, 1870." 
 
 The witness also produced the following letter which pur- 
 ported to have been written by Charles Dickens in March, 
 1869: 
 
 " Dear Mary, You will be watched. Every word you say 
 will be weighed in the balance against you. You must be tight- 
 fisted and hard as a grindstone, and then you will succeed in 
 throwing them off guard. If you act in this manner, you will be 
 
36 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 the means of saving a deal of trouble and anxiety to Resurrection. 
 You may thank God there are no Mrs. Gamps in the affair as 
 general news-letters. Yours faithfully, CHARLES DICKENS." 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. I pause here to ask you, inspector, 
 since this search of yours the prisoner, at her own wish, has seen 
 you and made a statement, has she not ? 
 
 The witness. Yes, she has, Sir Charles. 
 
 And has confessed to you that the evidence she gave in the 
 witness-box was false ? Yes. 
 
 And that these letters in her handwriting were concocted by 
 her ? So far as the Duke of Portland was concerned. 
 
 Yes. Did she say she had received the original of the letter 
 purporting to come from Mr. Dickens ? Yes. 
 
 But you can find no trace of it ? No. 
 
 A DRAFT DOCUMENT AND DEPOSITION. 
 
 The witness went on to say that he also took possession of the 
 following draft document from among the prisoner's papers : 
 
 "July 21, 1907. Mr. Kimber, Dear Sir, I remember some- 
 thing which my second journal contained. The pith of it is 
 this it was told to me by the fifth Duke of Portland, regarding 
 his boyish days as he called them. The reason I took the name 
 of Druce was through being introduced to a man of that name 
 by some gentlemen friends. The man was interesting. I 
 believe he was Irish. He was a navy agent, and had a wife, 
 whom he called Judy. Our visits to his house were frequent 
 and rowdy. We made our way to the hall through under 
 passage, etc. Now after a lot of trouble and searching Miss 
 O'Neil and myself have discovered the following places : The 
 door of the underground passage in a back yard. The vault of 
 the navy agent, Druce, and his wife, Judy. Grave of the lady 
 who was the wife of the physician who lived at Bury St. 
 Edmunds at that time." 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews then read from a document, which was 
 headed " Deposition of Miss Mary Robinson." It stated that she 
 was 56 years of age ; that she was born in Richmond, Virginia, 
 U.S.A., where her father was a tobacco planter ; that her first 
 acquaintance with Thomas Charles Druce was in April, 1862, 
 when she was introduced to him .at the Star and Garter Hotel, 
 Richmond. The document concluded : " I kept and still have 
 in my possession a diary, in which I recorded many things 
 about my meetings with him, and what I had to do for him." 
 Counsel pointed out that that was only a draft document. In 
 the " information " which the prisoner swore before Mr. 
 Plowden she gave a different version of her first acquaintance 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 37 
 
 with T. C. Druce namely, that it was in December, 1861, that 
 she was first introduced to him, at Tunbridge Wells. The 
 statement as to her diary was also altered to the following : 
 " I kept, and am able to produce, a diary, in which I recorded 
 many things about my meeting with him, and what I had to do 
 for him, and the dates I have furnished are taken by me from 
 the entries in that diary." There was also a letter from Messrs. 
 Oswald, Smith, and Hanson advising the prisoner to call on Mr. 
 Kimber, and inform him in what respect her first proof was 
 incorrect, and two letters from Mr. Perry Allen, an American 
 attorney, acting on behalf of Mr. Eobert Caldwell, in which he 
 enclosed a copy of the prisoner's diary. The letter advised the 
 prisoner to have the original document placed in a safe deposit 
 vault. 
 
 The prisoner was then remanded till Monday, Sir Charles 
 intimating that he would then have to recall Inspector Dew to 
 produce further documents. 
 
 In reply to the magistrate, the prisoner said she had nothing 
 to ask the witness. 
 
 PRtiCIS OF EVIDENCE 
 
 GIVEN IN THE 
 DRUCE PERJURY CASE, ON FEBRUARY 19, 1908. 
 
 On February 19, 1908, at Bow Street, the charge of 
 perjury against Mary Ann Robinson in connection with 
 the Druce case was further investigated. 
 
 Chief Inspector Dew, of Scotland Yard, produced a 
 number of documents found in the prisoner's possession ,at 
 the time of her arrest among them certified copies of her 
 birth certificate (showing that she was the daughter of 
 James Webb, butcher, and was born at Wandsworth in 
 1841), and of her marriage to William Robinson, butcher, 
 at Leeds, in 1862. The witness said that since the docu- 
 ments had been examined the prisoner had seen him by 
 her own wish, and had confessed that her evidence was false. 
 
 The prisoner was again remanded. 
 
INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 ME. BALFOUR IN THE CITY. 
 
 The City of London Conservative Association yesterday 
 entertained Mr. Balfour and Sir F. Banbury, the members of 
 Parliament for the City, at luncheon in the Merchant Taylors' 
 Hall. 
 
 Sir Joseph Dimsdale presided ; and among those present were 
 Lord Lansdowne, Lord Valentia, M.P., Lord Aldenham, Lord 
 Midleton, Sir R. Finlay, K.C., Lord Duncannon, the Hon. H. 
 C. Gibbs, Lord Addington, Sir H. Kimber, the Hon. Evelyn 
 Hubbard, Sir R. Hermon-Hodge, Sir J. Lawrence, the Hon. 
 Claude Hay, M.P., Mr. C. S. Gordon Clark (Master, Merchant 
 Taylors' Company), Mr. W. Hayes Fisher, the Hon. L. A. 
 Brodrick, Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, Sir J. H. Puleston, Mr. 
 Prichard Jones, Sir F. Dixon-Hartland, M.P., Sir Forrest 
 Fulton, K.C., Sir C. Kinloch Cooke, Mr. F. S. Hanson, Sir T. 
 Birkin, Major E. F. Coates, M.P., Sir G. W. Truscott, Mr. W. 
 Keswick, Mr. J. C. Czarnikovv, Mr. A. C. Cole, Mr. J. S. 
 Sandars, Mr. W. M. Short, Sir G. Woodman, Mr. R. Davies, 
 Major W. Bridges Webb, Mr. H. W. Russell, Sir J. J. Runtz, 
 Sir J. Purcell, Mr. H. Seymour Foster, Mr. George Alexander, 
 Mr. A. Cohen, Mr. J. W. Domoney, Mr. A. Moseley, Sir H. 
 Homewood Crawford, Mr. Luck (hon. treasurer, City of London 
 Conservative Association), Mr. E. G. Simmonds, Mr. Percival 
 Hughes, Mr. R. M. Sebag Montefiore, Mr. H. J. Waterlow, Mr. 
 A. F. Blades, Mr. J. F. Rawlinson, K.C., M.P., Sir T. Jackson, 
 Captain Swinton, Sir T. Brooke-Hitching, Sir J. Roper Parking- 
 ton, Mr. W. W. Grantham, Mr. G. Glanfield, Mr. W. J. 
 Galloway, Mr. Millar Wilkinson, Mr. Baddeley, Mr. J. L. 
 Sayer, and Mr. Pearce Morrison. A number of ladies, among 
 whom were Lady Lansdowne and Lady Dimsdale, entered the 
 hall after the luncheon and listened to the speeches from the 
 gallery. 
 
 After the loyal toasts had been drunk, 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing that of " The Representatives of 
 the City of London in Parliament," said that in Sir Frederick 
 Banbury they had a member who was no novice to Parlia- 
 mentary life, and who was entirely conversant with Parlia- 
 mentary procedure. (Laughter and cheers.) It was to a large 
 extent owing to his experience that he was able to stop, if not 
 to kill, a great deal of what now was erroneously called legis- 
 lation in the twentieth century. In Mr. Balfour they had an 
 ideal member. (Cheers.) For many years East Manchester had 
 the honour of claiming him as her representative. It was owing 
 to the ingratitude of East Manchester and the self-abnegation 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 39 
 
 and patriotism of Lord Aldenham (cheers), then Mr Alban 
 Gibbs, who had long represented the City of London in Parlia- 
 ment as successor to his revered and ever to be lamented father, 
 that they were able that day to greet Mr. Balfour as senior 
 member for tha City of London. But Mr. Balfour was a great 
 deal more than a mere member of Parliament. He was the 
 trusted leader (cheers) of the great Imperial party of this 
 country. He was a politician and he was also a great states- 
 man terms which were by no means synonymous. They had 
 seen politicians, little more than Parliamentary hacks, climb to 
 the highest position in the State, and yet possess no grain of 
 statesmanship. Vituperation and abuse were not statesman- 
 ship. To pander or to be pliable to the demands of the dema- 
 gogue or the stump orator was not statesmanship. A statesman 
 was he who realised that he was the trustee of the Empire, and 
 that, though his span was short and his life but few years com- 
 paratively, and a mere cipher in the history of our country, yet 
 that he was determined to place at least something that would 
 live on that great superstructure which had been built up by 
 generations of our forefathers, and which stood firm upon the 
 foundation laid by the forethought, the courage, and the 
 determination of our ancestors. It was because Mr. Balfour 
 possessed those qualities, because throughout his whole public 
 career he had shown single-mindedness and been actuated by 
 patriotism, and had the highest and most lofty aims in view 
 that he could sit to-day in his proud position with the conscious- 
 ness that he was the trusted leader of that party which com- 
 prehended Conservatives, Unionists, and the flower of the 
 Liberal party. (Cheers). 
 
 Mr. Balfour, who was received with loud cheers, said, in 
 response : In the speech which you have just listened to you have 
 heard me described, among other eulogistic epithets, as an ideal 
 member for the City of London. (Cheers.) I need hardly say 
 that I do not quarrel with even the most extravagant eulogies 
 which the kindness of my friend on my left may give me on an 
 occasion like this, when I have an opportunity of meeting so 
 many of those to whom I owe my present position in the House 
 of Commons. I cannot help contrasting the present state of the 
 party at the moment at which I am now addressing you with 
 the state of that party when I last spoke in this hall to an 
 audience, I have no doubt, largely identical with that which I 
 am now addressing. At the moment when my friend and rela- 
 tive, Lord Aldenham, had given me the opportunity, in the 
 darkest hours of the party fortunes, to represent this great 
 constituency, I had to address them on the present position of 
 public affairs. We did not foresee at that time, and we could 
 
40 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 not foresee, any such incident as that to which your chairman 
 has referred the Mid-Devon election. (Cheers.) We may have 
 believed, I myself most firmly did believe, that many months 
 would not elapse before those who possessed the power, and still 
 possess the constitutional power in the State, would have shown 
 to the people of this country of what stuff they were made. 
 (Laughter.) It was morally certain that the time could not be 
 far distant when there would be some violent revulsion of 
 feeling from that which had made itself manifest at the general 
 election ; but we could not then foresee the position which we 
 now have before us ; nor could we in anticipation draw the 
 lessons which we now can draw from what has occurred, and is 
 occurring, before our eyes throughout the country. I am not 
 going to triumph over the results of the by-election ; I have 
 seen a great deal of such triumphing in my time, sometimes on 
 one side and sometimes on the other. I prefer to wait till the 
 final result shall make itself felt, when the country again returns 
 to those paths of sober wisdom which for so many years charac- 
 terised it. (Cheers.) 
 
 But we may surely say, at all events, of the Mid-Devon 
 election, that it has for us, and for every constituency in the 
 United Kingdom, lessons that ought not to be forgotten. The 
 plainest, most obvious of those lessons is the deep interest which 
 the great controversy on fiscal reform has excited in all classes of 
 the electorate. (Cheers.) The speeches delivered in the Mid- 
 Devon election were mainly devoted to that great theme. It 
 was before the constituency in every town, in every village, and 
 every hamlet throughout its extent. And when we see so great 
 a poll, so large a number of the electors recording their opinion 
 with that controversy full in their minds, and with the result 
 that we know namely, that a seat which from time immemorial 
 had been a Radical seat became a Unionist seat, that a seat 
 which had been Radical in the great reaction after Mr. Glad- 
 stone's Home Rule experiment in 1895, which had remained 
 Radical in the time of what is called the war fever in 1900, in 
 1908, when that party had been in power with an unexampled 
 majority for only two years, reversed its traditional opinions 
 when all these things are obvious, plain on the surface of the 
 facts, the moral to be drawn is one which no man, however 
 blinded, can avoid drawing. (Cheers.) I do not dwell upon it, 
 it is so manifest that he who runs may read, and the observer 
 whose natural feelings or prejudices may make him most recal- 
 citrant to drawing the obvious moral has only got to survey the 
 facts of the case to see what that moral really is. I would 
 rather dwell for a moment upon the less manifest and obvious 
 morals of the Mid- Devon election. One of these is that if you 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 41 
 
 have a good candidate and we had an excellent candidate if 
 he works hard and ours worked admirably if he has got a 
 good organisation, and the organisation has been brought 
 thoroughly up to date in these circumstances there is no seat, 
 however apparently hopeless, which there is not a prospect of 
 winning. (Cheers.) There is a third moral I would draw, and 
 that is that the party wins when it works together. (Renewed 
 cheers.) In the constituency of Mid-Devon, as in other con- 
 stituencies, there are different shades of opinion upon this fiscal 
 question, which, as I have told you, was the one before the 
 constituency at every meeting on both sides throughout the 
 whole period of the election ; but, though there were, as might 
 be expected, different shades of opinion, every member of the 
 Unionist party, so far as I know, worked, and worked strenu- 
 ously and hard, to produce the result, the ultimate effects of 
 which will, I think, be felt through the whole course of the 
 present Session, will modify every speech made on the Govern- 
 ment side, will strengthen all those who have great interests to 
 defend, and will put in their true proportion and value all the 
 threats and all the bluster of which we have heard quite 
 sufficient during the last two or three years. (Cheers.) I hope 
 that that union which has produced these admirable results in 
 Mid-Devon will be extended to every constituency in England, 
 Scotland, and Ireland ; and if it is, believe me when I say that its 
 fruits elsewhere will not be less admirable than those of which 
 we have had practical experience during the last few weeks. 
 
 But there is a fourth lesson to be drawn from the Mid-Devon 
 election. There has been a fourth factor in the great success 
 which we have there obtained. We owe our thanks, not merely 
 to our candidate, to our organization, to the members of the 
 party who have so loyally supported them ; we owe our thanks 
 to the Prime Minister and the present Government, who have 
 done so much in the last two years to assist us. (Laughter.) 
 When I spoke in this hall two years ago, I think, almost to a 
 day, it was after the present Government had taken office, after 
 their success at the polls was assured, but before they had 
 composed their first King's Speech, or shown, either to Parlia- 
 ment or to the country, what manner of men they were. They 
 had all the advantages which inevitably attach to the unknown, 
 they were the centre, they were the object of fears on our part, 
 they were the object of hope on the part of vast bodies of the 
 electorate. And as our fears were from the nature of the case 
 indeterminate, so the hopes of the other side were necessarily 
 vague. They had told us, if you remember, during the course 
 of the general election nothing clear and specific as to the policy 
 they meant to pursue. Everything was cloudy, as foggy as the 
 
42 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 atmosphere in which I am now addressing you. (Laughter.) 
 It had not, and could not have, taken any clear and determinate 
 shape; and, if I rightly understand the policy, the very 
 judicious policy, of the present Prime Minister and his 
 colleagues, they thought that the less they said of a definite 
 and precise character about their intentions the better, and the 
 larger licence they left to their followers to make very precise 
 and very determined misrepresentations about their political 
 opponents the more likely they were to obtain a great electoral 
 success. The result, we all know, was that there was literally 
 nothing concrete before the country except the lies placarded 
 all over the constituencies (cheers), which, no doubt, had their 
 intended effect. But while it is, in certain circumstances, quite 
 easy to win an election upon mendacious placards, it is not so 
 easy to retain the favour or admiration of your countrymen 
 when you have either got to live up to your placards, which 
 they have attempted to do with very moderate success in South 
 Africa, or to devise some clear and concrete policy which is to 
 satisfy all the vague aspirations of which they have been 
 deservedly or undeservedly the centre. We have had two years 
 of them. The fog which enveloped their policy when I last 
 spoke to you in this hall has been dissipated, we know their 
 methods, and we know their object. Their methods, indeed, 
 have been clothed, naturally enough, in very gorgeous language, 
 they have been justified in very pompous phrases, we have been 
 told that they are the true apostles of social reform, we have 
 been told that to them, and to them alone, do the great mass of 
 our countrymen look for some legislative amelioration of their 
 lot. But when all these fine professions can be analysed in the 
 light of experience we see, what I think has been manifest over 
 the whole history of their party namely, that professions of 
 social reform are nothing more than the rather thin cloak under 
 which they make an attack on the classes or the interests 
 against whom they happen to have some political animosity. 
 It is not in order to benefit the mass of the community that 
 this or that measure is brought forward ; the measure is 
 brought forward, not to benefit those to whom it looks, but to 
 injure those with whom it deals. If you study their land 
 legislation, if you study their proposals about local taxation, if 
 you study their whole method of dealing, let us say, with the 
 Chinese labour question in South Africa, if you study their 
 methods of dealing with education, or their methods of dealing 
 with the Government of Ireland, the same strain runs through 
 the whole web and woof of their policy. It may have no logical 
 or internal coherence, it may be based upon no principles of 
 sound statesmanship, but it has always this peculiarity, that 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 43 
 
 while very little qualified to benefit anybody, it is always very 
 well devised to injure somebody. (Cheers.) The people whom 
 it is desired to injure are almost always those particular 
 interests who, they chose to think, are inimical to their 
 particular complexion of party politics. 
 
 I remember that one of the points which I touched upon two 
 years ago was the obscurity which hung over the intentions of 
 the Labour party, who are so important a factor in the present 
 political situation, so large an element in that vague support 
 which his Majesty's Government obtain in Parliament. At 
 that time the Labour party had made no declaration of policy, 
 so far as I know. They were occasionally in collision electoral ly 
 with the Government, they were occasionally in electoral collusion 
 with the Government, but they had made no clear announce- 
 ment as to the view of social reconstruction which they went 
 into Parliament in order to further. If I rightly understand 
 what has happened in the last 36 hours that obscurity is now 
 wholly dissipated. We know exactly where we are ; and the 
 Labour party, or the large majority of the Labour party, have 
 now definitely, in their own language, hoisted the red flag. 
 They have announced themselves as advocates of a scheme of 
 social reconstruction which has found advocates, indeed, in 
 many countries, but which has been carried out in none (cheers), 
 which would carry with it, not merely the ruin of the great 
 commercial centre in which I am speaking, which would not 
 only bring to an end the great enterprises of which your chair- 
 man has to-day spoken in terms of justifiable pride, which 
 would not only destroy our commercial, financial, and manu- 
 facturing position among the nations of the world, but which 
 would, in my opinion, be the greatest calamity that has ever 
 happened in the world, not to the rich, but to the poor. 
 (Cheers.) We have difficulties, inevitable difficulties, before us in 
 connexion with these problems of social reform, because most of 
 us are agreed I think in this room at all events I quite clearly 
 and definitely hold the opinions for myself that social reform 
 is part of the programme of the party to which we belong 
 (cheers), and that you cannot lay down those clear-cut and 
 definite formulae dear to the hearts of our grandfathers, by 
 which they limited, in this direction or in that direction, the 
 activity of the State. I do not believe in these formulae, I 
 regard them as unscientific, I regard them as impossible to 
 carry out in these days, mischievous if you could carry them 
 out. I do not deny, I never have denied, that they had great 
 conveniences from the legislator's point of view, and I do not 
 deny that their practical abandonment by the great body of 
 public opinion in this country, to whatever party it belongs, is 
 
44 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 going to be a source of difficulty, and of confusion even, in the 
 politics of the future. But this, I think, is clear, this, I think, 
 is definite, this, I think, is a doctrine to which every man, at 
 any rate every man who belongs to our party, may give his 
 unqualified absolute adhesion ; it is that the greatness of a 
 country, its industrial position, its wealth, its productive power, 
 its inventive power, will depend in the future, do depend in the 
 present, have depended in the past, upon private initiative. 
 (Cheers.) You will never get a bureaucracy, or a Government, 
 or a Parliament, however you constitute it or reconstitute it, 
 you will never get trade unions, you will never get labour 
 representatives, you will never get any collection of men to do 
 that for the promotion of productive enterprise which is now 
 done by individual initiative. And you will never have 
 individual initiative carried to its most effective limits unless 
 you give that security to the results of enterprise which it used 
 to be thought it was the primary duty of a Government to 
 give (cheers), but which it now seems it is one of the subsidiary 
 duties of a Government to destroy. What folly from this point 
 of view have the present holders of power been guilty of ! 
 They turn from one interest, from one section of their 
 supporters, to another, and they try to throw to each in turn 
 some agreeable sop which may ensure their allegiance and their 
 loyalty, little reflecting how much injury is done to the com- 
 munity as a whole by that which pleases some particular and 
 irresponsible section. I will not go into such questions, it is 
 not the occasion. I spoke in this constituency before on 
 education ; I am not going into education, although I could 
 illustrate from that theme to any extent this passion for 
 injuring opponents and this total indifference to the great 
 cause of education which is nominally, I suppose, the motive 
 of all our educational proposals. I will not touch on that, but 
 I will take one other illustration of the broad proposition I 
 was advancing. 
 
 Here is a Government who bring in a Bill for Scotland 
 touching on the rating of ground values, as they are called in 
 Scotland. It is a Scottish Bill, and therefore does not obviously 
 and directly affect English or Irish interests. It is a Bill which 
 imposes no tax, and therefore immediately and obviously 
 frightens no one, or at all events anybody may say it will have 
 no consequences except the cost and labour of framing a new 
 system. I do not believe the Bill will ever pass ; but what has 
 it done by merely being brought in, and by being defended by 
 members of the Government on principles which destroy the 
 whole sanctity of contract ? What has happened, of course, is 
 what you would expect to happen, that without benefiting a 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 45 
 
 single soul, without putting a penny in the pocket of a single 
 ratepayer, without the smallest advantage, public or private, to 
 any citizen or subject of his Majesty, they have lowered the 
 whole value of one of the safest and most desirable securities 
 that at present exists securities of a kind in which the widow 
 and the orphan, the insurance office, the benefit society, all the 
 societies which deal with thrift and promote thrift, were in the 
 habit of investing. All those have been touched, and the secu- 
 rity of all diminished, not by legislation, but by an attempt at 
 legislation foredoomed to failure, foolish in its principles, foolish 
 in its claims, indefensible on any known theory of property, 
 and which, therefore, I cannot conceive will ever receive the 
 sanction of the Legislature, but which, even if it never passed, 
 has been sufficient to shatter credit in one of its departments. 
 Well, that is only one instance, but it is a specimen of what a 
 Government will do under no responsible leadership, following 
 no very well-defined principles, and depending for its support 
 upon a left wing which shades insensibly but rapidly into that 
 body of socialistic opinions who have just hauled up their flag 
 and mean to fight under the piratical colours of general spolia- 
 tion. Do not suppose that considerations like these were absent 
 from the minds of those who voted in the Mid-Devon election. 
 Depend upon it the present Government have, in their short 
 tenure of office, already succeeded in spreading throughout a 
 large body of opinion, partly neutral opinion, partly non-neutral 
 and favourable to themselves, a feeling of doubt, of mistrust, of 
 scepticism as to the character of their policy, which will silently 
 affect every election in the kingdom. 
 
 I myself believe that there is little room now in the political 
 constitution of this country for the old-fashioned Liberal who, 
 in his time, has done great service for the State. The Liberals 
 were a leading power in an important period of transition ; but 
 the course of events has practically destroyed all the differences, 
 never perhaps very great, which separated them from the party 
 to which we belong, and we are now tending towards a different 
 arrangement of political forces, a rearrangement of political 
 forces in which the Unionist party must indeed be the leading 
 element and member upon one side, though not the only one ; 
 and on which our Socialistic friends, who have just hauled up 
 their flag, will doubtless be the militant force upon the other. 
 Between the two ideals of social construction which those two 
 bodies of opinion represent is to be the great fight in the 
 future. Both are agreed, as I understand it, that it is the duty 
 of Parliament to do its best' for every class in the community, 
 and that the theories of unrestricted competition which were 
 once the favourite doctrine of the Radical party, though they 
 
46 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 never were the favourite doctrine of the Tory party both sides 
 admit that this doctrine of the unrestricted play of free com- 
 petition in every sphere of social life is one which you cannot 
 maintain untouched. But though there is an agreement to that 
 extent between these two parties of the future, there remains that 
 profound and impassable gulf of which I spoke a few moments 
 ago, that gulf which divides those who on the one side think 
 that the main object of the attention of the social reformer 
 should not be so much the production of wealth as its distri- 
 bution, who think, therefore, that the State in its corporate 
 capacity must take over all the means of production and all the 
 methods of distribution ; and those on the other side of the gulf 
 who agree with us in this room that, if you want to consider 
 the material welfare of the community, your gaze should be 
 fixed primarily and essentially upon the production of wealth, 
 that unless you have something to divide the question of 
 distribution falls into the background, and that the production 
 of the wealth itself, according to all that experience and all 
 that reason teaches us, is a production which never can be 
 carried to its highest perfection unless you bring to the service 
 of humanity all that science can teach, all that enterprise can 
 give, all that can be done, and done only, by people who are 
 ready to take risks, who are ready to suffer if they fail, and who 
 must be allowed to profit if they succeed. (Cheers.) That is a 
 theory which, as I think, must lie at the basis for all time of 
 every great successful and productive community. Be your 
 social legislation what it may, turn your attention as closely as 
 you like to the great and beneficent task of ameliorating the 
 lot of the less fortunate members of the community, at the basis 
 of it all, and for the benefit of all, there must be that security 
 of property, that recognition of the value of independent effort, 
 on which all successful societies have hitherto been based, and 
 on which, as long as human nature remains what it is, successful 
 societies must be based in the future. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Sir F. Banbury also responded to the toast. 
 
 The toast of "The Chairman" was proposed by Mr. Balfour, 
 and Sir J. Dimsdale briefly responded. 
 
 PRECIS OF MR. BALFOUR'S SPEECH. 
 
 ON CURRENT POLITICS. 
 
 On January 23, 1908, Mr. Balfour and Sir F. Banbury, 
 the members for the City of London, were entertained by 
 the City Conservative Association at luncheon in Merchant 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 47 
 
 Taylors' Hall. Sir Joseph Dimsdale presided, and proposed 
 the health of the guests. 
 
 Mr. Balfour, in reply, dwelt on the lessons of the Mid- 
 Devon election. The plainest and most obvious of these 
 lessons was the deep interest which the great controversy 
 of fiscal reform had excited in all classes of the electorate. 
 The measures of the Government were based on no broad 
 principle of sound statesmanship, and while little qualified 
 to benefit anybody, they were very well qualified to injure 
 somebody. 
 
 The members of the Labour Party had now definitely 
 hoisted their red flag, and announced their advocacy of a 
 scheme of social reconstruction which, if it were realised, 
 would be the greatest calamity that had ever happened, 
 not to the rich, but to the poor. 
 
 After further criticising the policy of Ministers, Mr. 
 Balfour contended that there was now little room in our 
 political constitution for the old-fashioned Liberals. We 
 were tending towards a rearrangement of political forces, 
 in which the Unionist party must be the leading element 
 on the one side, and the Socialists would doubtless be the 
 militant force on the other. 
 
 HAMLET REVISITED. 1897. 
 
 The worst of the application of the long-run system to heroic 
 plays is that, instead of killing the actor, it drives him to limit 
 nimself to such effects as he can repeat to infinity without com- 
 mitting suicide. The opposite system, in its extreme form of 
 the old stock company playing two or three different pieces 
 every night, led to the same evasion in a more offensive form. 
 The recent correspondence in the Morning Post on the stage as a 
 Profession, to which I have myself luminously contributed, has 
 produced the usual fallacious eulogies of the old stock company 
 as a school of acting. You can no more prevent contributors 
 to public correspondences falling into this twenty-times-exploded 
 error than from declaring that duelling was a school of good 
 manners, that the lash suppressed garrotting, or any other of 
 the gratuitous ignorances of the amateur sociologist. The truth 
 is, it is just as impossible for a human being to study and per- 
 form a new part of any magnitude every day as to play Hamlet 
 for a hundred consecutive nights. Nevertheless, if an actor is 
 
48 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 required to do these things, he will find some way "out of the 
 difficulty without refusing. The stock actor solved the problem 
 by adopting a "line" : for example, if his " line" was old age, 
 he acquired a trick of doddering and speaking in a cracked 
 voice ; if juvenility, he swaggered and effervesced. With these 
 accomplishments, eked out by a few rules of thumb as to wigs 
 and face-painting, one deplorable step dance, and one still more 
 deplorable " combat," he " swallowed " every part given to him 
 in a couple of hours, and regurgitated it in the evening over the 
 footlights, always in the same manner, however finely the 
 dramatist might have individualised it. His infamous incom- 
 petence at last swept him from the reputable theatres into the 
 barns and booths ; and it was then that he became canonised, in 
 the imagination of a posterity that had never suffered from him, 
 as the incarnation of the one quality in which he was quite 
 damnably deficient ; to wit, versatility. His great contribution 
 to dramatic art was the knack of earning a living for fifty years 
 on the stage without ever really acting, or either knowing or 
 caring for the difference between the " Comedy of Errors " and 
 " Box and Cox." 
 
 A moment's consideration will show that the results of the 
 long-run system at its worst are more bearable than the horrors 
 of the past. Also, that even in point of giving the actor some 
 chance of varying his work, the long-run system is superior, 
 since the modern actor may at all events exhaust the possibilities 
 of his part before it exhausts him, whereas the stock actor, 
 having barely time to apply his bag of tricks to his daily task, 
 never varies his treatment by a hair's-breadth from one half- 
 century to another. The best system, of course, lies between 
 these extremes. Take the case of the great Italian actors who 
 have visited us, and whose acting is of an excellence apparently 
 quite beyond the reach of our best English performers. We 
 find them extremely chary of playing every night. They have 
 a repertory containing plays which count as resting places for 
 them. For example, Duse relieves Magda with Mirandolina, 
 just as our own Shakesperean star actors used to relieve Richard 
 the Third and Othello with Charles Surface and Son Felix. But 
 even with this mitigation no actor can possibly play leading 
 parts of the first order six nights a week all the year round 
 unless he underplays them, or routines them mechanically in 
 the old stock manner, or faces a terrible risk of disablement by 
 paralysis, or, finally resorts to alcohol or morphia, with the 
 usual penalties. What we want in order to get the best work 
 is a repertory theatre with alternative casts. If, for instance, 
 we could have " Hamlet " 
 Irving and Miss Ellen 
 
 ; " running at the Lyceum with Sir Henry 
 Terry on Thursdays and Saturdays, Mr. 
 
EXERCISES AND SOLUTIONS. 49 
 
 Forbes Robertson and Mrs. Patrick Campbell on Wednesdays 
 and Fridays, and the other two days devoted to comedies in 
 which all four could occasionally appear, with such comedians as 
 Mr. Charles Wyndham, Mr. Weedon Grossmith, Mr. Bourchier, 
 Mr. Cyril Maude, and Mr. Hawtrey, then we should have a 
 theatre which we could invite serious people to attend without 
 positively insulting them. I am aware that the precise com- 
 bination which I have named is not altogether a probable one at 
 present ; but there is no reason why we should not at least turn 
 our faces in that direction. The actor-manager system, which 
 has hitherto meant the star system carried to its utmost possible 
 extreme, has made the theatre so insufferable that, now that its 
 monopoly has been broken up by the rise of the suburban 
 theatres, there is a distinct weakening of the jealous and shame- 
 less individualism of the last twenty years, and a movement 
 towards combination and co-operation. 
 
 (GEORGE BERNARD SHAW Dramatic Opinions and Essays.) 
 
 PRECIS OF "HAMLET REVISITED." 
 
 The long-run system undoubtedly tends to stultify the 
 art of acting. It is wrong to suppose, however, that the 
 old stock company had not even a more deleterious effect 
 on that art. The remedy for the present unsatisfactory 
 situation lies in the establishment of a repertory theatre 
 with alternate casts of our most talented artistes. Although 
 the adoption of this remedy is for the moment highly 
 improbable, the invasion' of the monopoly of the actor- 
 manager system by the rise of the suburban theatres points 
 to greater combination and co-operation in the future. 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 1. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO A PROPOSED 
 COLONIAL CONFERENCE IN 1907. 
 
 No. 1. NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 Governor Sir Wm. MacGregor to Mr. Lyttelton. 
 
 (Received December 2, 1905.) 
 
 Government House, St. John's, November 18, 1905. 
 SIR, With reference to your despatch of 16th October, I have 
 the honour to inform you that my Ministers agree in principle 
 to the institution of the contemplated Joint Commission. 
 
 I have, etc., WM. MACGREGOR. 
 
 No. 2. CANADA. 
 
 Governor-General Earl Grey to Mr. Lyttelton. 
 (Received 7.50 p.m., December 5, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 Referring to your telegram of 29th November, Responsible 
 Ministers have no objection to Colonial Conference being held 
 in 1907 instead of 1906. 
 
 No. 3. NATAL. 
 
 Governor Sir H. E. M'Callum to the Earl of Elgin. 
 (Received 11 a.m., December 22, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 22. No. 1. Referring to your telegram, 29th 
 November, Ministers are agreeable to postponement of next 
 Colonial Conference until 1907. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 51 
 
 No. 4. CAPE COLONY. 
 
 Governor Sir W. F. Hely-Hutchinson to Mr. Lyttelton. 
 
 (Received December 23, 1905.) 
 
 Government House, Cape Town, December 6, 1905. 
 SIR, I have the honour to transmit to you the document 
 specified in the annexed schedule. 
 
 I have, etc., WALTER HELY-HDTCHINSON. 
 
 Date. 
 
 Description of Document. 
 
 6th December, 1905 
 
 Minute from. Ministers. 
 
 Date of meeting of the next 
 Conference. 
 
 Colonial 
 
 Enclosure in No. 4. 
 (Minute.) Ministers to Governor. 
 
 Prime Minister's Office, Cape Town, December 6, 1905. 
 In acknowledging the receipt of His Excellency the Governor's 
 minute of the 30th ultimo, transmitting a copy of a telegram 
 from the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies, dated the 29th idem, relative to the date of meeting of 
 the next Colonial Conference, Ministers have the honour to 
 state in reply that they are desirous that the Conference should 
 meet in the year 1906, due consideration being given, however, 
 to the wishes and necessities of the various Colonial Govern- 
 ments in regard to the actual date of assembly. 
 
 T. W. SMARTT. 
 
 No. 5. AUSTRALIA. 
 
 Governor- General Lord Northcote to the Earl of Elgin. 
 (Received 7.50 a.m., December 23, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 Referring to your telegram of 29th November, Colonial 
 Conference, Government have no objection to postponement, 
 1907. 
 
 No. 6. NEWFOUNDLAND. 
 
 Governor Sir Wm. MacGregor to Mr. Lyttelton. 
 
 (Received December 28, 1905.) 
 
 Government House, St. John's, December 8, 1905. 
 SIR, With reference to your telegram of the 29th November, 
 I have the honour to inform you that my Ministers are of 
 
52 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 opinion that it would be advisable to postpone the meeting of 
 the Colonial Conference till 1907. 
 
 I have, etc., WM. MAGGREGOR. 
 
 No. 7. NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Governor Lord Plunket to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 (Received 7.40 a.m., January 26, 1906.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 Following telegram received from Premier : 
 
 Begins : Government of New Zealand see no objection to 
 postponement of Imperial Conference of Prime Ministers 
 until 1907, but would prefer that it should be held at an 
 early date in that year. 
 
 No. 8. 
 The Earl of Elgin to the Governors of Self -Governing Colonies. 
 
 Telegram. 
 (Sent February 19, 1906.) 
 
 Referring to my predecessor's telegram of 20th November, 
 and to your reply, His Majesty's Government propose that 
 Colonial Conference should meet early in March, 1907, as it 
 seems impossible to arrange a meeting conveniently this year. 
 I shall be glad to learn that this date will suit your Prime 
 Minister. 
 
 Despatch follows by mail. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 The Earl of Elgin to the Governors of Self -Governing Colonies. 
 MY LORD, Downing Street, February 22, 1906. 
 
 SIR, My predecessor, in his telegram of the 29th November 
 last, suggested that it might be advisable to postpone the 
 Colonial Conference until the year 1907, since it was not possible 
 for the Prime Ministers of the Australian Commonwealth and of 
 New Zealand to attend a Conference in 1906 if it was held later 
 than in the spring, and it did not then appear to be practicable 
 to make preparation for a Conference by that time. 
 
 2. I have now the honour to enclose, for the information of 
 your Ministers, copies of the replies received from the several 
 Colonies, from which it will be seen that while the Cape 
 Ministers desired that the Conference should meet this year, 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 53 
 
 the other Governments agreed to postponement until next year, 
 and the Government of New Zealand expressed a hope that the 
 meeting might take place early in the year. 
 
 3. I accordingly informed you, in my telegram of the 19th 
 instant, that His Majesty's Government proposed that the 
 Conference should meet early in March, 1907, and added that I 
 should be glad to learn if that date would be convenient to your 
 Prime Minister. 
 
 4. My predecessor communicated to your Government, in his 
 despatch of 7th December last, the Parliamentary Paper con- 
 taining the correspondence with various Colonial Governments 
 arising out of his despatch of 20th April, which dealt with 
 certain proposals respecting the organization of future Colonial 
 Conferences. I do not feel myself called upon to adopt the 
 recommendation of those proposals ; but in view of the ex- 
 pressions of opinion received from the Colonies I think that it 
 will be desirable that the scheme should be freely discussed 
 when the Conference meets. 
 
 5. It will much facilitate the proceedings of the Conference 
 by enabling full preparation to be made beforehand, if your 
 Government will communicate to me, so as to reach me not 
 later than the 1st of September next, a statement as to any 
 subjects which they desire to be discussed, and as to any resolu- 
 tions which they wish to submit to the Conference. 
 
 6. I will address you in due course as regards the subjects 
 which His Majesty's Government may wish to bring before the 
 Conference. 
 
 7. His Majesty's Government feel every confidence that the 
 next Conference, like those which have preceded it, will help to 
 increase the good understanding and cordial feeling which exist 
 between the Governments of the various self-governing com- 
 munities of the Empire. 
 
 I have, etc., ELGIN. 
 
 No. 10. NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 Governor Lord Plunket to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 (Received 7.50 a.m., April 27, 1906.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 Colonial Conference. My Responsible Advisers, whilst aware 
 that Governments of self-governing Colonies will be invited to 
 submit proposals for consideration at Conference, would be glad 
 to know whether proposals concerning fiscal matters and prefer- 
 ential trade throughout Empire will be admitted. 
 
54 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 No. 11. NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 The Earl of Elgin to Governor Lord Plunket. 
 
 (Sent May 12, 1906.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 Referring to your telegram of 27th April, any proposals 
 regarding fiscal matters which your Prime Minister may wish 
 to bring forward will be submitted to Conference, in accordance 
 with my despatch of 22nd February. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 The Earl of Elgin to the Governors of Self -Governing Colonies. 
 
 (Sent 2.45 p.m., May 12, 1906.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 Referring to my despatch 22nd February, I have now ascer- 
 tained by communication with all the Colonies concerned that 
 the date for Colonial Conference most acceptable to all Premiers, 
 having regard to the varying conditions involved in the meeting 
 of their Legislatures, will be April 15th next, in place of the 
 previous suggestion of a date early in March. I have, there- 
 fore, much pleasure, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, in 
 inviting your Prime Minister to attend the Conference on 15th 
 April. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 2. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO SUEZ CANAL 
 DUES. 
 
 No. 1. Board of Trade to Foreign Office. 
 
 Keceived July 7. 
 
 Board of Trade, July 6, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by the Board of Trade to transmit to 
 you, for the information of Sir E. Grey, the accompanying copy 
 of a letter from the Colonial Office, forwarding a despatch from 
 the Governor-General of Australia, suggesting that His Majesty's 
 Government should use their influence to secure a reduction in 
 the charges imposed by the Suez Canal authorities. 
 
 The Board have informed the Colonial Office that the transit 
 dues of the Suez Canal Company were reduced on the 1st 
 January last to the extent of 75 centimes, but I am to suggest, 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 55 
 
 for Sir E. Grey's consideration, that the British Directors of the 
 Company may be asked for their observations on this com- 
 munication. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) WALTER J. HOWELL. 
 
 Inclosure 1 in No. 1. 
 Colonial Office to Board of Trade. 
 
 Downing Street, June 27, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by the Earl of Elgin to transmit, for any 
 observations the Board of Trade may have to offer thereon, the 
 accompanying copy of a despatch from the Governor-General of 
 Australia, suggesting, at the instance of his Ministers, that His 
 Majesty's Government should, in the interests of inter- Imperial 
 trade and immigration, use their influence to secure a reduction 
 in the charges imposed by the Suez Canal authorities. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) H. BERTRAM Cox. 
 
 Inelosure 2 in No. 1. 
 Governor-General Lord Northcote to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 Sydney, May 15, 1906. 
 
 My LORD, I have the honour to inform your Lordship that 
 my Ministers have recently been making inquiries with a view 
 to considering measures for the improvement of the present 
 means of transport between Australia and Great Britain, for 
 the purpose of the encouragement of trade and the carriage of 
 immigrants at cheap lutes. 
 
 2. In the course of inquiries the important question has 
 arisen as to the route followed by steam-ships trading between 
 England and Australia, the voyage via the Cape of Good Hope 
 involving a delay of several days as compared with that via the 
 Red Sea and the Suez Canal. 
 
 3. It has been learned that many shipowners are deterred 
 from taking the shorter route by reason of the very heavy 
 charges which are imposed by the Suez Canal authorities. Ship- 
 owners are compelled either to increase their rates for passage 
 and freight by adding the Canal dues, or else to take the longer 
 but less expensive course round South Africa. As every 
 shortening of the voyage between Great Britain and Australia 
 is valuable to shippers of perishable and other products, especi- 
 ally in certain seasons, my Ministers are anxious that no nreans 
 shall be left untried to induce the ships to use the Suez Canal. 
 
 4. Seeing that the Canal dues enable shareholders to receive 
 a dividend of 28 per cent., my Ministers are of opinion that the 
 time has arrived for the reconsideration of the existing rates, 
 and possibly for a substantial reduction therein, and they 
 
56 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 suggest that, on behalf of Australia, as well as of all other 
 British possessions lying to the east of Egypt, the influence of 
 the British Government might be employed in procuring con- 
 cessions which would have an early and material effect on 
 inter- Empire trade, as well as upon the volume of traffic which 
 will pass through the Canal. 
 
 I have, etc. (Signed) NORTHCOTE. 
 
 No. 2. British Suez Canal Directors to Sir Edward Grey. 
 (Received September 4. ) 
 
 Paris, August 31, 1906. 
 
 SIR, In conformity with the instructions contained in your 
 despatch of the 13th ultimo, we have the honour to submit, for the 
 information of the Secretary of State, the following observations. 
 
 We have perused the inclosures which are forwarded in the 
 despatch, and have given special attention to the letter in which 
 the Governor-General of Australia invokes the employment of 
 the influence of the British Government to procure concessions 
 in the way of a reduction of the existing rates of dues on vessels 
 passing through the Suez Canal. 
 
 Lord Northcote's Ministers adduce four reasons in support of 
 a reduction of the Tariff. 
 
 1. That shipowners are deterred from taking the shorter 
 route on account of the very heavy charges. 
 
 2. That the dividends now paid amount to 28 per cent. 
 
 3. That the inter- Empire trade would be beneficially affected. 
 
 4. That the volume of traffic through the Canal would be 
 increased. 
 
 Although these points have been discussed in considerable 
 detail in previous correspondence between the Foreign Office 
 and ourselves, we will again review the arguments briefly. 
 
 1. With regard to the first statement, the statistics of navi- 
 gation by the Canal route present incontrovertible evidence 
 that during the thirty years in which it has been in existence 
 the number of ships which have made use of it has greatly and, 
 with the exception of minor fluctuations, steadily increased, viz., 
 from 2,000,000 tons net in 1876 to 13,000,000 tons in 1905. 
 
 Although it might reasonably be supposed that this six-fold 
 increase was in the main due to the reductions which have been 
 made in the tonnage rates, little or no relation in the way of 
 cause and effect can be traced between them, while the increased 
 traffic appears to be proportionate to the growth of the mari- 
 time commerce of the world in a very exact measure. 
 
 Paradoxical as it may appear, we are assured by many large 
 shipowners that, although reductions in the Tariff are welcomed 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 57 
 
 by them, these reductions have practically no effect in increasing 
 the Canal traffic, or in diverting from the Cape to the Canal 
 route any material amount of tonnage. Far more importance 
 is attached by them to the widening and deepening of the Canal 
 than to any reduction in the charges for its use. 
 
 It cannot therefore be maintained that the charges are 
 deterrent, as alleged, but we have always supported their 
 reduction, and we would point out that the dues, which were 
 originally, in 1869, fixed at 10 fr. per ton, and raised to 13 fr. 
 per ton in 1874, have by successive stages been reduced to 7 fr. 
 75 c. per ton, at which rate they now stand. The last reduction 
 of 75 centimes per ton was conceded as recently as from the 
 1st January of this year, and followed on a reduction of 50 
 centimes per ton made on the 1st January, 1903, amounting to 
 a total reduction by 14 per cent, of the Tariff during the last 
 three years. 
 
 2. While the present dividend of 28 per cent, on the 500-fr. 
 share is an undoubted sign of the great prosperity of the 
 enterprise, we cannot regard it as a proof that its profits are 
 exorbitant. The arrangement which admits of this result was 
 agreed to between the shipowners and M. Ferdinand de Lesseps 
 in 1882, neither party at the time anticipating its realization. 
 It must be borne in mind that from 1869 to 1870 the share- 
 holders only received a yearly dividend of 5 per cent. ; from 
 July 1871 to July 1874 the dividend was passed and replaced 
 by a certificate for 85 fr., which was subsequently paid. From 
 that date to July last the average of the dividends has been 
 16 per cent., but from the formation of the Company to the 
 present date it has only amounted, in round figures, to 12^ per 
 cent., and, owing to the large increase in the market value of 
 the shares, the return to the purchasers for some years has 
 ranged between 3 and 4 per cent. 
 
 It is manifest that the body of shareholders is interested in 
 maintaining the growth of the dividend, and that their voting, 
 power at a general meeting would most probably be exercised 
 in favour of further increase (with the exception, of course, of 
 the British vote, which very inadequately represents the pro- 
 portion of shares held by His Majesty's Government). We are, 
 however, still hopeful that a method of adjusting the partition 
 of surplus revenue, more acceptable to the clients of the 
 Company, may be eventually arrived at. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that the Company spends every year 
 large sums on the improvement of the Canal, and that a scheme 
 of important works is being carried out with a view, on the one 
 hand, to widen the Canal, which will enable the passage to be 
 made more quickly ; and, on the other, to deepen it, which 
 
58 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 would enable a large number of vessels to carry more cargo, 
 and thus increase their freight-carrying capacity. If further 
 sacrifices were asked and obtained from the shareholders the 
 result would probably be a delay in carrying out the work of 
 improvement, if not its entire cessation, a result known to be 
 quite contrary to the wishes of the shipowners. 
 
 3. That the inter-Empire trade would be beneficially affected 
 is, no doubt, a very valid reason for both the Home and Colonial 
 Governments to press for further reductions ; but these would 
 obviously have a precisely opposite effect upon the foreign 
 rivals of our maritime commerce through the Canal, and it 
 would be futile to urge this argument upon our Continental 
 colleagues. 
 
 4. It has often been alleged that the volume of traffic through 
 the Canal would increase on a reduction of tariff ; but this con- 
 tention is not wholly borne out by the facts, for the reasons 
 that we have already assigned. While we do not altogether 
 deny that some slight increase of volume has followed reductions 
 of tariff, the only conspicuous result is a diminution of receipts. 
 This is especially apparent in the present year, when the tariff 
 has just been reduced by 75 centimes. The consequent loss 
 would, at the present date, have amounted to at least 400,000, 
 if the traffic had not been considerably increased by the return 
 to Europe, through the Canal, of the Russian troops engaged in 
 the Far East. 
 
 The Board of Trade, having been kept fully informed by the 
 Foreign Office of all the somewhat complicated conditions 
 affecting Suez Canal tariffs, will be in a position to give its 
 views upon the points raised by Lord Northcote in his despatch. 
 While we cordially agree in the general aspirations of the 
 Australian Government, we have, as the representatives of the 
 financial interests of His Majesty's Government, to protect 
 the large revenue which now accrues to the Exchequer ; and 
 *we submit that any further reductions of the tariff would 
 practically amount to a subsidy to ships using the Canal, at 
 the cost, to a great extent, of pecuniary loss to His Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 We have, etc. (Signed) H. AUSTIN LEE. 
 
 JOHN C. ARDAGII. 
 
 H. T. ANSTRUTHER. 
 
 No. 3. Foreign Office to Board of Trade. 
 
 Foreign Office, September 12, 1906. 
 
 SIR, With reference to your letter of the 6th July last, I am 
 directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to transmit to you, to be laid 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 59 
 
 before the Board of Trade, the accompanying copy of a despatch 
 from the British Directors of the Suez Canal Company, 1 in con- 
 nection with the request of the Governor-General of Australia 
 that His Majesty's Government should use their influence 
 to secure a reduction in the charges imposed by the Canal 
 authorities. 
 
 A copy of this despatch has also been communicated to the 
 Treasury, and Sir E. Grey would request that the reply to 
 the Governor-General of Australia should be deferred until the 
 Lords Commissioners have had the opportunity of expressing 
 their views on the subject. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) F. A. CAMPBELL. 
 
 No. 4. Foreign Office to Treasury. 
 
 Foreign Office, September 12, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to transmit to 
 you, to be laid before the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, 
 the accompanying copy of a despatch from the British Directors 
 of the Suez Canal Company, in connection with the request of 
 the Governor-General of Australia that His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment should use their influence to secure a reduction in the 
 charges imposed by the Canal authorities. 
 
 A copy of this despatch has also been communicated to the 
 Board of Trade, but Sir E. Grey has requested that that 
 Department should defer making any reply to the Colonial 
 Office pending the receipt of their Lordships' views on the 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) F. A. CAMPBELL. 
 
 No. 5. Treasury to Foreign Office. 
 
 (Received October 2.) 
 
 Treasury Chambers, October 1, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have laid before the Lords Commissioners of His 
 Majesty's Treasury Mr. Campbell's letter of the 12th ultimo, 
 inclosing copy of a despatch from the British Directors of the 
 Suez Canal Company on the subject of the Australian Govern- 
 ment's request that the influence of His Majesty's Government 
 may be used to secure a reduction in the charges imposed on 
 traffic through the Canal. 
 
 In reply their Lordships direct me to acquaint you, for the 
 information of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that 
 they concur in the views expressed by the Directors, and that 
 
 J No. 2. 
 
60 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 a reply to the Australian Government in that sense would meet 
 with their approval. 
 
 While my Lords are in full sympathy with the object of the 
 Commonwealth Ministers, they do not think that anything 
 would be gained by the attempt to pursue that object without 
 due regard to the interests of those who have a purely financial 
 concern in the affairs of the Canal. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) E. W. HAMILTON. 
 
 No. 6. Board of Trade to Foreign Office. 
 
 (Received October 17.) 
 
 Board of Trade, October 16, 1906. 
 
 SIR, With reference to your letter of the llth instant, 
 transmitting a copy of a letter from the Treasury respecting 
 the Australian Government's request that the influence of His 
 Majesty's Government may be used to secure a reduction in 
 the Suez Canal dues, I am directed by the Board of Trade to 
 state, for the information of Sir E. Grey, that they propose 
 to send a copy of the despatch from the British Directors of 
 the Suez Canal Company which accompanied your letter of the 
 12th ultimo to the Colonial Office, and to communicate to that 
 Department the substance of the Treasury letter, with an 
 intimation that the Board, having regard to all the circum- 
 stances of the case, acquiesce in the views expressed therein. 
 
 The Board will be glad to be informed whether Sir E. Grey 
 concurs in this proposal. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) WALTER J. HOWELL. 
 
 No. 7. Foreign Office to Board of Trade. 
 
 Foreign Office, October 18, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I am directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to acknowledge 
 the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant respecting a 
 reduction of the Suez Canal dues, and to state that he concurs 
 in the proposal of the Board of Trade as expressed therein. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) E. GORST. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 The Earl of Elgin to Governor-General Lord Northcote. 
 
 Downing Street, October 31, 1906. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to transmit, for the informa- 
 tion of your Ministers, the accompanying copy of a letter l from 
 
 i No. 2. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 61 
 
 the British Directors of the Suez Canal Company regarding the 
 charges imposed by the Suez Canal authorities. 
 
 I am informed that the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury 
 and the Board of Trade concur in the views expressed by the 
 Directors, and that although they are in full sympathy with 
 the object of your Ministers, they do not think that anything 
 would be gained by an attempt to pursue that object without 
 due regard to the interests of those who have a purely financial 
 concern in the affairs of the Suez Canal. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) ELGIN. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 3. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE TENURE OF 
 LAND IN FIJI. 
 
 No. 1. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received April 2, 1906.) 
 
 Government House, Suva, Fiji, February 20, 1906. 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to transmit for your informa- 
 tion a copy of an agreement l between the Government of Fiji 
 and the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Limited, for the 
 completion of a road and tramline between the districts of Ba 
 and Lautoka and Nadi, and to report, as follows, on the circum- 
 stances which have led up to the agreement. 
 
 2. Towards the end of 1904 the Colonial Sugar Refining Com- 
 pany invited the consent of the Government to the construction 
 by the Company of a road and tramline, to connect existing 
 roads, between Ba and Lautoka, partly through Government 
 and Native Lands, and partly through land under Crown 
 Grant to certain private individuals. To this proposal the 
 Government was willing to consent, and obtained the consent 
 of. the Natives, but nothing further was done in the matter 
 pending the settlement of negotiations between the Company 
 and the other owners of land through which the road must 
 pass. 
 
 3. In July, 1905, the Company again addressed the Govern- 
 ment, stating that it had been unable to come to terms with 
 three European landowners, viz., Messrs. Smart and Pfluger 
 and Dr. Hallen, and it made the request that the Government 
 
 1 Not printed. 
 
62 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 should exercise its right of resuming the land required on the 
 ground that the road was not merely necessary for the Com- 
 pany's operations, but that the construction of the thoroughfare 
 and the provision, as I shall presently explain, of a tram service 
 for passengers and goods, gave the undertaking the status of a 
 very advantageous public purpose. 
 
 4. It may be useful here briefly to explain the general con- 
 ditions which have given rise to the undertaking which is the 
 subject of this agreement. The Colonial Sugar Ee fining Com- 
 pany, Limited, the largest sugar exporting company and 
 perhaps the most important commercial factor in the pros- 
 perity of the Colony, besides its mills on the Rewa, on the 
 south side of Viti Levu, and at Labasa in Vanua Levu, now 
 owns two large mills at Rarawai and Lautoka, both on the north 
 coast of Viti Levu. It is with these two latter mills, and the 
 long coast land, some 45 miles long, from which these derive 
 their supply of cane, that we are here concerned. Rarawai, 
 the older of the two mills, is on the Ba river and nearly at the 
 eastern end of this particular stretch of cane land ; Lautoka is 
 some 27 miles to the westward ; and the cane land, with some 
 more or less inconsiderable breaks, extends some 18 miles 
 further westward to Nadi. These mills are fed with cane 
 produced not only on the many plots of the Company's own 
 land scattered from end to end of the area, but also to a large 
 and increasing extent with that produced on many pieces of 
 
 mys ana others lying 
 round Rarawai, with that mill ; and a similar tramline runs 
 from Teidamu, i.e., the eastward extremity of the present 
 Lautoka cultivation, past Lautoka mill and on some 23 miles 
 beyond to Nadi. The use of these two tramlines is to carry to 
 the respective mills all cane, whether grown by the Company 
 or by others. The two lines are, however, not connected, there 
 being a gap of some 1 8 miles between the end of the Rarawai 
 system and Teidamu on the Lautoka system ; and the object of 
 the Company is for its own business and that of its cane- 
 growing clients to connect the two. A track, partly good and 
 partly very bad, but never worthy of the name of road, runs 
 through the whole district, and the object of the Government is 
 to get both a good road and a tram service open for the use of 
 the public, both those resident within the district and those 
 having occasion to pass through the district to the parts beyond. 
 The Agreement which I am now forwarding will give both 
 those advantages, and will without doubt tend greatly to the 
 general development of that part of the country. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 63 
 
 5. The Company undertakes to make a roadway for foot or 
 vehicular traffic, including drains, 20 feet wide, a grass track 
 for cattle 20 feet wide, and a track 23 feet wide upon which it 
 is to be allowed to lay down a tramline. It is to provide 
 suitable bridges or culverts as required, and to hand over the 
 road, when completed to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of 
 Works, to be proclaimed as a public thoroughfare, the tramline, 
 except where it passes over the bridges, being set apart for the 
 use of the Company, who, however, bind themselves to run 
 certain special passenger trains for the use of the public, and 
 for the conveyance of the goods of the public. 
 
 6. Provision is made in the first clause of the Agreement that 
 Government shall reserve such land and acquire such native 
 land as may be necessary for the purpose indicated ; and clause 
 9 provides that the Company shall pay reasonable compensation 
 for damage that may be caused to crops by the carrying out of 
 the project. Arrangements have been made to acquire the 
 native land, estimated in all at 70 acres, as may be required, at 
 a cost of 1 per acre, and the necessary notification of resump- 
 tion of the area required for the road has been published in the 
 Royal Gazette, and given to the landholders concerned. 
 
 7. I must add that Mr. Smart protested against the resump- 
 tion of that portion of his land necessary for the road, and that 
 he saw me personally on the matter. Messrs. Pfluger and 
 Hallen have also made formal protest to the same effect. But 
 after very careful consideration, both personal and on several 
 occasions in Executive Council, I am of opinion that it is greatly 
 for the public interest that the Crown should, in this case, 
 exercise the right, specially reserved to it in the Crown Grants 
 to these persons, to resume such of the land as is necessary for 
 this public purpose ; and I am certain that the estates of the 
 protestants will benefit as will the rest of the district. 
 
 8. I trust the Agreement will meet with your Lordship's 
 approval. 
 
 I have, etc., EVERARD IM THURN. 
 
 No. 2. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received December 10, 1906.) 
 
 Government House, Suva, Fiji, October 26, 1906. 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to transmit for the signification 
 of His Majesty's pleasure, two sealed and seven plain copies of 
 Ordinance No. XVI. of 1906, "An Ordinance to amend the 
 Law relating to the Acquisition of Land by the Crown," together 
 with the explanatory report * thereon by the Attorney -General. 
 
 1 Not printed. 
 
64 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 2. It is my duty to add that in Legislative Council the 
 Ordinance met with the unanimous opposition of the Elected 
 Members, whose prayer that His Majesty may not assent to it 
 is transmitted by this mail, that the two Native Members voted 
 against it, and that I promised the Elected M embers that no 
 action would be taken under the Ordinance until your reply to 
 their petition has been received. 
 
 3. The Ordinance is, in my opinion, very desirable owing to 
 the peculiar circumstances of this Colony where almost all the 
 land is vested in the natives, and such of it as has been alienated 
 is in the hands of a very few Europeans. The Government has 
 practically no land at its disposal for settlement purposes, and, 
 although so far little difficulty has been experienced in dealings 
 between the Government and the natives, dealings between the 
 natives and Europeans and European landowners and others 
 have not been so fortunate. A reference to my despatch of 
 20th February will serve to illustrate the kind of difficulty to 
 which I refer. The proposal of the Colonial Sugar Refining 
 Company to erect a new section of tramline between their Ba 
 and Lautoka Estates and thus to complete the tramline which 
 will shortly serve some 70 miles of that coast, was nearly 
 thrown out owing to the attitude adopted by European land- 
 owners, and was only carried out by the interposition of 
 Government, which acquired the land for the purposes of a 
 road and upon the land so acquired allowed the company to 
 make the road and to erect a tramline available for public use. 
 
 4. The procedure adopted in the case cited was not, it seemed 
 to me, unexceptionable, in that the land resumed for a public 
 road was also put to other purposes, which, though serving a 
 purpose very useful both to the Colony at large and to the 
 travelling public, might possibly be described as not actually a 
 public purpose in the strict sense of those words. A similar 
 case might arise at any moment, and I consider the Governor 
 in Council would be amply justified in using the powers con- 
 ferred by the present Ordinance if the parties failed to come to 
 an agreement. 
 
 5. To turn now to the question of native lands. The natives 
 possess, as your Lordship is aware, vast areas of land which 
 they do not and cannot utilise except by lease or sale to non- 
 natives, and it is only within the last few months that they 
 have been allowed to sell their lands or that any great demand 
 has been made for acquisition of these lands. But attention 
 has now been drawn to the Colony, and applications in large 
 numbers are being received from settlers desiring to come here ; 
 and, unless the Colony is to remain undeveloped, means must 
 be taken to ensure their getting land on reasonable terms. In 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 65 
 
 most cases little difficulty is experienced ; but, as applications 
 increase and the natives realise that from them only can land 
 be obtained, I am by no means sure that they will not retard 
 settlement by refusing to accept lower prices for land in remote 
 districts and unsuited for cane-growing, than they demand and 
 receive in and around the sugar centres. 
 
 6. I should like here to say that I am satisfied that the votes 
 of the two Native Members of Legislative Council against the 
 Ordinance meant little but were solely due to the prompting of 
 the European Members ; and in this respect it is somewhat 
 interesting to note that at least one of the European Members 
 at a subsequent stage of the same sitting declared in favour of 
 at any rate restricting the operation of the Ordinance to Native 
 lands only. 
 
 7. A proposal has been mooted by a private company to lay a 
 railway between Suva and Eewa. Such an undertaking would 
 very greatly and directly benefit the Colony ; but if the pro- 
 posal were finally adopted, both by the Government and the 
 Company, it could, I am convinced, acquire the land on suffi- 
 ciently reasonable terms, only if the powers conferred by the 
 present Ordinance were exercised by the Government. 
 
 8. I cannot conceive that the Governor in Council will, in any 
 case, use the powers conferred on him in any arbitrary manner : 
 and land can be acquired under the Ordinance only upon pay- 
 ment of compensation to be fixed as in the case of land acquired 
 for public purposes, i.e., that the market price, or possibly a 
 somewhat higher rate would be fixed by the arbitrators 
 appointed by the two parties or failing agreement by them, by 
 the Supreme Court. 
 
 9. Having given due consideration to the matter and to the 
 views of the Elected and Native Members, I recommend that 
 His Majesty be not advised to exercise his powers of disallow- 
 ance in respect of the Ordinance. 
 
 I have, etc., EVERARD IM THURN. 
 
 Enclosure in No. 2. 
 AN ORDNANCE TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO THE 
 
 ACQUISITION OF LAND BY THE CROWN. 
 [L.S.] / assent. 
 
 EVERARD IM THURN : 
 
 24th October, 1906. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Governor with the advice and consent of 
 the Legislative Council as follows : 
 
 1. This Ordinance may be cited for all purposes as "The 
 Acquisition of Lands Ordinance 1906." 
 
66 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 2. In "The Crown Acquisition of Lands Ordinance 1878" 
 and "The Native Lands Acquisition Ordinance 1905" the 
 expression " public purposes " shall be deemed to include any 
 undertaking proposal or policy which may appear to the 
 Governor in Council desirable as directly benefiting the Colony. 
 
 Passed in Council this sixteenth day of October in the year 
 of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and six. 
 
 No. 3. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received December 10, 1906.) 
 
 Government House, Suva, Fiji, November 3, 1906. 
 Mr LORD, I have the honour to transmit a copy of a 
 formal protest from the Honourable the Elected Members of 
 the Legislative Council, against assent being given to Ordinance 
 No. XVI. of 1906, "An Ordinance to amend the Law relating 
 to the Acquisition of Land by the Crown," and to invite refer- 
 ence to the remarks on the subject contained in my despatch of 
 the 26th ultimo. 
 
 I have, etc., EVERARD IM THURN. 
 
 Enclosure in No. 3. 
 
 From the Elected Members of Council to His Excellency 
 
 the Governor. 
 
 (Dated October 17, 1906.) 
 
 Subject : THE ACQUISITION OF LANDS ORDINANCE, 1906. 
 
 YOUR EXCELLENCY, "We, the undersigned, the whole of the 
 elected members of the Legislative Council of the Colony of 
 Fiji, present at a meeting of that Council on the 16th day of 
 October, 1906, have the honour to protest against the passing 
 of the Bill intituled " An Ordinance to amend the law relating 
 to the acquisition of land by the Crown," on the ground that 
 adequate provision has already been made by the Ordinances 
 referred to in the second section of the said Bill for the acquisi- 
 tion by the Crown of all land that may be legitimately required. 
 We beg to request that this protest be sent to the Right 
 Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies with a copy 
 of the shorthand notes of the debate on the Bill, and request 
 that your Excellency will inform him that the two native 
 members of the Council on its debate voted against the Bill. 
 We have, etc., HENRY MARKS. 
 
 JAMES B. TURNER. 
 
 A. ADAIR COUBROUQH. 
 
 S. L. LAZARUS. 
 
 W. McRAE. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 67 
 
 No. 4. The Secretary of State to the Governor. 
 
 Downing Street, January 28, 1907. 
 
 SIR, I have the honour to inform you that His Majesty will 
 not be advised to exercise his powers of disallowance with 
 respect to Ordinance No. 16 of 1906, of the Legislature of Fiji, 
 shortly intituled "The Acquisition of Lands Ordinance, 1906," 
 of which a transcript accompanied your despatch of the 26th 
 October last. 
 
 2. The powers given by the Ordinance to the Governor in 
 Council are, however, very wide, and might be exercised to 
 facilitate schemes which are, in fact, of a purely private nature. 
 They should not, I think, be exercised without considerable 
 caution for such purposes, and I shall be glad if you will in 
 every case refer to me, for approval, before employing them for 
 the acquisition of land to be used in undertakings which, though 
 they may be of public utility, are also in the interest of private 
 persons or companies. 
 
 3. I have received the protest of the Elected Members of the 
 Legislative Council, which was forwarded in your despatch of 
 the 3rd November, and shall be glad if you will cause them to 
 be informed in reply that similar powers to those given by the 
 present Ordinance have been conferred upon the Governor in 
 Council in other colonies, and that they will not be exercised to 
 facilitate schemes which are, in fact, of a purely private nature 
 without previous reference to the Secretary of State. 
 
 I have, etc., ELGIN. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 4. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO LABOUR IN 
 
 THE TRANSVAAL MINES. 
 No. 1. 
 
 The Earl of Elgin to Governor the Earl of Selborne. 
 
 (Sent 5.8 p.m., December 15, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 15. No. 1. With reference to the last paragraph 
 of Mr. Lyttelton's telegram of 27th October, 1 in which it was 
 suggested that it would be good policy for the mine owners 
 voluntarily to stop importation for the next six months, but to 
 
 a Not printed. 
 
68 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 which no reference was made in your telegram of the 4th 
 December, 1 have you any observations to make upon the 
 point ? 
 
 For what numbers of coolies have licences been issued up to 
 the present date ? 
 
 Please telegraph your reply as soon as possible. 
 
 No. 2. The Earl of Elgin to Governor the Earl of Selborne. 
 (Sent 2.45 p.m., December 19, 1905.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 19. No. 2. Matter most urgent. My telegram 
 of 15th December, No. 1. Please let me know at once total 
 number of Chinese for importation of which permission has 
 been given, as well as numbers arrived or at sea, in addition to 
 those reported up to end of October. 
 
 No. 3. Governor the Earl of Selborne to the Earl of Elgin. 
 (Received 11.50 a.m., December 20, 1905.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 20. No. 1. Matter most urgent. Your telegram 
 19th December, No. 2, only just received. 
 Numbers asked for are as follows : 
 
 Total number now on the Rand - - - 47,241 
 Now on their way here ----- Nil 
 Asked for and in respect of whom licences to 
 
 import been granted - 14,700 
 
 Total - - - 61,941 
 
 I have not had time to ascertain what steps have been taken 
 in China in connection with the licences which have been 
 granted in the way of provisional recruiting and chartering of 
 ships or what expenditure this involves. 
 
 Referring to your telegram 15th December, No. 1, my 
 impression is mine owners would be most unwilling to stop 
 importation as they have recently gone to enormous expense in 
 development work, the whole of which will be thrown away if 
 they do not get labour supply sufficient to make production 
 keep pace with development. 
 
 J Not printed. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 60 
 
 No. 4. The Earl of Elgin to Governor the Earl of Selborne. 
 (Sent 6.30 p.m., December 20, 1905.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 20. No. 1. With reference to your telegram, 
 No. 1, of 20th December, His Majesty's Government consider 
 that the experiment of the introduction of Chinese labourers 
 should not be extended further until His Majesty's Government 
 can learn through an elected and really representative Legisla- 
 ture the opinion of the Colony, and the Cabinet has accordingly 
 decided that the recruitment, embarkation, and importation of 
 Chinese coolies shall be arrested, pending decision as to grant 
 of Responsible Government. 
 
 It is desired that every available step should be taken to 
 prevent shipment from China of the 14,700 mentioned in your 
 telegram under reference. Please confer with your Law Officers 
 and telegraph whether by revocation of licences under Section 29 
 of Foreign Labour Importation Ordinance or otherwise this can 
 be promptly effected. 
 
 No. 5. The Earl of Elgin to Governor the Earl of Selborne. 
 (Sent 7 p.m., December 21, 1905.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 21. No. 2. Referring to my telegram of yesterday. 
 In coming to their decision His Majesty's Government had 
 before them and took into consideration the following circum- 
 stances and facts : 
 
 From the beginning the importation of Chinese labour was 
 regarded as an experiment and was accepted by His Majesty's 
 late Government as necessary to meet a serious shortage of 
 labour. Chinese labour was permitted as a supplement to, not 
 as a substitute for, Kaffir labour, and it was necessary for His 
 Majesty's Government to be assured that the numbers intro- 
 duced were within the powers of supervision and control of the 
 Transvaal Government. Mr. Lyttelton on more than one 
 occasion desired to be specifically assured on this point. The 
 report of Mr. Evans, the late Superintendent of Foreign Labour, 
 bearing date February, and published to Parliament, stated that 
 about 55,000 would apparently complete the requirements of 
 the mines which have decided to work with Chinese labour 
 and that this number would arrive by the end of July or 
 August. After that an occasional ship would suffice unless 
 circumstances altered or the unforeseen occurred. 
 
 On your arrival you found, on inquiring into matters, that a 
 
70 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 new system required to be introduced for the better control of 
 the labourers under which summary jurisdiction could be 
 exercised by the Superintendent and a larger number of In- 
 spectors who are conversant with the Chinese language. 
 
 An amending Ordinance was accordingly passed, with Mr. 
 Lyttelton's approval, giving the necessary magisterial powers to 
 the Superintendent and Inspectors. Mr. Lyttelton has im- 
 pressed the need for special caution in working the new 
 system with regard to the deduction of fines from wages and 
 with regard to the collective fine. The new arrangement, which 
 came into force after 19th September, is therefore on its trial, 
 and cannot be pronounced to be a full success until further 
 time has elapsed and its administration tested. 
 
 Uneasiness was caused on the Witwatersrand by the lawless 
 acts of certain wandering bodies of Chinese in August and 
 September ; these occurrences caused a Boer deputation, with 
 General Botha at its head, to wait upon Sir Arthur Lawley and 
 to represent that the Chinese should be sent back to their native 
 country. 
 
 Sir A. Lawley, in reply to the deputation, assured them that 
 the Government had taken steps to exercise sufficient control, 
 and pointed out that the repatriation of the Chinese would 
 bring about a grave financial and commercial crisis. 
 
 I understand that you are fully satisfied that there is no 
 reason to apprehend any serious trouble in the future arising 
 from desertions and lawless acts. 
 
 But it is clear that there are indications of local opposition 
 to the importation. 
 
 The real wishes of the majority of the inhabitants of the 
 Transvaal in regard to the importation, or as to any limitations 
 or restrictions by which it should be confined, have not yet been 
 authoritatively expressed and cannot be ascertained until an 
 elective Legislature has been called together. 
 
 Native labour has largely increased since January, 1904, 
 when it was represented to His Majesty's late Government 
 that a grave financial crisis would ensue unless immediate 
 relief was afforded by Chinese labour. The numbers then were 
 75,000, and are now 96,000, practically on a level with the 
 numbers in 1899 at the time of maximum gold production before 
 the war took place. In addition there are now on the Band 
 over 47,000 Chinese. 
 
 While reserving their opinion and freedom of action in the 
 whole matter, His Majesty's Government consider, as I tele- 
 graphed to you yesterday, that the experiment of the introduc- 
 tion of Chinese labourers should not be extended further until 
 they can learn the opinion of the Colony through an elected and 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 71 
 
 really representative Legislature, and they have accordingly 
 decided that recruiting, embarkation, and importation of 
 Chinese coolies shall be arrested, pending a decision as to the 
 grant of responsible Government to the Colony. They are not 
 prepared, in all the circumstances, to be responsible for further 
 importation. 
 
 His Majesty's Government trust that the inhabitants of the 
 Transvaal will recognise that they have felt it their duty to 
 take this step deliberately and after a careful review of the 
 situation. 
 
 No. 6. The Earl of Elgin to Governor the Earl of Selborne. 
 (Sent 6 p.m., December 22, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 [Answered by Nos. 11 and 14.] 
 
 December 22. No. 1. I await your reply to my telegram of 
 20th December, No. 1. 
 
 I shall be glad if, in connection with the steps required for 
 arresting importation, you will inform me, as soon as you can 
 obtain particulars, what licences for ships have been granted 
 in accordance with Clause 4 of the instructions to the Emigra- 
 tion Agents and how many ships have been chartered in 
 connection with the recruitment and embarkation of the further 
 14,700 labourers ; also to what extent recruiting has taken place. 
 
 I think it would be expedient to suspend issue of fresh 
 licences for shipping or recruitment, and, in case of those already 
 issued, to suspend or otherwise endeavour to prevent further 
 action, pending decision of His Majesty's Government as to 
 steps to be taken in regard to the 14,700 for whom importation 
 licences have been issued. 
 
 No. 7. Governor the Earl of Selborne to the Earl of Elgin. 
 (Received 3.21 p.m., December 23, 1905.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 23. No. 1. Licences for the introduction of 
 13,199 coolies have been issued by Lieutenant-Governor since 
 27th October. On 26th October a meeting took place between 
 Superintendent Foreign Labour and Chamber of Mines, at 
 which Chamber gave notice that applications for licences for 
 introduction of 16,199 coolies would be made and the Super- 
 intendent promised to support them. Formal applications 
 were made by individual mines which required the coolies 
 
72 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 later, and the licences for 13,199 were formally issued to 
 them on various dates between 12th November and 18th 
 November. The case of the remaining 3,000 coolies is still 
 outstanding. The application for their importation was made 
 by the Randfontein Estates, Limited, one of the Robinson 
 Group, on 18th November. The licence was actually signed by 
 the Acting Lieutenant-Governor on the morning of 20th 
 December before your telegram of that date was received. 
 In view of your telegram the licence has not yet been handed 
 over to Mr. J. W. S. Langermann the Boer representative and 
 Managing Director of the Robinson Group, but I do not see 
 how this case can fairly be treated differently from the others 
 in justice to the parties concerned. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Governor the Earl of Selborne to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 (Received 2.12 p.m., December 23, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 23. No. 2. My telegrams, No. 1, 20th December, 
 and No. 1, 23rd December. Apparent discrepancy between 
 figures given in the two telegrams is explained as follows : The 
 14,700 of the first telegram includes the 3,000 coolies for the 
 Randfontein Mine, the licence for which has not been handed 
 over as explained in the second telegram, but it does not include 
 1,499 coolies who have already arrived out of the total of 16,199 
 mentioned in my second telegram and which were included in 
 the 13,199 licences issued between 12th November and 18th 
 November. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Governor the Earl of Selborne to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 (Received 10.45 p.m., December 23, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 23. No. 3. Immediately on receipt of your tele- 
 gram of 20th December, No. 1, 1 referred the following question 
 to the Attorney-General of Transvaal Sir Richard Solomon 
 " what powers have the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor under 
 the Foreign Labour Importation Ordinance, 1904, to revoke 
 licences for importation of labourers already issued ? " The 
 opinion I have received from him to-day is as follows : 
 
 Begins : Under Section 7 of the said Ordinance the Lieutenant- 
 Governor may subject to its provisions grant a licence to 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 73 
 
 any person to introduce labourers into this Colony to per- 
 form unskilled labour only in the exploitation of mines 
 within the Witwatersrand district. The licence is given 
 the form No. 3 of the attached Regulations framed under 
 Section 29 of the Ordinance. It will be seen on reference 
 to this form that the licence is granted on certain terms and 
 conditions and may be cancelled on breach by the holder of 
 any of such conditions. 
 
 I may point out that under Section 30 of the Ordinance 
 forfeiture of a licence is one of the penalties which the 
 Lieutenant-Governor may prescribe for the breach by an 
 importer of labourers of any regulation made under Section 
 29. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that a licence may be revoked or 
 cancelled on breach by the holder of any condition of the 
 licence or of any regulation made under Section 29 of the 
 Ordinance for the breach of which cancellation of the licence 
 is prescribed as a penalty. 
 
 In my opinion although under Section 7 of the Ordinance 
 the Lieutenant-Governor may have a discretion in the 
 issuing of a licence he has no power to revoke a licence once 
 issued by him except on the grounds above mentioned. The 
 licence is an authority under the Ordinance to import 
 labourers, and when that authority has been given the 
 person to whom it is given has a right in law to import 
 the number of labourers mentioned in the licence. He may, 
 therefore, ignore a withdrawal of that authority unless that 
 withdrawal is authorized by the Ordinance or its regula- 
 tions, and proceed with his importation, and that importa- 
 tion could not be lawfully stopped. 
 
 In his telegram the Secretary of State for the Colonies 
 inquires whether the embarkation and importation of 
 Chinese coolies under licences already issued could be 
 arrested by revoking the licences under Section 29 of the 
 said Ordinance. There is no regulation in force nor in my 
 opinion could any such be now framed to give the Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor power to revoke a licence at will. Such a 
 regulation would, in my opinion, be ultra vires and unrea- 
 sonable, and would be specially unreasonable when made 
 to apply to licences issued before the promulgation of such 
 regulation. 
 
 It is right for me to state that where a licence has been 
 signed by the Lieutenant-Governor but not yet issued to 
 the applicant the case is different. Not to issue such a 
 licence is, in my opinion, within the powers given to the 
 Lieutenant-Governor under Section 7 of the Ordinance 
 
74 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 which does not make it imperative 011 him to grant a licence 
 to an applicant even though he is satisfied that the require- 
 ments mentioned in Sub-section 2 of that section have been 
 complied with, though I am aware that the contrary may 
 be argued with some force. The licence cannot be said to 
 have been granted until it is issued to the applicant or his 
 agent. Eiids. 
 
 In view of this opinion do you wish me to see the Council of 
 the Chamber of Mines and represent the views of His Majesty's 
 Government to them ? The whole of the business of recruitment 
 and embarkation of coolies in China is managed by them through 
 their agency called the Labour Importation Agency. In my 
 telegram, No. 1, 20th December, I indicated to you my impres- 
 sion of their position in the matter. 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 The Earl of Elgin to Governor the Earl of Selborne. 
 
 (Sent 1.25 p.m., December 27, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 27. No. 2. Your telegram, 23rd December, No. 3. 
 The licence for 3,000 labourers which has not yet been issued 
 should be held over pending decision of His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 You should ascertain from the Chamber of Mines precisely 
 what action has been taken by the Labour Importation Associa- 
 tion up to the present under the licences which have been issued ; 
 see my telegram 22nd December, No. 1. 
 
 Please inform me what licences were issued between 1st 
 January and 27th October, with numbers and dates. 
 
 I shall need full information as to the circumstances in which 
 so large a number were agreed to in November, to place before 
 my colleagues, and for publication if it is so decided later on. 
 
 To what extent is it expected that the labour supply will be 
 affected next year by the cessation to recruit from tropical 
 regions ? 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 Governor the Earl of Selborne to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 (Received 6.20 p.m., December 30, 1905.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 December 30. No. 1. Your telegrams, 22nd December, 
 No. 1, and 27th December, No. 2. Chamber of Mines state 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 75 
 
 that considerable misconception .appears to exist as to scope and 
 nature Labour Importation Agency's operations. Following 
 summarizes mode of procedure : 
 
 Mining houses estimate their requirements for Chinese labour 
 from time to time. This is necessary owing to proved in- 
 sufficiency and fluctuation in native labour supply and increasing 
 demands due to continuous expansion of industry. Labour 
 Agency's arrangements are made many months in advance. As 
 soon as requirements notified to Labour Agency instructions 
 are cabled to Agency's representative in China, who contracts 
 for supply of numbers required. For instance, Agency's repre- 
 sentative was authorised on llth October to arrange up to 
 thirty-third shipment inclusive, which, it is calculated, will 
 reach South Africa about the beginning of September next. 
 Actual number of shipments required dependent on numbers 
 coming forward successfully each ship ; for purposes of calcula- 
 tion 1,900 coolies reckoned a shipment. Labour Agency is 
 therefore committed to contracting firms in China as numbers 
 required are periodically increased. There remains a balance 
 of 12,750 coolies on order for whom licences have already been 
 issued : no wastage provided for in this number. Shipping 
 arrangements are even more elaborate, and in addition to 
 steamers now on charter arrangements have already been made 
 for further ships to come on charter for three years in middle 
 of 1907, in view of indentures of first coolies imported com- 
 mencing to expire at that period, and eventuality has to be 
 provided for owing to uncertainty as to what percentage of 
 coolies likely to renew indentures under conditions of Section 10, 
 Labour Importation Ordinance. All arrangements have been 
 made with a view to continuous flow of immigration from China 
 being established on permanent basis. In addition to enormous 
 sums expended on individual mines on importation past, present, 
 and prospective, Labour Agency has spent quarter of a million, 
 little of which is recoverable. In addition, mining houses have 
 embarked on extensive programme of development of non- 
 producirig or undeveloped properties only justified on the 
 assumption that sufficient labour supply was assured. An 
 estimate is being made by the mining houses to whom licences 
 have been issued as to the cost of machinery, plant, building, 
 etc., ordered or erected in anticipation of arrival in due course 
 of the 12,750 coolies and the further number expected to arrive 
 here during 1906, which estimate will certainly amount to 
 several millions. 
 
 Chamber of Mines state that in addition information will be 
 given on the general effect of suspension of importation on the 
 whole industry. 
 
76 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 Governor the Earl of Selborne to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 (Received 9.30 p.m., December 31, 1905.) 
 (Extract.) Telegram. 
 
 December 31. No. 1. In continuation of my telegram of 
 30th December total number of coolies for whom licences have 
 been granted in each month of 1905 are as follows : 
 
 January, 4,225 ; 
 
 February, 5,374 ; 
 
 March, nil ; 
 
 April, 1,931 ; 
 
 May, 3,477 ; 
 
 June, 2,285 ; 
 
 July, 1,529 ; 
 
 August, 2,221 ; 
 
 SeptemlDer, nil ; 
 
 October, 2,351 ; 
 
 November, 13,199 ; 
 
 December, 3,000 : viz. those for Randfontein estates about 
 whom I have already informed you and for whom, in accordance 
 with your instructions, licences are being withheld for the 
 present. 
 
 Large number of licences issued in November was due to 
 great demand for labour consequent of continuous expansion of 
 work on the mines. By 30th September Chamber of Mines 
 Labour Importation Agency had already received notice of 
 11,500 more coolies being required at various dates, and 
 Superintendent was notified of this and further requirements 
 before the 26th October. On that day, as stated in my telegram, 
 No. 1, of the 23rd December, Superintendent of Foreign Labour 
 met Chamber of Mines, and, having satisfied himself that the 
 requirements of the Ordinance had been complied with by 
 erection of proper accommodation, etc., for labourers whom it 
 was proposed to introduce, promised to support the application. 
 
 Proportion of natives from tropical areas to total number of 
 natives employed in labour districts of whole Transvaal is about 
 10 per cent. On the 30th November last there were in the 
 employment of members of the Witwatersrand Native Labour 
 Association 6,796 natives from tropical areas within British 
 territory, and 3,232 from tropical areas within Portuguese terri- 
 tory. If, therefore, mortality returns make it impossible to 
 continue further recruiting from tropical areas after the 31st 
 January next, the industry will suffer actual net loss of 6,796 
 labourers if prohibition of further recruiting relates to British 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 77 
 
 territory only, or a net loss of 10,028 if it relates to all tropical 
 areas. Potential loss would be more important still, as it is to 
 tropical areas only that industry can look for a possible increase 
 in or even for means of maintaining present native labour 
 supply. Capital expenditure estimated at 71,000 has been 
 incurred in opening these areas for recruiting through provision 
 of rest camps, opening up routes for travel, establishment of 
 recruiting stations, etc. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Governor the Earl of Selborne to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 (Received 10.40 p.m., January 1, 1906.) 
 (Extract.) Telegram. 
 
 January 1. No. 2. 
 
 If the importation of the coolies for whom licences have been 
 issued is prevented by any action which public opinion here 
 considers arbitrary there will be, I fear, a very strong outburst 
 of feeling. Putting aside altogether the case of the mineowners 
 who have spent very large sums on shafts, machinery, etc., 
 please recollect that this importation means work for hundreds 
 and hundreds of men now out of work, and who have for many 
 months been patiently enduring great hardships and awaiting 
 employment, and that it means increased commercial activity 
 for all. 
 
 If, on the other hand, His Majesty's Government allow licences 
 already issued to stand, their decision that no fresh ones are to 
 be issued till the opinion of the elected representatives of the 
 people can be taken on the subject next July will, in my opinion, 
 be loyally accepted, and there will be no feeling of injustice. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 Governor the Earl of Selborne to the Earl of Elgin. 
 
 (Received 9.25 p.m., January 2, 1906.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 January 2. No. 1. Your telegram of 22nd December, No. 1. 
 Licences are only granted to ships under Clause 4 of instructions 
 to emigration agents when they are on point of sailing, and have 
 full complements of coolies on board. Next ship is expected to 
 start about the middle of this month. 
 
 Have referred question to Attorney-General, and he advises 
 that the recruitnient and embarkation of labourers cannot be 
 
78 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 stopped by arbitrary act on the part of the Transvaal Govern- 
 ment in respect to labourers whose importation has been 
 authorized by the Lieutenant-Governor under the Ordinance. 
 
 The ships now in use are the " Indravelli " and the "Cranley " ; 
 charter of first expires on 7th February, 1908, and of second at 
 the end of 1908. The "Swanley" and the "Courtfield" have 
 been chartered for three years from May and June, 1907, 
 respectively, and charter party(ies) provide in all cases for 
 penalties for cancellation of contracts. 
 
 No. 15. The Earl of Elgin to Governor the Earl of Selborne. 
 (Sent 7.10 p.m., January 5, 1906.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 January 5. No. 2. His Majesty's Government have carefully 
 considered the action to be taken with regard to the licences for 
 importation granted under the Labour Importation Ordinance, 
 after the end of October for coolies who have not yet arrived. 
 His Majesty's Government regret that the numbers which it 
 was stated by the late Superintendent of Foreign Labour would 
 apparently complete the requirements of the mines, in his report 
 to which I referred in my telegram of 21st December, No. 2, 
 were exceeded without obtaining the assent of my predecessor, 
 but, looking to the opinion of the Attorney-General of the 
 Transvaal, the substance of which is concurred in by the Legal 
 Advisers of the Crown, they regard it as impossible to treat 
 licences granted as otherwise than valid. Such licences could 
 therefore only be revoked by ex post facto legislation, which 
 would be arbitrary in its character. 
 
 In these circumstances His Majesty's Government have come 
 to the conclusion that the licences in question must be allowed 
 to stand, the responsibility for their being granted being one 
 which must entirely rest with their predecessors, and in which 
 they themselves disclaim any share. 
 
 With reference to your telegram, No. 1, of 30th December, 
 His Majesty's Government must likewise repudiate all responsi- 
 bility for any arrangements of the Labour Importation A gency 
 and of the mines founded upon the assumption that a large and 
 increasing importation of Chinese labourers could be treated as 
 permanently available, and would point out that my predecessor 
 had intimated that the decision of the question whether the 
 Transvaal approved of the Ordinance for the introduction of 
 Chinese labour remaining in force would be one for the Elective 
 Assembly about to be constituted. 
 
 Any arrangements which the Labour Importation Agency 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 79 
 
 think proper to make in advance must, therefore, be regarded 
 as made entirely on their responsibility and at their, risk. 
 
 The position which His Majesty's Government have taken up 
 is that they are not responsible for any act prior to their coming 
 into office leading to the recruitment, embarkation, and importa- 
 tion of Chinese labourers, but that from the date on which they 
 assumed office nothing shall be done to add to the number of 
 Chinese labourers under contract for employment in South 
 Africa until the Transvaal shall have had the opportunity of 
 declaring its opinion through an elected and really representa- 
 tive Legislature. 
 
 I note with satisfaction the opinion you express in your 
 telegram of 1st January that if the licences already issued are 
 allowed to stand, the decision of His Majesty's Government 
 that no fresh ones are to be issued will be loyally accepted, and 
 that there will be no feeling of injustice. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 5. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE REMOVAL 
 OF CERTAIN NATIVE PRISONERS FROM NATAL. 
 
 No. 1. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received 8.40 p.m., January 13, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 January 12. No. 1. Tentative inquiries have been made 
 from the Transvaal as to possibility of their receiving released 
 rebel prisoners, were their sentences commuted to fines, as free 
 labourers on the mimss under certain specified conditions. 
 Existing laws will not admit of these conditions being enforced 
 and proposal has therefore come to nothing. However, the 
 present native political situation would not have permitted its 
 adoption even had law allowed and your Lordship approved. 
 
 I regret to inform you that persistent and alarming rumours 
 such as were heard this time last year are again current and 
 have become accentuated during the last ten days. I have 
 to-day received following Minute from Ministers in connection 
 with a despatch from High Commissioner dealing with subject- 
 matter of first sentence above : 
 
 As your Excellency is aware, persistent reports are now 
 circulating in Zululand and Natal amongst the natives there 
 by those who have been released that all rebels are about 
 
80 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 to be released in consequence of an order received from 
 across the sea to effect that the Home Government has told 
 this Government that the rebels were only soldiers acting 
 under orders of their chiefs, and they should not, therefore, 
 have been punished. No more dangerous course therefore 
 could be pursued by Ministers than the adoption of any 
 act which could give the least ground for cultivating so 
 pernicious a belief in the native mind, whether that mind 
 be loyal or wicked. These reports, together with a recent 
 one from Swaziland, induce Ministers to urge the necessity 
 of a course of action which will demonstrate once for all to 
 the native mind that rebellion is not a light matter or one 
 to be followed by trivial consequences. 
 
 2. Ministers think it essential that under the circum- 
 stances such demonstration can only be given by the immedi- 
 ate deportation of the ringleaders, to the number of about 
 twenty-five, who, as long as they are in local custody, have, 
 and will have, opportunities which no guarding can repress 
 of conveying to their sympathisers outside reports and 
 messages calculated to incite to further disorder, if not to 
 attempts to obtain release. 
 
 3. The Colonial Prisoners Eemoval Act cap. 31 of 1884 
 appears to Ministers to provide the machinery to meet just 
 such an emergency as confronts this Colony at this time. 
 It contemplates, on ground of expediency, removal of 
 prisoners undergoing sentences from one British posses- 
 sion to another, and under Section 2, Subsection D, provides 
 that if otherwise the removal of the prisoner is expedient 
 for his safe custody or for more efficiently carrying his 
 sentence into effect in the opinion of the removing authority, 
 then it may be done, the removing authority being the 
 Secretary of State with the concurrence of the Govern- 
 ment^) of the British possession(s) concerned (Section 5). 
 
 4. Ministers think that question of expediency in this 
 instance can hardly be questioned and suggest that Island 
 of Mauritius, as mentioned by your Excellency, is, in 
 respect of climate and other conditions, a locality to which 
 exception could not well be taken. 
 
 5. The third section of the Act deals with duration period 
 of removal, and Ministers note this, having in mind the 
 consideration that this proposal for removal, though an 
 immediately pressing one, does not necessarily involve 
 continuance of deportation to expiration of sentence. 
 
 6. In view of urgency of matter, Ministers would be glad 
 if your Excellency would cable this application to the 
 Secretary of State whilst simultaneously inquiring of the 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 81 
 
 Mauritius Government by cable if it will be as good as to 
 
 assist us. 
 
 As a matter of great emergency I beg for your Lordship's 
 good offices and that with least possible delay. I am repeating 
 this telegram to Governor, Mauritius, that he may have full 
 information on the subject. McCALLUM. 
 
 No. 2. The Governor to the Secretary oj State. 
 
 (Received 8.27 a.m., January 18, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 January 18. No. 1. Eef erring to my telegram of 12th 
 January, No. 1, Governor of Mauritius agrees, subject to your 
 approval . McCALLUM. 
 
 No. 3. The Secretary of State to the Governor of Mauritius. 
 
 (Sent 9.30 p.m., January 18, 1907.) 
 (Extract.) Telegram. 
 
 Governor, Natal, informs me that he has repeated to you his 
 telegram to me of 12th January, No. 1, and that you agree to 
 removal of about 25 native chiefs implicated in the late rebellion 
 to Mauritius subject to my approval. It is most desirable that 
 the conditions under which these prisoners will be detained in 
 Mauritius should be as lenient as is compatible with their 
 safe detention, and less rigorous than the conditions to 
 which ordinary convicts are subjected, and I presume that 
 there will be no difficulty in securing to them such excep- 
 tional treatment at an early date after their arrival in the 
 Colony. 
 
 Such treatment seems to me proper from reasons of health, 
 and without it there might be serious difficulty in justifying 
 action of His Majesty's Government in Parliament. 
 
 No. 4. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received 5.25 p.m., January 30, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 January 30. No. 1. Ministers beg me to inform you that 
 satisfactory despatch has been received from Governor, Mauritius, 
 as to taking rebel ringleaders as prisoners. They now only 
 await approval of His Majesty's Government. McCALLUM. 
 
 F 
 
82 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 No. 5. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received 4.45 p.m., February 11, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 February 11. No. 1. Referring to my telegram 12th January, 
 Ministers desire me to press for immediate reply, as the matter 
 is one of great urgency. McCALLUM. 
 
 No. 6. The Secretary of State to the Governor. 
 
 (Sent 6 p.m., February 22, 1907- ) 
 Telegram. 
 
 February 22. No. 1. Your telegrams llth February, No. 1, 
 12th January, No. 1. The request of your Ministers that the 
 ringleaders in the late rebellion to the number of about 25 should 
 be removed to Mauritius under the provisions of the Colonial 
 Prisoners Removal Act of 1884 and their urgent representations 
 that this step is expedient for their safe custody and is in the 
 interests of the peace and good order of the Colony have been 
 carefully considered by His Majesty's Government. His 
 Majesty's Government would have preferred to deal with 
 these men as political prisoners under a special Act. In view, 
 however, of the impossibility of legislation without a special 
 session of the Natal Parliament and of the urgency of the matter, 
 they are not prepared to refuse the safeguard of deportation 
 which your Ministers so strongly represent to be of great im- 
 portance under the circumstances of the case. 
 
 They take note of your Ministers' observations regarding the 
 effect of Section 3 of the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act and it will 
 be clearly understood that under this pro vision the prisoners, or any 
 of them, may be returned to Natal at any time if His Majesty's 
 Government deem it expedient or necessary on grounds of health. 
 
 In the meantime I am in communication with the Governor of 
 Mauritius in regard to the conditions of imprisonment which 
 may be suitable. The punishment should not be made more 
 severe and, in the opinion of His Majesty's Government, the 
 fact of banishment justifies such amelioration of the conditions 
 as is consistent with safe custody. ELGIN. 
 
 No. 7. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received 6.35 p.m., February 24, 1907.) 
 (Extract.) Telegram. 
 
 February 24. No. 1. Your telegram of 22nd February, No. 
 1. I am staying with High Commissioner. On behalf of 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 83 
 
 Ministers I beg to thank His Majesty's Government very 
 heartily for assistance given to us. It will have far-reaching 
 effect and will, I consider, immensely strengthen our position 
 with the natives. McCALLUM. 
 
 No. 8. The Governor of Mauritius to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 2.5 p.m., February 25, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 Cases of beri-beri reported to me yesterday, five in Central 
 Prison, two fatal ; seventeen in Port Louis Prison. Preventive 
 measures against spread of disease by segregation and alteration 
 in diet are being taken and inquiry being made to ascertain 
 cause. Further report will follow. BOYLE. 
 
 No. 9. The Secretary of State to the Governor of Mauritius. 
 (Sent 5.20 p.m., February 28, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 I have informed Governor, Natal, that His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, though they would have preferred that the ringleaders 
 in late rebellion, numbering about twenty-five, should have been 
 treated as political prisoners, will not refuse to agree to removal 
 under Prisoners Removal Act, and that I am in communication 
 with you in regard to conditions of imprisonment which may be 
 suitable. 
 
 In opinion of His Majesty's Government fact of banishment 
 justifies such amelioration of conditions of imprisonment as is 
 consistent with safe custody. Please telegraph, after consulting 
 your Attorney -General, what steps you propose for carrying out 
 views of His Majesty's Government. 
 
 Please also furnish me with your opinion as to whether the 
 outbreak of beri-beri at the Central Gaol, reported by you in 
 your telegram of 25th February, can be confined within limits 
 which will secure the immunity of the Zulu chiefs who are to be 
 entrusted to your care. ELGIN. 
 
 No. 10. The Secretary of State to the Governor. 
 (Sent 2.10 p.m., March 2, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 March 2. No. 1. It may be well to let you know that 
 outbreak of beri-beri has just been reported in two Mauritius 
 
84 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 prisons. I am asking Governor of Mauritius whether arrange- 
 ments can be made for ensuring immunity for Natal ringleaders. 
 ELGIN. 
 
 No. 11. The Secretary of State to the Governor. 
 (Sent 9.35 p.m., March 2, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 March 2. No. 2. Your telegram of 24th February, No. 1. 
 In order that necessary order of removal may be prepared, 
 please telegraph name of each prisoner to be removed, date of 
 conviction, Court by which he was convicted, place at which 
 Court was held, the exact description of the crime as given in 
 the record of proceedings of which each prisoner was convicted, 
 term of sentence, and period of imprisonment with hard labour 
 or penal servitude inflicted. Confirmation should be sent by 
 mail. If any sentence was commuted date and terms of com- 
 mution should be stated. ELGIN. 
 
 No. 12. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 12.45 a.m., March 5, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 March 4. No. 1. Eef erring to your telegram of 2nd March, 
 No. 1, matter is of such urgency that I immediately consulted 
 Ministers, from whom I have received Minute of which follow- 
 ing is purport : 
 
 "Much regret in hearing of outbreak especially as 
 rumours of unrest are becoming daily aggravated. Imme- 
 , diate deportation of ringleaders would probably put end 
 to this. Rank and file of rebels are being employed on 
 public works in wood and iron temporary buildings secured 
 by double-fenced entanglement enclosures, such as used for 
 safe custody of Boer prisoners. These have proved healthy 
 and satisfactory and Ministers would like the same provided 
 forthwith at Mauritius at cost of Government of Natal till 
 the gaols are immune from beri-beri." 
 
 Whilst discouraging credence of rumours and reports received 
 I cannot help feeling uneasy, and shall be glad if Ministers' 
 proposal could be approved by you and deportation of ring- 
 leaders take place with least possible delay. 
 
 In the meantime I have called for returns asked for in your 
 telegram of 2nd March, No. 2. MCCALLUM. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 85 
 
 No. 13. The Governor of Mauritius to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received 5 p.m., March 6, 1907.) 
 (Extract.) Telegram. 
 
 Your Lordship's telegram of the 28th February, with regard 
 to beri-beri. After consultation with Chief Medical Officer I 
 cannot guarantee immunity from the disease for any person in 
 confinement in any of our prisons and I am advised that no 
 such prison can safely be used for the purpose. 
 
 Governor of Natal has communicated to me his telegram of 
 4th March to you and I am considering whether possibility of 
 making special arrangements indicated by him, but as I am by 
 no means certain that this is feasible, request that definite 
 action may be deferred pending receipt of my further report. 
 BOYLE. 
 
 No. 14. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 9.10 p.m., March 9, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 March 9. No. 1. Referring to your telegram of 2nd March, 
 No. 2, following are 25 names of prisoners to be removed and 
 dates of conviction : 
 
 1. Unhlonhlo. 4th July. 
 
 2. Hlangakeza. 25th June. 
 
 3. Vava. 25th June. 
 
 4. Mbemi. 2nd August. 
 
 5. Nyamana. 2nd August. 
 
 6. Maragane. 25th June. 
 
 7. Ndabaningi. 29th June. 
 
 8. Ndondoza, 29th June. 
 
 9. Lunyana. 10th August. 
 
 10. Mabazwane. 10th August. 
 
 11. Yena. 3rd August. 
 
 12. Fokoti. 14th August. 
 
 13. Ndhlekeza. 14th August. 
 
 14. Siyongo. 14th August. 
 
 15. Mgadini. 14th August. 
 
 16. Macwaneka. 31st July. 
 
 17. Mcondo. 31st July. 
 
 18. Sikukuku. 13th August. 
 
 19. Tilonko. 10th July. 
 
 20. Ndhlovu. 16th July. 
 
 21. Messeni. 16th July. 
 
 22. Dede. 28th February. 
 
86 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 23. Ntelezi.- 20th March. 
 
 24. Mafinyongo Qwabe. 1 5th August. 
 
 25. Goloza Ximba. 15th August. 
 All the above being dates of 1906 
 
 All prisoners had convictions by Court martial at following 
 places : 
 
 Nos. 1 to 6. Grey town. 
 
 Nos. 7 to 17. Nkandhla. 
 
 Nos. 18 and 19. Pietermaritzburg. 
 
 Nos. 20 and 21. Mapuraulo. 
 
 No. 22. Ixopo. 
 
 No. 23. Umtwalumi. 
 
 Nos. 24 and 25. Dundee. 
 
 Description of crimes : 
 
 Nos. 1 to 17. Rebellion, high treason, and public violence. 
 
 Nos. 18 and 19. Sedition, public violence. 
 
 Nos. 20 and 21. Murder, rebellion, high treason, public 
 
 violence. 
 
 Nos. 22 and 23. Sedition, insurrection. 
 Nos. 24 and 25. High treason, public violence. 
 
 Terms of sentences : 
 
 No. 1. 20 years. 
 
 Nos. 2, 3, 4. 10 years, 30 lashes. 
 
 Nos. 5, 6. 10 years, 20 lashes. 
 
 No. 7. Death. 
 
 No. 8. 10 years. 
 
 No. 9. 15 years. 
 
 No. 10. 20 years. 
 
 Nos. 11, 12. Death. 
 
 Nos. 13, 14, 15. 15 years. 
 
 No. 16. Death. 
 
 No. 17. 10 years. 
 
 Nos. 18, 19. 10 years, 500 cattle. 
 
 Nos. 20 to 23. Death. 
 
 No. 24. 10 years, 40 lashes. 
 
 No. 25. 10 years, 30 lashes. 
 
 . Following are terms and dates of commutation of sentences : 
 
 Nos. 7, 11, 12, and 16. Imprisonment for life ; 12th 
 
 September. 
 Nos. 18, 19. Fine remitted to cattle being personal property, 
 
 not exceeding 500 head ; 17th August. 
 Nos. 20, 21. Imprisonment for life ; 17th August. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 87 
 
 No. 22. 10 years and fine of 15 cattle or 100; 8th 
 
 March. 
 No. 23. Imprisonment for 15 years and 25 lashes ; 12th 
 
 April. 
 
 No. 24. Lashes reduced to 30 ; 30th August. 
 No. 25. Lashes remitted ; 30th August. 
 
 All imprisonment specified above being with hard labour. 
 
 McCALLUM. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 The Governor of St. Helena to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received 12.19 p.m., March 19, 1907.) 
 
 Telegram. 
 
 I have this day telegraphed to Governor, Natal, to the follow- 
 ing effect : 
 
 St. Helena willing to receive Zulu prisoners provided that 
 War Office will permit use of part of barracks as 
 prison. Cost will not exceed 20 per man per annum. 
 
 Please ascertain whether War Office consents. GALLWEY. 
 
 No. 16. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 4.45 p.m., March 19, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 March 19. No. 1. Referring to telegram from Governor, 
 St. Helena, of this date which has been repeated to you, 
 Ministers are quite satisfied, and would ask you to fix up with 
 Office and also to issue orders with as little delay as possible. 
 Until the eve of embarkation action will be kept secret. 
 
 McCALLUM. 
 
 No. 17. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received 1.20 p.m., April 3, 1907.) 
 (Extract.) Telegram. 
 
 April 3. The situation is improving. The atmosphere will 
 be much cleared by transportation of ringleaders. Ministers 
 inquire when they may expect your authority for their removal. 
 
 McCALLUM. 
 
88 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 No. 18. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 4.15 p.m., April 16, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 April 16. Referring to my telegram of 3rd April, I have 
 received following Minute from Ministers : 
 
 Ministers would respectfully urge upon the Secretary of 
 State necessity for giving immediate authority for the 
 removal to Saint Helena of the native ringleaders con- 
 cerned in recent rebellion. It is now over three months 
 since the proposal for the deportation of these natives 
 from the Colony was originally made, and the great delay 
 which has taken place through unforeseen circumstances 
 has been unfortunate and embarrassing. Ministers depre- 
 cate any further delay, and will be obliged if your 
 Excellency will at once cable to the Secretary of State 
 urging him to accelerate settlement. 
 
 McCALLUM. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 T/ie Governor of St. Helena to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received April 18, 1907.) 
 The Castle, St. Helena, March 21, 1907. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to inform Your Lordship that 
 I received a telegraphic despatch from the Governor of Natal 
 on the 16th instant asking me whether St. Helena would 
 receive twenty-five rebel ringleaders sentenced to various terms 
 of penal servitude, using a portion of empty barracks as a 
 prison ; and, if so, on what terms. Sir Henry McCallum 
 informed me that owing to an outbreak of beri-beri in the 
 Mauritius prisons the arrangement made to send the prisoners 
 to that Colony had fallen through. He further informed me 
 that the Mauritius Government had agreed to take the twenty- 
 five prisoners at a cost of 20 per man per annum, provided 
 the Natal Government sent two European warders with the 
 men. 
 
 2. I discussed the matter in Council on the 18th instant, when 
 it was unanimously decided to receive the prisoners provided 
 the War Office consented to the use of Ladder Hill Barracks as 
 a prison. I accordingly telegraphed to this effect to the 
 Governor of Natal, adding that the cost per man would not 
 exceed 20 a year, but that the Natal Government must pay 
 actual cost. I made this latter stipulation as this Government 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 89 
 
 has no wish to make money out of the Natal Government 
 whilst being unable to risk the smallest loss under the transac- 
 tion. I am writing to Sir Henry McCallum fully explaining 
 matters. My despatch should reach Pietermaritzburg about the 
 4th proximo, and so allow the prisoners to be sent here by the 
 steamer due to leave Cape Town on or about the 29th proximo. 
 
 3. On the 19th instant I telegraphed to Your Lordship giving 
 you the drift of my reply to the Governor of Natal and request- 
 ing Your Lordship would ascertain whether the "War Office would 
 allow the use of part of the barracks as a prison. My object in 
 not repeating to Your Lordship my telegram to Natal verbatim 
 was to save unnecessary expense, the telegram being a long one. 
 
 4. The actual feeding of the prisoners, including fuel, will not 
 exceed 10 a year per man consequently the traders and 
 farmers will benefit only to a very small extent. Every little 
 helps, however, in these hard times. 
 
 I have, etc. H. L. GALLWET, 
 
 Governor and Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 No. 20. The Secretary of State to the Governor. 
 
 (Seat 5.30 p.m., April 20, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 April 20. No. 1. Referring to your telegram 9th March, 
 warrants required under the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act, 
 Section 6, must be signed by Secretary of State for the Colonies 
 and by Governor of St. Helena as well as by Governor of Natal 
 before prisoners can leave Natal. Warrants will be forwarded 
 to Governor of St. Helena duly signed by me by the next mail, 
 which leaves on 3rd May, and he has been instructed by 
 telegraph to sign them and forward them to you by the same 
 steamer. I have informed your Prime Minister accordingly. 
 We regret the delay but it is inevitable. 
 
 The War Office require that any necessary repairs to the 
 barracks and other expenditure shall be met by the Colony. I 
 presume that your Ministers agree to paying. The amount 
 will probably be small. The correspondence will be sent by 
 next mail. ELGIN. 
 
 No. 21. The Secretary of State to the Governor of St. Helena. 
 (Sent 5.45 p.m., April 20, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 Referring to your telegram of 8th April, War Office agree to 
 use of barracks on conditions which I have accepted. 
 
90 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Warrant required by Section 6 of the Colonial Prisoners 
 Removal Act must be signed by Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies and Governor St. Helena as well as Governor, Natal, 
 before prisoners can be removed from Natal. I am therefore 
 sending out to you by mail steamer sailing on 3rd May twenty - 
 five warrants signed by me. You should make arrangements 
 to sign warrants and forward them to Governor, Natal, by the 
 same steamer. Your signature is sufficient without seal or 
 witness. I am informing Governor, Natal, by telegraph. 
 ELGIN. 
 
 No. 22. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received 12.42 p.m., April 23, 1907.) 
 (Extract.) Telegram. 
 
 April 23. Your telegram of 20th April, No. 1. Ministers 
 now understand cause of delay. They are prepared to pay for 
 repairs to barracks and other incidental expenses. McCALLUM. 
 
 No. 23. The Secretary of State to the Governor. 
 (Sent 4.20 p.m., April 26, 1907., 
 Telegram. 
 
 April 26. No. 1. Your telegram of 23rd April. I assume 
 that your Ministers will ascertain from Governor, St. Helena, 
 what guards will be required for prisoners, and make due 
 provision accordingly. ELGIN. 
 
 No. 24. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 12.13 p.m., April 27, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 April 27. No. 1. Referring to your telegram of 26th April, 
 No. 1, arrangements with respect to guards already made. 
 Despatch follows by mail to-day. MCCALLUM. 
 
 No. 25. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received May 18, 1907.) 
 Government House, Pietermaritzburg, Natal, 
 
 April 25, 1907. 
 
 MY LORD, With reference to previous correspondence on the 
 subject of the deportation from this Colony of native rebel 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 91 
 
 ringleaders, I have the honour to transmit to you the enclosed 
 copy of a despatch which I have received from the Governor of 
 St. Helena, together with a copy of the reply which I .have sent 
 thereto. 
 
 3. Ministers desire me to thank your Lordship for the 
 support you have given them in this important matter. 
 
 I have, etc. HENRY McCALLUM. 
 
 Enclosure 1 in No. 25. 
 Governor, St. Helena, to Governor, Natal. 
 
 The Castle, St. Helena, March 22, 1907. 
 
 SIR, I have the honour to inform you that on the 14th 
 instant I received a telegram from Your Excellency which I was 
 unable to decypher. 
 
 2. On the 16th March Your Excellency repeated your telegram 
 of the 14th instant, which was to the effect that as an outbreak 
 of beri-beri had occurred in the Mauritius prisons, an arrange- 
 ment to send twenty-five rebel ringleaders, sentenced to various 
 terms of penal servitude, to that Colony had fallen through, 
 Your Excellency wished to know whether this Government 
 would receive the prisoners, and, if so, on what terms suggest- 
 ing that part of the empty barracks might be used as a prison. 
 Your Excellency further informed me that the terms under 
 which the Mauritius Government had agreed to take the 
 prisoners was at the rate of 20 per man per annum, provided 
 Your Government sent two European warders with the men. 
 You also stated that the prisoners were a docile lot. 
 
 3. On the 17th instant, in reply to a telegram I despatched 
 to Your Excellency the previous day, you informed me that the 
 following was the prisoners' diet : 
 
 Breakfast. 12 ounces mealie meal. 
 
 Supper. 12 ounces mealie meal. 
 
 Dinner. 16 ounces mealie meal, or 2 Ibs. potatoes. 
 
 Eight ounces fresh meat and four ounces fresh vegetables twice 
 a week. One ounce of salt daily. Your Excellency further 
 stated that if mealies were not obtainable in this Colony that 
 you would send supplies thereof periodically. I may say at 
 once that mealies are obtainable here. I take it that the 
 prisoners themselves make the meal. 
 
 4. On the 19th instant I sent you a telegram to the effect that 
 St. Helena was willing to receive the prisoners provided the 
 War Office consented to a portion of the empty barracks being 
 used as a prison. That the cost per head would not exceed 20 
 per annum, but that Your Excellency's Government should pay 
 
92 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 actual cost. I made this stipulation as tins Colony has no wish 
 to make money out of the Natal Government whilst, owing to 
 its slender finances, it cannot take any risk of loss. I further 
 informed Your Excellency that a despatch explaining matters 
 would reach you about the 4th proximo, and so allow the 
 prisoners being sent here by the steamer due to leave Cape 
 Town about the 29th proximo. I ended my telegram by 
 stating that I was repeating it to the Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies. 
 
 5. On the same date I telegraphed the drift of my reply to 
 you to Lord Elgin, and requested His Lordship to ascertain 
 whether the War Office would consent to the barracks being 
 used as a prison. 
 
 6. As regards the cost of feeding the prisoners, I calculate 
 that according to the diet laid down by Your Excellency this 
 will not exceed 10 per man per annum, including fuel. The 
 cost of feeding a prisoner in the gaol here is roughly, including 
 fuel, Is. a day. The diet, allowed, however, is quite different 
 to the scale laid down for your prisoners. I take it that the 
 two European warders will find themselves in everything but 
 quarters, and the usual barrack furniture. 
 
 7. I am not aware as to what furniture, if any, is required for 
 the prisoners. There is a large swimming bath close by to 
 where they will be confined with a continual flow of water 
 passing through. I presume the prisoners do their own cook- 
 ing. Should cooking and eating utensils and bedding be pur- 
 chased ? I must apologise for troubling Your Excellency with 
 questions of these minor details, but I have no knowledge of 
 the Zulu nor the way he is treated when a prisoner. 
 
 8. There will be certain small preliminary expenses to be met 
 by your Government, such as cost of landing the prisoners, 
 purchase of washing tubs, weighing machine, buckets, lamps, 
 etc. The chief recurrent expenditure as apart from the cost of 
 provisions and fuel would be : 
 
 (a.) Medical attendance and cost of drugs. There is only one 
 doctor in the Colony (the Colonial Surgeon), who is already 
 fully occupied in tending to the wants of the entire popula- 
 tion of the Island. It is only reasonable to expect that he 
 should receive some remuneration for his attendance on the 
 prisoners and warders. It is taken for granted that the 
 warders will either not bring their families with them or 
 are unmarried. I would suggest, for Your Excellency's 
 consideration, that 50 a year would be a reasonable allow- 
 ance to the Colonial Surgeon. Drugs would be paid for as 
 used, and would probably cost very little during the year. 
 If a prisoner was admitted to hospital, the usual charge of 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 93 
 
 Is. a day would be made. This would, however, be only 
 resorted to in a case of very serious illness, as there is 
 plenty of room in the barracks to provide for a sick ward. 
 I would add that the barracks it is proposed to use stand 
 clear of Jamestown at a height of 600 feet above the sea. 
 They are consequently some distance from the scene of the 
 Colonial Surgeon's official duties. This official, too, would 
 have to give careful attention to the sanitary state of the 
 prisoners' quarters. 
 
 (6.) I do not know how many warders will be required in 
 addition to the two sent by you. I can engage suitable 
 men for this work at 3s. each a day to cover everything. 
 
 (c.) Water rate. The water supply at Ladder Hill Barracks 
 is a very good one, and extends to the closet system. 
 Careful supervision is necessary to maintain the supply in 
 a satisfactory state, and I propose calculating the water 
 rate at roughly 3s. per man per annum for 27 men. 
 
 9. Your Excellency will see that 20 per man a year should 
 more than cover the recurrent expenditure necessary to keep 
 the prisoners. We have the following items with their 
 approximate cost per annum: 
 
 Food and fuel 250 
 
 Medical attendance ------ 50 
 
 Medicines v 6 
 
 Three warders at 55 165 
 
 Oil, wick, and matches ----- 5 
 
 Soap and cleaning materials - 5 
 
 Water rate 4 
 
 Contingencies ------- 5 
 
 Total - 490 
 
 I have allowed for three extra warders as there will have to be 
 a man continually on duty day and night, owing to the nature 
 of the buildings in which the prisoners will be confined. This 
 Government can lend rifles for the warders' use if necessary. I 
 take it that the prisoners do not receive anything in the way of 
 tea, coffee, or other groceries with the exception of salt ? I ask 
 this question as the Zulus who were interned in this Colony ten 
 years ago received coffee, sugar, and other groceries. In fact, 
 they appear to have been given anything they asked for. 
 
 10. I would be much obliged if Your Excellency would 
 inform me when I may expect the prisoners and enlighten me 
 as to the several points raised above. I would mention that 
 there are no iron bars to the windows where the prisoners will 
 be confined. These, however, could be furnished and fixed 
 
94 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 locally if necessary, the cost being defrayed by your Govern- 
 ment. There will be no objection, I suppose, to placing three 
 or four men in one room ? I would add that there is plenty of 
 room for the prisoners to take exercise. I should like to be 
 informed what work the prisoners should do. Can they be used 
 on the roads, or should they not leave the confines of the prison 
 yard ? 
 
 11. In conclusion I would state that any monies expended on 
 the maintenance of the prisoners will be treated as an advance 
 to Your Excellency's Government, and be adjusted in the usual 
 manner through the Crown Agents for the Colonies. 
 
 I have, etc., H. L. GALLWEY, 
 Governor and Commander-in-Chief. 
 His Excellency 
 
 Sir Henry E. McCallum, R.E., G.C.M.G., A.D.C., 
 Governor of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. 
 
 Enclosure 2 in No. 25. 
 Governor, Natal, to Governor, St. Helena. 
 
 Government House, Natal, April 21, 1907. 
 
 SIR, With reference to your despatch of the 22nd ultimo. I 
 have the honour to transmit to you the enclosed copy of a 
 minute which I have received from the Acting Prime Minister 
 dealing with the points raised by you. 
 
 I would further confirm my telegram to you, No. 1, of to-day's 
 date, wherein I state that I have been informed by the Secretary 
 of State that it will not be possible to move the prisoners from 
 Natal until about the end of May. Lord Elgin informs me that 
 he has sent you for signature the warrants required under 
 Section 6 of the Colonial Prisoners' Removal Act, with a request 
 that you will sign and forward them to me by the same steamer. 
 In this connection I should feel obliged if, when despatching the 
 warrants, you will give directions that they be forwarded from 
 Cape Town overland, as this will avoid a delay of three or 
 four days. 
 
 Ministers propose to send the prisoners under special arrange- 
 ment by direct steamer from Durban, and as soon as the details 
 are settled I will apprise you by telegram of the date of their 
 departure, and the probable date of their arrival at St. Helena. 
 
 In conclusion, I would express to you the warm thanks of 
 my Ministers and myself for the assistance you have afforded 
 us in this matter. 
 
 I have, etc., HENRY MCCALLUM, 
 
 His Excellency The Governor, etc., etc., etc., 
 St. Helena. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 95 
 
 Acting Prime Minister to Governor. 
 Minute. 
 
 His EXCELLENCY, 1. In reply to the points raised in His 
 Excellency the Governor of St. Helena's despatch, dated the 
 the 22nd ultimo, Ministers will be obliged if Your Excellency 
 will inform Lieutenant-Colonel Gallwey as follows : The 
 queries in the despatch are dealt with seriatim : 
 
 Paragraph 6. The two European warders will either find 
 themselves in all necessaries after arrival (except quarters and 
 the usual barrack furniture, which will be provided) or arrange- 
 ments in regard thereto will be made later on with the 
 Government of St. Helena. 
 
 Paragraph 7. As the natives sleep on the ground, no furni- 
 ture will be required. 
 
 They will do their own cooking. 
 
 Cooking and eating utensils the prisoners will take with 
 them ; also blankets, which form the only bedding required. 
 
 Paragraph 8. Government is prepared to meet the small 
 preliminary expenses referred to, and 
 
 (a) In regard to medical attendance and cost of drugs, the 
 remuneration to the doctor suggested, viz., 50, is agreed 
 to ; drugs will also be paid for as used. 
 
 The proposed hospital charge of Is. per day is accepted. 
 The warders will not be accompanied by families. 
 
 (6) Ministers are of opinion that extra warders beyond those 
 provided for in paragraph 9 will not be required, but 
 liberty is left to the Governor of St. Helena to provide' 
 additional warders on such special occasions as it may 
 appear to His Excellency to be desirable to do so. 
 
 (c) The water rate of 3s. per man per annum is agreed to. 
 
 Paragraph 9. Ministers consider the estimated cost of 490 
 per annum is reasonable, and if three extra warders are neces- 
 sary for day and night duty at the prison buildings, Government 
 agrees to their employment at the rate of 55 each per annum, 
 as provided for in the 490 before mentioned. 
 
 Ministers are obliged for the information that rifles will be 
 lent to the warders if found to be necessary. 
 
 No other groceries except salt are received by the prisoners. 
 
 Paragraph 10. Ministers note from the subsequent despatch 
 from the Governor of St. Helena, dated 25th March, that it will 
 not be necessary to incur any expenditure in regard to fixing 
 iron bars to the windows of the buildings where the prisoners 
 will be confined, as rooms with windows already so fitted are 
 available if required. 
 
96 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 There will be no objection to placing three or four men in one 
 room. 
 
 In the matter of work the prisoners may be employed on 
 sweeping, scrubbing, cooking, weeding, road maintenance, and 
 other forms of light labour. 
 
 Paragraph 11. Ministers concur in any moneys expended in 
 the maintenance of the prisoners being treated as an advance 
 to this Government, and the amount being adjusted in the usual 
 manner, through the Crown Agents for the Colonies. 
 
 C. O'GRADT GUBBINS, 
 
 April 8, 1907. Acting Prime Minister. 
 
 No. 26. The Governor to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 7 p.m., June 1, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 June 1. No. 1. Rebel ringleaders left Natal to-day by 
 steamship " Inyati," which proceeds direct to St. Helena. 
 
 I have requested Ministers consider in a month's time 
 desirability of releasing on ticket-of-leave, rank and file ordi- 
 nary rebels in such batches at one time as can be dealt with by 
 Administration. Any move in that direction before then would 
 be attributed by natives to Dinizulu's visit to Pietermaritzburg, 
 which is undesirable. 
 
 I hold meeting Monday of important native Chiefs who have 
 come to take leave of me, including Manzolwandhle, Umciteki, 
 ' who is Regent of Amandhlakazi tribe in Usibepu's place, and 
 Kambi, who is Dinizulu's cousin. 
 
 I believe that recommendations of the Native Affairs Com- 
 mission with respect to removal of bond-fide grievances will be 
 adopted and that I am leaving Colony with native matters 
 fairly flattened out. McCALLUM. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 97 
 
 EXEECISE No. 6. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE FLOGGING 
 OF NATIVES BY CERTAIN EUROPEANS AT 
 NAIROBI. 
 
 No. 1. Daily Mail, March 15, 1907. 
 
 NATIVE PERIL IN EAST AFRICA. RIFLES SERVED OUT TO THE 
 WHITES AT NAIROBI. 
 
 (From Our Own Correspondent.) 
 
 Nairobi, Thursday, March 14. 
 
 In consequence of their having insulted white women and 
 gone unpunished by the authorities, three negroes have been 
 publicly flogged in front of Nairobi Court House, in the presence 
 of a large crowd, by Captain Grogan, president of the Colonists' 
 Association. 
 
 (From Our Own Correspondent.) 
 
 Mombasa, Thursday, March 14. 
 
 Owing to sudden unrest among the natives at Nairobi, the 
 citizens have demanded ammunition and rifles. The Acting 
 Commissioner has agreed to issue them, and has appointed a 
 defence committee. 
 
 The climax has been reached, it is considered, owing to the 
 Government's refusal to appoint white police some time ago. 
 
 Nairobi has a population of about 8,000, of whom 600 are 
 Europeans and Eurasians. The East Africa Protectorate has a 
 total population of 4,000,000, of whom only 2,000 are European 
 or Eurasian. 
 
 White police are to be introduced in Nairobi on April 1, but 
 the Colonists have been agitating for their immediate appoint- 
 ment for some months past. 
 
 No. 2. The Secretary of State to the A cting Commissioner. 
 (Sent 1.15 p.m., March 15, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 March 15. According to telegrams from Nairobi appearing 
 in Daily Mail, three negroes, not having been punished by 
 authorities for insult to white women, have been flogged by 
 
 G 
 
98 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Grogan in front of Court House, and defence committee has 
 been formed, and you have agreed to issue arms to settlers. 
 Report fully on matter by telegram. ELGIN. 
 
 No. 3. The Acting Commissioner to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 5.25 p.m., March 16, 1907- ) 
 Telegram. 
 
 No. 36. With reference to your telegram of March 15, there 
 is absolutely no foundation for report of native rising. 
 
 On Thursday morning Grogan, Russell, Bowker, and another 
 flogged three Kikuyu natives in front of the Court House, 
 having collected upwards of 100 Europeans, of whom many were 
 armed, as supporters and witnesses. They disregarded attempted 
 intervention by European police officer and magistrate. Natives 
 were alleged to have insulted two European ladies whom they 
 were pulling in rickshaw. Details very vague, but insult was 
 apparently not of a serious nature, and at most did not amount 
 to more than rudeness and disobedience. Culprits were not taken 
 to the police, but were taken down to the town and treated 
 as arrested. Flogging was carried out in a most brutal manner. 
 Majority of spectators were led by ringleaders to believe that 
 the insults offered to the ladies had been of a gross nature. 
 
 Immediately after the flogging Grogan and a so-called com- 
 mittee of about 30 persons made their way to my office and 
 formally gave me his version of the occurrence, of which I was 
 previously in complete ignorance, and asserted that Europeans 
 of Nairobi were much alarmed at the prospect of a native rising, 
 and that their excitement could be allayed only by means of 
 self-protection being given to them by the Government. 
 
 In order to calm these excited and hysterical people and avert 
 what might have led to a serious fracas in the town, I consented 
 to a loan of ammunition being made on certain conditions to 
 persons whose isolated position rendered them in their own 
 opinion insecure. At the same time I pointed out that the 
 Government did not share their apprehension, and was, in fact, 
 convinced that there was no foundation for the idea of a native 
 rising. I have published a Notice to the effect in to-day's 
 Gazette. Up to the present only one man has applied for any 
 ammunition. 
 
 I regard the whole incident as deliberately engineered and 
 planned by Grogan, Burn, Fichat, Low and others with a view 
 to bringing the Administration, and more particularly the 
 Judicial and Police Departments, into contempt, and I consider 
 the matter serious in view of the fact that all our available 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 99 
 
 forces are native and cannot be used against this gang of 
 European lawbreakers. I would urge the immediate appoint- 
 ment of the European police force asked for in the Estimates if 
 sanction has been given. 
 
 I have made careful inquiries and am convinced that there is 
 absolutely no feeling of unrest among the natives. They are 
 perfectly quiet at present. Whether they will remain so if 
 incidents like that of Thursday are repeated is another matter, 
 but personally I am of opinion that it would take a great deal 
 to rouse them. JACKSON. 
 
 No. 4. The Secretary of State to the Acting Commissioner. 
 (Sent 6.40 p.m., March 18, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 March 18. I have received the news contained in your 
 telegram, No. 36, with regret. I presume that legal proceedings 
 have been taken against ringleaders. 
 
 A reduction from thirty to twenty has been made in the 
 strength of the European Police Force in the Estimates. 
 Twenty may be appointed at once. 
 
 Will the force which you will then have be sufficient to bring 
 the ringleaders to justice ? ELGIN. 
 
 No. 5. The Acting Commissioner to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received at 8.20 p.m., March 19, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 No. 39. I hope to be able to engage twenty constables as 
 sanctioned in your telegram of to-day. 
 
 Summonses have been issued against Grogan, Bowker, 
 Bennett, Fichat, Burn, Low, and others for holding an unlawful 
 meeting, and Grogan and Bowker will be charged with resisting 
 the police. Case will be heard March 25th. If committed to 
 Sessions they will be tried about April 5th, on which day 
 flagship arrives. 
 
 I am considering the question of selecting Mombasa as the 
 place of trial, as it may be impossible to obtain an unbiassed 
 jury here. Should accused refuse to proceed to Mombasa I 
 shall attempt to raise force of special constables. I have warned 
 Admiral that I may require assistance. May I detain ship of 
 war if necessary ? 
 
 It is stated that over 100 settlers have sworn to release 
 Grogan if he is sentenced to imprisonment. 
 
100 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Natives report slight unrest in Kikuyu due to Grogan's- 
 action and to rumoured threat which has reached them that 
 the white men intend to kill them. JACKSON. 
 
 No. 6. The Acting Commissioner to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 2.32 p.m., April 19, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 No. 58. My telegram, No. 36, of the 16th of March. Con- 
 siderable capital is being made by the local Press and the 
 Colonists' Association out of the statement made by Your 
 Lordship in the House of Lords that many of the participators 
 in the flogging incident were armed, because this was not 
 proved at the trial. 
 
 Reports received at the time justified the statement in my 
 telegram. As, however, evidence could only be procured against 
 Bowker and Grogan, the charges under the 144th Section of the 
 Indian Penal Code were not proceeded with. JACKSON. 
 
 No. 7. The Acting Commissioner to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 2.44 p.m., April 23, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 No. 62. Have been asked to forward following. Charges in 
 connection with transmission have been paid : 
 
 Colonists' Association of British East Africa contends that 
 local Administration turned flogging incident into most 
 unscrupulous political prosecution. Your Lordship's state- 
 ment in House Lords of April llth, as reported reference a 
 hundred Europeans, many of whom were armed, an un- 
 witting but gross libel on this community at large, and we 
 request that Board of Enquiry be appointed from home to 
 enquire into this and other pressing grievances. 
 JACKSON. 
 
 No. 8. The Acting Commissioner to the Secretary of State. 
 
 (Received April 30, 1907.) 
 
 Commissioner's Office, Nairobi, April 9, 1907. 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of 
 the file and judgment in the case of The Crown versus Grogan 
 and others, which terminated on the 2nd instant. 
 
 2. The sentences were quietly received and the prisoners 
 offered no resistance. Later in the day, however, a mass 
 meeting was held and telegrams were in consequence despatched 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 101 
 
 to Your Lordship and to the Premiers of the various South 
 African Colonies. 
 
 3. A deputation also waited upon me to ask that the prisoners 
 might be incarcerated in a place where their disgrace might not 
 be witnessed by native convicts. 
 
 4. In view of the fact that the gaol has been medically con- 
 demned as insanitary for Europeans, and is, besides, very 
 ill-fitted for their accommodation, I acceded to the request of 
 the deputation, and ordered the transfer of the prisoners to a 
 building on Nairobi Hill, where they are confined under the 
 surveillance of the police. 
 
 5. I was somewhat reluctant to do this, as the moral effect 
 would, I consider, have been greater if the sentence had been 
 carried out in the regular prison, but, having regard to the 
 strictures passed on the Mombasa jail in the Wehner case, I 
 thought it better not to give any opportunity for adverse 
 criticism. I trust, however, that ere long we shall have a 
 building in which malefactors of every kind can be confined, 
 irrespective of race and colour. 
 
 6. The sentences, which in view of the gravity of the offences 
 committed cannot be reasonably regarded as other than lenient, 
 have, nevertheless, provoked a considerable amount of vitupera- 
 tion in the local press, as an instance of which I have the honour 
 to enclose a copy of the Times of East Africa of the 6th 
 instant. Such expressions of opinion are only to be expected 
 from the persons who are known to be the authors of them. 
 
 7. The trial and its result have, as far as I am aware, pro- 
 duced no effect whatever on the native mind, which is far too 
 unintelligent and ignorant to take any interest in such pro- 
 ceedings, unless their scope and meaning were very carefully 
 explained. 
 
 8. It is at any rate certain that the knowledge that they can 
 only be punished in accordance with law is unlikely to have a 
 disquieting effect on the Kikuyu. If they were led to under- 
 stand that they could be flogged by Europeans whenever the 
 latter thought fit it certainly might disturb their tranquillity. 
 
 I have, etc., F. J. JACKSON, 
 
 Acting Commissioner. 
 
 Enclosure 1 in No. 8. 
 Crown versus Grogan, Bowker, Wilson, Burn, Low, Fichat, 
 
 Gray, Bennett, and Walker Dun. 
 Town Magistrate, Nairobi, March 25, 1907. 
 
 Parties present : Combe, for Crown ; Allen, for Grogan ; rest 
 undefended. 
 
102 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Combe opens. Asks permission to withdraw case against 
 Walker Dun, M'Clellan Wilson, and Bennett. 
 
 Walker Dun, M'Clellan Wilson, and Bennett discharged 
 accordingly. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 EWAN REGINALD LOGAN, European, Protectorate Officer, 
 Nairobi, sworn, states : 
 
 I am Town Magistrate at Nairobi. 
 
 On 14th March, 1907, I was in this Court building. At about 
 10 o'clock in the morning I arrived at this Court, and went to 
 my private room. Immediately I got there I saw through my 
 window a number of men coming towards the Court from the 
 Government Road. They were Europeans, and came into the 
 space outside the Court, and walked past my window, and came 
 to main entrance of Court. They stopped there. At that 
 moment Mr. Ghandy the pleader walked past my window quite 
 close. I asked him what the matter was about. In conse- 
 quence of what he said to me, and from what I heard from my 
 clerk, I sent my clerk (Nadirshaw) to find out what the matter 
 was. 
 
 He presently returned without information. He had applied 
 to Mr. Burn for information, and was refused. 
 
 In consequence of what information I did get, being under 
 the impression that an unlawful proceeding was about to take 
 place, I felt it my duty to go outside and protest to the crowd 
 against what was being done. I went out and walked to the 
 steps leading to the main door of the Court. I stood on the top 
 step and found a large crowd of European men gathered round 
 the foot of the steps. I should think they were 40 or 50, 
 perhaps more. In the centre of the crowd there was an open 
 space ; lying on the ground in this open space I saw two natives. 
 One of these natives, the one nearest me, was doubled up in a 
 heap, the other was lying at full length. Mr. Bowker (accused) 
 was bending over him. By Mr. Bowker's side was Captain 
 Grogan (accused). I called to Mr. Bowker and said : " Mr. 
 Bowker. what are you doing?" he did not reply. I then said, 
 " Gentlemen, you are not allowed to take the law into your own 
 hands. Your proper course is to make a complaint to the 
 proper authorities." I said this in a loud voice, so that everyone 
 present could hear. Grogan then said to me, " If we do, what 
 will happen ?" or words to that effect. " Will he be advised not 
 to do it again ? " (I imagine he was referring to one of the 
 natives on the ground.) I replied, "If anything is proved 
 against them I imagine it will be something more severe than 
 that." These were, I think, my words. Grogan then said, 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 103 
 
 "What will he get?" I replied, "Without knowing what the 
 offence is I can't say what the punishment will be." That was 
 all that was said. 
 
 I waited a minute or two on the step, and then seeing that 
 the men were determined to do what they intended, I walked 
 away back to my room. Shortly after this I heard the sounds 
 of blows apparently by some thick thong upon the bare flesh. 
 Shortly after this I saw the crowd of men dispersing, and they 
 went away. No complaint of any sort or kind against these 
 natives had been made to me at all. I was completely taken by 
 surprise by what happened, and at the time there were no white 
 police present. When I was in my room, after leaving the crowd, 
 or before they dispersed, Captain Smith (policeman) arrived, and 
 whilst the crowd were dispersing, Mr. Tyssen and other white 
 police arrived. I saw Mr. Low (accused) on the verandah of 
 the Court when I first walked to the steps. I also saw the 
 accused, Captain Gray, on the verandah also. They were form- 
 ing part of the crowd which had come up on the verandah near 
 the entrance. The crowd quietly dispersed after this occurrence. 
 
 Mr. Allen reserves his cross-examination. 
 
 Cross-examined by Captain Fichat : 
 
 Q. Did you only see two boys ? I only noticed two boys 
 lying on the ground. 
 
 Q. Would you be surprised to hear there were three ? No. 
 
 Q. Will you swear that you addressed the crowd when you 
 said, " Gentlemen, you are not allowed to take the law into your 
 own hands," and that you did not address Grogan alone ? Yes, 
 I will swear it. 
 
 Q. Did you say to everyone, " I am the Magistrate " ? No, 
 everybody knows me. 
 
 Q. Did you order the crowd to disperse ? I did not tell them 
 to go away. 
 
 Q. Did you tell them that by remaining they were forming 
 an unlawful assembly ? No. 
 
 Q. Did you send for the police ; if so, white or black ? I sent 
 for the white police. 
 
 Q. Is this building commonly known as the Town Hall ? I 
 don't know. 
 
 Q. Do you know the Government rent this from the Municipal 
 Authorities ? I do. 
 
 No more questions. 
 
 Mr. Burn reserved his cross-examination. (Logan continues 
 evidence.) 
 
 Outside the Court, close to the main entrance, where the 
 crowd was standing, there is a large notice board with the 
 words, "Notices, Town Magistrate's Court," printed on it in 
 
104 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 large letters. Close to the gate where the crowd entered the 
 compound there is another notice board with the words, " Town 
 Magistrate's Court," printed in large letters upon it. 
 
 Both these notices were in the positions I have described on 
 the 14th March, 1907. 
 
 Fichat cross-examines (on continued statement) : 
 
 O. Are there not two entrances to the so-called compound? 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. Is there not a large notice board close by one entrance 
 with the words, " Municipal Offices, Nairobi," upon it ? Yes, 
 there is. such a board. 
 
 No more questions from either accused. 
 
 H. 0. DOLBEY. 
 
 Read over and found correct. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 GEORGE SMITH, A.D.S. Police, Nairobi, sworn, states : 
 
 About 10 o'clock a.m. the 14th March, 1907, I came to the 
 Town Magistrate's Court building. On arriving here I saw a 
 crowd of Europeans grouped round the steps of the Court 
 House ; they were in a semi-circle, and on the ground in the 
 centre I saw three Wakikuyu ; they were bound. I saw Grogan 
 also in the semi-circle, also Mr. Bowker. The Town Magistrate, 
 Mr. Logan, was standing on the Court steps addressing the 
 crowd. 
 
 I heard him warn them about the consequences of taking the 
 law into their own hands, but I don't recollect his exact words ; 
 I do, however, remember him saying that there were proper 
 authorities to take a complaint before or words to that effect. 
 
 The Magistrate having finished his remarks went to his office. 
 I followed him. I had a conversation with him there, and then 
 returned. I pushed my way through the crowd, and put my 
 hand on Captain Grogan's arm. As I did so the crowd closed 
 in and hustled me outside the circle. 
 
 The crowd hustled me, and one of them who hustled was the 
 accused, Mr. Bowker. I was in uniform at the time. 
 
 After I was hustled out of the crowd Grogan commenced to 
 flog one of the Wakikuyu. I saw this myself. I saw it was 
 useless my remaining any longer, and so I left, and went to the 
 Police Office and returned with the A.D.S. of Police in Charge 
 at Nairobi. On my return I found the crowd had dispersed. 
 In the crowd I also saw Captain Gray, but none of the other 
 accused beyond those mentioned. I should say there were 
 about 100 to 130 Europeans present. 
 
 (Allen and Burn both reserve cross-examination.) 
 

 OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 105 
 
 Fichat cross-examines : 
 
 Q. You were present when Mr. Logan was speaking ? Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you salute him ? Yes, when I got inside the semi- 
 circle. 
 
 Q. Did Mr. Logan acknowledge your salute ? Not that I 
 remember he was addressing the crowd. 
 
 Q. How long did Logan speak after you arrived ? About a 
 minute. 
 
 Q. How close were you ? About a yard and a half away. 
 
 Q. Was he speaking generally or addressing anyone in par- 
 ticular? As far as I understood him, he was addressing his 
 remarks to Grogan. 
 
 Q. Was Logan nervous or excited ? I can't say. 
 
 Q. Did you hear him say in a loud voice " Gentlemen, you 
 must not take the law into your own hands ? " Yes, I heard 
 him. 
 
 Q. In a loud voice ? Not in a very loud voice, but quite 
 audibly. 
 
 Q. Audible to you ? I think everybody present could have 
 heard. 
 
 Q. Did you hear Grogan's replies ? Yes, but I don't remem- 
 ber his words. 
 
 Q. Where were you standing ? I was standing next to 
 Captain Grogan. 
 
 Q. How far was Captain Grogun from the verandah ? About 
 two yards away. 
 
 Q. When you were hustled by the crowd were you in any 
 way ill-treated ? No, the crowd closed in and pushed me aside. 
 
 Q. Mr. Bowker may have been pushed on to you by the 
 crowd? Yes. 
 
 Q. When this happened did you call anyone to assist you in 
 the name of the law ? No. 
 
 Q. Why not ? I don't know. 
 
 Q. When outside the crowd did you write down the names 
 of those present ? No. 
 
 Q. In fact you did not think the matter very serious ? I 
 don't admit that. 
 
 No more questions from either accused. 
 
 Read over and found correct, 
 
 H. O. DOLBET. 
 
 VICTOR MARRA NEWLAND, Agent, Nairobi, European, sworn, 
 states : 
 
 I am a resident in Nairobi. 
 
 On 14th March I met Fichat (accused) in the main road 
 of this town. It was nearly opposite Mrs. Elliott's tea-rooms. 
 
106 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 This would be about 9.30 a.m. I had a conversation with him. 
 He told me that Grogan was going to flog natives publicly, and 
 asked me if I intended to be present. I asked him the reasons 
 of the flogging, and he told me that natives had insulted white 
 women. 
 
 I asked him what women, and I understood him to say Mrs. 
 Grogan and another lady. 
 
 I then asked him what they had done (meaning the natives). 
 
 I said, "Certainly I will be present." This was, to iny 
 recollection, the whole of the conversation. 
 
 After this I went down to my office and told my clerks what 
 had been told me, and told them to witness the public flogging 
 also. I also sent my native boys as well. 
 
 On the 14th I was a member of the crowd that assembled 
 outside the Town Magistrate's Court. I attended for the pur- 
 pose of taking part in the object of this assembly. At that 
 time I was under the impression that a serious assault had been 
 committed by these boys, otherwise I would not have attended. 
 
 I saw Grogan, Bowker and Gray in the crowd, and Fichat 
 also, but before the flogging took place. 
 
 I saw Fichat later on in the day. I think it was in the 
 " Travellers' Club." I spoke to him in discussing this flogging, 
 and he said he thought he had got a crowd together on record 
 time. 
 
 I saw the floggings. There were three natives, and Grogan, 
 Bowker and Gray each flogged one. 
 
 Before the flogging I also saw and spoke to Bowker. He was 
 very angry, and from what he told me it was evident that he 
 ! was under the impression that a serious assault had been 
 committed. 
 
 Fichat cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Did I tell you that, when discussing this with you on 
 March 14th, about four months ago a native had insulted 
 a female member of my family ? Yes, you said that this 
 wasn't the first time an act of this sort had been committed. 
 
 Q. Did I say that these things must be put a stop to as they 
 had occurred before ? Not to my recollection. 
 
 Q. When I made, as you say, the observation about the record 
 time to you in the Travellers' Club, was this on the 14th March? 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. You were present at the flogging ? Yes, from commence- 
 ment to the end. 
 
 Q. Did you see Logan ? Yes. 
 
 Q. Did * you hear the conversation that passed between 
 Captain Grogan and Logan ? I did, but not all. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 107 
 
 Q. Did you hear Logan address anyone else ? I did not. 
 
 Q. Where were you standing ? About 10 yards from Logan. 
 
 Q. Did you hear Logan say in a loud voice, " Gentlemen, you 
 are not allowed to take the law into your own hands ? " I did 
 not. 
 
 Q. Did you hear Grogan say in reply to Logan : " I am 
 beating them because they insulted my sister and another 
 lady " ? No. I heard Grogan say, in reply to Logan's question 
 of why was he beating these boys : " Because I want to." 
 
 Q. Did you hear the crowd ordered to disperse ? No, I did 
 not. 
 
 Q. You did not see me present when the flogging was taking 
 place ? No. 
 
 Low cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Did you come to my office last Friday ? Yes. 
 
 Q. Anyone else present ? Yes, Fichat. 
 
 Q. You came to my office to get me to publish a letter? 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. Did I hesitate about publishing this letter ? Yes. 
 
 Q. You asked me to do so as you were labouring under a 
 misapprehension ? Not only I but other people. 
 
 Q. Did you say that you were present, being under the 
 impression that an indecent assault had been committed on 
 women ? Yes. 
 
 Q. On the 22nd this wrongful impression had been removed ? 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. When was the impression removed ? On the previous 
 day the 21st. 
 
 Q. When did you receive a summons in this case ? I don't 
 remember. 
 
 Q. When did the police approach you ? Not before I got my 
 summons. 
 
 Q. Did you receive your summons prior to your changing 
 your opinion ? Yes. 
 
 Q. Did you approach Grogan or did he approach you ? I 
 asked him to come round to my office. This was on 21st March. 
 
 Q. What occurred ? I told Grogan what had been told me 
 relative to the cause that brought me to the assembly, and asked 
 him if there was any truth in it. He replied that there was no 
 truth in it, and that he had been betrayed. 
 
 Q. Is it not the fact that before you received the witness 
 summons that you expected to be summoned as a defendant ? 
 Yes, I did. 
 
 No more questions. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
108 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 BETRAN GRAY ALLEN, Solicitor, Nairobi, European, sworn, 
 states : 
 
 I ain practising in Nairobi. 
 
 On 14th March I came to the Court Building that would be 
 about 5 or 10 minutes past ten. There were many Europeans 
 standing outside the Court I should say anything from 175 to 
 250 in number. I had come across from my office to the Court 
 House. I did not see Mr. Logan then or at any time. I 
 saw some of the accused Grogan, Gray, Low, Burn, Fichat and 
 Bowker. 
 
 Mr. Burn was on the verandah just at the top of the steps. 
 There were many others in the verandah, it was full. I asked 
 Mr. Burn what the matter was all about, he said that Captain 
 Grogan was going to beat some natives for insulting white 
 women. I then said, " What about the Magistrate and the 
 police," and asked if Logan was not in his room. He replied, 
 " What can they do, they've got neither military nor white 
 police in the country, how can they stop it?" He said, "The 
 Magistrate came out a minute ago and made some ridiculous 
 remark about the proceedings not being legal ; he's gone back 
 again to his chambers." 
 
 I said that I was afraid there would be some trouble over this. 
 He said, " Yes, there is bound to be," and then he asked me 
 if I thought the Government would do anything or take any 
 notice of it. I said, " I thought they would be bound to." He 
 said, " They would have to either ignore the matter altogether, 
 in which case it would be an absolute admission of impotence, or 
 take it up, in which case, if they tried to arrest anybody, there 
 would be the biggest row there ever had been in East Africa." 
 I agreed with him. 
 
 I saw Captain Smith he was, I think, standing in the out- 
 skirts of the crowd, near the Magistrate's chamber. I saw 
 him make his way into the crowd after Grogan had finished 
 speaking, and was preparing to beat the natives. I saw him 
 get to the inner edge of the circle. I saw a lot of people when 
 they saw him coming get in front of him and with their elbows 
 bar his way, and this prevented him getting to the centre of the 
 ring. 
 
 I saw the floggings. These were three and were performed 
 by Grogan, Bowker and Gray, respectively. Fichat was present 
 when the flogging took place. I think Burn was also immediately 
 behind me when the flogging was going on. Our conversation 
 terminated about half a minute before the flogging commenced. 
 Later I had a conversation with Fichat. This was immediately 
 after the flogging was over. I asked him what the boys had 
 really done. He said Mrs. Grogan and, he thought, Mrs. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 109 
 
 Bowker were going home in their rickshaw to Grogan's house 
 last night, and these boys came and stopped the rickshaw 
 and had pulled the ladies out of the rickshaw and insulted 
 them. 
 
 I said it was absolutely incredible, and that I did not believe 
 it, and, further, said that if insulting white women was going 
 to start in this Protectorate I did not think it was these three 
 poor wretched devils who would start it. He said it was 
 perfectly true, and that this sort of thing must be stopped 
 at once. He said that this was not the first time such things 
 had happened. 
 
 I said to him that these floggings would create a big row at 
 home, and he replied that it would be in all the English papers 
 by to-night or to-morrow morning. He then said he must go 
 and send off a cable at once. I said I thought Low (another 
 accused) would do that. He said Low might send one, but he 
 had to send'one also. He turned away, and as he did so I saw 
 two men come up and ask him what the boys had done, there- 
 upon I heard Fichat begin telling the same story to them as he 
 told me. 
 
 The next day I had a further conversation with Burn. We 
 were sitting at the pleaders' table in his Court. He told me 
 that he and a lot of others had adjourned to T. A. Wood's 
 premises after the flogging and had passed a resolution (or 
 resolutions, I forget which). As a result of this resolution I 
 understood him to say that they had gone to the Acting Com- 
 missioner's house. 
 
 He said the meeting that had gone there had represented to 
 the Acting Commissioner the likelihood of a native rising and 
 that he (the Acting Commissioner) had promised that every 
 white man who asked for it would be given a rifle and 
 200 rounds of ammunition. This, I think, was all that passed 
 between us. 
 
 On March 14th the flogging took place before the Court sat, 
 I think. I came into Court 10 minutes after the flogging had 
 finished and I found nobody there at all. The Magistrate 
 was not sitting. 
 
 Examined by Combe : 
 
 I know the publisher and proprietor of this paper. (The 
 Star of East Africa produced and put in.) The publisher is 
 Low (accused). 
 
 Burn cross-examines : 
 
 Q. You frequently see me in Court ? It is a daily occurrence. 
 
 Q. Where I told you that Grogan was going to beat some 
 natives there were a number of people outside the Court ? Yes. 
 
110 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Q. At this time you knew as much as I did. Why did you 
 stop 1 To see what was going on. 
 
 Q. What other object had I for stopping. I did not do 
 anything more than you did ? I don't know. 
 
 Q. Is it not the fact that I am prosecuted for political 
 motives? I don't know, but I heard the Crown Advocate 
 state that you were selected as being a ringleader. 
 
 Q. I have on various occasions dared to criticise the Govern- 
 ment ? Yes. 
 
 Q. Can you give any reason, other than a political one, why I 
 should be in the dock and you in the witness-box ? I presume 
 you are a more important man. 
 
 Q. Did I discuss this matter with you from other than a 
 spectator's point of view? Understood you to take a greater 
 interest in it than that. 
 
 Q. You were close to me at the time of the flogging ? Yes, I 
 believe so. 
 
 Q. I did nothing but look on ? No. 
 
 Q. Was there anything illegal in the conversation that passed 
 (second conversation) ? No, I don't think so. 
 
 Q. Did you hear either the Magistrate or police call on 
 anyone for aid in suppressing this assembly ? No. 
 
 Q. Would you have given aid if called on ? No. 
 
 Q. As a member of an unlawful assembly (Question un- 
 finished) ? I don't admit the assembly was unlawful. 
 
 Q. Then you don't think there was anything unlawful in the 
 assembly ? I couldn't say I considered it a lawful assembly. 
 
 Q. How was I armed ? I saw no weapons on you. 
 
 No more questions. 
 
 Fichat cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Our conversation took place after the flogging and when 
 the crowd was dispersing ? Immediately after the flogging. 
 
 Q. When the crowd was beginning to disperse ? Yes. 
 
 Q. During the past 12 months there has been certain animus 
 between us T Not on my side. 
 
 Q. Are you aware I am the representative of the East 
 African Standard 1 I am. 
 
 No more questions. 
 
 Low cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Where was I standing when you saw me? On the 
 verandah, in about the middle of it. 
 
 Q. Did you see me taking any part in the assembly beyond 
 looking on ? No. 
 
 No further questions from either of accused. 
 
 Combe re-examines in reply to questions : 
 
 When I saw Burn at the assembly I thought he was more 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. Ill 
 
 than a spectator. He struck me as being there approving the 
 proceedings that were going on. I formed this opinion from 
 what he (Burn) said and from his manner. 
 No more questions. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 ARTHUR DAWSON MILNE, Deputy Principal Medical Officer, 
 European, sworn, states : 
 
 On March 14th I met Burn shortly before 10 a.m. in the . 
 street here. It would be just this side of the bank. He was 
 going to the bank that would be away from the Court. There 
 was another man with him. I stopped to speak and Mr. Burn, 
 who stopped also, pulled out his watch and at the same time 
 said, " I must not miss this." I asked him what was up. He 
 replied that Grogan was going to flog his gharri boys at the 
 Court House for assaulting Mrs. Grogan. He then corrected 
 himself and said at least for a technical assault. 
 
 Burn cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Had I been a newspaper correspondent this hurrying of 
 mine would have been a very natural proceeding ? Yes. 
 
 Q. Are you surprised to hear I am a special correspondent for 
 a London paper 1 Not in the least. 
 
 Low cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Did you see either a Sub-Commissioner or Collector of 
 Uganda present at the assembly ? No. 
 
 Combe cross-examined : 
 
 Q. Were you present at the assembly ? No. 
 
 No further questions from either accused. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 PHEROZSHA PESTONJEE NADIRSHAW, Court Clerk, Parsee, 
 Zoroastrian, sworn, states : 
 
 On March 14th I was in the Court buildings. I saw a crowd 
 coming towards the Court compound. This was about 9.45 a.m. 
 I was speaking to Logan at the time and facing the window I 
 was with him in his private room. 
 
 I saw Bowker, McClellan Wilson, and T. A. Wood, and 
 behind Gray and Mr. Standring following. I drew Logan's 
 attention to it. 
 
 Logan then spoke to Ghandy and then wrote a note to Tyssen 
 the Assistant District Superintendent of Police which he gave 
 to me. I handed it on to David, the Court Interpreter, for 
 delivery. Logan gave me permission to go outside to see what 
 the Europeans wanted. I came to the steps of the Court and 
 there I saw Burn. I asked him if these gentlemen wished to 
 
112 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 see Logan on any urgent business. Burn looked round and 
 smiled, but he did not give me any answer. I addressed the 
 question directly to Burn. 
 
 I then returned and reported the matter to Logan. Logan 
 then came out of the Chambers and I got on my bicycle and 
 rode to Tyssen's office. When I returned the crowd had dis- 
 persed. Mr. Burn had no engagement in Court that morning. 
 That is there was no Court case in which he was engaged on 
 that morning. 
 
 Burn cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Did you not ask me if I wanted to see Logan ? As far as 
 I remember I did not. 
 
 Q. Did Logan ask for me to go and see him after you told 
 him I was here ? No, he didn't ask for you. 
 
 No more questions from either accused. 
 
 By Court : Answers : 
 
 I asked Mr. Burn what the assembly was about because I 
 knew him best. I had no reason to suppose he knew more 
 about this assembly than anyone else. 
 
 Bead over ; correct. H. O. DOLBET. 
 
 JOHN ACLAND LETHBRIDGE, Livery Stable-keeper, European, 
 resident at Nairobi, sworn, states : 
 
 At 8.30 on the morning of 14th March I received certain 
 communications. That morning I saw Captain Fichat near his 
 office and had a conversation with him. This was before 
 10 o'clock a.m. He told me that certain ladies had been grossly 
 insulted by three rickshaw boys. I was told Mrs. Grogan was 
 one of the ladies, I think it was Fichat who told me. 
 
 With regard to the insult I forget Fichat's exact words, but 
 the impression he left in my mind from his language was that 
 they had been grossly insulted. He did not tell me how. He 
 said that, in consequence, Grogan was going to punish them 
 publicly. I witnessed it. I saw Smith of the police, he was 
 there. He came from the balcony and down the Court steps, 
 but I don't know if he tried to get to Grogan. I saw him 
 moved away, by whom I don't know, but by several persons. 
 I cannot identify any of the people who moved him away. I 
 witnessed the floggings I didn't count, the strokes. I should 
 think about 25 strokes each were given. 
 
 There was no violence shown to Smith, he was simply hustled 
 away. 
 
 No questions from either accused. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 113 
 
 EDWARD LANCELOT SANDERSON, Town Clerk, Nairobi, 
 European, sworn, states : 
 
 On 14th March I met Low and Fichat. They were together, 
 and the time was 9.30 a.m. I met them close to Gailey and 
 Roberts' office. They spoke to me and told me that some 
 natives were going to be flogged. I can't say which of them 
 told me, I think both. Fichat said they were to be flogged for 
 insulting a white lady. I understood the lady was Mrs. Grogan 
 and that there was another lady. 
 
 I cannot remember the exact words. I expressed surprise at 
 this but Fichat corroborated his statement by giving two 
 instances of similar bad behaviour toward white women in 
 Nairobi. After this I went on to my office. I witnessed the 
 flogging. 
 
 I saw Captain Smith put his hand on Grogan's shoulder 
 before the flogging took place. When Smith did this he was 
 crowded out of the ring. 
 
 I saw Bowker, Grogan and Gray each flog a native. Having 
 regard to what I had heard, I did not consider in the circum- 
 stances it was a severe punishment. I could not identify 
 anybody of those who were crowding (Smith out of the ring. 
 
 Burn cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Were there people about besides those forming the ring 
 on the ground ? Yes, there were some on the verandah and 
 many on the top of the steps who were looking on. 
 
 No more questions. 
 
 Low cross-examines : 
 
 Q. Do you think both of us told you that floggings were 
 going to take place ? Yes. 
 
 Q. Will you swear that Fichat took part in the conversation ? 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. Will you swear that it was Fichat and not I who told you 
 the floggings were for an insult to a white lady ? I think it 
 was Fichat who told me, as I distinctly remember his telling 
 me about two previous instances of this nature. 
 
 Q. Will you swear that the word " assault " was used ? No, 
 I won't swear that. 
 
 Q. Was not the word used " insult " ? No, that was certainly 
 not the description of the affair. 
 
 No further questions from either accused. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 P.W. 
 
114 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 GERTRUDE EDITH GROGAN, married woman, European, sworn, 
 states : 
 
 I am the wife of Captain Grogan. 
 
 On the morning of March 14th Fichat came to our house. 
 We were having our breakfast at the time. He was informed 
 of an incident that occurred with regard to the insolent conduct 
 of three of my gharri-boys toward Mrs. Hunter, who is my 
 sister-in-law, and Miss M'Donnell, who is a friend of ours. He 
 was present when we discussed the conduct of the gharri-boys. 
 
 When Fichat came in my husband and I were present, and 
 we three discussed the affair together. 
 
 No questidhs. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Adjourn till to-morrow. 
 
 EDWARD STEVEN HARGREAVES, employed in Nairobi Munici- 
 pality, European, sworn, states : 
 
 On March 14th I came down to my office. When there I 
 heard that a disturbance was about to take place. I arrived at 
 my office at 9.30 or 9.40 a.m. 
 
 On my way to the office I saw several people outside the 
 Town Magistrate's Court. 
 
 Later on I saw a number of Europeans arriving there. My 
 office abuts the Court premises. I saw Grogan arrive with 
 three natives, bound. Afterwards I heard Logan enquire of 
 Grogan what was going to happen. Grogan replied that he 
 was going to beat the boys for insulting his sister and a lady 
 friend. I don't remember exactly what the further conversation 
 was. I know Smith. I saw him there. I saw him put his 
 hand on Grogan's shoulder after the conversation between Logan 
 and Grogan had taken place and before the boys were flogged. 
 
 The next thing I saw was that Smith was outside the circle. 
 I can't say how he got outside, whether he was pushed outside 
 or how otherwise. I did not see the boys flogged. I saw one 
 of them tied up. Bowker tied him up. He tied the boy's arms 
 to his legs. I was standing inside the Court verandah at the time. 
 
 I heard no mention made of resistance in the event of arrests 
 being made. 
 
 No questions from either accused. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 ARTHUR FITZHERBERT MACGEE, Manager, Travellers' Club, 
 Nairobi, European, sworn, states : 
 
 I saw the three natives flogged outside the Court on 14th of 
 this month. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 115 
 
 I came up to the Court with Grogan. They (the natives) 
 were bound, I believe, as to their wrists. I saw Logan. I 
 heard him tell the assembly that the gathering was illegal, or 
 use words to that effect. I think there would be about 100 
 people present. After this the boys were thrashed. I saw 
 Smith there. I saw him go up to Grogan to try and stop it. He 
 was pushed back by the crowd. I won't swear to the identity 
 of anyone who actually pushed him. He was pushed back with 
 the object of preventing him interfering any further with Grogan. 
 
 After the flogging the boys were cut loose ; there was cheering 
 on the part of crowd. They appeared to be cheering the men 
 who had done the flogging. 
 
 I heard there was going to be flogging of natives for 
 assaulting white women, and that is why I came. There was a 
 rumour to this effect. Neither of the accused told me anything 
 about the matter. 
 
 Low cross-examines : 
 
 Q. You heard cheering. They may have been cheering for 
 the King? I think they were cheering the men who had done 
 the flogging, I was. 
 
 Fichat cross-examines : 
 
 Q. After the affair was over did you hear a rumour that Mr. 
 Ferrier stood with a rifle against the Town Magistrate's chest? 
 No. 
 
 Combe re-examines : 
 
 Q. If you had heard such a rumour would you have believed 
 it? If informed by any credible witness I should have 
 believed it. 
 
 No more questions from either accused. 
 
 By Court: 
 
 I heard no other rumour regarding the reason why these 
 natives were to be flogged besides the one to the effect that they 
 have assaulted white women. 
 
 No questions. 
 
 Eead over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 DAVID OWEN ROBERTS, European, trader, Nairobi, sworn, 
 states : 
 
 I was present on March 14th when three natives were flogged 
 outside the Court House. I heard they were to be flogged for 
 insulting two ladies. 
 
 I saw Smith in the crowd. He was next Grogan. I did not 
 see him removed. I heard shouts of " Leave him alone ! " 
 addressed by the crowd to Smith. I understood the crowd 
 were telling him not to interfere with Bowker or Grogan. The 
 shouting was general. I heard nothing else said. 
 
116 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 No questions from either accused. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Prosecutor's case. 
 
 Combe states does not press charge of rioting or for being 
 armed. 
 
 Burn objects. States having been summoned for these 
 offences which are triable by Court of Sessions. The case must 
 necessarily go to Sessions. 
 
 Combe replies. Says Burn's argument is wrong in law. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 I think case is governed by Section 209, Sub-section 1, but as 
 Burn asks for time to consult and produce authorities, adjourn 
 till 2 p.m. for that purpose. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Burn quotes Ramtahal Singh 5, W.R. Code 65 (1866), and 
 Rupaga Bom. H.C. Criminal Rule, No. 33 of 21st May, 1888. I 
 hold these cases have no bearing on the point. Emp. V. Parma- 
 nand 13 C.L.R. 375 (S.C.) appears to me to make quite clear the 
 meaning of Section 209, Sub-section 1. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 The accused all asked if they wish to recall any of the 
 witnesses for the prosecution for cross-examination. 
 
 E. R. LOGAN (re-called). Cross-examined by Burn in reply to 
 questions, answers : 
 
 My clerk told me you were there, he did not say in the 
 buildings. 
 
 I have never detected you in any unlawful proceedings before. 
 
 I think you, if called upon, would have been as likely as 
 anybody about the Court on 14th March to have helped to 
 prevent a breach of the peace. 
 
 I did not send for you to help me keep the peace, because I 
 thought you were taking part in unlawful assembly. My reason 
 for my opinion is based on the fact of your being present at the 
 meeting. 
 
 I did not draw up a list of names of those present. I made a 
 report which I submitted for the Commissioner. This report 
 gave an account of what took place. I cannot give the names 
 of all concerned. I don't think there were 20 names in this 
 report yours, I think, was one. One reason for my not calling 
 on you to help me was because my clerk said you would not 
 give him any information. I believed the assembly to be an 
 unlawful assembly, and [ practically told them so by saying 
 that they were behaving illegally. 
 
 No more questions from either of the accused. 
 
 Read over ; correct. H. 0. DOLBEY. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 117 
 
 Captain SMITH (recalled), cross-examined by Burn, answers, 
 in reply to questions : 
 
 I did not call on anybody present to aid in suppressing a 
 breach* of the peace. 
 
 I was present when Logan was speaking. I did not hear 
 anybody actually say the words, " unlawful assembly," or tell 
 them to disperse in those very words. I did not see you 
 myself. There were a number of people on the verandah. 
 
 None of the accused wish to ask any more questions. 
 
 Neither of the accused desire to have any of the witnesses 
 back for the purpose of cross-examination. 
 
 Head over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 The accused are called on to produce witnesses for their 
 defence or on their behalf. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 W. A. BURN, one of the accused, examined by Court. Burn 
 claims the right to be sworn sworn accordingly. 
 
 Q. Were you present when the natives were flogged ? 
 Yes. 
 
 Q. Were you a member of that assembly ? No, I had no 
 connection with the proceedings at all. 
 
 Q. Do you repudiate this meeting altogether and say you had 
 nothing at all to do with it ? Nothing at all ; I was an 
 onlooker. 
 
 Q. Is it true to say you were a sympathiser ? No, I was an 
 onlooker. 
 
 Q. What object had you in being an onlooker ? To collect 
 copy for a newspaper for which I contribute in London. 
 
 Q. Had you not been a newspaper correspondent you would 
 not have gone ? No, I don't think I should. W. A. BURN. 
 
 Above is examination of the accused and his signature thereto. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Burn calls as witness for defence RANALD DONALD, Inspector- 
 General of Police, Nairobi, European, sworn, states, in answer 
 to questions : 
 
 I have had the investigation of this flogging affair, or 
 partly. I have not had all the names of those concerned 
 in this affair. Since it happened I have 10 or 12 names 
 divulged to me. 
 
 Q. Did you instruct the Crown Advocate to represent that the 
 persons now accused in this matter were the ringleaders ? 
 
 Combe objects to question on ground that it is irrelevant. 
 
 Objections upheld. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
118 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Witness proceeds : 
 
 I have no other evidence against you beyond what has been 
 produced in Court. 
 No more questions. 
 
 Bead over ; correct. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 I am of opinion that the evidence against the accused Burn 
 is too weak to justify the framing of any charge against him. 
 
 He, Burn, admits being present at this assembly. This ex- 
 planation is that he was there as a reporter for the purpose of 
 obtaining copy for a newspaper which he represents. 
 
 He denies that he had any part whatever in the proceedings, 
 or that he was in sympathy with the meeting or its objects. 
 
 The only evidence against him is that he was present standing 
 looking on on the Court verandah (where as a pleader of the 
 Court he had every right to be in ordinary circumstances) 
 when this assembly took place, and that he knew what the object 
 of the meeting was. 
 
 Since he has on his oath repudiated any connection in this 
 affair, I think his explanation of his presence is more or less 
 satisfactory, and that he should be discharged. 
 
 The Crown Advocate not objecting 
 
 Order Burn to be discharged accordingly. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Ernest William Low, asked by Court, states he has no witness 
 to call on his defence. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Ernest William Low, examined by Court : 
 
 Q. Were you a member of this unlawful proceeding on the 
 14th? Yes, I was present, but the proceeding was not un- 
 lawful. 
 
 Q. Were not natives flogged at the meeting ? Yes. 
 
 Q. Were you there ? I was standing on the verandah of the 
 Town Hall. 
 
 Q. Did you belong to the meeting ? Yes, I presume everyone 
 did. 
 
 Q. Why were you there ? I am the editor or proprietor of the 
 Star and a newspaper correspondent ; I went there as a spectator, 
 and my object was simply to report what occurred as matters of 
 public interest. ERNEST Low. 
 
 Above is the examination of the accused Low and his signature 
 thereto. 
 
 Accused Bowker has no witness to call. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Accused Grogan does not wish to call his witness at this 
 stage. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 119 
 
 Captain Gray does not wish to call any witnesses. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Adjourn till to-morrow. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 March 27, 1907. 
 
 Captain Fichat does not wish to call any witnesses. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Mr. Bowker does not wish to call witnesses, but hands in 
 written statement (produced). H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 After carefully considering the evidence in this enquiry I 
 have come to the conclusion that this case is not a case for com- 
 mitment to Sessions. There is no evidence that either of the 
 accused was armed with a deadly weapon or at all, and, there- 
 fore, the offence under Section 144, I.P.C., falls to the ground. 
 
 Neither, to my mind, is there sufficient evidence of rioting to 
 justify the case being sent before a jury, Section 147, I.P.C. 
 
 With regard to the assault upon Captain Smith, a public 
 servant, as such, the evidence is very weak. 
 
 From the evidence before me (including Captain Smith's) I 
 have no doubt that a technical assault upon a police officer, that 
 is, upon Smith, did in fact take place, but I do not think that 
 the assault can be called more than technical. 
 
 From the evidence of Smith himself it appeal's to me that he 
 never made any serious endeavour to exert his full authority. 
 
 Smith himself states that on discovering this assembly was 
 intent upon its purposes he made no further effort to restore 
 order than the one ineffective attempt to get into the centre of 
 the meeting which he has described in his evidence. 
 
 He has stated that on making the discovery above referred to, 
 he went away. 
 
 Had he been ill-treated, or had he exerted his authority to its 
 full and insisted, so far as his power enabled him, on the meeting 
 dispersing, or had he in the name of the law called on anyone 
 to assist him in restoring order, the case would have been very 
 different. None of these things appeal' to have been done, and, 
 in the circumstances, I don't think the evidence of resisting a 
 police officer, as such, in the execution of his duty (353 I.P.C.) is 
 sufficiently strong as to make it probable that a jury would 
 convict. Consequently, nothing remains for consideration in 
 this enquiry except the charge, as outlined in the summonses, 
 against the accused of being members of an unlawful assembly 
 in contravention of Section 143 of the Penal Code. That offence 
 is triable by me as a first-class Magistrate, and since I am 
 invested with this power, I assume I am intended to use it unless 
 a good reason appears to the contrary. 
 
120 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 I have followed the procedure as set out in Section 209 of the 
 Criminal Procedure Code with regard to this enquiry, and I now 
 come to that part of the section which states that if at this stage 
 it appears to the Magistrate that the case is not one for Sessions, 
 but rather one which should be tried by himself, he shall proceed 
 accordingly. No proceeding under Section 143, I.P.C., in a 
 summons case. 
 
 I, therefore, proceed to try, as a summons case, the charge 
 made against the accused of being members of an unlawful 
 assembly under that section. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 March 27, 1907. 
 
 Accused Grogan, Bowker, Fichat, and Low, summoned for 
 being members of an unlawful assembly under Section 143, that 
 is, of being members as defined by Section 142, I.P.C. of an 
 assembly of five or more persons, the common object of such 
 assembly being the commission of an offence within the meaning 
 of Section 141, I.P.C. 
 
 Particulars of offence stated and explained to accused in 
 accordance with Section 242, Criminal Procedure Code. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Bowker hands in statement has nothing to add to it. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Allen, for Grogan, pleads " not guilty." H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Gray pleads " not guilty." H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Low pleads " not guilty." H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Fichat pleads " not guilty." H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Combe states, evidence for the prosecution being before the 
 Court does not propose to call further evidence states accused 
 should show cause why they should not be convicted. 
 
 Allen agrees no objections. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 I think the accused should have the opportunity of cross- 
 examining the prosecution witnesses now they know the specific 
 offence which is alleged against them. 
 
 Neither of the accused wishes to cross-examine any of the 
 witnesses for the prosecution. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Bowker, in reply to question from Court, says, " I have no 
 other evidence to call nor evidence to give other than that 
 sustained in my statement." Above is full and correct account 
 of accused statement made in my presence. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Fichat states Crown have failed to prove that he went to an 
 unlawful assembly with intent to commit any offence. There is 
 no case to be defended. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 121 
 
 Combe Crown had to prove that there was an unlawful 
 assembly and that Fichat was a member of it. 
 
 I hold there is a case made out for Mr. Fichat to answer. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 I asked the five accused if they have any statements they 
 wish to make. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 STATEMENT OF RUSSELL BOWKER. 
 
 I was present at the flogging on the 14th instant and flogged 
 one of the boys myself. 
 
 I did so because I was told by two of my most reliable and 
 best friends, Messrs. Grogan and Fichat, that the boys had 
 insulted white women. Neither of them said anything which 
 gave me the impression that any indecent assault of any sort or 
 kind had taken place. 
 
 As it has always been the first principle with me to flog a 
 nigger on sight who insults a white woman, I felt it my bounden 
 duty to take the step I did, and that in a public place as a 
 warning to the natives. 
 
 I have lived for 50 years, and ever among native races, and I 
 have always found that where natives are treated with laxity, 
 they become insolent, and when insolent to white women they 
 go further and attempt to commit graver crimes. 
 
 If I have done wrong, it was done with the best intention. 
 
 W. EUSSELL BOWKER. 
 
 Above is statement handed in by accused Bowker and read 
 out by me. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Ernest Low : The substance of the charge is that the common 
 object of the assembly must be illegal. The Crown has not 
 produced evidence of that. I therefore have no case to answer. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Combe : There is ample evidence of the common object of this 
 assembly. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 I hold that Low has a primd facie case to answer. 
 
 H. O. DOLBKY. 
 
 Low objects to statement made by Magistrate in his exami- 
 nation of Low in preliminary enquiry, and feels he is prejudiced 
 thereby. The Magistrate's question was " How do you explain 
 your presence in this unlawful assembly?" objecting to that 
 term " unlawful " as at that point if the assembly had not been 
 held to have been " unlawful." 
 
 It is pointed out to Low that it is still open to him to prove 
 that the assembly was not an unlawful one. In reply to 
 
122 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Combe, Low states lie understands that from Magistrate's state- 
 ment he is not now prejudiced, and further says nothing in his 
 objection is to be taken as an objection to the Magistrate trying 
 the case. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 ERNEST Low demands to give sworn evidence in own defence. 
 Newspaper proprietor, European, Nairobi, accused, sworn, 
 states : 
 
 I am proprietor of the Star and correspondent for several 
 London papers. On morning of March 14th, at 8.45 a.m., I met 
 Fichat, who is a personal friend of mine, in Government Road 
 slightly below his office. 
 
 He said that Grogan was going to flog three natives for 
 having insulted two ladies. I have ascertained since who the 
 ladies were, but I am not certain whether any definite statement 
 of the identity was made at this time. 
 
 I went with Fichat and met Sanderson. I spoke to Sander- 
 son while Fichat walked on a bit. I told Sanderson what 
 Fichat had told me about Grogan's flogging. Fichat and I 
 went down Government Road and saw Newland. He was on a 
 bicycle. We hailed him ; he dismounted, and Fichat went up 
 and spoke to him while I walked along the footpath. 
 
 I did not hear what Newland and Fichat were saying. 
 Fichat then rejoined me a minute later. He and I remained 
 together up till the beginning of the gathering. While on the 
 verandah of the Town Hall, at the time of the assembly outside, 
 I saw Fichat sitting on the steps. I think he remained there 
 all the time. 
 
 Before the gathering took place I did not hear any one state 
 that they had been led to believe there had been an indecent 
 assault. Many people seemed to labour under that delusion 
 afterwards, from what I myself heard. I took no part in the 
 proceedings. I was, as the only witness for the prosecution 
 who had anything to say upon the subject stated, a mere spec- 
 tator. I was present as a newspaper correspondent. Within 
 half an hour or so of the break up of the assembly I sent a cable 
 to a London daily newspaper. 
 
 I was never aware at any time during the proceedings that I 
 was a member of an unlawful assembly. I heard Logan in 
 witness box declare he addressed assembly in loud voice. I 
 deny he spoke in a loud voice at all. What he may have said 
 it was impossible for anyone to hear who was not close to him 
 to say. I was not more than two or three yards away when he 
 spoke. I couldn't swear to anything he said ; he spoke in an 
 indistinct manner. To my mind he was obviously addressing 
 Captain Grogan. It was quite out of the question that the people 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 123 
 
 at the confusion of the assembly could have heard him. He 
 was evidently in a state of intense agitation, and to my mind 
 did not appear to understand what was happening. 
 
 Cross-examined by Combe : 
 
 It was about 8.45 when I first heard Grogan was going to 
 beat some boys. I told Sanderson and possibly a lot of other 
 people that this was to take place. Fichat told me. 
 
 I heard it was going to happen in the centre of the town 
 somewhere. 
 
 I don't know who it was who told me this. I don't think it 
 was Fichat. I followed Grogan down about 10 to 15 yards 
 behind him. I could not say what I should have done if Logan 
 had asked me to go away. 
 
 I did not know an unlawful act was going to take place. 
 
 I knew Grogan was going to flog a boy. 
 
 I did not know that was unlawful ; I am not learned in the 
 law. 
 
 I went to the meeting as a newspaper correspondent and as a 
 private citizen. I did not go there solely to get copy. 
 
 Cross-examined by Allen : 
 
 Q. You told Sanderson about the matter ; so whatever 
 impression Sanderson had of the matter must have come to him 
 from you or Fichat ? I don't know ; he may have got his im- 
 pressions elsewhere. 
 
 Q. Did the information seem to be new to him when you 
 imparted it ? I don't remember. 
 
 Q. You and Fichat saw Newland passing a few minutes later ? 
 Yes. ERNEST Low. 
 
 Signatures of witness : H. O. D. 
 
 Above is full and correct account of Low's evidence given in 
 iny presence and hearing. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Low has no witnesses to call. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 SYDNEY FICHAT, estate agent, European, Nairobi, an accused, 
 demands to give sworn evidence, sworn, states : 
 
 Grogan told me on March 13th in the evening that he was 
 going to beat three boys for insulting his sister and a lady 
 friend. 
 
 He did not know at that time if he could get the boys, but he 
 asked me to go over to his house the next morning and I would 
 get more information. I went over the next morning at break- 
 fast time. I saw Grogan and we discussed the matter. Grogan 
 went outside the house and came back and said, " It's all right ; 
 the boys are here." Just before leaving Grogan told me his 
 
124 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 idea was to take the boys down to T. A. Wood's premises in 
 Nairobi and give them a hiding there. Mr. Wood is an 
 auctioneer, and his premises are just below the Grand Hotel. 
 I suggested to him the large open space between my premises 
 and the blacksmith's shop. There was no mention of our 
 specially coming to the Court House. 
 
 I then left him it would then be about 8.30 a.m. and rode 
 down to my office. I told people that Grogan was going to beat 
 some natives for insulting ladies. I told Low, Winealls, Long- 
 worth, and several others. 
 
 I saw Low, and remained witli him practically the whole time 
 until the assembly congregated. 
 
 We met Sanderson and Low ; told Sanderson about the pro- 
 posed flogging (though I did not hear exactly what passed), and 
 I walked on. Presently they overtook me, and I told Sanderson 
 what had happened some months ago to a personal member of 
 my family in connection with the indecent behaviour of natives 
 towards white women. Sanderson then said something about 
 the boys should properly be brought to Court and not beaten. 
 
 Newland then passed us on his bicycle. I went up to him 
 and I told him what I had told others, that Grogan was going 
 to beat some boys for insulting his sister-in-law and a lady 
 friend. I told him also of the incident that had happened to a 
 member of my family. I never met Newland outside Mrs. 
 Elliott's tea-rooms that morning. I was near the blacksmith's 
 shop, and there met Grogan (about 10 a.m.) coming up the street 
 with, I think, Bowker with him and the three native boys. 
 
 The boys were bound, their hands were, arid were being led 
 by another boy. They were brought here opposite the Court, 
 and there beaten. I sat on the steps and watched the proceed- 
 ings from start to finish. I heard the conversation that took 
 place between Logan and Grogan. I never heard Logan say, 
 " Gentlemen, you are committing an illegal act." I heard con- 
 versation between them, and heard Grogan say, " I am going to 
 beat them." Logan said, "What for?" And Grogan replied, 
 "Because I want to." Grogan followed this up by saying, 
 " Because they insulted my sister and another lady," and heard 
 him say just after this apparently to the crowd, " I want no 
 interference ; there is no indecency in this." The flogging took 
 place, and the crowd immediately started to disperse. I started 
 off as soon as I could, as I was in a hurry to send off a news- 
 paper telegram to the coast, and also because I had a committee 
 meeting of the Colonists' Association also that morning at 10. 
 
 As I started off I met Schwartzel, who spoke to me, and 
 then, for the first time, I saw Allen. He asked me a question 
 which passed out of my recollection, as next morning I had 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 125 
 
 forgotten it. I deny I ever mentioned Mrs. Bowker's name to 
 him, or that it was in the dark, or that three boys came down 
 out of the bush and held the rickshaw up. I also deny that I 
 recounted the same thing that I was alleged to have told to 
 some other people who came up then, as Mr. Allen states. 
 
 Few days after I did meet Allen, and told him, in order to 
 illustrate how people exaggerate matters, a story I had heard 
 other people say in connection with the conduct of these 
 natives. 
 
 I saw Gray in the street either just before or after the 
 assembly, and he mentioned to me that he had heard that these 
 women had been seriously assaulted, and mentioned what ought 
 to be done to the boys. I told him it was nothing of the kind, 
 and told him that the women had been insulted. 
 
 Either Allen has confounded the different stories, or he has 
 given vent to the animus that has existed between us for the 
 last eighteen months. 
 
 Cross-examined by Combe : 
 
 It was about six or half -past that I saw Grogan on March 
 13th. 
 
 It was then he told me he thought he would give the boys 
 a public hiding. I did not persuade him not to do this. I 
 would not attempt to reason with Grogan when he has made up 
 his mind. 
 
 I am a personal friend of Grogan. I did not deter him this, 
 because I did not then think it would hurt him. 
 
 I agreed with him in thinking it was a proper thing to do. 
 
 We did not discuss where the flogging should take place then. 
 I told no one that night. 
 
 Grogan and I discussed the matter next morning at his house. 
 
 It was next morning that Grogan said he thought he would 
 go to Wood's. 
 
 The Colonists' Association also meets at Wood's sometimes. 
 
 I suggested the flogging should take place elsewhere. 
 
 Grogan did not tell me to tell other people about this 
 flogging. 
 
 I told Longworth, Low, and Winealls, as far as I remember, 
 what actually had happened to the ladies ; I told others they 
 had been insulted simply. 
 
 I was the first person in the town to know about this 
 flogging. 
 
 I think 100 to 150 Europeans were present at the assembly. 
 
 I did not suggest to Newland that he should be present 
 himself. 
 
 I did not think Newland was excited by what I told him. 
 
 I don't remember exactly if he said he would come or not. 
 
126 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 I am certain I did not tell him that ladies had been seriously 
 assaulted. I am not sure I did not tell him what actually 
 transpired. 
 
 I admit I was present at the assembly. 
 
 I inwardly approved of this flogging, but by no outward 
 signs. 
 
 I am sure that Grogan addressed the crowd when he said he 
 wanted no interference. He meant that he was going to beat 
 them himself and that the matter was his shauri. 
 
 I did make the remark in the Travellers' Club that the crowd 
 got together in a record time. I am not prepared to deny that 
 I said I had got a crowd together in a record time. 
 
 No more questions. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Allen cross-examines : 
 
 Nobody did interfere with Grogan except Gray and Bowker, 
 if you call that interference. 
 
 I saw nothing at the time which would have prevented the 
 crowd interfering with Grogan had they so desired. There was 
 no police or physical or natural barrier of any sort, which would 
 have prevented the crowd flogging the boys, had they so desired, 
 except Grogan's request. Captain Smith was the one policeman 
 present. 
 
 After the flogging some of the crowd called out: "Bring back 
 the first boy, he has not had enough." 
 
 No further questions are desired to be asked this witness. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 S. FICHAT. 
 
 Above is a full and correct account of accused's evidence 
 given in my presence and hearing, and signed by accused. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Captain Fichat does not desire to call any witnesses. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Captain Gray does not wish to give evidence on his own 
 behalf, but wishes to make this statement. 
 
 " In my opinion I do not think this was an unlawful assembly, 
 and considering what the natives had done, everything that 
 happened was correct. I have served the Government for ten 
 years and have been through six campaigns. Had I thought 
 this an unlawful assembly I would have gone away and done 
 it to the natives somewhere else. I think any white man with 
 any decency at all would have done likewise. I am Justice of 
 the Peace for the Eastern Transvaal and the Natal Colonies. 
 
 T. GRAY. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 127 
 
 Above is full and correct account of accused (Gray's) state- 
 ment made in my presence and hearing and signed by accused. 
 
 H. O. DoLBEr. 
 
 EWART SCOTT GROGAN, settler resident at Nairobi, accused, 
 demands to give evidence on oath, sworn, states : 
 
 I have large interests in this country. I am a member of 
 the Municipal Committee appointed by the Government, and 
 President of the Colonists' Association and a Visiting Justice to 
 Nairobi Gaol. 
 
 On March 13th I received a communication as to the conduct 
 of some of my rickshaw boys. In consequence I went to try 
 and find the boys ; I was at the time gardening. I was 
 extremely angry at what I had heard. My first idea was to 
 seize them, but on reflection I went to my headman and my 
 syce. I found they had both gone away it was rather late, 
 about 5.45 p.m. When I came back I found the gharri boys 
 had gone also. I was angry and unwell, and walked halfway to 
 my brother-in-law's house intending to discuss the matter with 
 him. I changed my mind as to this since no purpose would be 
 served by this discussion, since he would be as angry as myself 
 over the matter, and went and saw Fichat, another neighbour 
 of mine instead. I found him at home and said : " Fichat, I am 
 very angry." He asked "What is the matter now, is it the 
 Land Office again ? " I said " No, more serious." I explained 
 to him what had happened, and we discussed matters connected 
 with natives generally for some time, and he told me of a case 
 of native insolent conduct towards a member of his own family, 
 which had moved him very much. 
 
 I think he then asked me what I proposed to do. I am not 
 sure if I then said I meant to flog the boys in public, it was 
 very probable ; but at that time I was not sure whether I could 
 catch these boys, as I thought it quite likely they would not 
 come back. 
 
 I asked him to come over in the morning on his way into 
 town. 
 
 The following morning he came in while I was having break- 
 fast. There was a certain amount of desultory conversation 
 connected with this subject. 
 
 After breakfast I went outside and got my headman and 
 syce, and finding the gharri boys had returned, I collected 
 them, tied their hands behind their backs, and put them into a 
 shed. I went back into the house and told Fichat I had caught 
 the boys, and I think I told him then I would beat them in 
 public definitely. 
 
 (I remember in discussing this matter with Fichat the night 
 
128 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 before that he, to the best of my belief, made some remarks to 
 the effect that if I did beat these boys I should get into trouble, 
 but I only have a hazy recollection of this.) This decision I 
 arrived at without any encouragement from Fichat. It was 
 purely my own idea and my own decision. 
 
 It would then have been a quarter to nine Fichat about this 
 time went away. 
 
 At or about 9.45 I came into town. I brought the three 
 natives in with me in charge of three other natives, a Masai, 
 Mkamba and Mkavirondo. I selected different tribes so as to let 
 the news circulate among different tribes. I came down the main 
 road, past the police station, and into the main street. I was still 
 undecided where to have this flogging. I first thought of the 
 police station, then thought the Collector's Office, but changed 
 my mind and went down the street with the intention of having 
 the scene near Mr. Wood's office. When I got there I saw a 
 number of people coming towards me from different directions, 
 so I brought them down to the front of the Court House and 
 drifted into the enclosure. Logan came out and stood on the 
 top of the steps. He called out to Bowker, who did not hear 
 him, he then turned to me and said : " Captain Grogan, what 
 are you doing ? " I replied, " I am going to beat these boys " ; 
 he said, " Why " ; I replied, " Because I want to." He then 
 said, " But what for" ; I replied, " For insulting my sister and 
 a lady friend." I think I gave some particulars ; I am not sure 
 now whether I did or not. At this period a noise started, and 
 it was very difficult to hear. I understood him to say words to 
 the effect that this was nob the proper procedure, that I ought 
 instead to take them before the proper authorities and lay a 
 charge. I said : " I was sick of being made a fool of and this 
 was a matter I dare not trust to the authorities." There was a 
 great noise at this time. There were three or four more 
 passages between Logan and myself, and then Logan turned 
 his head away from me and spoke to the crowd, and I forget his 
 words, but he prefaced them with " Gentlemen," and said some- 
 thing about not taking the law into our own hands. At this 
 time there was very considerable noise. He then went away 
 and Captain Smith came up. 
 
 I soon after saw the crowd was getting very angry, and I 
 could see that something unforeseen might occur, so I spoke 
 thrice to the crowd, and said I did not want any interference of 
 any sort or kind. 
 
 I also asked crowd to give me their word that after I had done 
 with these natives they would not do anything more to them. 
 
 A chorus of consent followed. 
 
 The words I used to the crowd were : " Will you promise me 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 129 
 
 that when I have done with these natives you will not touch 
 them or do anything to them 'I " There was a general shout of 
 "Yes, promise." 
 
 I then asked if there was anybody present who could speak 
 Kikuyu, and a man stepped out, whom I since know to be Mr. 
 Cowlie, and I got him to interpret to these natives again what 
 I was doing and why I was doing it, and told them to tell their 
 own fellow natives that white men would not stand any imper- 
 tinence to their women-folk. 
 
 Mr. Cowlie, presumably, interpreted this. I then gave one 
 of the boys 25 lashes. When I finished the kiboko I used was 
 pulled out of my hand, the crowd closed in around me, and I 
 did not see what followed. I waited to see the natives brought 
 out, and when the crowd dispersed and I knew there was no 
 more risk of trouble, I told the boys to go off home. I then 
 went to the Travellers' Club, and went from there to T. A. 
 Wood's to attend a meeting, for which I had come down into 
 town. My object in flogging natives in public was because I 
 have noticed my own natives becoming unruly owing to the 
 impossibility (in a great majority of cases) of getting a convic- 
 tion against them in a Court, or to the inadequacy of punishment 
 if convicted. I look upon the safety of one's women-folk as a 
 matter of such paramount importance that I do not consider I 
 am justified as a family man in leaving such a matter to the 
 mercy of the vagaries of the law and the application thereof. 
 I wished natives to understand, and it should be generally 
 understood, that any action of that nature involves a far greater 
 risk than a dose of horse-tooth mealies or a mild suggestion not 
 to do it again. 
 
 My chief reason was to provide an example to the natives. 
 To let the authorities know of the discontent which I felt in this 
 matter was also in my mind. There was nothing in niy action 
 in the least personal to the Magistrate, who I know has no 
 jurisdiction over natives, and that therefore there would be no 
 point in making it personal to the Magistrate. 
 
 Adjourn till to-morrow. 
 
 March 28, 1907. 
 
 Cross-examined by Combe : 
 
 Fichat came to see me on the 14th at my house at my request. 
 
 I had not finally made up my mind to flog the boys in public 
 till the morning of March 14th. 
 
 I probably told Fichat to come over because I thought I 
 might require his assistance to catch these boys. 
 
 I did not tell anybody on the 13th that I was going to flog 
 these boys. 
 
 P.W. T 
 
130 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 I told my brother-in-law the next morning of my intention, 
 but no one else : this was on my way down to town ; he over- 
 looked [? overtook] me on the road. 
 
 I caused no one else to be informed. 
 
 I am still surprised that so many Europeans should have 
 turned up. 
 
 I thought it quite possible that news of this affair would get- 
 about, though I did not think about the matter very much at 
 the time. 
 
 I did not think at all about the probability of Fichat's talking 
 of it. 
 
 I should not have wished it to get about. The result, that is 
 to say that so many people turned up, was probable in the 
 circumstances. 
 
 When I said I " drifted " to the Court, I mean the unconscious 
 movement of the crowd which I accompanied. 
 
 They did not follow me, a large number preceded me. 
 
 I came to the space in front of the Court deliberately ; I was 
 not forced. 
 
 To my knowledge there has been no case brought before any 
 Magistrate in this Protectorate in which a native has been 
 brought up for assaulting white women. 
 
 The boys were deliberately impertinent. I did not ask these 
 boys for any explanation before I flogged them. I told them 
 simply why I was going to beat them, I did not ask them if they 
 had anything to say. 
 
 I would not anyhow take the word of a native against that of 
 a white lady. 
 
 I did not think it necessary to ask a lawyer if these boys 
 could be legally punished ; I was trained in the law myself. 
 
 They did not deny it when I told them what I was going to 
 beat them for. At that time I had made up my mind to flog 
 them publicly ; nothing they could have said would have altered 
 my mind, for I don't admit of any explanation for a native's 
 being impertinent to a lady. I deemed it necessary to ask the 
 crowd not to touch the boys after I had finished with them 
 from an idea I had of the demeanour of the crowd. 
 
 Their demeanour might have been very likely based on a 
 wrong impression of what had occurred. 
 
 No more questions. 
 
 Allen does not wish to re-examine. EWART S. GROGAX. 
 
 Above is full and correct account of the accused's evidence 
 given in my presence and hearing, and signed by the witness. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Allen has no more witnesses to call. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 131 
 
 Combe on the case : 
 
 Facts are not in dispute. 
 
 Questions are whether there was unlawful assembly and if 
 the accused were there. 
 
 Unlawful assembly conclusive. 
 
 Nos. 2-5. Three participants in flogging. Low and Fichat 
 who helped to collect crowd. All helped by hustling Smith. 
 
 Common object of crowd to witness or assist in flogging. 
 
 Grogan : Deliberate and intentional defied the law leading 
 person in country admits flogging. Admits what occurred was 
 the probable result of the act. 
 
 Fichat assisted Grogan. He quite approved of Grogan's pre- 
 meditated act. Done his best to collect a big assembly ; 
 succeeds. Must have known that crowd would come to witness 
 flogging. Admits membership of meeting. 
 
 Bowker : Active part. Flogged one of the boys. Bowker 
 evidently didn't ask or care whether boys were asked for any 
 explanation or had an opportunity of making any defence. 
 
 Gray : Also active part. No defence, filling to- come 
 forward like Bowker to flog any native for anything, appa- 
 rently. 
 
 Low : Present. One purpose may have been newspaper work. 
 He admits that was not his only object. Vide comment in 
 Low's (Exhibit A) newspaper. Shows his approval. States in 
 his paper the act of flogging untried and unheard natives, 
 supreme law people, and law that has come to stay. Shows his 
 sympathy with meeting. 
 
 Generally, the offence of taking law is very grave, cannot be 
 overlooked. 
 
 Replies of accused : 
 
 Bowker does not wish to address the Court in his defence. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Low addresses Court in his own defence. Irrelevant matter 
 introduced by Crown Advocate. 
 
 Not charged with inciting people, so our statements to people 
 that flogging would take place is irrelevant. Also not charged 
 with seditious writing, therefore my newspaper not relevant. 
 As paper has been introduced, will read other parts of 
 paper. 
 
 The leading article voices the opinion of the paper. 
 
 No illegal act till the flogging of natives has by legal 
 authority, i.e., Court, been proved to be illegal. Crown 
 Advocate has presumed illegality. Therefore, no unlawful 
 assembly. (Illustration of Low's) stump orator, who says, 
 " Down with the King "does that make crowd who heard him 
 
132 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 guilty of an offence? One of the two witnesses who saw me" 
 (Low) at meeting describes me as mere spectator. 
 
 Sanderson and Logan were spectators just as I was. As a 
 newspaper reporter I do not join an unlawful assembly by 
 standing at a distance for the purpose of reporting the proceed- 
 ings. 
 
 Fichat addressed Court in own defence. Maintains, like 
 Low, that flogging the natives has yet to be proved an offence. 
 
 Also must be five convictions, as five is necessary number to 
 form an unlawful assembly. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Captain Gray addressed Court in own defence. 
 Associates his opinion with those already expressed by Low 
 and Fichat. Nothing to say. H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Allen (for Grogan) addressed Court : 
 
 Client charged simply under Section 143. Case not nearly so 
 serious now as at the time. 
 
 No unlawful assembly, as there were not five persons with 
 common object. .None of the crowd were other than spectators. 
 
 The object of three was to flog natives, of the rest to look on. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Judgment to be delivered on Tuesday, April 2nd, ] 907. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 JUDGMENT. 
 
 April 2, 1907. 
 
 In this case the accused Grogan, Bowker, Gray, Fichat, and 
 Low, are summoned for being members of an unlawful assembly 
 under paragraph 143, I.P.C. 
 
 Section 141 states that any assembly of five or more persons 
 having as its common object the commission of an offence is an 
 unlawful assembly. 
 
 The term " offence " for the purposes of this section is defined 
 by paragraph 40 of Chapter II. of the Penal Code as being any 
 offence punishable under the code or under any special or 
 general law with imprisonment for a term of six months or 
 upwards. 
 
 Section 142 states "Whoever being aware of facts which 
 render any assembly an unlawful assembly intentionally joins 
 that assembly or continues in it is said to be a member of an 
 unlawful assembly." 
 
 As the facts in this case can hardly be said to be in dispute, 
 it is unnecessary for me to do more than briefly restate them. 
 
 On March 13th Grogan, in consequence of information which 
 he states he received regarding the conduct of three of bis 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 133 
 
 gharri-boys, conceives the idea of flogging them in public. On 
 the evening of that day, and the morning of the next, he 
 consults with Fichat on this subject, and while in Fichat's 
 company definitely decided upon this course of action. On this 
 Fichat circulates the news of this decision throughout the town 
 about an hour before the act is to take place by informing a 
 variety of people whom he meets. 
 
 In the circulation of this news the evidence shows he is 
 assisted by Low. 
 
 About 10 o'clock in the morning of this day (i.e., 14th 
 March), Grogan brings these three natives into the town. On 
 his arrival he is met by a large crowd of Europeans, estimated 
 in number from 50 to 250, who have assembled to witness the 
 flogging in consequence of the announcement which Fichat 
 circulated. The boys are taken in front of the Court House, 
 the crowd accompanying them. 
 
 On arrival there they are met by Logan, the Town Magistrate, 
 who asks the meaning of this assembly, and on being informed, 
 warns the crowd of the illegality of their proposed action. 
 
 In spite of this warning, and in spite also of the efforts of 
 Smith, of the police, to prevent it, the flogging takes place, the 
 actual men to do the flogging being Grogan, Bowker, and Gray, 
 who each flog one of the natives. 
 
 It is this flogging that constitutes the offence which is the 
 essence of the unlawful assembly, the substance of this charge, 
 and I find that this offence is punishable under paragraph 323 
 of the Code with imprisonment for one year. Thus, with regard 
 to the nature of the offence the requirements of paragraph 141 
 of I.P.C. are fulfilled. 
 
 With regard to the other requirements of that section, it is 
 necessary that there should be at least five persons present at 
 that assembly with the common object of committing the 
 offence to which I have referred. 
 
 Allen has argued that there were not five persons in fact 
 present whose object it was to flog these natives ; that at most 
 there were only three with that object ; and that the common 
 object of the remainder of that assembly was merely to look 
 on. 
 
 I do not think there is very much in that contention. With 
 regard to Grogan, Bowker, and Gray, their acts make it obvious 
 what their object was. Fichat was present with Grogan when 
 the decision to flog these natives was arrived at. He admits he 
 approved of the idea. He made no effort to dissuade Grogan, 
 who apparently originated the scheme. He states he made 
 suggestions as to where the flogging should take place, and 
 finally he collected the crowd who assembled. By this series of 
 
134 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 acts I find the accused, Fichat, has been guilty of abetment by 
 instigation (Section 107, I.P.C.). Abetment of this nature may 
 be either direct or indirect. It is sufficient if the abettor 
 counsels an offence, or if he evinces an express liking, approba- 
 tion, or assent to another design of committing an offence 
 (Starling page 119). It is laid down that taking any active 
 proceeding either in procuring, inciting, or in some other way 
 encouraging the act done by the principal will bring a person 
 accused of abetment within the section. Fichat, to my mind, 
 has been clea'rly guilty of counselling Grogan in his design by 
 the suggestion which he admits he made to Grogan during their 
 discussions on March 13th and 14th with regard to the place 
 where the flogging should take place. He also admits that he 
 approved of the act and assented to it. It is also clear, in my 
 mind, that by collecting a crowd to witness Grogan's commission 
 of this act that he was thereby encouraging the act. 
 
 In the collection of this crowd Fichat was assisted by Low in 
 these proceedings, and I consequently find Low encouraged the 
 act done by Grogan, and is likewise guilty of abetment by 
 instigation. 
 
 In law a person present abetting an offence is to be deemed to 
 have committed that offence though, in fact, he does not do so 
 any more than a principal in the second degree (Starling page 
 130). He is to be considered as a principal (Reg. & Shib. 
 Chunder Mudle, Starling page 131). The punishment for both 
 principal and abettor in the offence in question is the same, and 
 I do not think that there is any distinction to be drawn between 
 the common objects of Grogan, Bowker, Gray, and that of 
 Fichat and Low. 
 
 I think there is complete evidence of the presence of the five 
 persons necessary under the section without including the 
 witness Newland who, in his evidence, stated that he attended 
 the meeting for the purpose of taking part in the object which 
 it possessed. 
 
 But, however this may be, assuming for an instant that this 
 meeting was a lawful assembly at its commencement, there 
 cannot be much doubt but that it subsequently became an 
 unlawful one. 
 
 After the illegality of its object had been stated to the 
 assembly by Logan, the Town Magistrate, the crowd still 
 remained, and actively assisted Grogan, Bowker, and Gray in 
 the prosecution of their purpose by forcibly preventing any 
 interference by Captain Smith, the police officer, when he 
 attempted to intervene. They cheered these three men at the 
 close of the proceedings, and further evidence as to their 
 intention is disclosed by the fact that Grogan himself found it 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 135 
 
 necessary to extract promises from them that they would not 
 molest these three men when he had finished with them. 
 
 They all became abettors of the offence, and since the lowest 
 computation of their number is almost fifty, I have come to the 
 conclusion that the assembly was an unlawful assembly within 
 the meaning of Section 141, and find accordingly. 
 
 Having come to this conclusion, and also to the conclusion 
 that those of the accused who are not guilty as principals in this 
 affair are guilty as abettors, it necessarily follows, since they 
 were all admittedly present at this meeting, that they were 
 members of this unlawful assembly within the meaning of 
 Section 142. 
 
 I will, however, leave for the moment the question as to the 
 degree of criminality attaching to each of the accused as such 
 members, and return to it later. 
 
 The next point for consideration is the magnitude of the 
 offence, the commission of which formed the object of this 
 meeting. 
 
 From first to last it appears to me that out of all the people 
 present assisting at the flogging of these men, there was no one 
 of that number who ever took the trouble to satisfy himself as 
 to whether these natives had ever done anything deserving of 
 punishment at all. There was no trial of any sort nor any form 
 or pretence of trial. These boys were neither asked whether 
 they had any defence or explanation to give, nor does it appear 
 that they ever had any opportunity of making one. Grogan, 
 who ordered the flogging, has himself stated that no plea or 
 defence which they might have made would have diverted him 
 from his purpose. 
 
 This is a very unpleasant feature in the case, and I consider 
 that of its class this offence is about as bad as it can be. Yet, 
 in my opinion, it is further aggravated by the fact that the 
 place selected for this unlawful act was directly in front of the 
 Court House. 
 
 It has been stated in defence that this selection was not a 
 matter of pre-arranged choice, but the fact remains that this 
 situation was chosen and continued on after the Town Magis- 
 trate had made his protest to the crowd to desist from their 
 purpose. 
 
 In face of these facts I am compelled to take a serious view of 
 the offence, and with regard to their respective participation in 
 it, I will first deal with the cases of the accused, Fichat and 
 Low. 
 
 For reasons that I had already stated I find Fichat was an 
 abettor of this flogging, in fact, the most active abettor. 
 
 I think the words he is stated to have used in the Travellers' 
 
136 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Club, and which he has not denied, to the effect that he had got 
 together a crowd in a record time, give the best indication of the 
 part he has played in this affair. 
 
 As regards Low since I have already found him to be a 
 member of this unlawful assembly and an abettor of the offence 
 committed by it, I need not go at any length into his defence 
 whereby he pleads that he was a newspaper reporter present to 
 make a report of the proceedings. He admits in cross-examina- 
 tion that this was not his only object. 
 
 The evidence shows he assisted Fichat in the collection of this 
 record crowd which directly encouraged the commission of the 
 offence, but I do not think he was an abettor to as large an 
 extent as Fichat. 
 
 I sentence Fichat to 14 days' and Low to 7 days' simple im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 With regard to the accused, Bowker and Gray, they were 
 members of this unlawful assembly who each took an active part 
 in the flogging. The statement put in by Bowker is no defence 
 at all to the charge against him, and the points raised by Gray 
 in the statement made by him to the Court have already been 
 dealt with in this judgment. 
 
 I convict them both, and sentence each to 14 days' simple im- 
 prisonment, and (each) to pay a fine of Es. 250, in default 14 days' 
 simple imprisonment additional. The worst case of all is that of 
 E. S. Grogan, who originated the whole affair. I have been 
 careful in considering his defence to weigh the reasons for his 
 actions which he has put forward, but I cannot find any justifi- 
 cation of any sort or kind which can be urged on his behalf. 
 
 Owing to the position which he occupied he was a man to 
 whom the Government ought, with reasonable expectation of 
 success, to have been able to look for assistance in the keeping of 
 law and order. In fact, from the evidence in this case, it is clear 
 that he has used his influence toward the commission of a most 
 lawless act in open and premeditated defiance of the authorities. 
 
 Having regard to the circumstances I do not see what other 
 constructions can be placed upon his actions. 
 
 I cannot find the slightest foundation, in fact, for his state- 
 ment that the offence which he alleges these natives to have 
 committed constituted a matter of such paramount importance 
 that, having at heart the safety of his women folk, he dare not 
 trust this matter to be dealt with by what he describes as the 
 vagaries of the law and the application thereof. 
 
 On his own showing the safety of his women folk was never 
 involved at most these natives had only been guilty of imper- 
 tinence and on his own admission he has no recollection of any 
 case ever being brought before the Courts of this Protectorate 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 137 
 
 in which natives have been charged with indecent conduct to 
 white women. 
 
 But I should add that, to my mind, there is nothing more 
 calculated to set a bad example not only to natives but to others 
 also than exhibitions of lawlessness of the kind of which Grogan 
 himself has been guilty. 
 
 The order of this Court is that he be imprisoned for one month 
 simple imprisonment, and pay a fine of Rs. 500, in default one 
 month simple imprisonment additional. 
 
 Convictions and sentences under Section 143, I.P.C. 
 
 H. O. DOLBEY. 
 
 Enclosure 2 in No. 8. 
 " The Times of East Africa? Saturday, April 6th, 1907. 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF THE END. 
 
 To say that the judgment given on Tuesday came to one and 
 all as an oppressive shock is to state the facts mildly. From a 
 comedy has emerged tragedy, and of no mild type. The law has 
 been outraged and the culprits must pay the price. But how 
 have our all-wise and all-seeing ruling powers decreed that the 
 penalty shall be enacted ? By the degradation of imprisonment 
 without option of fine or appeal, the degradation of incarceration 
 in a common gaol full of the vilest scum of our Indian and 
 native population ! The daily subject of the jeering scrutiny of 
 the fellow brutes of those whose insults to our womenkind led to 
 the climax which now occupies all our minds ! ! The triumphant 
 ridicule of the negro from Mombasa to the Lake and tt> the 
 extreme limits of Kenia ! ! ! Such is the just and wisely-decreed 
 ordeal that our five fellow-townsmen are condemned to undergo. 
 And all for what ? Because, to go to the root of matters, three 
 men stood up publicly to punish an insult to white women and 
 two others who have dared in the past to lift their voice in con- 
 demnation of the puerile and inefficient administration which we 
 have suffered were present to see the act performed. True, the 
 charge was that of being present at an unlawful assembly. 
 What in itself was that ? Nothing but an assembly to mete out 
 due reparation to offenders whom it was felt the law would 
 inadequately deal with. But granted that the punishment is 
 awarded for the breach of the law aforesaid and that the Govern- 
 ment and the Europeans in this dependency recognise it simply 
 and solely in this light, that is not where the colossal error has 
 been made. The only question with which we have to deal is 
 " What will the native think ?" Does the Government delude 
 itself and want to induce us to believe that our black hordes 
 will take this simple view ? No greater mistake was ever made. 
 
138 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Not a single native but will conclude inevitably that five 
 Europeans have been sent to gaol because they lifted their hands 
 to punish an offence by natives against white women. Not a 
 single black but will decide that he can do no wrong which will 
 entail punishment at the hands of the law whether it be mere 
 insult to our women or worse. Argue as much as you like, you 
 who administer justice according to the creed of Exeter Hall and 
 those enlightened statesmen who wished to preclude Natal's just 
 retribution on black offenders. An ineradicable impression has 
 been made on the native mind, an impression that cannot fail to 
 bear fruit. A day will most surely come when those responsible 
 for this gigantic folly will be forced to recognise the peril which 
 their act has generated. 
 
 The majesty of the law must be upheld. Rightly ! But 
 would not the law have been adequately satisfied with the 
 imposition of a fine ? Never, we believe, has the prestige of our 
 race been dragged so low as those responsible for the mainten- 
 ance of that prestige have dragged it now. They have meted 
 out punishment not to five men but to the whole of the white 
 inhabitants of a territory who are absolutely at the mercy of 
 teeming numbers of brutal savages. We hope they are satisfied. 
 
 MASS MEETING IN NAIROBI. 
 THE PEOPLE'S ANSWER TO THE VERDICT. 
 
 Immediately the verdict by the magistrate, on Tuesday 
 morning last, in Rex. v. Grogan and others was pronounced, it 
 was felt that only one course of lawful action was open to the 
 public, and a mass meeting was arranged for 3 p.m. to protest 
 against the frightful enormity in which the trial had terminated. 
 The sentences were as follows : 
 
 Captain E. S. Grogan, to one month simple imprisonment 
 and pay a fine of Rs. 500. 
 
 W. R. Bowker and I. T. Gray, to 14 days' simple imprison- 
 ment and pay a fine of Rs. 250. 
 
 S. C. Fichat, 14 days' simple imprisonment. 
 
 E. W. Low, 7 days' simple imprisonment. 
 
 Judgment having been postponed for four days, a general 
 rumour was current that inspiration had been sought from that 
 centre of fanatical intolerance, the Colonial Office. To that 
 fount of right and justice, then, it was determined to appeal. 
 
 Shortly after 3 p.m. about 150 settlers and business men met 
 in Mr. T. A. Wood's auction room, and no time was lost in 
 getting through the agenda. The meeting was extremely 
 orderly and business-like, but the administration evidently 
 imagined that their last hour was come, for almost the whole of 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 139 
 
 the white police were present. We noticed the Inspector- 
 General of Police, the Deputy Inspector-General, and five 
 inspectors. What fears were knocking at the hearts of our 
 rulers ? Had not the occasion precluded merriment, this great 
 array of power would have furnished much cause for laughter 1 . 
 
 Mr. W. A. Burn opened the meeting, the chair being taken 
 bv Mr. T. A. Wood. The -first on the agenda was a resolution 
 by Mr. Burn, seconded by Mi 1 . Sergeant : 
 
 "That this meeting desires to express to the Secretary 
 of State its emphatic protest against the sentences of 
 imprisonment passed upon Europeans to-day in the case 
 Rex v. Grogan and others, which will convey to the native 
 mind that they have been punished for flogging natives, 
 and this meeting is of opinion that the policy of the 
 Government in this case renders the presence of Europeans 
 in this Protectorate practically untenable." Carried un- 
 animously. 
 
 Discussion was then invited, and an amendment suggested by 
 Mr. Gulowsen to the effect that the words " and other matters " 
 be deleted having met with general approval, the resolution thus 
 altered was put to the meeting and carried with only one 
 dissentient. We cannot congratulate Mr. Skellorn on the 
 ill-judged and ignorant stand he took on this and the following 
 resolutions. We trust that the stinging rebuke administered 
 by Mr. Douglas and the firm attitude of the chairman have 
 given him food for thought. 
 
 The Rev. P. A. Bennett followed with a resolution which, 
 with the explanatory comments introducing it, met with a 
 storm of hearty cheers. Mr. Bennett pointed out that he could 
 not be accused of partisanship in preferring this motion. He 
 was not a friend of Mr. Low nor did he hold with all that Mr. 
 Low, as editor of the Star, published in his paper. This, 
 however, was not a time to think of personal feelings. He 
 viewed the matter from the standpoint of justice only and asked 
 one and all to sink private differences, as he was doing, and 
 give the resolution their fullest support. Mr. Phipps-Coles 
 having seconded in a pithy little speech, the resolution which 
 follows was put to the meeting and carried amid strong 
 applause : 
 
 " That this meeting wishes to offer its indignant and emphatic 
 protest to the Secretary of State against the sentences of 
 imprisonment, without the option of an appeal, passed 
 upon Mr. E. Low, the editor of the Star, in the case Rex 
 v. Grogan and others, as in the opinion of this meeting 
 there was nothing in the evidence or in fact to justify his 
 
140 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 selection from amongst the 150 other onlookers." Carried 
 unanimously. 
 
 Mr. Douglas then rose to address the meeting preparatory to 
 proposing a third resolution. In a few well-chosen words, 
 which were clearly heard by all, he pointed out the dangers 
 that must follow the action of the Government in the matter 
 under discussion, and instanced the obstinacy and ignorance of 
 the Administration in refusing to benefit by the dearly-bought 
 experience of the Governments of the South African Colonies. 
 He then put as a resolution : 
 
 " That the several Governments of South Africa be ap- 
 proached to intercede against sentences of imprisonment 
 without option against Messrs. Eussell Bowker, Gray, 
 Fichat, Grogan, and Low (all South Africans) for flogging 
 natives publicly for insolence to white women." Carried 
 unanimously. 
 
 This, being supported by Mr. Watkins in a forcible speech, 
 was unanimously carried. 
 
 A motion by Mr. T. H. Howitt, seconded by Mr. H. Tarlton, 
 was next preferred, which suffered a slight amendment before 
 being put to the meeting. It read : 
 
 " That a public subscription be raised to provide funds for 
 costs of appealing and paying fines if necessary and cabling 
 above resolutions." Carried unanimously. 
 Referring to this motion, Dr. Grice sensibly pointed out that, 
 as it would take some little time to effect anything by cable, it 
 would, perhaps, not be without result if a deputation were sent 
 to ask the Acting Commissioner for amended conditions 
 regarding the imprisonment of those committed to-day. The 
 resolution read as follows : 
 
 "That this meeting appoint a committee to approach the 
 Acting Commissioner to ask for amended conditions regard- 
 ing the imprisonment of Grogan and others committed 
 to-day." Seconded by Mr. G. Evans. Carried unanimously. 
 The next resolution was proposed by Mr. F. Watkins and 
 seconded by Mr. Burn : 
 
 " That the preceding resolutions be forwarded to the Acting 
 Commissioner with a request that they be cabled to the 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies and that this meeting is 
 prepared if necessary to provide funds for that purpose." 
 Carried unanimously. 
 
 Mr. Howitt proposed, seconded by Mr. P. Coles : 
 "That five gentlemen be elected to approach the Acting 
 Commissioner." Carried. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 141 
 
 The following gentlemen were elected : Messrs. T. A. Wood, 
 Douglas, Bayldon, Gulowsen, and Grice. 
 
 After a vote of thanks to the chairman, the meeting dispersed 
 quietly. 
 
 No. 9. The Secretary of State to the Acting Commissioner. 
 (Sent 10.20 a.m., May 1, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 Referring to your dispatch, April 30, did natives receive 
 serious injuries ? What was exact nature of insult for which 
 they were flogged ? ELGIN. 
 
 No. 10. The Acting Commissioner to the Secretary of State. 
 (Received 3.10 p.m., May 3, 1907.) 
 Telegram. 
 
 No. 68. Your Lordship's telegram of 1st May. Medical 
 officer certifies that two of the natives received simple hurt and 
 one severe hurt nearly amounting to grievous hurt. Last 
 mentioned was in hospital for considerable period. 
 
 Exact nature of insult, according to statement of Miss Mac- 
 donell, one of two ladies said to have been insulted, was 
 impertinence and shaking shafts of rickshaw. JACKSON. 
 
 No. 11. The Secretary of State to the Governor. 
 
 Downing Street, June 18, 1907. 
 
 SIR, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. 
 Jackson's despatch of the 9th April, forwarding a report of the 
 trial and conviction of Captain Grogan and Messrs. Bowker, 
 Gray, Fichat, and Low, on charges arising out of the flogging 
 of natives in Nairobi on 14th of March. I have also received 
 Mr. Jackson's telegram of the 23rd of April, transmitting a 
 message from the Colonists' Association complaining of the 
 action of the local administration and of a statement reported 
 to have been made by me in the House of Lords and asking 
 that a Commission might be appointed to inquire into these and 
 other alleged grievances. 
 
 2. The report shows that the offenders had a fair and full 
 trial, and that there was little dispute as to the facts. The 
 contention of the defendants with the exception of Low, who 
 claimed that he was a mere spectator was that the flogging 
 
142 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 was justified because the natives had been guilty of insulting 
 white women ; e.g. the defendant Bowker expressed himself as 
 follows : " As it has always been the first principle with me to 
 flog a nigger on sight who insults a Avhite woman, I felt it my 
 bounden duty to take the step I did, and that in a public place 
 as a warning to the natives." 
 
 3. I fully appreciate the importance attached by the white 
 settlers to the protection of their wives and families from insult 
 or assault. But I have to point out that the law provides most 
 severe penalties for such offences. 
 
 4. Natives charged with such offences would be tried by 
 white magistrates and judges, who would not be inclined to be 
 unduly lenient to offenders, particularly if the injured party 
 were a white woman. But, as a matter of fact, it does not 
 appear that any crimes of this nature have been brought before 
 the Courts of the Protectorate, and it is accordingly impossible 
 to plead delay or refusal of justice as a justification for the 
 action of the defendants in the present case in taking the law 
 into their own hands. Moreover, it appears from your telegram 
 of the 3rd instant, that the insult alleged was of the most trivial 
 character. 
 
 5. The place and the circumstances of the flogging in front 
 of the Court House and in spite of the protest 'of the Magistrate 
 make it clear that it was intended to be a deliberate defiance 
 of settled order and government, and the offenders were 
 fortunate in not being convicted on the more serious charges 
 of riot and assault on a public officer. The conduct of the 
 defendant Fichat, who appears from the evidence to have 
 deliberately spread a report that white women had been 
 seriously assaulted, well knowing it to be false, cannot be too 
 strongly reprobated. No doubt many persons were thus led to 
 take part in the assembly who would not have done so if the 
 true facts had been known to them. 
 
 6. With regard to the telegraphic message from the Colonists' 
 Association, I see no ground for saying that the prosecution of 
 the offenders in this case was a political one, unless there is a 
 party in Nairobi which advocates as a policy the indiscriminate 
 flogging of natives for trivial offences without trial ; and the 
 question whether many of the Europeans present at the flogging 
 were armed or not does not materially affect the gravity of the 
 offence committed. I see no reason, therefore, for appointing a 
 Commission to enquire into the circumstances of the flogging, 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 143 
 
 Commission to enquire into the circumstances of the flogging, 
 which are in other respects sufficiently established by the 
 evidence given at the trial. 
 
 7. The fears of a native rising which induced some of those 
 who took part in the flogging to demand arms and ammunition 
 for their protection do not appear to have had any foundation. 
 I am bound to observe, however, that the commission of such 
 flagrant acts of lawlessness and injustice as those of which the 
 defendants in this case have been found guilty is the surest way 
 to provoke an outbreak. In the interests not only of the 
 natives (constituting as they do an immense majority of the 
 population) but also of the innocent white inhabitants, it is 
 the duty of the Government to restrain and punish those who 
 commit such acts, and you will be able, if necessary, to make 
 use of the provisions of the East Africa Order in Council, 1902, 
 which authorize the deportation of any person who conducts him- 
 self so as to be dangerous to peace and good order in East Africa. 
 I have, etc. ELGIN. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 7. 
 THE NAVY ESTIMATES. 
 
 STATEMENT OF THE FIRST LORD. 
 
 The Estimates for 1908-9 amount to 32,319,500 as opposed 
 to 31,419,500 for the current year. 
 
 A statement of the gross expenditure on the Naval Service 
 has been placed at the beginning of the printed Estimates, 
 which shows that although Parliament is asked to vote 900,000 
 more money this year than last, the total outlay for the year will 
 stand at a figure of 13,984 only in excess of that for 1907-08. 
 
 It is an accepted axiom in the finance of the Navy that the 
 governing factor is the provision for new construction, but for 
 the next financial year a variety of unusual causes combine to 
 create an actual increase in the cash provision which Parliament 
 is asked to vote for the Navy, in spite of the fact that the new 
 building programme put forward by the Admiralty is exceed- 
 ingly modest. 
 
 In 1904-5 the Estimates stood at 36,889,000. The succeed- 
 ing years have shown successive reductions of 3,500,000 in 
 1905-6, 1,520,000 in 1906-7, and 450,000 in 1907-8 (as I 
 explained in my Statement last year, the reduction then was 
 really 1,427,091, in consequence of the transfer of loan expendi- 
 ture to the Works Vote). 
 
144 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 In each of these years of falling Estimates the Admiralty were 
 able to reduce the cash provision for stores by, on the average, 
 1,000,000 the figure last year being 1,241,800 owing to the 
 large redundancy of stores created by the reforms in dockyard 
 administration and by the redistribution of the Fleet, which 
 were determined on and carried out by the late Board of 
 Admiralty. Of these surplus stocks about half a million's 
 worth still remain and will be exhausted during the coming 
 year. 
 
 A fresh sum of some 700,000 has therefore to be provided 
 to buy the balance of Naval stores required for 1908-9. By 
 1909-10, surplus stocks will have practically disappeared, and 
 then the whole of the stores required for the Fleet will have to 
 be provided for in cash by Parliament. 
 
 Apart from the cessation of the abnormally low cash provi- 
 sion for stores, there are certain items in the Estimates which 
 show an increase, over which the Board of Admiralty have no 
 control whatever. Improvements in pay granted in previous 
 years increase the Pay Vote by 150,000 ; the Pension Votes 
 are 70,000 higher; a sum of 300,000 has to be found to 
 provide the balance of 500,000 for cooling the magazines on 
 board His Majesty's ships a service announced to the House of 
 Commons in last year's Estimates Debate ; the Cunard subsidy 
 for the Lusitania and Mauretania stands now at the full amount 
 of 150,000 per annum; prices have gone up, by 284,000 in 
 coal alone ; and the annuity in repayment of advances under 
 the Naval Works Loan Acts now reaches the large sum of 
 1,264,000. In fact, Parliament and the Board are faced with 
 automatic or uncontrollable increases which make any reduction 
 of the total Estimates impracticable. 
 
 By strict economy the Admiralty have been able to bring 
 down the inevitable increase to 900,000, the figure we now ask 
 Parliament to sanction. 
 
 It is interesting to recapitulate the salient features of Naval 
 expenditure during the last eight years : 
 
 The total net sum voted for Naval Services in 
 
 1900-1 was - 30,041,900 
 
 This was increased by about a million for the two 
 subsequent years, and in 1903-4 it advanced 
 to 35,727,500. In 1904-5 it reached its 
 highest limit, namely 36,889,500 
 
 In 1905-6 there was a decrease of 3,500,000 
 
 And in the two following years an aggregate 
 
 decrease of 1,970,000 
 
 'The increase proposed in 1908-9 - 900,000 
 
 'Bringing the net total to 32,319,500 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 145 
 
 Now taking loan money : 
 
 The annuity under the Naval Works Acts first 
 became finally chargeable to Naval funds in 
 1902, the amount for that year being - - 122,255 
 
 This has increased each year on account of fresh 
 advances of loan money, until it has reached 
 a total of for 1908-9 * - 1,264,032 
 
 The expenditure on Works under the Naval 
 Works Acts began in 1895-6, in which year 
 it amounted to - 721,099 
 
 It gradually increased until in 1904-5 it amounted 
 
 to __---.-- 3,402,575 
 
 In the last completed year, 1906-7, it had fallen to 2,431,201 
 
 It is estimated that the outlay from loan in 1907-8 
 
 will be 1,135,000 
 
 And in 1908-9 ------- 896,925 
 
 SHIPBUILDING AND REPAIRS. 
 
 New construction for the year will cost 7,545,202 as against 
 8,100,000 for 1907-08. The continuous fall in the estimate for 
 new construction from the maximum of 11,654,176 in 1904-05 
 is thus carried on, and Parliament is asked to vote 4,108,974 
 less than it was four years ago. Of this sum of 7,545,202, 
 6,795,202 will be spent on the continuation of ships already 
 under construction, and 750,000 in beginning work on ships of 
 the new programme, which is composed as follows : 
 
 1 Battleship (improved Dreadnought class) ; 
 1 Large Armoured Cruiser ; 
 6 Fast Protected Cruisers ; 
 16 Torpedo Boat Destroyers ; 
 
 and a number of Submarine Boats estimated to cost 500,000 in 
 all. 
 
 This programme suffices for 1908-9 ; whether and to what 
 extent it may be necessary to enlarge it next year, or in future 
 years, must depend upon the additions made to their naval force 
 by Foreign Powers. His Majesty's Government have every 
 intention of maintaining the standard of the British Navy which 
 has hitherto been deemed necessary for the safeguarding of our 
 national and Imperial interests. 
 
 Between the 1st April, 1907, and the 31st March, 1908, the 
 following ships will have been completed and become available 
 for service : 
 
 1 Battleship (Lord Nelson). 
 
 3 Armoured Cruisers (Warrior, Shannon, and Minotaur). 
 P.W. K 
 
146 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 3 Torpedo Boat Destroyers (Cossack, Mohawk, and Tartar). 
 10 Torpedo Boats (of the Coastal Destroyer type). 
 
 8 Submarines. 
 
 1 Repair Ship (Cyclops) and the New Royal Yacht Alex- 
 andria. 
 
 On the 1st April, 1908, there will be under construction : 
 7 Battleships. 
 
 4 Armoured Cruisers. 
 
 1 Unarmoured Cruiser. 
 10 Torpedo Boat Destroyers. 
 20 Torpedo Boats (of the Coastal Destroyer type). 
 18 Submarines. 
 
 This year again there has been some delay in the completion 
 of contract-built ships, owing to labour disputes between 
 employers and their men in the private shipbuilding yards. 
 A continuance of this delay may involve a modification in the 
 numbers of ships given above. 
 
 Several incidents occurred early in 1907 which gave us cause 
 to suspect that the method of storing cordite in magazines on 
 board ship required alteration, in order to meet certain dangers 
 that had been discovered to arise from cordite which is exposed 
 to a high temperature. The matter did not admit of delay, and 
 the Admiralty decided, with the approval of a strong scientific 
 committee, presided over by Lord Rayleigh, to fit the cordite 
 magazines with cooling apparatus, and to destroy all cordite that 
 had been long in a hot climate. The cooling apparatus is 
 expensive, and the work when completed will have cost 500,000 ; 
 but the necessity for dealing promptly with the danger will not 
 need further statement. The progress on this work has been 
 very prompt and satisfactory, and the amount estimated for it 
 during the year will be fully spent. It has necessitated an 
 increase in the numbers of men employed in the dockyards, and 
 a slight further increase was also necessary to deal with the 
 large number of casualties to torpedo craft and other vessels 
 after the Fleet Exercises had terminated. The remedy of these 
 defects is nearing completion and the present progress of repairs 
 is now in a normal and satisfactory condition. 
 
 The cost of maintaining the torpedo craft in an efficient con- 
 dition is increasing as the vessels get older, and many of them 
 are due for large boiler repairs during the present year. Before 
 carrying out this work in the older ones, a careful survey will be 
 made to ensure that they are worth this expenditure. The 
 increasing power of machinery and boilers, due to the higher 
 speeds adopted during the past decade, is also throwing an 
 increasing share of repair work on the engineering side of the 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 147 
 
 dockyards and necessitating an increase in the numbers of men 
 therein employed, though no corresponding increase is required 
 on the constructive side at present. Although no important 
 reconstructive work is contemplated, many minor but very 
 important alterations are being carried out gradually with 
 the object of improving the general fighting efficiency of the 
 Fleet. Wireless telegraphy is being adopted in most of the 
 later destroyers, and the improvements in the system adopted in 
 our big ships have required constructive alterations in them to 
 enable the instruments to be fitted. These alterations require 
 considerable time and money to carry out, in view of the great 
 number of vessels involved. 
 
 Excellent work continues to be done by repair ships and the 
 artificers of the Fleet in correcting small defects, which might 
 otherwise develop to such an extent as to necessitate dockyard 
 assistance before the annual refit was due ; but, nevertheless, for 
 the reasons I have given above, an increased provision of 700,000 
 for repairs is needed for the coming year. 
 
 We have begun to build submarines in the Royal Dockyards, 
 a step which, besides affording desirable work to them, will be 
 a check on contract prices. 
 
 The Admiralty have come to an arrangement with the 
 armour-plate manufacturers for a considerable reduction in the 
 price which is paid for armour plates, and this will take effect 
 in the construction of the new armoured ships of the current 
 year's programme. 
 
 GENERAL PROGRESS OF RECENT REFORMS. 
 
 A review of the memoranda issued by the Admiralty during 
 the last few years discloses a series of important changes and 
 alterations affecting all branches of His Majesty's Naval Service. 
 These are all, in my opinion, entirely well conceived and 
 salutary. Time is now required for the Service to digest and 
 assimilate the new arrangements, and caution will, therefore, 
 be used in bringing forward further schemes at present. 
 
 Under the nucleus crew system, the chief executive officers 
 and more important ratings are always on board the ships ; 
 from time to time the crews are made up to full complement and 
 are given seagoing practice ; the boilers and machinery are 
 always maintained in good order, so as to be ready for sudden 
 mobilization. 
 
 The rapidity and certainty with which the nucleus crew ships 
 can be fully manned has been illustrated signally by the recent 
 exercises of mobilization at Devonport, Portsmouth, and 
 Chatham. 
 
 It has been alleged that the Admiralty have no war plans 
 
148 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 properly worked out, nor strategical operations thoroughly 
 elaborated ; this is a baseless allegation. Such plans are in the 
 possession of the Admiralty in abundant number to meet all 
 probable emergencies. The details of these plans cannot of 
 course be made public, for their successful operation in actual 
 warfare must largely depend upon their secrecy. 
 
 The new disposition of the Atlantic Fleet with its base at 
 Berehaven and its repairing dockyard at Gibraltar, and the 
 development of the Home Fleet have been notable examples of 
 the progress of the last two years. The fully manned portion of 
 this Fleet at present has its base at the Nore, and is now in 
 full working order, though not yet up to its intended full 
 strength. It will consist this summer of twelve of the latest 
 battleships and armoured cruisers, with destroyer and submarine 
 flotillas attached, and the nucleus crew ships at the three Home 
 Ports ready for rapid mobilization. 
 
 The remarkable results which have during the last year been 
 returned of the gunnery practice carried out by our Fleets and 
 ships all over the world, are facts of great interest and worthy 
 of congratulation. The reports of the efficiency which signal- 
 ling has reached in the Naval Service, whether by the older 
 systems or by electric and wireless telegraphic installations, are 
 very satisfactory and speak very highly for the intelligence and 
 hard work of the officers and men who take charge of this 
 important part of the service of the sea. 
 
 The new system of entry, training and education for all 
 classes of officers in the Navy executive, engineers and marines 
 instituted a little more than four years ago, is yielding good 
 results. The first two batches of Cadets are now serving in the 
 training cruisers Cumberland and Cornwall. 
 
 After six months' service in these cruisers, they will be drafted 
 to ships in the seagoing fleets, the first batch going to sea in 
 April. In the fleets they will be trained in a practical way as 
 Naval officers, and after three years they will be examined in 
 Seamanship, Navigation and Pilotage, Gunnery, Torpedo, and 
 Engineering, and in certain optional subjects, such as Mathe- 
 matics, Mechanics, Electricity, Languages, and History, the 
 study of which at sea will be voluntary. After passing the 
 examinations in the above subjects, they will become Sub- 
 Lieutenants and remain at sea, receiving their, promotion to 
 Lieutenant according to the results of their examination. After 
 serving at least two years at sea as Sub-Lieutenant and 
 Lieutenant, a certain proportion will be selected to qualify 
 in the separate specialist branches of the Service, in preparation 
 for which they will then undergo courses at the Eoyal Naval 
 College, Greenwich, and the specialist schools. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 149 
 
 The officers will thus serve for 5^ years continuously at sea 
 before they can specialize. 
 
 The Interview Committees which, since taking office, I have 
 appointed to report on the respective qualifications of the 
 candidates for entry as Naval Cadets, have included Admirals 
 of the Fleet Lord Walter Kerr and Sir Edward Seymour, 
 Admirals Sir Archibald Douglas and Sir Arthur Fanshawe, 
 Vice-Admiral Sir John Durnford, the Right Hon. Arthur 
 Acland, Mr. A. C. Benson, and the Headmasters of Maryborough, 
 Wellington, Radley, and Dartmouth. Their reports to me have 
 revealed a most satisfactory unanimity of opinion as to the 
 value and success of this method of differentiating between the 
 merits of boys of the young age of twelve years. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 A reform long advocated by Naval officers has been carried 
 out this year by the transfer of the work of making contracts 
 for Naval guns and Ordnance stores from the War Office to the 
 Admiralty, and by the creation of a Naval Ordnance Inspection 
 Department. The Admiralty, therefore, now for the first time 
 have direct control and responsibility for the manufacture and 
 supply of the guns and ammunition of the Fleet. The Army 
 Inspection officers have done the work for the Admiralty with 
 great ability in the past, but the growing divergence in pattern 
 between the Stores required by the two Services and the 
 necessity for the rapid expansion of the supply in war time, a 
 requirement for which the War Office Staff were admittedly 
 unable to provide, rendered the change inevitable. 
 
 I am glad to be able to report that the London County 
 Council have accepted the solution of the difficulty with regar*d 
 to the interference of their electric generating station with 
 Greenwich Observatory, to which I referred in my statement 
 last year. 
 
 The Admiralty Office has lost through retirement several of 
 its Heads of Departments. Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir John 
 Durston, K.C.B., for many years Engineer-in-Chief of the 
 Navy, and the first holder of his present rank, has had a 
 unique experience in the superintendence of the development 
 of steam machinery in the Fleet. Well-deserved praise was 
 awarded to the Transport Department by the South African 
 War Commission for its work during that campaign. Vice- 
 Admiral Sir George Boyes, K.C.B., who became Director while 
 the war was in progress, and Mr. Stephen Graff, C.B., who was 
 Civil Head of the Department throughout, have both retired 
 this year. 
 
 The labours of the Malta Fever Commissioners have during 
 
150 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 the past year been brought to a successful termination. They 
 have made the discovery that the milk of the goat is the chief 
 medium by which the bacillus of Malta fever gains access to the 
 human body. We hope that in future this disease, which in 
 the past has committed such ravages among the crews of vessels 
 serving on the Mediterranean Station, will entirely be banished. 
 Since this discovery was made, and the use of goat's milk was 
 forbidden to our seamen and marines, Malta fever has practi- 
 cally disappeared from among them. The Commission, working 
 under the aegis of the Royal Society, was composed of Naval, 
 Military, and Colonial medical officers under the chairmanship 
 of Colonel Bruce, C.B., F.R.S., and their patient and skilled 
 investigations merit the highest praise. Fleet Surgeons Shaw 
 and Clayton, who represented the Navy on the inquiry, con- 
 tributed not a little to the result. 
 
 PERSONNEL. 
 
 The War Course College at Portsmouth, re-named the Royal 
 Naval War College, has now been placed under the command of 
 a Flag officer Rear-Admiral Robert Lowry with an increased 
 staff of assistants, and work of the greatest value is now being 
 carried out there, in close connexion with the Naval Intelligence 
 Department, whose Director, Captain Sir Charles Ottley, 
 K.C.M.G, has, on appointment as Secretary of the Imperial 
 Defence Committee, been succeeded by Captain Edmond Slade, 
 hitherto Superintendent of the War Course College. 
 
 The report of the inter-departmental Conference on the 
 subject of the present administration of the Coast Guard 
 service, to which reference was made last year, has been 
 received, and has been under consideration by the various 
 Departments concerned. The effect of the policy upon which 
 the report was based would be to bring about a material change 
 in the relations of the Admiralty, Board of Customs, and Board 
 of Trade in regard to the carrying out of various services which 
 have gradually been undertaken by the Coast Guard during the 
 fifty years that it has been directly under the Admiralty ; and 
 looking to the many issues involved, the Board of Admiralty 
 recognised that the change proposed could not take place 
 without very careful consideration. Accordingly it was decided 
 that no attempt should be made to provide for any new policy 
 as regards the administration of the Coast Guard in connexion 
 with the preparation of the Estimates for 1908-09. 
 
 The new Victualling and Canteen arrangements, based upon 
 the recommendations of a Committee presided over by Rear- 
 Admiral Spencer H. M. Login, C.V.O., whose report has already 
 been presented to Parliament, came into operation on the 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 151 
 
 1st October last, except on some of the more distant Stations, 
 where the change was deferred until the 1st January. All the 
 reports received are to the effect that the new arrangements are 
 working smoothly and satisfactorily. The new victualling 
 s^isteni is, practically everywhere, resulting in economy to the 
 men, partly because the substitution of a fixed daily messing 
 allowance for the varying amount formerly received under the 
 complicated "savings system" enables them to keep closely in 
 touch with their expenditure from day to day, and partly on 
 account of the facilities now given to the messes for purchasing 
 many articles of food for use on board ship from Government 
 stocks and at Government prices. The new Canteen system, 
 under which the Admiralty exercise general supervision over 
 the Canteen arrangements throughout the Fleet, and furnish 
 Commanding Officers with official information and assistance in 
 connexion with Canteen matters, is also working well, and 
 seems likely to have a very beneficial effect in many ways. 
 
 As a result of the deliberations of a Committee on Pay and 
 Allowances of Seamen of the Fleet, new regulations have been 
 issued which will tend to improve the fitness and disciplinary 
 position of the Petty Officers of the Royal Navy, and will 
 ensure a higher standard of general efficiency among the more 
 important ratings. 
 
 The annual battle practice is steadily training the Fleet for 
 the firing conditions which would be met with in action. Each 
 year our experience gained increases our knowledge of the 
 practical means of developing the fire of our ships, and we are 
 continuing to make progress in the direction of imitating more 
 closely the actual conditions of battle. It is difficult to 
 appreciate the revolution in Naval gunnery which has taken 
 place in the last few years, and the labour and patience required 
 in introducing large changes throughout a great S.ervice like 
 the Navy. The results obtained this year have shown that a 
 sound knowledge of long-range shooting has thoroughly per- 
 meated the Fleet. We are therefore able from the experience 
 gained to take next year several important steps as regards 
 both this practice and additional fittings to the ships. Every 
 endeavour is being made to assimilate our methods to war 
 conditions, but while we are steadily developing, there is no 
 reason to disparage our present results, which undoubtedly 
 afford great proof of the gunnery efficiency of our various ships 
 and Fleets, and give a measure of their capabilities in action. 
 
 In the four principal Fleets the recording of the results was 
 placed in the hands of an independent committee, under the 
 Inspector of Target Practice, to ensure a uniform method of 
 assessing the number of hits obtained by each ship. 
 
152 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 WORKS. 
 
 After negotiations extending over a good many months, a 
 site has been feued on the west shore of Loch Long for the 
 establishment of a Torpedo Range of 7,000 yards length, and 
 another has been purchased at Greenock for a Torpedo Factory, 
 whence these weapons can readily be conveyed to the range for 
 trial. The rapid increase in recent years of the speed and the 
 range of action of the Whitehead Torpedo has rendered the 
 existing ranges at Portsmouth and Weymouth wholly inadequate 
 for their purpose, and a thorough survey of the coasts of the 
 United Kingdom resulted in the selection of Loch Long as the 
 place which would best comply with all the conditions required. 
 Visitors to this part of Scotland need be under no apprehension 
 that the beauties of the scenery or the convenience of access 
 will be interfered with. 
 
 The Admiralty property at Rosyth, consisting of 1,184 1-5 
 acres, with 285 acres of foreshore, was purchased in 1903-4 for 
 the construction of a new Naval base on the east coast. In 
 the interval, since the completion of the purchase, the Superin- 
 tending Engineer appointed in charge of Rosyth has made an 
 extensive survey of all the great Naval establishments and 
 building yards at home and of some abroad, in order that plans 
 might be drawn for the laying out of Rosyth as a first-class 
 Naval base in such a way that any particular portion might be 
 carried out without interference with the general scheme; the 
 intention was to avoid the repetition of the haphazard growth 
 of a Naval dockyard port, which the history of the old establish- 
 ments at Portsmouth, Devonport, and Chatham has proved to 
 be so expensive in the past. The general scheme having been 
 drawn up, the present Board of Admiralty have decided to take 
 in hand the construction of a graving dock, closed basin, and an 
 entrance lock, capable of accommodating the largest modern 
 warships, with a depot for submarines and destroyers, and 
 provision for oil fuel storage. The basin is to be 52 acres in 
 area, with accommodation for 11 of the largest ships along the 
 quays, or 22 when double banked. 
 
 During the past year the preliminary borings have been 
 completed, and detailed contract plans are now being prepared. 
 
 This part of the general scheme, for which the contract will 
 shortly be let, is estimated to cost 3,000,000 for work and 
 250,000 for machinery the whole to be completed in about 
 10 years. 
 
 The necessity for this work is apparent when it is remembered 
 that there is no Government dockyard capable of taking ships 
 of the Dreadnought class along the whole of the east coast of 
 Great Britain. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 153 
 
 COLONIAL CONFERENCE. 
 
 The appropriations in aid of the Navy Estimates which 
 are contributed by the various self-governing Colonies are the 
 same as in last year's Estimates. The discussions at the Confer- 
 ence with the Colonial Ministers last spring revealed the fact 
 that there was a certain desire on the part of some of the 
 Colonial Governments for the establishment of local defence 
 flotillas in lieu of, or as supplementary to, the present money 
 contributions to the Imperial Exchequer. 
 
 The Admiralty, while not desiring to withdraw from the 
 existing agreements and arrangements, recognised that it was 
 only natural that the Colonies should sooner or later desire to 
 have defence forces of their own, and consequently we announced 
 our readiness to meet the wishes of the Colonial Governments as 
 far as possible, and to consider any alternative schemes which 
 they might put forward. 
 
 The Prime Minister of the Australian Commonwealth has 
 communicated to the Admiralty the outline of a scheme for the 
 establishment of a local flotilla of destroyers and submarines, 
 which is now under consideration. The Cape and Natal Govern- 
 ments have initiated legislation with the object of establishing 
 divisions of the Eoyal Naval Volunteer Keserve in Cape Colony 
 and Natal, and the Legislature of the latter Colony has passed 
 an Act for the purpose. 
 
 HAGUE CONFERENCE. 
 
 A report of the conclusions of the second International Con- 
 ference at The Hague has been presented to Parliament in a 
 recent Blue-book. The action to be taken in regard to the 
 various conventions is now engaging the consideration of the 
 Government, and the Board of Admiralty are giving special 
 attention to those conventions which immediately concern the 
 operations of the Fleet, and particularly to the convention for 
 the establishment of an International Court of Appeal in Prize 
 cases. From a Naval point of view it is important that there 
 should be an agreement as to the principles of International 
 Law which should govern the decisions of an International 
 Court in matters such as contraband and blockade. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF THE FLEET. 
 
 The distribution of the Fleet has undergone no material 
 alteration. The development of the Home Fleet is steadily 
 proceeding and by degrees approaching its desired standard of 
 strength. 
 
 In August last two armoured cruisers were added to the First 
 
154 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Cruiser Squadron, and 24 destroyers, forming a . "Western 
 Group" based on Portland, were placed permanently under the 
 orders of the Conimander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet. More 
 recently six nucleus crew destroyers have been added to this 
 group, with the object of forming a reserve at Portland, and so 
 rendering the group as far as possible self-contained. 
 
 The Channel Fleet has had its quota of destroyers brought up 
 to thirty, and the Battle Squadron k being strengthened by 
 the substitution of six of the Bulwark type for older vessels, 
 so that it will in future consist of eight King Edwards and 
 six Bulwarks. 
 
 It has recently been decided to appropriate permanently the 
 Shearwater and Algerine for Service on the West Coast of 
 America, the Algerine being transferred from the China 
 Station. These two vessels will be available for the Bearing 
 Sea patrol and also for occasional visits to the Pacific Islands. 
 
 An inter-departmental Conference, under the presidency of 
 Vice- Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, commanding the Coast 
 Guard and Reserves, has been sitting to consider the general 
 question of the protection to be afforded by the Navy to the 
 fishery interests in the seas surrounding the British Isles, which 
 involves also the question of Revenue protection afloat. 
 
 I append the usual statement of work done in the Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 llth February, 1908. TWEEDMOUTH. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 8. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE REPORT OF 
 THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO THE AD- 
 MINISTRATION OF THE INDEPENDENT STATE 
 OF THE CONGO. 
 
 No. 1. Sir C. Phipps to the Marquess of Lansdowne. 
 (Received November 8.) 
 
 Brussels, November 7, 1905. 
 
 MY LORD, I have the honour to inclose copies of the Congo 
 Bulletin Officiel for September-October which reached me this 
 morning containing the Report of the Congo Commission of 
 Inquiry. 
 
 In spite of the reserved and dignified tone which pervades the 
 whole Report, it contains the most scathing criticisms of the 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 155 
 
 policy pursued in the Congo State. Proof is afforded that the 
 Commissioners were fully alive to the responsibilities of the task 
 which they assumed ; whilst the fears which were expressed in 
 some quarters that the Report would be optimistic, or that they 
 would palliate or defend any of the unquestionable infractions 
 of the law which occurred, are now proved, as I anticipated, to 
 be entirely unjustified. 
 
 Adopting the divisions of their task enumerated by the Com- 
 missioners on p. 149 of the Report, the most striking conclusions 
 appear to me to be the following : 
 
 I. THE LAND SYSTEM OF THE STATE AND THE FREEDOM OF 
 COMMERCE. 
 
 Whilst not contesting the legality of the appropriation by the 
 State of vacant lands, it is pointed out that in practice the State 
 has monopolised the entire fruits of the soil, and has interfered 
 with the whole evolution of native existence. It has failed to 
 give a liberal and wide interpretation to the Laws of 1885 and 
 1886, which conferred on the native population the free enjoy- 
 ment of the zones of territory adjoining their huts under the 
 authority of their chiefs, enabling them to trade in the produce 
 of such zones. This Law had become a dead letter. 
 
 The course thus pursued is, on p. 153, contrasted with the 
 practice invariably followed in the neighbouring French colony. 
 The system of exchangeable value adopted is strongly criticised, 
 and the introduction of specie payments suggested. 
 
 II. IMPOSITION OF LABOUR ; THE ABUSES ARISING FROM FORCED 
 LABOUR. 
 
 In this extended chapter the entire system pursued in these 
 respects is subjected to severe condemnation, although it is 
 argued forcibly that payment by means of labour is the only 
 possible tax to which the native can be subjected. The irregu- 
 larities pursued in the system of enforcing labour are brought 
 into strong relief, as well as the undue latitude allowed to local 
 officials, who could, in practice, apparently make use of any form 
 of coercion they chose to adopt. 
 
 The defects in the Law of the 18th November, 1903, by which 
 forty hours of labour per month are imposed on the natives, are 
 pointed out, and the different imposts due by the natives are 
 reviewed. The existing system of coercion is examined, and, 
 though the maximum of such coercion is nominally fixed at one 
 month's imprisonment, the agent is, in practice, left to act much 
 as he chooses. 
 
 The sentinel system, as well as that of the "capitas," is strongly 
 condemned, and the accusations brought against the sentinels, 
 
156 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 though not in all cases proved, are regarded as well founded. 
 The whole system is shown to result in constant warfare between 
 the rubber-collecting natives and the sentinels, the A.B.I.R. 
 Company proving that 142 of the latter had been killed or 
 wounded within seven months, owing to the natives' retaliation 
 against the cruelties which they had perpetrated. In short, the 
 entire chapter proves the administration of the A.B.I.R. Com- 
 pany to be a system of hardly restricted savagery, and illustrates 
 the fact that the apparently carefully devised Regulations which 
 the Directors in Europe believe to be carried into execution are 
 entirely set at naught. 
 
 The Commission recommends a resort to the system of " impdt 
 collectif " under the control of the native chiefs, but it is impos- 
 sible to believe, after a perusal of the details given, that such a 
 Company can be permitted to exist any longer. 
 
 III. MILITARY EXPEDITIONS, AND THOSE SET ON FOOT BY THE 
 CONCESSION COMPANIES ; MUTILATIONS. 
 
 This chapter again severely condemns the entire system pur- 
 sued by the Companies, and proves the action adopted by these 
 to be a distinct infraction of the law. The State police afforded 
 by the Government is declared to be utilised by the Companies 
 to enforce their own pecuniary interests, and to involve the com- 
 mission of the most terrible cruelties. 
 
 In regard to actual mutilations, the defenders of the Congo 
 system are able to appeal to one paragraph of the Report in 
 refutation of the accusations so generally brought against them. 
 
 The Commissioners declare that, with the exception of two 
 cases in which mutilation was voluntarily inflicted on living 
 natives, such has never been inflicted wilfully. 
 
 " Never has a white man inflicted, or caused to be inflicted, as 
 punishment for shortage of rubber or of other prestations 
 mutilations on living natives. No such acts have ever been 
 averred by any witness, nor have we ever, in spite of all our 
 investigations, discovered that such acts have been committed." 
 
 IV. THE CONCESSION SYSTEM. 
 
 This is strongly condemned on pp. 226-236, and it is recom- 
 mended that the system of free commerce should be put on its 
 trial, the State abandoning its " incontestable " rights to the 
 produce of the soil. 
 
 V. DEPOPULATION. 
 
 The causes put forward by the missionaries are declared to be 
 difficult to establish, and to be secondary ones, the primary 
 causes being small-pox and sleeping sickness. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 157 
 
 VI. THE SYSTEM OF STATE INSTRUCTION IN COLONIES. 
 
 The system of State instruction in colonies is examined, and 
 cogent reasons given for condemning it. The system pursued by 
 the Catholic and Protestant Missions is also declared faulty. 
 
 A dangerous and somewhat surprising suggestion is made at 
 the conclusion of this chapter, viz., that native parents may be 
 allowed, if desirous to do so, to dispense their children from 
 religious instruction. 
 
 VII. MILITARY ORGANISATION, RECRUITMENT, ETC., AND 
 CONTRACT LABOUR. 
 
 The system is in general defended, and military education and 
 service is regarded as an important element of civilisation, such 
 service not being distasteful to the negro, but exercising rather 
 a humanising effect. It is explained on pp. 253-254 that, unable 
 any longer to engage West Coast natives, the State has to recruit 
 from the more hardy, warlike tribes of the Upper Congo, who 
 are mainly cannibals. Amongst such elements the firm dis- 
 cipline recommended by the Commission can alone prevent the 
 reawakening of the but dormant instincts of savagery. 
 
 The whole system of labour contracts is carefully reviewed 
 on pp. 254-264, the Law of 1888 being declared to be a most 
 praiseworthy one. In the Lower Congo its provisions are 
 (contrary to the experience of our Consuls) declared to be 
 executed. In the Upper Congo it is admitted that neither the 
 letter of the Law nor the intentions of the legislator, are 
 enforced. 
 
 The whole organisation and conditions of contract labour are, 
 it is clearly proved, faulty. 
 
 VIII. JUSTICE. 
 
 From p. 265 to p. 279 the entire judicial organisation is so 
 ably and succinctly exposed that it is impossible to convey the 
 explanation by any abridgment. Its inconvenience, both to 
 suitors, criminal witnesses, and to public security, are detailed, 
 and it is observed at the conclusion of the chapter that whilst 
 the law surrounds individual liberty with important guarantees, 
 the action of administrative authority is left, so to speak, 
 without restriction or control. 
 
 The concluding paragraphs of the Report, from p. 279 to p. 
 285, explaining how entirely the conditions attending national 
 life in the Congo State differ from those prevalent in other 
 portions of Africa, should be read in their entirety, and whilst 
 they to some extent seek to palliate and account for existing 
 abuses, proof is afforded how drastic and sweeping must be 
 
158 .INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 the changes which the newly-appointed Executive Commission 
 must introduce. 
 
 This Commission of fourteen members is named by Royal 
 Decree on the proposal of the three Secretaries-General " to study 
 the conclusions of the Inquiry Commission Report, to formulate 
 the proposals which they may necessitate, and to discover the 
 practical means of realising them." 
 
 The President, M. de Maldeghem, is second President of the 
 Court of Cassation, and his nomination may be regarded as 
 unexceptionable. 
 
 Amongst the Commission are M. Janssens, the President of 
 the Inquiry Commission, the three Secretaries-General, two 
 " Commissaires de District " "in the Congo, a Belgian Deputy, 
 Colonel Five, of the Guides, M. de Hemptinne, President of the 
 Kassai Company, M. Mols, and M. Nys, the Publicist, Member 
 of the Hague Court of Arbitration. 
 
 I have, etc. 
 (Signed) CONSTANTINE PHIPPS. 
 
 No. 2. Sir Edward Grey to Sir C. Phipps. 
 
 Foreign Office, January 9, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have had under my consideration your dispatch of 
 the 7th November, in which you forward the Report of the 
 Commission appointed to inquire into the charges made against 
 the Administration of the Independent State of the Congo in 
 regard to the treatment of natives. 
 
 This document has been attentively examined by His 
 Majesty's Government, and they desire to express their sense 
 of the manner in which the Commissioners have discharged the 
 onerous duty intrusted to them. 
 
 Owing to the fact that it was not until the llth December 
 when the Commission had already reached the La Lulonga and 
 A.B.I.R. districts that His Majesty's Government received the 
 intimation that there would be no objection to the presence of 
 their Representative at the proceedings of the Commission, it 
 was possible for the Consular officer designated in this capacity 
 to attend only a small number of the sittings held during the 
 return journey to Boma. His Majesty's Government, however, 
 while regretting the impossibility of obtaining from their own 
 Representative precise information in regard to the nature of 
 the statements made by the witnesses before the Commission, 
 attached the less importance to the matter, as they fully 
 expected to be placed in possession of an authoritative account 
 of the proceedings when the Report of the Commission should 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 159 
 
 be made public. It was, therefore, with much regret and 
 surprise that His Majesty's Government found that the Report 
 was published without the evidence. I have to request you to 
 call the special attention of the Congo Government to this 
 point, and to urge upon them the view always held by His 
 Majesty's Government, that the fullest publicity should be given 
 to the proceedings of the Commission. 
 
 It appears from the introductory remarks of the Report that 
 the investigations of the Commission in the Upper Congo lasted 
 from the 1st November, 1904, to the 26th January, 1905 a 
 period of less than three months. His Majesty's Government 
 had anticipated that more time would have been devoted to the 
 examination of the grievances of the natives, and that the 
 personal investigations of the Commission would have extended 
 to the remoter districts of the State. That these anticipations 
 were not realised is, however, His Majesty's Government 
 believe, due not to any failure on the part of the Commissioners 
 to realise the importance of collecting the fullest information, 
 but to their conviction that the results of their inquiries in the 
 districts visited by them were of a representative character and 
 afforded a sufficient basis for the conclusions at which they had 
 arrived. 
 
 The Commission of Inquiry has confirmed the statements made 
 in Consul Casement's Report on the condition of the natives in 
 the Congo. His Majesty's Government consider it unnecessary, 
 therefore, to insist further on the existence of abuses which call 
 for administrative reform, while, with regard to the measures of 
 reform and the means of carrying them into effect, they prefer 
 to postpone a detailed expression of their views on the recom- 
 mendations made by the Commission until they have learnt the 
 conclusions of the Committee which has been intrusted with the 
 further consideration of the question, and of the reforms to be 
 introduced. 
 
 They think it desirable, however, to offer at once some 
 observations upon the statement, which they are surprised to 
 find in the Report, that the tax in labour is both beneficial to 
 the natives of an uncivilised State like the Congo and necessary 
 to the development of the country. His Majesty^s Government 
 have always admitted the necessity of a contribution by the 
 natives in some form to the requirements of the State. They 
 do not deny that in some cases, in which the interests of the 
 citizens are directly concerned, and in which hired labour 
 cannot be obtained, this contribution may properly take the 
 form of temporary personal service ; and, in admitting the right 
 of the State to demand such contributions, they equally admit 
 by implication its right to compel compliance with the demand. 
 
160 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 But the labour demanded of the Congolese natives in the form 
 of a "tax" is not, for the most part, employed for objects of 
 general utility in which they are themselves interested ; it is 
 employed by the State, or by the trading Companies, to whom 
 the right to levy the " tax " is delegated, for the advancement 
 of commercial operations, in which the native has no interest, 
 and from which he can receive no benefit. 
 
 A system which compels the personal service of the citizen for 
 such a purpose as this and it is to be observed that the provisions 
 in Article 34 of the Law of the 18th November, 1903, enabling 
 the native to fulfil his obligations to the State by other means 
 have proved in the Congo to be almost entirely illusory must 
 always in the opinion of His Majesty's Government, remain 
 open to the imputation of constituting a form of servitude, 
 differing in essence but little from actual slavery. 
 
 The Commissioners assert that, owing to the natural indol- 
 ence of the natives, hired labour is not at present to be obtained 
 in the Congo in a quantity sufficient for the development of the 
 country. It is possible that the system which has been in force 
 for the last fourteen years may have resulted in inspiring the 
 natives of the Congo with exceptional distrust of European 
 employers, but the knowledge which His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment have acquired of the character of the natives of tropical 
 Africa precludes them from accepting the view that this dislike 
 of work can only be overcome by compulsion of the kind 
 exercised in the Independent State. 
 
 With a few exceptions, such as occur in other cases and are 
 not peculiar to uncivilised tribes, experience has shown that the 
 natives of the British Colonies and Protectorates are willing, 
 whether by trade, by cultivation of the land on their own 
 account, or by accepting employment as hired labourers for 
 proper wages, to provide themselves with the necessary means 
 to pay the taxes which are required of them in money or 
 produce ; and these taxes, which are kept within proper limits 
 and equitably distributed, are generally recognised by the 
 natives as a due return for the protection which they 
 receive. 
 
 His Majesty's Government are not aware of any grounds for 
 supposing that the natives of the Congo, if provided with land 
 for cultivation or offered employment as labourers, would show 
 less willingness to work for the same object, and the habit of 
 work thus acquired would, no doubt, in the Congo as in British 
 Africa, eventually conquer their natural indolence and lead 
 them to engage in the cultivation of the soil and in trade, not 
 merely to fulfil their obligations to the State, but to ameliorate 
 their own position. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 161 
 
 While protesting, however, against the theoretical justification 
 of the existing system, which is contained in the Report, a 
 system resulting in the substitution in the Congo of forced 
 labour for the hired labour, by means of which the development 
 of the other parts of Africa is effected, His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment are glad to note that the Commissioners consider that, in 
 practice, no native should be compelled to pay his contribution 
 to the State in the form of labour if he can find the means to 
 pay it in money or produce. His Majesty's Government 
 earnestly commend this suggestion to the favourable considera- 
 tion of the Congo Government, but they would point out that 
 the reality of the reform, doubtless aimed at by the Com- 
 mission, consists not so much in the proposed amplification 
 of Article 34 of the existing Law as in removing the ob- 
 stacles which at present preclude the natives from taking 
 advantage of it. 
 
 There is one other point to which His Majesty's Government 
 desire at once to draw the attention of the Congo Government. 
 In dealing with the question of the Concessionary Companies, 
 the Commissioners express the view that the ideal remedy for 
 the abuses noted within the Concessions would be to deprive 
 these Companies of all administrative power. 
 
 His Majesty's Government hold that the exercise of adminis- 
 trative functions by persons or Companies who have acquired 
 the whole trade of the area which they are called upon to 
 administer must lead to grave irregularities, and they would 
 have welcomed a declaration by the Commission condemning 
 the association of trade and administration, whether in the 
 person of the Concessionary Companies or in that of the State 
 itself. It is much to be regretted that the Commissioners 
 should have ignored altogether the evils of state-trading, and 
 failed to recommend, in the case of the Companies, the practical 
 adoption of the remedy which they themselves recognise as 
 "ideal." 
 
 His Majesty's Government trust that the Committee now 
 sitting will share the views set forth in this despatch, and that 
 the result of their deliberations will be to introduce without 
 delay throughout the whole territory of the Congo State that 
 large measure of reform which the Report has shown to be 
 absolutely indispensable for the welfare of the natives. 
 
 I request you to read this despatch to M. de Cuvelier, and to 
 leave a copy of it with him. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) EDWARD GREY. 
 
 P.W. 
 
162 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 No. 3. Sir C. Phipps to Sir Edward Grey. 
 
 (Received January 13.) 
 
 Brussels, January 11, 1906. 
 
 SIR, la compliance with my instructions 1 read to M. de 
 Cuvelier your despatch of the 9th instant, conveying the result 
 of the attentive examination by His Majesty's Government of 
 the Report of the Commission appointed to inquire into the 
 charges made against the Administration of the Independent 
 State of the Congo in regard to the treatment of natives. I 
 at the same time placed a copy of that despatch in his hands. 
 
 After its perusal M. de Cuvelier made to me the following 
 declaration : 
 
 Without laying stress on the conclusive grounds put forward 
 in the body of the Report (see p. 147, Bulletin Officiel, 
 September and October, 1905) to justify the non-publication of 
 the evidence taken by the Inquiry Commission, he declared that 
 the Congo Government, in view of the question of principle at 
 issue, considers that no precept of international or public law 
 can be invoked to support any obligation to effect such publica- 
 tion, and further that the practical considerations ("les con- 
 siderations de fait") referred to in the communication of His 
 Majesty's Government in no respect influence the sovereign 
 right of decision in such matters which is claimed by every 
 independent State. 
 
 I have, etc. (Signed) CONSTANTINE PHIPPS. 
 
 No. 4. Sir Edward Grey to Sir A. Hardinge. 
 
 Foreign Office, February 26, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have to request that you will remind M. de Cuvelier 
 unofficially that it is now very nearly a year since the Com- 
 mission of Inquiry returned to Belgium with evidence of the 
 necessity for the immediate reform of the Congo Administration, 
 and express the hope that the Commission now sitting at 
 Brussels will shortly be in a position to report. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) EDWARD GREY. 
 
 No. 5. Sir A. Hardinge to Sir Edward Grey, 
 
 (Received March 5.) 
 
 Brussels, February 28, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have the honour to report that I spoke this morning 
 to M. de Cuvelier in the sense of your despatch of the 26th 
 instant on the subject of the Congo Commission of Inquiry. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 163 
 
 He took exception to the implication that nearly a year had 
 elapsed since the completion of the Commission of Inquiry's 
 work. The report of the Commission had been made on the 
 30th October, 1905, and this really constituted the termination 
 of its labours. On the very next day the Special Commission 
 for examining the reforms to be carried out as a consequence of 
 the inquiry had been appointed. The Special Commission had 
 now practically finished its work, and would meet for the last 
 time to-morrow. 
 
 In reply to an inquiry as to when we might expect the 
 publication of its Report, M. de Cuvelier said he could not say 
 yet whether such a Report would be published, or whether the 
 recommendations of the Special Commission would be embodied 
 in an instruction to be addressed by the Congo Government to 
 its local authorities. On this point no decision had as yet been 
 taken. I observed to M. de Cuvelier that, in my personal 
 opinion, it would be very desirable that the results of the 
 Special Commission's labours should be made public, in some 
 form or other, at the earliest possible date, in view of the strong 
 feeling which recent discussions of the Congo question had 
 elicited. 
 
 I have, etc. (Signed) ARTHUR H. HARDINGE. 
 
 No. 6. Sir Edward Grey to Sir A. Hardmge. 
 
 Foreign Office, March 8, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have received your despatch of the 28th ultimo, 
 reporting a conversation with M. de Cuvelier, respecting the 
 publication of the Report of the Commission appointed to con- 
 sider the reforms to be carried out in the Congo. 
 
 I approve the language held by you on that occasion. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) EDWARD GREY. 
 
 No. 7. Sir A. Hardinge to Sir Edward Grey. 
 
 (Received March 19.) 
 
 (Extract.) Brussels, March 16, 1906. 
 
 I asked M. de Cuvelier to-day if he could give me any 
 information as to the results of the work of the Special 
 Commission on Congo reform, the termination of whose sittings 
 he had lately announced to me, as reported in my despatch 
 of the 28th ultimo. 
 
 He replied that the conclusions of the Special Commission 
 were in general harmony with those of the Commission of 
 Inquiry, and that the Central Administration of the Inde- 
 
164 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 pendent State at Brussels was now actively engaged in drafting 
 a series of legislative measures for giving effect to them. It had 
 not been thought necessary to publish the recommendations of 
 the Special Commission, as they would find immediate expression 
 in the enactments which the Government was preparing. 
 
 I inquired how soon those enactments would be published. 
 M. de Cuvelier said he hoped in the course of the month of 
 April. He was careful to add that he gave me the above 
 information "officiously," as the Congo State was naturally 
 jealous of any show of interference in matters of internal 
 administration. I might, however, assure you that the work 
 of reform was being seriously taken in hand, and that they 
 meant to make a good business (" une bonne besogne ") of it. 
 
 No. 8. Sir Edward Grey to Sir A. Harding e. 
 
 Foreign Office, March 27, 1906. 
 
 SIR, His Majesty's Government had hoped that they would 
 before now have received from the Congo Government some 
 communication in regard to the publication of the evidence 
 received by the Commission of Inquiry. 
 
 We understand that M. de Cuvelier contends that there is no 
 obligation on the part of the Congo Government, based upon 
 international or public law, to effect such publication. His 
 Majesty's Government are perfectly aware that no general 
 principles of the kind indicated can be invoked in support of 
 the request by them, nor is any such contention put forward in 
 paragraph 3 of my despatch to Sir C. Phipps, which merely 
 explained the reason of the inability of the British Representa- 
 tive to supply adequate information as to the proceedings of the 
 Commission, and urged that the expectations in which His 
 Majesty's Government had indulged, that the fullest publication 
 would be given to those proceedings would not be disappointed. 
 
 I have to request that you will again approach M. de Cuvelier 
 on this subject, calling his attention to the misunderstanding 
 which has apparently arisen in regard to the attitude of His 
 Majesty's Government and supplementing my previous despatch 
 with the following observations, which, I feel sure, will convince 
 the Congo Government of the desirability of reconsidering their 
 decision in the matter. 
 
 You should, in the first place, point out that the expectations 
 to which I have referred above were not merely derived from a 
 forecast of the action which the Congo Government would 
 probably consider it advisable to take, but were founded on a 
 definite expression of opinion by M. de Cuvelier (as reported in 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 165 
 
 Sir C. Phipps' despatch of the 12th August, 1904) that "every 
 publicity would eventually be given to all proceedings which 
 might take place." It cannot be said that this undertaking, 
 which was given at a time when it had not been decided that 
 the sittings of the Commission should be held in public, was 
 necessarily cancelled when permission was given for a Repre- 
 sentative of His Majesty's Government to attend those sittings. 
 The permission was not notified sufficiently early to enable 
 Consul Mackie to take full advantage of it, and, when he asked 
 to be allowed to examine the proces-verbaux drawn up before he 
 joined the Commission, and consisting of documents which 
 would, he was assured, had he arrived earlier, have been placed 
 at his disposal for private examination, his application was 
 refused on the ground that such a privilege, if granted, would 
 enable him to send home an official Eeport which would be 
 published before that of the Commissioners. 
 
 Apart, however, from the undertakings which have been given 
 by the Congo Government, there is another aspect of the 
 question. 
 
 The gentlemen of whom that Commission was composed, 
 however great may have been their qualifications in other 
 respects, had not had the advantage of practical experience in 
 Colonial administration. While, therefore every confidence 
 may be felt in their ability and fairness in describing the abuses 
 which came under their notice, their views as to the essential 
 causes of those abuses, and the recommendations which they 
 made for the reform of the present system of administration 
 could not have that authority which previous experience of 
 Colonial administration could alone confer upon them. The 
 value of a large part of the Report of the Commissioners must 
 therefore remain undetermined, as long as the grounds upon 
 which they formed their conclusions are inaccessible to those 
 experts in all parts of the world who are competent to appre- 
 ciate them. 
 
 In this connection, and in view of the attempts which have 
 frequently been made to compare the situation in the Congo 
 with that existing in various British Colonies and Protectorates, 
 His Majesty's Government desire to call attention to the fact 
 that, in publishing the Report of the Royal Commission on the 
 condition of the natives of Western Australia, it was decided 
 that the conclusions arrived at by the Commissioner, although 
 he was a gentleman of considerable Colonial experience, would 
 not furnish sufficient material for a proper appreciation of a 
 matter of great public interest unless opportunity were given 
 for a comparison of his views with the evidence upon which 
 they were founded. 
 
166 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 In a conversation with Sir C. Phipps M. de Cuvelier alluded, 
 although without laying stress upon them, to the "conclusive 
 grounds" put forward by the Commissioners for the decision 
 not to publish the evidence received by them. 
 
 The reasons referred to were 
 
 1. The desire to keep the Report within moderate limits; 
 
 2. The objection to bringing accusations against persons who 
 might not be able to defend themselves ; and 
 
 3. The fact that it was the object of the Commissioners not 
 to determine the responsibility of individuals, but to examine 
 and ascertain the causes of abuses of a general character, and 
 to suggest the necessary reforms. 
 
 His Majesty's Government had not failed to recognise the 
 importance of the two last considerations, but, with regard to 
 the third, they feel convinced, as explained above, that the 
 publication of the depositions of the witnesses is necessary for 
 the very purpose of lending authority to the views of the Com- 
 mission as to the causes of the evils noted, and, with regard to 
 the second, they consider that the objection could easily be 
 overcome by omitting from these depositions, when published, 
 all names and dates which might lead to the identification of 
 those persons against whom accusations might appear to be 
 made. 
 
 You should remind M. de Cuvelier that this was the course 
 adopted by His Majesty's late Government in connection with 
 the Report by Consul Casement. The objection to furnishing 
 means of identification in that case namely, the fear that 
 natives who had given evidence against officials would suffer 
 from the latter's resentment was considerably stronger than an 
 objection based, as in the present case, merely on the danger of 
 treating unfairly certain European officials ; but it was decided 
 that such risk as might be involved in the publication of the 
 Report without names or dates was justified by the importance 
 of ameliorating the condition of the Congo natives, and the 
 Report, even in its complete form, was ultimately furnished to 
 the Commissioners in order to facilitate their inquiry, although 
 it was understood that it might be included among the other 
 documents used by them which would be published at the 
 conclusion of the inquiry. 
 
 You should, in conclusion, once more press the Congo Govern- 
 ment to consent to the publication, both of .the evidence taken 
 by the Commission of Inquiry and of the full proceedings of the 
 Reform Committee. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) EDWARD GREY. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 167 
 
 No. 9. Sir A. Hardinge to Sir Edward Grey. 
 
 (Received April 2.) 
 
 (Extract.) Brussels, March 29, 1906. 
 
 I called on M. de Cuvelier this afternoon and explained to 
 him the considerations set forth in your despatch of the 27th 
 instant, respecting the publication of the evidence taken before 
 the Congo Commission of Inquiry. I found him, however, 
 extremely unwilling to reconsider the decision of the Congo 
 Government not to publish. It would, he said, be impossible, 
 even if no names or dates were given, to prevent the identifica- 
 tion of the individuals accused without having themselves been 
 heard in their defence, and he could not see what advantage to 
 anyone concerned would outweigh the Congo Government's very 
 natural dislike of this result. The number of persons involved 
 was so small that the use of initials instead of names would not 
 protect them. I was wrong in supposing that all the members 
 of the Commission were devoid of colonial experience, M. Nisco's 
 having been considerable. Whatever course might have been 
 taken in Western Australia, or with regard to Consul Casement's 
 Report, the publication of all the materials on which a Commis- 
 sion of Inquiry decided was by no means a general rule. He 
 instanced the Chalmers Report on recent disturbances in the 
 Colony of Sierra Leone, and that of the Commission of Inquiry 
 sent to the French Congo, both of which had only published 
 their conclusions as distinct from their materials. 
 
 I asked if I was to understand that he definitely refused, 
 notwithstanding the reasons I had adduced, to meet the wish I 
 had been instructed by you to express. He replied that he did 
 not go as far as that ; he was ready to lay my arguments before 
 the King, but, speaking personally, his first impression was that 
 there was much to be said against, and little to be said in favour 
 of, my proposal. I said that I would embody the considerations 
 which I had endeavoured to impress on him in a written Memoran- 
 dum for submission to His Majesty, and that, as he seemed so 
 sensitive about foreign interference with the rights of the Congo 
 State in such a matter as judicial procedure (he had laid stress 
 again on the questions of principle, of the law of nations, and of 
 the independence of the State), I would make my Memorandum 
 semi-official (" officieux "). It would, I thought, be very desirable 
 at a moment like the present, when the initiation of serious 
 reforms was, as I trusted, about to inaugurate a new and happier 
 phase of the Congo question, that the Congo Government should 
 afford to that of His Majesty the earnest of its good-will for 
 which you had asked. It could, I observed, easily meet your 
 wishes without any sacrifice of its dignity, as you had in your 
 
168 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 despatch disclaimed the intention of asserting any right based 
 on international law to insist upon compliance with your 
 request. 
 
 M. de Cuvelier answered that the Congo Free State had always 
 met British proposals in a most conciliatory spirit. The appoint- 
 ment of the Commission of Inquiry, and the publicity given to 
 its proceedings, were not proofs to the contrary. His Majesty's 
 Government had not made similar demands with regard to the 
 analogous abuses and inquiries in the French Congo or in other 
 foreign colonies. Why should the Independent Congo State be 
 made the subject of differential treatment ? 
 
 I observed that the whole system pursued in the Independent 
 State had occasioned longer and louder complaints, and had 
 attracted far wider attention, than any local abuses in French 
 or German African Colonies. There was, moreover, this impor- 
 tant difference between them, that the French and German 
 Colonies, like our own, were ruled by States possessing Parlia- 
 ments, through which public opinion, if aroused by abuses, 
 could bring its influence to bear on their Administrations, 
 whereas the Congo Government was absolute and irresponsible, 
 so much so that the Belgian Chamber had only the other day 
 declared itself legally incompetent to call upon it for papers or 
 accounts. Nor could I admit that the appointment of the Com- 
 mission of Inquiry was in any way a concession to His Majesty's 
 Government. I felt bound to assume that the Sovereign of the 
 Congo State, as soon as his attention had been called to the 
 existence of grave abuses in his African dominions, had spon- 
 taneously resolved to put an end to them without reference to 
 the views of foreign Governments, and I was convinced that the 
 greater and more thorough the publicity given by His Majesty 
 to every branch of the inquiry which he had instituted, the 
 more complete would be the confidence reposed in the sincerity 
 and integrity of his purpose. 
 
 M. de Cuvelier maintained that the publication of the deposi- 
 tions, so far from helping the cause of reform, would only add 
 new fuel to old controversies by enabling the hostile critics of 
 the State to twist them into fresh charges against its administra- 
 tion. He seemed to think that the renewed demand for publica- 
 tion had been suggested to you, with some such sinister design, 
 by the Congo Reform Association. I assured him that this was 
 not the case, and that you had directed me to return to the 
 subject, partly in order to remove a misconception which appeared 
 to exist in the mind of the Congo Government, partly to meet 
 the objections which he had offered to the proposal when first 
 made by my predecessor, but chiefly because you were convinced 
 that the full publication of the materials on which the Comniis- 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 169 
 
 sion had formed its conclusions was essential, if its Report was 
 to carry the necessary weight. 
 
 I should add that M. de Cuvelier repudiated having given any 
 engagement, even implied, to Sir C. Phipps to publish the 
 depositions. He had, he said, promised publicity in regard to 
 the " proceedings" of the Commission, but " proceedings " were 
 not the same as " proces-verbaux" The sittings of the Com- 
 mission had been open, and its Report had been published 
 without any modifications. The Congo Government had not 
 pledged itself to more than this. 
 
 No. 10. Sir Edward Grey to Sir A. Harding e. 
 
 (Extract.) Foreign Office, April 7, 1906. 
 
 I have received your despatch of the 29th ultimo, reporting a 
 conversation with M. de Cuvelier in regard to the publication of 
 the evidence taken by the Congo Commission of Inquiry. 
 
 With regard to the arguments used by M. de Cuvelier in his 
 conversation with you, I approve your language on that occasion, 
 but I think it well to make certain observations which, although 
 intended principally for your own information, may be of service 
 to you in future interviews : 
 
 1. As regards the colonial experience of the Commissioners, I 
 was perfectly aware that Baron Nisco had exercised judicial 
 functions in the Congo for many years, and I think it likely that 
 this fact alone rendered him, in the eyes of M. de Cuvelier, com- 
 petent to deal with questions of practical administration. I need 
 not point out the difference in the experience gained by a Judge 
 on the one hand and an administrative official on the other. 
 
 2. It has, I understand, not yet been decided whether the 
 materials used in drawing up the Report of the Commission of 
 Inquiry in the French Congo shall be published in full, or 
 whether an analysis shall be submitted to the Chamber for its 
 decision. 
 
 3. With reference to the last paragraph of your despatch, I 
 can only repeat what was stated in my previous despatch, 
 namely, that the engagement entered into by the Congo Govern- 
 ment that the fullest publicity should be given to the proceed- 
 ings of the Commission cannot be considered to have been carried 
 out by the decision of the Commission to hold public sittings, 
 when that decision was announced too late for His Majesty's 
 Representative to take advantage of it. 
 
 I shall be glad to know when the Report of the Commission 
 of Reforms or the instructions founded upon it are to be pub- 
 lished. It was said that the latter might be expected this 
 
170 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 month, and if they do not appear soon you should make 
 further inquiry. 
 
 No. 11. Si?' A. Harding e to Sir Edward Grey. 
 
 (Received April 9.) 
 
 (Extract.) Brussels, April 6, 1906. 
 
 I sent in a short time ago the Memorandum to M. de Cuvelier 
 which I reported to you, in my despatch of the 29th ultimo, that 
 I was preparing. I now have the honour to inclose a copy of it. 
 I have made it, you will notice, unofficial, as this enabled me to 
 write more freely, and to touch on arguments used by M. de 
 Cuvelier in his personal rather than his official capacity, without 
 raising the question of the right of a foreign diplomatist to 
 discuss the procedure in domestic matters of an independent 
 State a right which he would certainly have challenged had my 
 letter to him not been " officious." 
 
 Enclosure in No. 11. 
 Sir A. Hardinge to M. de Cuvelier. 
 (Semi-official.) (Translation.) 
 
 British Legation, April 2, 1906. 
 
 M. LE CHEVALIER, It was agreed in the course of the con- 
 versation which I had the honour to have with you last Friday 
 that I should submit to you in writing the reasons which lead 
 my Government to desire the publication of the evidence 
 collected by the Commission of Inquiry, notwithstanding the 
 reasons already adduced by you verbally in support of a contrary 
 view. 
 
 Let me at once reply to the objection of principle which you 
 raised in discussing this question with my predecessor, namely, 
 that the Congo Government did not admit any obligation, based 
 on public law, to make public the depositions in question. 
 My Government are perfectly aware that no general principle 
 of this kind can be invoked in support of their request. They, 
 therefore, confined themselves in paragraph 3 of their dispatch 
 of the 9th January, to which Sir Constantino Phipps drew 
 your attention, to explaining why their Representative on 
 the Commission had been unable to furnish sufficient informa- 
 tion relative to its work, and to recall the reasons which had led 
 them to hope that the most complete publicity would be 
 given to it. This expectation, M. le Chevalier, was, moreover, 
 based on declarations made by yourself. You assured my 
 predecessor (according to a Report which he sent to his Govern- 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 171 
 
 ment on the 12th August, 1904), "that every publicity would 
 eventually be given to all the proceedings of the Commission." 
 This statement was anterior to the decision that the meetings of 
 the Commission would be public. The permission given later 
 on to a British Representative to assist at these meetings could 
 not, therefore, be held to invalidate this assurance. 
 
 The permission was not, as a matter of fact, notified suffi- 
 ciently early to Mr. Consul Mackie to enable him to take full 
 advantage of it, and when he asked to be allowed to examine 
 the proces-verbaux drawn up before his arrival, leave to do so 
 was refused. These documents, he was informed, would have 
 been placed at his disposal had he arrived earlier, but that their 
 examination in existing circumstances would enable him to send 
 home and have published in London an official Report, which 
 might anticipate that of the Commission. 
 
 The publication of these documents is, nevertheless, in our 
 opinion, rendered desirable, and even urgent, for other reasons 
 than those which I have just stated. 
 
 The members of the Commission of Inquiry, however great 
 may have been their qualifications in other respects, were not 
 really experts in Colonial matters. Whilst acknowledging in 
 the fullest manner the skill and impartiality which they 
 employed in describing the abuses which came under their 
 notice, the definitive authority of their opinions with regard to 
 the essential causes of these abuses may be called in question in 
 the absence of more definite information. The value of a great 
 part of their Report, as well as of the remedies which they 
 advocate, remains inevitably undetermined so long as the 
 grounds upon which they formed their conclusions are inacces- 
 sible to those experts in all parts of the world who are 
 competent to appreciate them. 
 
 In this connection, and especially in view of the attempts 
 which have frequently been made to compare the situation in 
 the Congo with that existing in various British Colonies, my 
 Government recall the procedure followed by the Commission 
 appointed to study the condition of the natives of Western 
 Australia. The official in charge of the Commission was 
 experienced in matters of colonial administration. It was 
 nevertheless decided that the conclusions which lie had arrived 
 at, ought, in view of the interest aroused by his inquiry, to be 
 compared with the documents on which they were founded, 
 and that these documents ought also to be published. 
 
 Sir C. Phipps understood that the motives which had decided 
 the Commission of Inquiry not to publish its prods-verbaux 
 were, firstly, the desire to keep the Report within moderate 
 limits ; secondly, a disinclination to seern to accuse persons in 
 
172 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 their absence, or perhaps without direct means of defending 
 themselves ; and lastly, the fact that it was the object of this 
 Commission, not to determine the responsibility of individual 
 persons, but to ascertain the primary causes of certain abuses of 
 a general character. 
 
 Sir Edward Grey has not failed to appreciate the reasonable- 
 ness of the last two considerations ; but he is of opinion with 
 regard to the third that the publication of the evidence is of 
 preponderating importance in order to give the Report of the 
 Commission the authority which, without these documents, it 
 would lack. As regards the second consideration, it would be 
 easy, in his opinion, to omit from the proces-verbaux published 
 all names and dates which might lead to the identification of the 
 persons indicated. This was the course adopted by His 
 Majesty's late Government when they communicated to the 
 Commission of Inquiry for publication, if it considered advis- 
 able, the detailed Report of Mr. Consul Casement. 
 
 I trust, M. le Chevalier, that in view of the earnest request 
 which rny Government have instructed me to renew to you, the 
 Government of the Independent State will see their way to 
 reconsider their first decision not to make public the proces- 
 verbaux of the Commission. You expressed the fear that Mr. 
 Morel had perhaps suggested this course, in the hope that he 
 might discover in the proces-verbaux fresh elements of propa- 
 ganda against the officials of the Independent State, and that 
 their publication would only help to fan the flame and 
 envenom the controversy between the enemies and the defenders 
 of the Congo regime. Apprehensions of this kind can only 
 arise from a misunderstanding of the point of view taken by 
 the King's Government. They have already avoided fresh 
 discussions of this nature by replying, as you are aware, on 
 several occasions, to Parliamentary questions, that the result 
 of the proposals of the two Commissions nominated by the 
 Congo Government must be awaited, and the Belgian news- 
 papers most hostile to any criticism of the Independent State 
 have acknowledged the correctness of this attitude. Far from 
 supplying your adversaries with weapons, the publication of the 
 proces-verbaux would be, it appears to me, a fresh guarantee, in 
 conjunction with that of the Report, of the sincerity of the 
 Congo Government. Public opinion would see in it a fresh 
 proof of the firmly resolved determination of that Government 
 to persist, without allowing the question of personal interests 
 to turn it from that course, in the exposure and the suppression 
 of all abuses incompatible with the mission of civilisation traced 
 for it by the august founder of the State. With regard to your 
 argument that in other countries in the French Congo, for 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 173 
 
 instance similar Commissions have often only published 
 incomplete reports, I would point out that it has almost always 
 been a question in those Colonies of remedying local griev- 
 ances, or grievances of a secondary order, whilst it is the 
 general application of the economic regime introduced gradually 
 into the Independent State which has provoked criticism of a 
 far more serious character, and which seems, once formulated, 
 to have induced the Government to undertake a series of radical 
 reforms. The more malevolent and unjust, therefore, the 
 insinuations of its adversaries may appear to it, the greater is 
 its interest to defeat them by showing that it has no secrets, 
 and by giving the fullest publicity both to the measures of 
 reform which it contemplates and to the sources of the evils 
 which it is trying to extirpate. 
 
 I have taken the liberty, M. le Chevalier, in this aide-memoire 
 to touch with the greatest frankness upon considerations which 
 would not perhaps have been in place in an official note to you. 
 It is because I am convinced that the Congo Government, 
 without in any way abdicating the right claimed by it, can in 
 this matter, without loss of dignity and even with advantage to 
 itself, meet the wishes of His Majesty's Government, that I have 
 felt able to add in a communication of a semi-official character 
 these quite personal reflections, prompted by your own observa- 
 tions to the official representations which I was instructed to make 
 to you. I should be happy if they succeeded in modifying the 
 first impressions which you confided to me ; but whatever the 
 result may be, I shall not regret having made every effort to 
 reconcile the views of our respective Governments. 
 
 I have, etc. (Signed) ARTHUR H. HARDINGE. 
 
 No. 12. Sir Edward Grey to Sir A. Harding e. 
 
 Foreign Office, April 16, 1906. 
 
 SIR, In view of the state of public feeling in this country 
 with regard to affairs in the Congo State, it is important that I 
 should know as soon as possible what prospect there is of the 
 cessation of the abuses which are constantly being brought to 
 my notice, and I have accordingly to request that you will take 
 an early opportunity of renewing your unofficial application to 
 M. de Cuvelier for information on the subject. If he still is 
 unwilling to comply with your request, you should press him to 
 reconsider his reply, stating that His Majesty's Government 
 consider it due to them as a matter of common courtesy that 
 they should be informed of any decision which has been taken 
 in a question which has formed the subject of prolonged corre- 
 spondence between the two Governments. 
 
174 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 In replying to questions and speeches in the House of 
 Commons I have hitherto not entered upon discussion of the 
 state of affairs disclosed by the Commission of Inquiry, on the 
 ground that the nature of the reforms, consequent upon the 
 Report of the Reforms Commission, would soon be made known. 
 It was hoped that they would be effective, and be put into 
 operation soon. Should this not be the case it will be impossible 
 to avoid adverse comment, which will come with added force 
 in view of the state of affairs which has been disclosed by the 
 official inquiry of the Congo Government, and which will remain 
 acknowledged and unremedied till reforms are announced and 
 
 applied. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) EDWARD GREY. 
 
 No. 13. Sir A. Hardinge to Sir Edward Grey. 
 
 (Received April 17.) 
 
 (Extract.) Brussels, April, 12, 1906. 
 
 I asked M. de Cuvelier to-day 
 
 1. Whether he was in a position to give me a reply respecting 
 the publication of the evidence taken by the Commission of 
 Inquiry ; and 
 
 2. What progress was being made with the measures of 
 reform which he had informed me were under consideration. 
 
 To my first question, in connection with which I took the 
 opportunity of bringing out some of the points mentioned in 
 your despatch of the 7th instant, he replied that he hoped to 
 be able to send me an answer to my written remarks in the 
 course of the next few days. 
 
 With respect to my second inquiry, he assured me that the 
 measures of which he had already spoken to me were being 
 most seriously examined, but he admitted that they had been 
 referred back to the Local Government at Boma. 
 
 No. 14. Sir A. Hardinge to Sir Edward Grey. 
 (Received April 23.) 
 
 Brussels, April 19, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have the honour to transmit herewith, in continuation 
 of my despatch of the 12th instant, a copy of the reply of M. de 
 Cuvelier to my representations respecting the publication of the 
 evidence taken before the Congo Commission of Inquiry. 
 
 As I anticipated, the Congo Government persists in its 
 objections to the course proposed by you, on the ground, 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 175 
 
 mainly, that the publication of the evidence was deemed inex- 
 pedient by the Commission, whose opinion it is bound to respect 
 (inasmuch as it gave the Commissioners a free hand), and whose 
 reasons for that opinion it deems convincing. 
 
 With reference to the fourth paragraph of M. de Cuvelier's 
 letter, I should mention that he asked me in the course of our 
 discussions whether "proceedings" was the exact English 
 equivalent of "proces-verbaux," saying that, if this was so, 
 he had been misunderstood by Sir C. Phipps. I observed that 
 the word " proceedings " was not quite a literal translation of 
 the French term " proces-verbaux," which would in English be 
 more correctly rendered " minutes," or " records of evidence " ; 
 but that, although it was a somewhat wider and more elastic 
 phrase, it appeared to me to cover the depositions recorded by 
 the Commissioners, as well as their other " actes et gestes." 
 
 I have, etc. (Signed) ARTHUR H. HARDINGE. 
 
 Enlosure in No. 14. 
 M. de Cuvelier to Sir A. Hardinge. 
 (Translation.) (Personal and semi-official.) 
 
 Brussels, April 19, 1906. 
 
 M. LE MINISTRE, I have read with great care the semi- 
 official letter which you have addressed to me on the subject of 
 the publication of the inquiry. 
 
 You repeat in it the declaration which you were good enough 
 to make to me, and of which I had taken note, that His 
 Majesty's Government did not invoke any principle of law in 
 support of their request that the evidence laid before the Com- 
 mission of Inquiry should be made public. As you are aware, 
 I have, in my conversations with your predecessor and yourself, 
 constantly affirmed that the internal affairs of the Congo State, 
 as of every other independent State, concerned itself alone, and 
 that we could not depart from this principle of autonomy which 
 British Colonies themselves have lately been seen to claim in 
 their relation to the mother country. 
 
 The semi-official character which you give to your written 
 communication, enables me, however, to entertain it without 
 seeming to call this principle in question. 
 
 In the first instance, it is desirable to remove the impression 
 made by the conversation which I had in August, 1904, with 
 Sir Constantine Phipps, that some sort of assurance had been 
 given by me, at some time, that the proces-verbaux of the inquiry 
 should be published. You were good enough to agree with me 
 that the term "proceedings," which was employed by Sir 
 
176 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Constantino Pliipps, did not bear that interpretation. Your 
 Excellency will realise this even more clearly by referring to 
 the despatch of Lord Lansdowne of the 10th August, 1904, 
 which led to my conversation with Sir Constantino Phipps. 
 This despatch shows what the British Government understood 
 by the "proceedings" of the Commission. At that time, the 
 question of the publication of the inquiry, or of the Report 
 itself, had not been considered. The "proceedings" of the 
 Commission, that is to say, the mariner of proceeding which it 
 would follow, alone was under consideration. "It is possible 
 that further regulations are contemplated with regard to the 
 conduct of the proceedings," were the words of the despatch, 
 and, as I observed to Sir C. Phipps, this " conduct of proceed- 
 ings" has been given full publicity, for the instructions which, 
 on the 5th September after that date, the Government addressed 
 to the members of the Commission of Inquiry, have been 
 published, and the Report of the Commission has dealt fully 
 with the manner in which it concluded the inquiry. 
 
 It does not appear possible to the Government to disregard 
 the conclusions of the Commission of Inquiry, whose work is 
 finished, and which cannot be re-opened. We left the Com- 
 mission liberty to perform its task as it wished, liberty to decide 
 whether its sittings would be public, liberty to draw up its 
 Report as it thought proper. Besides, we cannot but concur in 
 the " considerations of the highest importance " which it believes 
 stand in the way of the publication of the depositions. It affirms 
 particularly that publicity of this kind would be calculated to 
 do irreparable harm to persons to all intents and purposes 
 accused, but who would yet be unable to defend themselves or 
 explain their conduct. The proposal to omit from the proces- 
 verbaux the names and dates would not eliminate the danger 
 foreseen by the Commission ; the itinerary followed by the 
 Commission, and the places where it undertook its examinations, 
 are well known, and owing to the relatively small number of 
 agents employed and of the actual circumstances revealed in 
 each case, it would always be easy for any one on the spot to 
 identify the persons attacked. The case of the report of Mr. 
 Casement, published in similar conditions, is the best proof of 
 this contention ; for although I thought, at the time of the 
 publication of his report, that the omission of date, place, and 
 names would make the identification of people difficult, I 
 observed subsequently that this precaution was insufficient, 
 and that in the Congo it was quite easy to fill in the names 
 where the report had inserted letters only. 
 
 If the publication of the depositions presents obvious draw- 
 backs no good purpose would seem to be served by publishing. 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 177 
 
 Indeed, the statements of facts dealt with by the Commission 
 of Inquiry have found their collective expression in the Report. 
 Given the composition of the Commission, their impartiality, to 
 which justice has been done even by our most bitter opponents, 
 cannot be questioned. The publication of the evidence would 
 therefore have no other results than to specialise the facts, with- 
 out giving additional weight to the collective statements of the 
 Commission. 
 
 Your Excellency's letter refers to a consideration, which you 
 had already called attention to, that is to say, that " the 
 members of the Commission of Inquiry not being really experts 
 in colonial affairs, the value of a great part of their Report, as 
 well as of the remedies they advocate, remains inevitably unde- 
 termined so long as the grounds upon which they formed their 
 conclusions are inaccessible to those experts in all parts of the 
 world who are competent to appreciate them." I trust that I 
 have explained to your Excellency that if this quality of 
 "colonial experts" were denied to the Commissioners, there 
 was, perhaps, ground, from .the point of view of colonial 
 science, for criticising their suggestions and proposals, but not 
 that portion of their labours which involved a statement of 
 actual facts, which is simply a matter of good faith, with which 
 colonial science has nothing to do. 
 
 I am not ignorant, M. le Ministre, and you have reminded 
 me of the fact, that in the inquiries made at Sierra Leone and 
 in Western Australia, the proces-verbaux have been published. 
 I, in my turn, observed to you that in other circumstances the 
 proces-verbaux have not been published. Besides, the only con- 
 clusion to be drawn from the precedents in question is that in 
 such cases every Government takes, of its own accord, whatever 
 decision it thinks fit. The Congo Government avails itself of 
 this latitude. The Congo Government is actively and practically 
 occupied with the measures suggested by the Report of the 
 Commission of Inquiry. 
 
 Allow me to remind you that the step taken by Sir Constantino 
 Phipps on the llth January last followed close upon the letter 
 Mr. Morel addressed to the Foreign Office " to suggest that 
 pressure should be brought to bear upon the Congo Government 
 to give full publicity to the evidence laid before its own Com- 
 mission," and I cannot but believe that this suggestion, coming 
 from Mr. Morel, whose role is known to you, was aimed at the 
 Congo State. Although we do not fear these attacks, I shall 
 continue to believe that our opponents would deliberately seek 
 in such isolated depositions the means of misleading public 
 opinion on the subject of Congo affairs. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) CUVELIER. 
 
 P.W. M 
 
178 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 No. 15. Sir Edward Grey to Sir A. Harding e. 
 
 Foreign Office, May 3, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have received your despatch of the 19th ultimo 
 respecting the reform of the Congo administration. 
 
 For the present, at any rate, it appears useless further to press 
 for the publication of the evidence received by the Commission 
 of Inquiry, but you should continue to urge the importance of 
 making known at the earliest possible date the results of the 
 labours of the Commission of Reforms. 
 
 I notice that, in the second paragraph of the note inclosed in 
 your despatch, M. de Cuvelier appears to imply that His 
 Majesty's Government have now adopted the view that any 
 interference in the internal affairs of the Congo State on the 
 part of foreign Powers is entirely unjustifiable. You should, 
 when a suitable opportunity presents itself, explain to M. de 
 Cuvelier that His Majesty's Government have in no way 
 modified the view held by them and their predecessors that the 
 Powers parties to the Berlin Act.have every right to take such 
 steps as they may consider called for with a view to the due 
 observance by the Indepeadent State of its obligations under 
 that Act. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) EDWARD GREY. 
 
 No. 16. Sir A. Hardinge to Sir Edward Grey. 
 
 (Received May 14.) 
 (Extract.) Brussels, May 11, 1906. 
 
 I spoke to M. de Cuvelier yesterday in the sense of your 
 despatch of the 3rd instant. 
 
 M. de Cuvelier argued that no foreign Power had any right to 
 interfere with the internal administration of the Congo Free 
 State. He denied even that a right of this nature was vested in 
 the signatories of the Berlin Act collectively. The British 
 Government could, of course, interfere on behalf of its own 
 subjects, if commercial or other rights guaranteed to them by 
 the Berlin Act, or other engagements to which the Independent 
 State was a party, were violated by the Congo Government, as 
 it could, if tlie Treaty rights of Englishmen were violated in 
 Belgium by the Belgian Government. It could not, however, 
 consistently with international law, intervene between the Congo 
 State and the tatter's own subjects. 
 
 I asked M. de Cuvelier whether he meant me to understand 
 that, in his opinion, the 6th Article of the Berlin Act, by which 
 the Congo Government was bound to watch over the welfare of 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 179 
 
 the natives and improve their material and moral condition, was 
 meaningless, and that the other Signatories of the Act had no 
 right to make representations if the Independent State ignored 
 or repudiated it. If, for instance, to take an extreme case, the 
 Congo Government were to re establish slavery or the Slave 
 Trade, the suppression of which was one of the main ends of the 
 Berlin Act, did he hold that the other parties to that Act would 
 be precluded, either separately or collectively, from objecting, on 
 the ground that by so doing they would be interfering between 
 an independent Sovereign and his subjects ? 
 
 M. de Cuvelier parried the question by asking whether I held 
 that the Congo Free State would be justified in calling upon His 
 Majesty's Government to abolish slavery in the East Africa 
 Protectorate? That Protectorate, like the Congo State itself, 
 was within the conventional basin governed by the Berlin Act. 
 
 I pointed out to him that the provisional toleration of the 
 legal status of slavery in the mainland territory of the Sultan 
 of Zanzibar was covered by the Articles in the Brussels Act 
 dealing with "countries whose institutions admit of the existence 
 of domestic slavery," such as Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and 
 Zanzibar, and that the question which he had put had there- 
 fore no bearing whatever upon the one before us. 
 
 He thereupon said, although not very decisively, that even 
 on the absurd assumption that the Free State were to establish 
 slavery, the other parties to the Berlin Act could not legally 
 interfere, and that the engagements I had quoted were a 
 declaration of general principles and intentions as regarded the 
 treatment of the native populations rather than a binding obli- 
 gation which the remaining Signatories, or any one of them, had 
 a right to enforce. I observed that I could not agree with him, 
 and that I thought it right to make your view of the question 
 quite clear. He said he took note of what I had stated, but, on 
 his side, must adhere to his opinion, adding that I should find it 
 developed in a work on the Congo State which he proposed to 
 send me. 
 
 There is nothing new in the position taken up by M. de 
 Cuvelier, who repeatedly advanced these contentions in dis- 
 cussions with my predecessor. 
 
 No. 17. Sir Edward Grey to Sir A. Hardinge. 
 
 Foreign Office, May 19, 1906. 
 
 SIR, I have received your despatch of the llth instant, 
 reporting your conversation with M. de Cuvelier respecting the 
 right of the Powers parties to the Berlin Act to intervene 
 
180 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 between the Independent State of the Congo and the natives of 
 that country with a view to the protection of the latter. I 
 approve the language held by you on that occasion. 
 
 I am, etc. (Signed) EDWARD GREY. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 9. 
 THE DUBLIN CROWN JEWELS. 
 
 REPORT OF THE VICEREGAL COMMISSION. 
 
 1. We held our first meeting on the 10th January, 1908, at 
 the Office of Arms, Dublin Castle. The Right Hon. J. H. 
 Campbell, K.C., M.P., and Mr. Timothy M. Healy, K.C., M.P. 
 (instructed by Messrs. W. R. Meredith and Son, Solicitors), 
 appeared as Counsel on behalf of Sir Arthur Vicars ; the 
 Solicitor-General for Ireland, Mr. Redmond Barry, K.C., M.P. 
 (instructed by M. Malachi Kelly, Chief Crown Solicitor), 
 appeared on behalf of the Government. 
 
 2. At the outset of our proceedings Mr. J. H. Campbell, as 
 counsel for Sir Arthur Vicars, asked us whether the Inquiry 
 was to be public or private. We informed him that we were 
 prepared to hear any application he had to make on that point, 
 and to consider it carefully. He then proceeded to apply that 
 the Inquiry might be held in public. As most of his arguments 
 were based upon the terms of the reference in Your Excellency's 
 Warrant, and upon the absence of any power in your Com- 
 missioners to compel the attendance of witnesses or to examine 
 them upon oath, we pointed out that these objections applied to 
 any Inquiry at all under Your Excellency's Warrant/whether 
 public or private. Mr. Campbell then declared that under no 
 circumstances could Sir Arthur Vicars or his counsel take any 
 part in an Inquiry held under Your Excellency's Warrant, and 
 withdrew his application for a public Inquiry. Sir Arthur 
 Vicars and his counsel then withdrew, and we have had no 
 assistance from them in our Inquiry. We had the advantage, 
 however, of the written statements made by Sir Arthur Vicars 
 to the police and of the oral statements made by him at various 
 times to the police and other witnesses examined before us. 
 
 3. On the withdrawal of Sir Arthur Vicars we adjourned till 
 the next morning, in order that we might consider, and give the 
 Government time to consider, the situation that had thus arisen. 
 We were disposed to think that no useful purpose could be 
 served by the prosecution of the Inquiry after the withdrawal 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 181 
 
 of Sir Arthur Vicars, who, as the responsible custodian of the 
 Jewels, was the person mainly interested in the result of the 
 Inquiry ; and in view of the fact that the Government were 
 
 frobably already in possession of all the information which our 
 nquiry was likely, under the circumstances, to elicit. But 
 when the Solicitor-General, on behalf of the Government, asked 
 us to hear the evidence relevant to our Inquiry which he was in 
 a position to offer, and assured us he was in possession of im- 
 portant evidence on both branches of our Inquiry, we felt that 
 we could not refuse to receive and record the evidence thus 
 tendered, and that we must leave the responsibility for any 
 deficiences in the evidence before us on those who refused to 
 take part in our proceedings. 
 
 4. We took evidence on five days, January llth, 13th, 14th, 
 15th and 16th, and during that time there were examined before 
 us every person employed in the Office of Arms during the year 
 1907, except Sir Arthur Vicars himself; Mr. Horlock, his Clerk ; 
 and Miss Gibbon, the Typist. We sat in the Library of the 
 Office of Arms where the safe containing the lost jewels stood at 
 the time of the robbery, and we had a full opportunity of 
 inspecting, on the spot, all the arrangements of the Office. We 
 also examined every Police Officer who had been engaged in the 
 investigation of the circumstances attending the robbery, and 
 certain experts in the construction and use of safes and safe- 
 locks who gave us valuable information. We have thus been 
 able to ascertain every material circumstance connected with 
 the loss of the Crown Jewels, and we propose to give Your 
 Excellency, in the first place, a short statement of the facts 
 which appear to us to be the most important in relation to the 
 subject of our Inquiry. 
 
 5. Sir Arthur Vicars was appointed Ulster King of Arms in 
 February, 1893. At that time the Office of Arms was in the 
 Bermingham Tower, but in 1903 it was removed to the building 
 now occupied in the Upper Castle Yard. The duties of Ulster 
 King of Arms in relation to the custody of the Crown Jewels 
 and of the other Insignia of the Order of St. Patrick are defined 
 in the revised statutes of the Order, dated 29th July, 1905. By 
 Statute 27, Ulster King of Arms " shall have the custody of the 
 . . . jewelled Insignia of the Grand Master." By Statute 12, 
 "The jewelled Insignia of the Grand Master . . . which are 
 Crown Jewels . . . shall be deposited by our Ulster King of 
 Arms in the Chancery of the Order, along with the other 
 Insignia of the Order." By Statute 37 of the Chancery of the 
 Order " shall be in the Office of Arms in Our Castle of Dublin." 
 And by Statute 20 it is ordained that the Collars and Badges 
 of the Knights Companions of the Order which are in the 
 
182 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 custody of Ulster King of Arms " shall be deposited for safe 
 keeping in a steel safe in the Strong Koom in the Chancery of 
 the Order in the Office of Arms in Ireland." (The particular 
 Statutes here quoted are set out in Appendix B.) 
 
 6. At the fitting up of the new Office of Arms in 1903 a 
 Strong Room was built by the Board of Works according to 
 plans approved by Sir Arthur Vicars. Sir George Holmes, the 
 Chairman of the Board of Works, informed us that, at the time 
 the plans for this Strong Room were prepared, he was not told 
 by Sir Arthur Vicars, nor did he know, that the safe in which 
 the Crown Jewels and other Insignia were kept, was to be 
 placed in the Strong Room. After the Strong Room was com- 
 pleted it was found that the safe could not be got in by the 
 door. When Sir George Holmes' attention was called to this 
 he offered to place the safe in the Strong Room either by break- 
 ing down part of the wall and rebuilding it or by temporarily 
 removing the iron bars of the window. Sir Arthur Vicars did 
 not accept this offer on the ground that the safe would occupy 
 too much floor space in the Strong Room, and said that unless 
 he got a smaller safe he would prefer it to remain outside. It 
 was ultimately arranged that the safe should remain in the 
 Library until it was wanted for some other office, when Sir 
 George Holmes promised to provide a new safe which could be 
 placed in the Strong Room. According to the evidence of Sir 
 George Holmes this arrangement was acquiesced in by Sir 
 Arthur Vicars, and so matters remained down to the date of 
 the disappearance of the Jewels. Sir George Holmes told us 
 that his attention was never called by Sir Arthur Vicars, or 
 anybody else, after July, 1905, to the requirements of Statutes 
 12 and 20, that the Crown Jewels and other Insignia of the 
 Order of St. Patrick " shall be deposited for safe keeping in a 
 steel safe in the Strong Room." It is certain that this require- 
 ment of the Statutes was never complied with, and that from 
 the date of entering upon the new office in 1903 until the date 
 of the disappearance of the Jewels, the safe was kept, not in the 
 Strong Room, but in the Library. 
 
 7. The Office of Arms is entered by an outer door opening 
 into the Upper Castle Yard. There are two locks on. that door, 
 a latch opened by a latch-key, and a large stock-lock with a key 
 hole both inside and outside. The stock or main lock was never 
 locked by day or night. The door was shut at night and on 
 Sundays and holidays by slipping the bolt of the latch, so that 
 any person having a latch-key could enter at any time of the 
 day or night when the Office was closed. When the latch was 
 unlocked the door was opened by turning a handle. There was 
 no bell on the door to indicate when it was being opened or 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 183 
 
 shut. There were at least seven latch-keys for this door out- 
 standing. Sir Arthur Vicars, Mr. Btirtchaell, Secretary, Mr. 
 P. G. Mahony, Cork Herald, William Stivey, the messenger, 
 Mrs. Farrell the office cleaner, Detective Kerr, and John 
 O'Keeffe, a servant of the Board of Works, each had a latch- 
 key. It was necessary that Mrs. Farrell, Stivey, Detective 
 Kerr, and O'Keeffe (who lit and extinguished the light in the 
 Clock Tower during the Castle season) should have access to the 
 Office at times when it was closed, and perhaps no better 
 arrangement could conveniently have been made. But it is 
 obvious that the fact that the Office was so easily accessible at 
 all hours and that seven latch-keys were given out, some of them 
 in the hands of persons of humble station, made it additionally 
 necessary that special provision should be made for the safe 
 keeping of the Crown Jewels. During the day this outer door 
 could be opened by anybody merely by turning the handle. 
 There was no one on the ground floor but the messenger Stivey, 
 whose usual seat did not command a view of the door. The 
 Library, in which the safe containing the Crown Jewels was 
 kept, is not an ordinary working-room and is not occupied, 
 except temporarily, by any of the officials. One door of the 
 Library is quite close to the outer door, and is so situated that 
 any person might quietly open the outer door and enter the 
 Library without attracting attention. A second door of the 
 Library opened into the Messenger's Eoom and was usually left 
 open. The Library was the Waiting-Boom of the Office, and 
 every person who called on a matter of business or curiosity was 
 shown in there until some of the officials came down from the 
 first floor to attend to him. The Office of Arms, in common 
 with all the other offices in Dublin Castle, was visited and 
 inspected every evening, after all the officials had left, by a 
 member of the detective force, whose duty it was to see that 
 the offices were safe, but who had no special duty in connexion 
 with the custody of the Crown Jewels. 
 
 8. The Strong Room is practically an off-shoot from the 
 Messenger's Room in which Stivey sat when on duty except 
 when he was sent on a message, or was at dinner, or was called 
 upstairs. There were four keys for the outer door of this Strong 
 Room. One was in possession of Sir Arthur Vicars, Stivey held 
 one, Mr. P. G. Mahony one, and one, which had for a short time 
 been in possession of Mr. Burtchaell, was, at the date of the dis- 
 appearance of the jewels, in the Strong Room in a drawer stated 
 to be unlocked. Close inside the outer door of the Strong Room 
 is a strong steel grille which must be opened before access can 
 be had to the Strong Room. One key of this grille, which was 
 in Stivey's charge, was constantly in the lock whether the Strong 
 
184 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Room was open or shut, except when Stivey went on a message 
 or was at dinner, when he locked the grille and placed the key 
 of the grille in an unlocked drawer in his room, leaving the 
 outer door o the Strong Room open. This latter arrangement 
 was made by Sir Arthur Vicars' order. Every official in the 
 office knew where the key of the grille was kept in Stivey's 
 absence, and had access to it. It was the custom for Stivey to 
 open the Strong Room every morning when he came on duty, 
 and to leave both the outer door and the grille open until he 
 left in the evening, except upon occasions of his temporary 
 absence, when he made the arrangements which we have already 
 described. If he were merely called upstairs and there were no 
 stranger about, he left both the outer door and the grille open. 
 This Strong Room ought to have contained the safe in which 
 the Crown Jewels and other Insignia were kept, but it did, as a 
 matter of fact, contain articles of very great value, including 
 three gold collars and badges of Knights Companions of the 
 Order, two State Maces, the Sword of State, a jewelled Sceptre, 
 a Crown, and two massive Silver Spurs. These were exposed in 
 a glass case. There was another gold collar in a case somewhere 
 else in the Strong Room (see Sir Arthur Vicars' written 
 statement to the Police, July 12th, 1907, Appendix A). It 
 is plainly contrary to the Statute 20 of the Order that these 
 Collars and Badges of the Knights Companions should be kept 
 exposed in a glass case in the Strong Room. The words of tne 
 Statute are express " in a steel safe in the Strong Room." 
 
 9. We have thus given a general description of the way in 
 which the Office of Arms was kept, and of the provision made 
 for the safe-keeping of the Crown Jewels and other Insignia of 
 the Order of St. Patrick. We have stated no facts but those 
 which are common to all the witnesses, and which are admitted 
 by Sir Arthur Vicars himself in his statements to the police. 
 Looking at these facts alone, and without any reference to the 
 loss of the Crown Jewels or the incidents that accompanied 
 that loss, we cannot arrive at the conclusion that Sir Arthur 
 Vicars exercised due vigilance and proper care in the 
 custody of the Jewels. We do not dwell upon the positive 
 breaches of his duty under Statutes 12 and 20 of the Order. 
 But, apart from any specific duty imposed upon him by 
 the Statutes, we cannot think that 'he showed proper care in 
 leaving the safe containing the Crown Jewels in a room which 
 was open to the public all day, and was open all night to any 
 person who either possessed, or could get possession of one of 
 seven latchkeys. We should have thought that in the case of 
 Jewels like these, of immense value and of national importance, 
 the responsible custodian would, instead of carrying about the 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 185 
 
 key of the safe in his pocket, have deposited it with his banker 
 or in some other place of security except on the rare occasions 
 when it was necessarily in use. We are of opinion that great 
 want of proper care was also shown in respect of the Strong 
 Room. The fact that three, and at one time four, keys of this 
 room were out in the hands of different persons, one of whom 
 was Stivey, the messenger, who also had control of a key of the 
 grille, is in itself a proof of want of due care. We have been 
 unable to ascertain any sufficient reason why a key of this 
 Strong Room should have been in any hands but Sir Arthur 
 Vicars' own. The further fact that it was the custom that 
 William Stivey, the messenger, should open both doors of the 
 Strong Room on his arrival in the morning, and that they 
 should be kept open all day until Stivey left in the evening, also 
 appears to us to show great want of care. 
 
 10. We now come to the circumstances connected with the 
 loss of the Jewels and with the discovery of their loss. It is 
 ascertained beyond doubt that the Jewels were in the safe on 
 June llth, 1907. They were shown on that date by Sir Arthur 
 Vicars to Mr. John Crawford Hodgson, Librarian to the Duke 
 of Northumberland. There is no evidence that from that date 
 until the 6th of July, when their loss was discovered, they were 
 seen by anybody, nor is there any evidence that the safe was 
 ever opened by any one in the Office between those dates. Sir 
 Arthur Vicars himself says in the statement already quoted : 
 "From llth June to 6th July I have no recollection of seeing 
 the Jewels nor of having gone to the safe." The officials 
 attending in the Office between those dates were Sir Arthur 
 Vicars, Mr. Burtchaell, Mr. Mahony, Mr. Horlock, Miss Gibbon, 
 Stivey, the messenger, and Mrs. Farrell, the office cleaner. 
 Neither Mr. Goldney, Athlone Pursuivant, nor Mr. Shackleton, 
 Dublin Herald, appears to have been in the Office, or indeed in 
 Ireland, at any time between those dates. Mr. Mahony was not 
 in the Office from April until July 4th, except on one day in 
 May, so that, of the period between llth June and 6th July, 
 he was only in the Office on three days. 
 
 11. On the morning of Wednesday, 3rd July, Mrs. Farrell, 
 the Office cleaner, on coming to the Office at her usual hour 
 between 7 and 8 o'clock, found that the outer .door was 
 unlocked. The bolt of the latch was caught back, so that she 
 opened the door by merely turning the handle. Mrs. Farrell 
 waited until Stivey, the messenger, came in about 10, and told 
 him what had happened. When Sir Arthur Vicars arrived 
 about 12, Stivey told him what Mrs. Farrell had reported, and 
 Sir Arthur replied " Is that so ?" or " Did she ?" No further 
 notice was taken of the incident. It was not reported to the 
 
186 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 police, nor was Kerr, the detective, whose duty it was to inspect 
 the offices at night, informed of the circumstance. Stivey is 
 perfectly certain that he slipped the bolt of the latch when 
 leaving the office about 5.30 on the Tuesday evening, but he is 
 not certain whether he left Sir Arthur Vicars behind him or 
 not. Detective Kerr visited the Office about 7 p.m. on the 
 Tuesday evening, opened the door by his latchkey, found it 
 locked, found no one in the office, made his usual round of 
 inspection, tried the door as he went out, and made sure it was 
 locked. It is plain upon this evidence that some one in posses- 
 sion of a latchkey visited the Office after Detective Kerr had 
 left it, and took the trouble to draw back the bolt of the latch 
 and fasten it. It seems to us an extraordinary instance of 
 negligence on Sir Arthur Vicars' part that he made no inquiry 
 about this singular incident, did not interrogate Kerr the 
 detective, made no report to the police, and did not examine the 
 safe or Strong Boom to .see that all was right. Sir Arthur 
 Vicars' own account of this matter is as follows : " On 
 Wednesday, 3rd July, to the best of my recollection, I 
 arrived at the Office at 12 o'clock noon, and left about 6 p.m. 
 Stivey informed me that he was told by Mrs. Farrell, the office 
 cleaner, that she found the hall door open when she arrived to 
 clean the office in the morning." (Sir Arthur Vicars' Statement 
 of 12th July, 1907 Appendix A.) 
 
 12. On the morning of Saturday, 6th July, a still more startling 
 incident occurred. Mrs. Farrell opened the office at her usual 
 hour between 7 and 8 a.m. and walked into the messenger's 
 room to see if any written message had been left for her. On 
 entering the messenger's room she found that the outer door of 
 the Strong Room was standing ajar. There were two keys 
 hanging in the lock of the grille. Mrs. Farrell took these two 
 keys out of the grille lock, and shut the outer door of the Strong 
 Room. She did not wait until Stivey came, either because he 
 was late or because she was in a hurry, but she wrote a note on 
 his blotting-pad telling him what she had found, and left the 
 keys on the note. When Stivey came about 10.20a.m. he found 
 Mrs. FarrelFs note and the two keys lying beside it. These two 
 keys, as he explained to us, were the key of the grille and a 
 smaller key which opened the presses in the Library, and they 
 were tied together by a piece of twine. The presence of the 
 keys was indubitable evidence that the Strong Room door had 
 been opened or had been left open, as the keys were left in the 
 lock of the grille the night before. Stivey at once examined the 
 Strong Room and found that nothing had been touched inside 
 so far as he could observe. On the preceding evening Stivey 
 had gone to Sir Arthur Vicars' room about 5.30 p.m., and found 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 187 
 
 him there with Mr. Horlock. He asked Sir Arthur if he might 
 go, and was told he might. He asked Sir Arthur if he wanted 
 the Strong Room any more that night. Sir Arthur said "No, 
 you may close it." Stivey then closed and locked the outer door 
 of the Strong Room, leaving the two keys hanging in the lock 
 of the grille. Stivey's statement is fully confirmed by Sir 
 Arthur Vicars, who says : " On Friday, 5th July, I left the 
 office at 7.15 p.m. About 5.45 p.m. Stivey asked me whether he 
 could go, and I said * Yes.' He asked me whether he should 
 lock the Strong Room, and I told him to do so, at the same time 
 handing him a MS. to be replaced therein. I subsequently had 
 occasion to pass the Strong Room door to go to the telephone 
 more than once, and the door was closed." (Statement of 12th 
 July, 1907 Appendix A.) About 7.15 p.m. Sir Arthur Vicars 
 left his office with Mr. Horlock. Before he left he made what 
 he called his " usual tour of inspection." " I passed through 
 the Library, glancing at all the bookcases, and satisfied myself 
 they were closed. I passed into the messenger's room, noticed 
 the window was bolted, and tried the handle of the Strong 
 Room door and found the door was locked." (Same Statement, 
 Appendix.) Almost immediately after Sir Arthur Vicars had 
 left the office Detective Kerr entered it, and examined every 
 room in the house. He noticed the Strong Room door ; it was 
 closed and bolted. He left the office about 7.30 p.m. On these 
 facts it was plain that someone had entered the office after the 
 Detective had left on Friday evening, and had opened the Strong 
 Room and left it open. It seems very strange that, after what 
 had happened on the preceding Wednesday morning, Sir Arthur 
 Vicars should treat this new incident as if it were of no import- 
 ance whatever. When he was told by Stivey that Mrs. Farrell 
 had found the Strong Room open when she came in the morning, 
 he said, " Did she ?" or " Is that so ?" went upstairs to his own 
 room, and took no further notice of the incident. He did not 
 even examine the Strong Room to see if anything had been 
 taken, he did not examine the safe to see if it had been tampered 
 with, he did not send for Detective Kerr to see if he had noticed 
 anything wrong the night before, he made no communication to 
 the Police. Sir Arthur Vicars has given his own explanation of 
 his conduct on this occasion, and it seems to us wholly insufficient : 
 " On Saturday, 6th July, I arrived at the office at about 11 
 a.m. I have a vague recollection of being told by Stivey that 
 Mrs. Farrell had found the Strong Room door open when she 
 arrived, but at the time I did not realise that it was that morn- 
 ing, and being very busy left the matter for subsequent investi- 
 gation. It was not until Sunday afternoon, when I was working 
 at my house in connexion with the Royal Visit with Horlock, 
 
188 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 that I realised that the Strong Room door was open on Saturday 
 morning. Horlock had informed me at my house on Sunday 
 that Stivey had told me in my office on Saturday that the Strong 
 Room door was found open that morning." (Sir Arthur Vicars' 
 Statement of 12th July Appendix A). It is hardly necessary 
 to comment upon the strange want of any sense of responsibility 
 for the security of his office and of the Jewels entrusted to his 
 care which this statement reveals. The door of his office had 
 been found open on the previous Wednesday ; he is now told 
 that the door of the Strong Room had been found open ; he has 
 only a vague recollection of this startling statement ; he does 
 not take the trouble to ascertain definitely even the day on 
 which the event had happened ; and he thinks it a matter that 
 may be left for subsequent investigation. We can only say that, 
 in our opinion, Sir Arthur Vicars' treatment of this incident 
 shows an entire absence of vigilance and care in the custody of 
 the Jewels. 
 
 13. It was between 12.30 and 1 p.m. on Saturday, 6th July, 
 that Stivey told Sir Arthur Vicars about the Strong Room 
 having been found open. About 2.15 p.m. on the same day 
 Stivey went to Sir Arthur Vicars' room to inquire whether he 
 might go for the day. Sir Arthur gave him the key of the safe, 
 and the box containing the Collar of a deceased Knight of St. 
 Patrick which had just been returned, and told him to open the 
 safe and place the collar in it. This was the first time that Stivey 
 ever had the key of the safe in his hand. It seems strange that 
 Stivey should at any time have been entrusted with the key of 
 the safe, but that he should have been entrusted with it just 
 after the occurrence of incidents which call for peculiar care 
 seems stranger still. Stivey proceeded to the safe and tried to 
 open it. He found, in the way which is fully described in his 
 evidence, that the safe was actually unlocked. He did not open 
 the safe. Sir Arthur Vicars came downstairs immediately, and 
 Stivey told him the safe was not locked. Sir Arthur thereupon 
 opened the safe, and found that the Jewels and all the Collars 
 and Badges in the safe were gone. The cases which had con- 
 tained the Jewels, Collars, and Badges had all been carefully 
 replaced, but a case containing his mother's diamonds, which 
 was locked and the key of which was in the hands of Mr. 
 George Mahony, his half-brother, had been removed. The 
 police were then sent for and told what had happened, and 
 even then not a word was said about the Strong Room having 
 been found open that very morning. When Superintendent 
 Lowe said, " What about* the Strong Room ? " Sir Arthur 
 replied, " It is a modern safe, a Milner's safe, and quite secure ; 
 it could not be opened except by its own key." Nobody on 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 189 
 
 Saturday, the 6th, mentioned to the police either that the outer 
 door had been found open on the morning of Wednesday or 
 that the Strong Room had been found open on that morning 
 (Saturday), and it was only on Sunday, the 7th, that Detective 
 Kerr heard these facts from Mrs. Farrell for the first time. 
 
 14. The lock of the Strong Room was carefully examined on 
 Monday, 8th July, by Mr. F. J. O'Hare, a Dublin represen- 
 tative of the Milner Safe Company, who supplied the door and 
 lock of the Strong Room. He took the lock to pieces and took 
 out the seven levers. He found no trace whatever of tamper- 
 ing with the lock. There was not a scratch on the highly 
 polished levers. The Ratner safe, in which the Jewels were 
 kept, was examined on the 9th July by Cornelius Gallacher, an 
 employe of Ratner's agents in Dublin. He removed the lock 
 and chamber, took all the levers out, and found no trace of 
 tampering or any scratch on the levers. Both these experts 
 came to the same conclusion ; that there was no picking of the 
 locks or attempt at picking ; that the locks were opened by 
 their own keys or keys identical with them in every respect in 
 make and finish, and that such keys could not be fabricated 
 from a wax impression. Keys fabricated from a wax impres- 
 sion, though they would have opened the locks, would, in their 
 opinion, have left on the levers traces of pressure and friction 
 which would be easily discernible. 
 
 15. If the person who stole the Jewels was, as we believe he 
 was, the same person who entered the Office of Arms on the 
 night of Tuesday, 2nd July, and again on the night of Friday, 
 5th July, it is clear that he possessed three keys a latch-key 
 for the outer door, a key of the Strong Room, and a key of the 
 safe. As there were at least seven latch-keys outstanding and 
 carried about in the pockets of the persons who used them, 
 there could be no great difficulty in obtaining possession of a 
 latch-key. Sir Arthur Vicars told Sergeant Sheehan on the 
 20th September that his own latch-key had been lost on the 
 previous 28th June, and that he did not recover it until the 9th 
 or 10th July, when it was found on his dressing-table. It is 
 evident that this latch-key of Sir Arthur Vicars', in whatever 
 hands it was, might have been used to open the door at any 
 time between the 28th June and the 9th July. There were 
 four keys of the Strong Room. One of these, which had for a 
 short time been in possession of Mr. Burtchaell, was at the date 
 of the disappearance of the Jewels, and for a year before, kept 
 concealed in the Strong Room. There was no evidence that 
 this key had ever been removed from the Strong Room until 
 after the discovery of the loss of the Jewels. Another key of 
 the Strong Room was in possession of Mr. P. G. Mahony, Cork 
 
190 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Herald. Stivey seemed to be under the impression that Mr. 
 Mahony's key was in the Strong Room with Mr. Burtchaell's, 
 but we are satisfied, on Mr. Mahony's own evidence, that his 
 key was locked up in a desk in his own house from some day in 
 April, 1907, when he left Dublin on account of his health, until 
 the evening of Saturday, 6th July, when he delivered up this 
 key to Sir Arthur Vicars, and that it had not been once out of 
 his desk during that interval. There remain only Stivey's key 
 and that held by Sir Arthur Vicars himself. We are of opinion 
 that the Strong Room must have been opened on the night of 
 Friday, 5th July, by one or other of these keys, or else by 
 a key fabricated by a skilled workman from one of the keys of 
 the Strong Room as a model. There was no evidence that any 
 of these keys was ever out of its holder's possession long enough 
 to enable a false key to be made, and we had evidence from the 
 Police that an exhaustive inquiry had been made amongst all 
 the locksmiths and key manufacturers in Dublin, and no such 
 key had been made by any of them. We are also of opinion 
 with Inspector Kane, of Scotland Yard, that it is difficult to 
 believe that any thief would have taken the trouble and risk of 
 getting a false key of the Strong Room fabricated, except for 
 the purpose- of removing the valuables from the glass case 
 therein. The person who opened the Strong Room on the night 
 of Friday, 5th July, touched nothing in it. 
 
 16. We can.not attribute negligence to Sir Arthur Vicars in 
 the custody of his key of the Strong Room. He seems to have 
 taken as much care of it as any man could do of a key which 
 he carried about with him, and which was in constant use. 
 We have already expressed an opinion that it was an 
 imprudent thing to give a key of the Strong Room to a man 
 in Stivey's position, though he were fully convinced of Stivey's 
 probity. Stivey himself says that he knew of no reason for his 
 having this key except that Sir Arthur Vicars wanted him to 
 carry a key. 
 
 17. There were only two keys of the safe, both in the posses- 
 sion of Sir Arthur Vicars. We are of opinion, upon the 
 evidence, that the safe could only have been opened by one of 
 these two keys, or by a key made by a skilled workman from 
 one of these keys as a model. The following is Sir Arthur 
 Vicars' own account of the way in which the two keys were 
 kept : " So far as I know there are only two keys for the safe, 
 which are always in my custody. . . . The key of the safe which 
 I use I always carry with me along with other keys on a steel 
 ring, except on full-dress nights, when I remove it from the 
 bunch and carry it on a ring of its own in my uniform coat 
 pocket ; the other key for the safe I have always kept concealed 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 191 
 
 in my residence. ... I recollect leaving the key of the safe in 
 my writing table at my residence about two months ago, but 
 the keys, with safe key included, were brought to me to my 
 office by my servant, Frederick Pitt, within an hour. The keys 
 were found by my maidservant in my writing desk, and she 
 directed Pitt to bring them to the Castle to me." (Statement 
 of 12th July, 1907 Appendix A.) A further statement was 
 made by Sir Arthur Vicars about the second key of the safe to 
 Mr. Harrel, Assistant Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan 
 Police, on the afternoon of Saturday, 6th July, the day on which 
 the loss of the jewels was discovered : " He told me he had a 
 second key for the safe, and that that key was in a drawer in 
 a writing table in his own house. I said to him, * Would you 
 go and see whether that key is now there ? ' He said he had so 
 much to do that he could not go then, but would go at the 
 earliest moment possible about 7 o'clock. I asked him to let 
 me know at once when he went home whether the key was 
 there, and he said he would. And he telephoned to me that 
 evening that the key was there just as he had left it, and that he 
 could see no trace of it having been tampered with." 
 
 18. We cannot acquit Sir Arthur Vicars of want of proper 
 care in the custody of the keys of the safe. These keys unlocked 
 the safe which contained Jewels of enormous value and im- 
 portance, for whose safety Sir Arthur Vicars was wholly 
 responsible. The safe was placed in a room which was easily 
 accessible by day to everybody, and by night to anybody who 
 could get possession of a latch-key. The position and value of 
 these Jewels must have been known to very many people, as Sir 
 Arthur Vicars was in the habit of showing them freely to casual 
 visitors in the Library, where people were passing in and out. 
 It was not necessary to open the safe except upon very rare 
 occasions. Sir Arthur Vicars himself says : " I seldom have 
 occasion to open it." (Statement of 18th July, 1907 Appendix 
 A.) It appears on his own statement that he did not open the 
 safe between llth June and 6th July of 1907. Under these 
 circumstances it appears to us that Sir Arthur Vicars ought not 
 to have carried about a key of the safe or left one in his own 
 house. He ought to have deposited the two keys of the safe in 
 a strong room at his Banker's or in some other place of equal 
 security, and only taken out one when it was necessary to open 
 the safe, and returned it again to its place of security as soon as 
 the occasion for using it was over. 
 
 1 9. We have thus given Your Excellency a statement of all 
 the essential facts and circumstances connected with the loss of 
 the Crown Jewels and of the conclusions we have drawn from 
 them as to the vigilance and care exercised by Sir Arthur 
 
192 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Vicars in their custody. Your Excellency will observe that the 
 main facts on which we base any conclusion affecting Sir Arthur 
 Vicars are not in controversy. There has been no conflict of 
 evidence as to these facts before us, and there is nothing to 
 contradict them in the various statements made by Sir Arthur 
 Vicars himself to the Police. 
 
 20. We are very sorry that Sir Arthur Vicars did not appear 
 before us to give evidence or to assist us, through his Counsel, 
 in the examination or cross-examination of other witnesses. 
 We think the reasons assigned for his refusal to assist' us are 
 wholly insufficient. Objection was at first taken to our Inquiry 
 being held in private. We were ready to hear an application 
 for a Public Inquiry and to grant it, if good reason had been 
 shown for it, but as soon as we intimated our readiness to hear 
 such an application it was withdrawn, and the objection to our 
 Commission based on other and wholly different grounds. 
 Objection was taken to the terms of the reference, though we 
 think that the terms of the reference were wide enough to 
 embrace every matter in relation to the loss of the Crown 
 Jewels in which Sir Arthur Vicars' conduct as their custodian 
 was involved. Objection was taken to the powers of the Com- 
 mission, although we possessed every power which any Royal or 
 Viceregal Commission can possess without a special Act of 
 Parliament. The absence of power to compel the attendance of 
 witnesses was made a matter of objection by Sir Arthur Vicars 
 and his counsel ; but the only witnesses asked by us to attend 
 who refused to come, in addition to Sir Arthur Vicars himself, 
 were Mr. Horlock, his clerk, and Miss Gibbon, the typist, both 
 of -whom based their refusal on the ground of the supposed 
 interest of Sir Arthur Vicars. We do not think that the 
 administration of an oath would have affected the results of an 
 Inquiry in which there was little conflict of evidence as to the 
 details, and in which all the salient and essential facts were 
 agreed upon by everybody interested. 
 
 21. When much evidence had been given before us which 
 seemed to us to show great want of due care and vigilance on 
 Sir Arthur Vicars' part in the custody of the lost Jewels, we 
 thought it only fair to give him another opportunity of appear- 
 ing before us and telling his own story in person. (See corre- 
 spondence with Sir Arthur Vicars Appendix D.) On the 
 application of the Solicitor-General we agreed to take his 
 evidence and that of any witnesses he might suggest, in public, 
 if he so desired. Sir Arthur Vicars refused this offer, and we 
 have not had the advantage of hearing from himself directly his 
 account of the various matters and occurrences in which he was 
 concerned. In these circumstances it is a great satisfaction to 
 
OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 193 
 
 us to be able to say that, having carefully examined and con- 
 sidered every statement which Sir Arthur Vicars has made 
 either in writing or orally relating to the subject of our 
 Inquiry, we cannot find any conflict between him and the 
 witnesses examined before us as to any matter of fact relevant 
 to our Inquiry. 
 
 22.. Although it was no part of our duty under Your 
 Excellency's Warrant to conduct a criminal investigation into 
 the robbery of the Jewels, or to take evidence with a view to 
 the ascertainment of the thief, yet as, on the evidence given 
 before us and now in print, it appears that the name of Mr. 
 Francis Richard Shackleton was more than once named as that 
 of the probable or possible author of this great crime, we think 
 it only due to that gentleman to say that he came from San 
 Remo at great inconvenience to give evidence before us, that he 
 appeared to us to be a perfectly truthful and candid witness, 
 and that there was no evidence whatever before us which would 
 support the suggestion that he was the person who stole the 
 Jewels. 
 
 23. Having fully investigated all the circumstances connected 
 with the loss of the Regalia of the Order of St. Patrick, and 
 having examined and considered carefully the arrangements of 
 the Office of Arms in which the Regalia were deposited, and the 
 provisions made by Sir Arthur Vicars, or under his direction, 
 for their safe keeping, and having regard especially to the 
 inactivity of Sir Arthur Vicars on the occasions immediately 
 preceding the disappearance of the Jewels, when he knew that 
 the Office and the Strong Room had been opened at night by 
 unauthorised persons, we feel bound to report to Your 
 Excellency that, in our opinion, Sir Arthur Vicars did not 
 exercise due vigilance or proper care as the custodian of the 
 Regalia. 
 
 We desire to express our obligations to our Secretary, Mr. C. 
 T. Beard, of the Chief Secretary's Office, for the valuable 
 assistance he gave us in the conduct of our Inquiry. 
 
 All which we humbly submit for Your Excellency's con- 
 sideration. 
 
 JAMES J. SHAW. 
 ROBERT F. STARKIE. 
 CHESTER JONES. 
 
 C. T. BEARD, Secretary, 
 25th January, 1908. 
 
 P.W. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 LAW EVIDENCE. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 10. 
 THE DRUCE CASE: SUMMONS DISMISSED. 
 
 AT Clerkenwell, yesterday, Herbert Druce, of The Beeches, 
 Circus Road, St. John's Wood, again appeared before Mr. 
 Plowden to answer the summons charging him with having 
 committed perjury in an affidavit sworn by him on March 28, 
 1898, at The Beeches, Circus Road, and also in the evidence he 
 gave in the Probate Court on December 3 and 4, 1901, in an 
 action brought against the executors of the will of Mr. T. C. 
 Druce, the defendant's father, for the revocation of probate. 
 The action failed, however, and the will was pronounced for. 
 Both in the affidavit and in the evidence in the Probate Court 
 the defendant swore that his father, Mr. T. C. Druce, the 
 proprietor of the Baker Street Bazaar, died on December 28, 
 1864, and that he saw him lying dead. This was asserted by 
 the prosecution to be untrue, and that Mr. T. C. Druce was in 
 reality the fifth Duke of Portland, who did not die until 1879, 
 and that a mock funeral was arranged so that the duke might 
 relinquish his dual personality. 
 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones, K.C., and Mr. Sydney Goodman prose- 
 cuted; Mr. Horace Avory, K.C., Sir Charles Mathews, and Mr. 
 Ronald Walker represented the defendant ; Mr. S. A. T. 
 Rowlatt watched the case on behalf of the Duke of Portland 
 and Lord Howard de Walden ; Mr. T. E. Crispe, K.C., and Mr. 
 C. H. Swanton were present in the interest of the shareholders 
 of G. H. Druce (Limited); Mr. J. A. T. Good appeared for a 
 person interested. 
 
 This was the 14th hearing. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews proceeded to call evidence with regard 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 195 
 
 to the exhumation at Highgate, his first witness being Mr. 
 Leslie Robert Vigers, a member of the Institute of Surveyors, 
 of Frederick's Place, Old Jewry. He said he attended the 
 Highgate Cemetery on Sunday, December 29, and made a 
 careful inspection of the Druce vault. Under his supervision 
 the monument was removed. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. And how far down was an excavation 
 made? There was no excavation. The marble kerbs were 
 removed, but the vault was not opened. 
 
 That was the point reached as the result of' the Sunday 
 afternoon's work ? Yes. 
 
 Did you attend again on Monday morning? Yes. 
 
 And did you find the vault and everything in the same condi- 
 tion as you had left it? I did. 
 
 And in your presence were the marble slabs and York stones 
 removed ? Yes ; and they were rolled away to the side. 
 
 On that being done, did anything come to view? Yes, a 
 portion of Mrs. Druce's coffin, which was resting on a stone 
 floor. The marble slab and York stones on the other half of 
 the vault were removed in the same way. 
 
 And was the effect to bring into view the whole of the 
 coffin ? It was. 
 
 What was done with the coffin? It was raised and placed to 
 the side of the vault. 
 
 Were you then able to see and examine the stone floor on 
 which it rested? Yes; it consisted of eight York stone slabs 
 about l^in. in thickness. They were jointed with cement, and 
 cement was filled in all round against the wall. 
 
 And were some men sent down to cut out the joints? Yes, 
 and the stones were raised. 
 
 And when that had been done, what was disclosed ? There 
 was a wall up the centre of the vault making two compartments. 
 There were two coffins there one adult coffin and one child's. 
 
 Whose did the adult coffin turn out to be? The coffin turned 
 out when raised to be that of Thomas Charles Druce. 
 
 Of what was the vault constructed? Brick, with a brick 
 floor laid in cement. It was ordinary brickwork pointed up 
 and whitened. 
 
 As far as you could see, did the vault appear to be in the 
 condition in which it was originally constructed? Certainly. 
 
 Were any of the bricks removed in the floor? Yes, in the 
 half where the coffin had been removed a number of bricks were 
 taken out from about the centre, near the western end, with a 
 crowbar, and the clay was exposed. The crowbar was then 
 driven in as far as a man was able in two places, and the clay 
 was found to be quite solid. 
 
196 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Let us have the depth the crowbar was driven in ? It was 
 13in. in the centre and IG^in. at the other point. 
 
 Was it what is called virgin soil? Yes, it was apparently 
 virgin clay. 
 
 Was any lead of any description found anywhere in the vault 
 or beneath it to the depth of 16^in. ? No. 
 
 You told us you saw the coffin which afterwards proved to 
 be that of T. C. Druce. I believe you saw it subsequently to 
 its being raised and laid aside ? I did. 
 
 Can you tell us, had it a brass plate upon it ? Yes. 
 
 And an inscription? Yes. The inscription ran: "Thomas 
 Charles Druce, Esq. Died 28th Dec., 1864, in his 71st year." 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Atherley- Jones. As I understand, 
 you are satisfied as far as you can judge that both the grave 
 and the coffin had not been tampered with? Certainly. 
 
 And also that they pointed, so far as your judgment could go, 
 to having been undisturbed since about the year 1864? Yes. 
 
 Mr. Avory. To prevent misapprehension, let me ask you, 
 when you say "undisturbed since 1864," is it not clear that the 
 stone on which the coffin of Mrs. Druce was had been built in 
 after its original construction? Quite so. 
 
 Mr. Avory then called Mr. Augustus Joseph Pepper, surgeon, 
 St. Mary's Hospital, and adviser to the Home Office for the 
 Metropolitan Police, who said that on Monday, December 30, at 
 10.20 a.m., he arrived at the Highgate Cemetery, accompanied 
 by Sir Thomas Stevenson. On arriving at the vault which bore 
 the monument of Thomas Charles Druce he found it already 
 open to the bottom. It was a brick-built vault, with a brick 
 floor. The walls and floor of the vault had the appearance of 
 having been undisturbed since their construction. He was 
 present when the experiment was made with the crowbar. He 
 agreed that the soil had been undisturbed ; it was virgin soil. 
 On the floor of the vault he saw three coffins. The coffin bear- 
 ing the plate of T. C. Druce was by itself in the left-hand 
 compartment. He saw other inscriptions on the other coffins 
 there. The coffin bearing the inscription of Thomas Charles 
 Druce was raised under his supervision. The coffin was covered 
 with blackish coloured cloth. On the lid, besides the inscription 
 plate, there were some brass nails, and at the head there was a 
 trefoil brass cross. At the bottom was a Maltese brass cross. 
 The inscription on the plate was as follows : " Thomas Charles 
 Druce, Esqre. Died 28 Deer., 1864. In his 71 year." In 
 opening the oak coffin he found a lead coffin. There was an 
 inscription also on that : " Thomas Charles Druce, Esq. Died 
 28 Dec." The lead coffin had been, and was still, airtight. The 
 lid of the coffin was removed in his presence. That disclosed an 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 197 
 
 inner shell, the lid of which came away with the lid of the lead 
 coffin. In the shell he saw the shape of a human body covered 
 by a shroud of white cambric, figured near the margin. 
 
 Mr. Avory. Was there anything over the face? A linen 
 handkerchief about the size of a pocket handkerchief. 
 
 Any mark on it ? The initials "T. C. D." and the figure " 12." 
 
 On removing the sheet in which the body was wrapped what 
 did you find the body to be ? A male body, aged. 
 
 By "aged" what do you mean? I should say from 65 
 to 75. 
 
 And about what height ? The actual length of the body as it 
 lay in the coffin was 5ft. 7-iin., and allowing fin. for shrinkage 
 after death would make it 5ft. 8^in. to 5ft. 9in. 
 
 Speaking of it generally, what was the state of preservation ? 
 It was extremely well preserved. The skin was only broken 
 in one part of the body. 
 
 Was it sufficiently preserved for the features to be recog- 
 nised ? Oh, quite easily. 
 
 Before you describe the details, tell me had you on you at the 
 time this photograph ? Yes, it is the photograph marked " 8." 
 
 Mr. Avory pointed out that the photograph had been ex- 
 hibited in the legal proceedings, and showed the subject in a 
 standing position. 
 
 Mr. Avory. With that photograph in your possession did 
 you form, Mr. Pepper, your view as to the identity of the body ? 
 There was a striking resemblance. There was a striking 
 general resemblance, and upon comparing particular points the 
 resemblance was also marked. 
 
 How would you describe the face and head to be ? The head 
 was covered with scanty reddish brown hair, with a small part 
 white. It was parted neatly on the left side. One side was 
 brushed slightly over the forehead. The eyebrows were rather 
 thick and wavy. He also had a moustache, reddish brown in 
 colour and dropping straight over the upper lip. The whiskers 
 and beard were of a reddish brown colour, with a good deal of 
 white, and the beard was very bushy. The hair was coarse. 
 
 The whole of this hair on the head and face that you are 
 describing was natural hair? Yes, and still attached to the 
 skin ; it had not fallen off anywhere. 
 
 Did you notice anything about the outline of the whiskers on 
 the face ? Yes, it is exactly as shown in the photograph. It 
 had the appearance as if he had been shaved in the upper parts 
 of the face. 
 
 To put it in another way, it commences in a distinct line ? 
 Yes, exactly as shown in this photograph. 
 
 Upon examining the body, did you find any difference in the 
 
198 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING, 
 
 lower region in the state of preservation ? Oh, yes. In the 
 lower region of the trunk there was extreme decay. 
 
 Is that what you would expect to find if the man had suffered 
 from fistula and abscesses in that region ? It is quite clear he 
 had suffered from some destructive disease of that kind. 
 
 Look at the certificate showing the cause of death. Is the 
 cause given consistent with the appearances that you found ? 
 Yes. The only thing is there is no mention made in the docu- 
 ment of the part affected. What I saw indicated that there had 
 been gangrene in that part of the body. 
 
 Having made this examination and your notes upon it, did 
 you witness the replacement of the body in the coffin ? Yes. 
 
 And the return of the coffin to its original place in the vault ? 
 -I did. 
 
 With the exception of the lead of which the lead coffin was 
 composed, was there any lead found in or about this coffin at 
 all ? No. 
 
 Or in the vault ? No. Of course the other coffins were not 
 disturbed. 
 
 Was Mr. Thackrah present with you at the time the coffin 
 was opened ? He was. 
 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones, on rising to cross-examine, said that he 
 did not propose to ask any questions of the witness in a critical 
 spirit, but for the purpose of fuller elucidation. " Will you tell 
 me," he said, " whether you made any investigation to discover 
 whether there were any traces of chloride of lime ?" Mr. 
 Pepper replied that there were marks about the middle of the 
 body which might have been chloride of lime. 
 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones. You also spoke about a shroud. Was 
 the body in a sheet ? I think to the ordinary observer it would 
 appear to be a sheet. It was only on unfolding it that one 
 could see what the material was. 
 
 To Mr. Plowden. Human hair may increase after death for 
 a few days ; but there was no substantial growth. It was 
 really a shrinking of the skin. 
 
 By Mr. Atherley-Jones. The beard on the face was like that 
 in the photograph No. 9. It was a bushy beard. 
 
 Mr. Avory then put in Mr. Pepper's report. 
 
 At this point Mr. Plowden interposed, and, addressing Mr. 
 Atherley-Jones, said: I think I must ask you now at this stage 
 of the case what impression this remarkable evidence has made 
 on your mind ? 
 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones. I am very grateful to you for that 
 suggestion. I was going to ask your leave to make a statement, 
 but I did not know whether my learned friend Mr. Avory 
 wished to call some other witnesses on the question of the 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 199 
 
 exhumation. If so I wish to withhold what I have to say until 
 he has concluded. 
 
 Mr. Avory replied that he had another witness, and, having 
 named him, said he should like to put him into the box. 
 
 George William Thackrah, of Sunnyside, Woodbury Road, 
 Finsbury Park, a partner in the business of Messrs. Druce 
 & Co., of Baker Street, said that he first entered that business 
 in May, 1860. Mi 1 . Thomas Charles Druce employed him. It 
 was at that time his business in conjunction with his partner. 
 He had largely to attend on Mr. Druce and carry out his 
 instructions. Mr. Druce was a regular attendant at the 
 business. 
 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones, interposing, said that he did not wish 
 any further burden should be cast on his friend Mr. Avory, in 
 going into matters apart from the exhumation. He understood 
 that the evidence of the witness was to be confined to that 
 incident. 
 
 Mr. Avory. You must leave that to me to determine what is 
 necessary. 
 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones. I only say so far as I am concerned I 
 do not wish to impose on my friend the necessity of going 
 further. 
 
 The witness, continuing, said that he was connected with Mr. 
 Druce about four years until the August or September before 
 his death in 1864. Mr. Druce then left the business because he 
 was ill, and the witness never saw him alive again. When he 
 last saw him he was wearing a beard such as was shown in the 
 photograph produced. Subsequently he attended his funeral 
 on December 31,1 864, at Highgate Cemetery. On Monday last, 
 December 30, he went to Highgate Cemetery and there saw the 
 coffin with "Thomas Charles Druce" on it opened. He saw a 
 body in it, and the face he recognised distinctly as that of the 
 late Mr. Thomas Charles Druce, the man whom he knew from 
 1860 to 1864. 
 
 Mr. Plowden. You recognised him beyond a shadow of 
 doubt ? Oh, yes, beyond a shadow of doubt. There is no doubt 
 whatever about it. 
 
 Mr. Avory intimated that with that evidence he should now 
 close the case for the defence. He also pointed out that the 
 magistrate had before him the evidence which Mr. Herbert 
 Druce himself gave in the shorthand notes, and every word that 
 Mr. Herbert Druce then said with regard to the details of the 
 death and burial of his father had been demonstrated to be 
 absolutely true. 
 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones complained of Mr. Avory's remark about 
 closing his case when he (Mr. Atherley-Jones) had already 
 
200 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 received an intimation from the magistrate that he desired to 
 hear a statement from the prosecution. 
 
 Mr. Avory asked on what ground counsel based his objection, 
 and said he was in command of defendant's case. 
 
 Mr. Atherley- Jones said that he made no further comment 
 save this, that his learned friend Mr. Avory heard of the invi- 
 tation from the magistrate to express the views of the prosecution, 
 and he then, exercising, as he said, " his command of his own 
 case," intervened between him and the magistrate. 
 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones then addressed the Court as follows : 
 Sir, In reply to your inquiry I wish to give very shortly the 
 views of the prosecution with regard to this case, and I ask your 
 indulgence while I try as briefly as possible to state the attitude 
 which the prosecution takes. You were good enough, when the 
 question of the exhumation of this body was first mentioned, to 
 ask me in a certain contingency what view the prosecution 
 would take of the case. I then answered without deliberation, 
 and indeed without opportunity of deliberation, that in my 
 judgment it would be practically impossible for the prosecution 
 to proceed. Deliberation and anxious consideration since the 
 happening of that event have confirmed the view that I then 
 entertained, and lead me to the conclusion that it would be, even 
 if you permitted it, which I apprehend you would not, it would 
 be an abuse of the powers or prerogative of counsel to press 
 forward the case after the evidence which has been admitted to- 
 day. Sir, I therefore have no hesitation whatever in saying, speak- 
 ing for myself and for those instructing me because I am very 
 glad to say that those who instruct me have placed unreservedly 
 in my hands the disposition of this case, and I can only say that, 
 had that conclusion been different on their part there would 
 have been no alternative for me but to have withdrawn from any 
 further participation in this case that I now withdraw the 
 prosecution. In doing so I wish to make an explanation of the 
 action of those who instruct me in this matter, because there has 
 been in my judgment a very undeserved obloquy cast on those who 
 entered on this prosecution by the learned counsel for the defence. 
 
 Mr. Avory, interrupting, said that, if the magistrate was 
 going to allow this, he should claim his right to reply. 
 
 Mr. Plowden. I think not, Mr. Avory. 
 
 Mr. Avory. Mr. Atherley-Jones has no right to address you 
 at all. 
 
 Mr. Plowden. You have closed your case, strictly speaking, 
 Mr. Atherley-Jones has no right to say & word, but I think Mr. 
 Atherley-Jones is quite right in saying he has obtained per- 
 mission to address the Court. I think he is perfectly right to 
 exercise that privilege, therefore. 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 201 
 
 Mr. Avory. All I ask is that, if you give him the privilege of 
 addressing you, you should give me the privilege of reply. 
 
 Mr. Plowden. I will consider that when the moment comes. 
 
 Mr. Artherley- Jones (continuing). I am sorry that my friend 
 should think it necessary to reply. I shall not indulge in any 
 recriminations. My friend, of course, has acted according to his 
 discretion with his instructions. But I do wish to say, it is only 
 fair it should be said, that this prosecution, so far as I under- 
 standI had no onus in advising upon it this prosecution was 
 entered into as a consequence and result of a large body of 
 evidence which had been collected and was submitted to this 
 Court, and which was, with the exception of that one person, 
 unshaken in material points by the strenuous and prolonged 
 cross-examination of my learned friend. Moreover, we cannot 
 close our eyes to the fact that it was known to those who instruct 
 me, as it was known to the public at large, that there had 
 been, however unfounded they might be, persistent rumours, 
 rumours to which my friend's witness, Miss Bayly, gives the 
 authority of her evidence rumours as to something mysterious 
 in relation to this matter. Therefore I do think I am justified 
 in saying that the strictures passed on those who instruct me 
 were undeserved with regard to the initiation of this prosecution. 
 Moreover, speaking as I am entitled to do as counsel, I can only 
 say with regard to the instructions they have given to me if they 
 were errors of judgment that was another matter but as to the 
 instructions they have given to me, I have never through the course 
 of my long experience at the Bar recognised any stronger dis- 
 position on the part of solicitors than was shown by those who 
 instruct me, to seek only that this case should be conducted by 
 reasonable and legitimate ends. I would like to say that why I 
 have come to this conclusion not to further proceed in this case 
 is that the theory of the prosecution undoubtedly was, not only 
 that Mr. Thomas Charles Druce and the late Duke of Portland 
 were one and the same person, but the theory of the prosecution 
 was that this funeral which took place from Baker Street was a 
 sham funeral, not on the theory of any supposititious body, but 
 that they put some material in the coffin and it was conveyed 
 away from the bazaar under pretence of a death having occurred, 
 apparently to Highgate Cemetery. It is impossible after the 
 evidence of exhumation, however much it might be suggested 
 outside that there were a number of witnesses who had sworn 
 that the Duke of Portland appeared as Thomas Charles Druce 
 or simulated Thomas Charles Druce it is impossible for me to 
 proceed with the prosecution when there has been demonstrated 
 in the clearest and most complete manner that the death did 
 take place at Hendon, that the body was interred at Highgate 
 
202 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Cemetery, and that the body which has been now exhumed is 
 the same body as that which was then interred, and when 
 undoubtedly strong, very strong, evidence of identification of 
 that body as that of the late Thomas Charles Bruce has been 
 given. And I should be acting entirely contrary to the best 
 traditions of my profession if I were to proceed in the face of 
 that evidence. It would be most improper for me to make any 
 comment on the evidence of the witnesses I have called. I ought 
 to say nothing to prejudice them. There are two reasons why. 
 In the first place, civil proceedings, I understand, are pending ; 
 and, in the second place, these persons are, if my learned friend's 
 suggestions are well founded, actually in peril of being charged 
 with the serious offence of perjury. Therefore I purposely, and, 
 I hope, with your approbation, abstain from saying anything 
 as to what the position of these witnesses may hereafter be or 
 what the value of their evidence was. It is impossible for me to 
 say more than I have done. I have only this to add. I have 
 been no party to the opening of this grave. I am not at all for 
 one moment advised to express my disapprobation as to its 
 opening I have no right to but the opening of the grave after 
 the cross-examination of my various witnesses had concluded 
 was a voluntary action on the part of my learned friend the 
 counsel for the defence. It is true you (the magistrate) approved 
 of it, and, if I might say so personally, I should have thought it 
 was a wise course to take ; perhaps in some respects regrettable 
 it was not taken before. But I do sympathise with Mr. Herbert 
 Druce on his resistance to that grave being opened, although at 
 the same time I feel what he declined to do under the menace of 
 prosecution he has shown a wise judgment in doing under what 
 I may call the moral pressure of public opinion ; and that ought 
 to be some satisfaction to him for any pain that he might have 
 been caused in the matter. That is all I can rightly say with 
 regard to the course of this prosecution. My learned friend, in his 
 opening address, referred to my attitude towards this case as one 
 of levity. He suggested I did not treat the case seriously. I do 
 not know that the state of mind of the learned counsel for the 
 prosecution is very material, but I think I ought to say this it 
 is only due to you, Sir, that I should that I never felt a graver 
 sense of responsibility in any case than that which I have felt in 
 this. I have endeavoured to avoid referring to any matters 
 which would give pain to Mr. Herbert Druce, or to introduce 
 collateral matters which were irrelevant to the true issue. A 
 great mass of evidence was submitted to me to be called in this 
 case, but I only selected that evidence which in my judgment 
 was material to the issue, and I do certainly resent and regret 
 that my learned friend, who is really as old a member of the Bar 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 203 
 
 as myself, should have thought fit to suggest that I had not 
 thoroughly realised the seriousness of this case. I can say no more, 
 Sir, than that I have to I hope you will not take it as imper- 
 tinenceI have to thank you for the most fair and impartial 
 discrimination which you have shown in the conduct of this 
 case, and the facilities you have afforded to both sides for the 
 purpose of eliciting the truth. 
 
 Mr. Plowden. Mr. Atherley-Jones, if it is any relief to 
 your feelings and I can quite understand that you should 
 rather invite some expression from the Bench I am happy to 
 assure you I have not from first to last in the conduct of the 
 case ever observed any deviation in the slightest degree from 
 that constant honour and integrity one would expect from 
 yourself. Still less have I seen any reason that those who 
 instruct you have not thoroughly and sincerely believed, rightly 
 or wrongly, in the truthfulness of their own case. With regard 
 to the course you have now decided to take, I agree that it is 
 not only a wise and a proper course, but, if you will permit me to 
 say so, the only course which was open to a counsel of your 
 experience in the circumstances. In view of the silent, but not 
 less eloquent, voice that has come to us from the open grave, it 
 would not be possible, in my opinion, to continue this prosecution 
 without serious risk to the highest interests of justice. I will 
 go further. Even apart from this new and dramatic feature 
 which has been imported into this case, I think you must have 
 felt, Mr. Jones, at the close of the last hearing, after the 
 collapse of your most important witness, and after your long, 
 able, but fruitless cross-examination of the nurse, Miss Bayly, 
 that the foundations of your case were even then slipping under 
 your feet. This inquiry may have taken some time, but I do not 
 think any impartial person will say that the time has been wasted. 
 The bubble which has floated for so long and mischievously 
 out of reach has been effectually pricked at last. No one can 
 now doubt that Thomas Charles Druce existed in fact ; that he 
 died in his own home in the midst of his family, and that he 
 was buried in due course in the family vault in the cemetery at 
 Highgate. His existence stands out as clear, as distinct, and as 
 undeniable as that of any human being that ever lived. How 
 the myth ever arose that confused him and the fifth Duke 
 of Portland as the same personality it would be idle to speculate. 
 Sufficient to say that this case is an illustration of that love of 
 the marvellous which is so deeply ingrained in human nature, 
 and is likely to be remembered in legal annals as affording one 
 more striking proof of the unfathomable depths of human 
 credulity. The summons is dismissed, if that is the right form 
 to take. It amounts to the same thing whether you withdraw 
 
204 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 your summons or I dismiss it. I have only one final word to 
 say. Mr. Herbert Druce leaves this Court with his character 
 for truthfulness absolutely and conclusively vindicated. I think 
 that he also deserves the acknowledgment of the Court for 
 having consented to take a course which, though it may have 
 materially served his defence, was nevertheless in the highest 
 degree distasteful and I think rightly and naturally so to his 
 feelings as a son and as a Christian gentleman. Addressing Mr. 
 Herbert Druce personally, Mr. Plowden added: "The Court 
 thanks you for having consented in the interest of justice to the 
 desecration of your father's grave. You are now discharged." 
 
 EXERCISE No. 11. 
 THE VON VELTHEIM CASE: SENTENCE. 
 
 The trial of Franz Von Veltheim, 49, agent, upon the indict- 
 ment charging him with having on June 11, 1907, caused to be 
 received by Mr. Solomon Barnato Joel a letter demanding 
 property from him with menaces and without any reasonable 
 or probable cause, was resumed and concluded. 
 
 Mr. C. F. Gill, K.C., Sir Charles Mathews, and Mr. Bodkin 
 prosecuted ; Mr. Vachell, K.C., and Mr. Artemus Jones appeared 
 for the defence. 
 
 THE JUDGE'S SUMMING UP. 
 
 Mr. Justice Phillimore, in summing up the case to the jury, 
 said that, as the learned counsel who had defended the prisoner 
 with his well-known and accustomed skill had told the jury 
 yesterday, the charge was a very serious one, and it was part of 
 the honoured law of England that a man should not be found 
 guilty unless the charge was brought home to.him to the reason- 
 able satisfaction of the jury. The charge against the prisoner 
 was one of sending a letter on June 11, 1907,. to Mr. Joel 
 demanding from him with menace 16,000 without any reason- 
 able or probable cause for that demand. There were three 
 questions for the consideration of the jury (1) Did the prisoner 
 send the letter (as to that there was no doubt) ; (2) did the 
 letter demand money with menaces serious threats ; and (3) 
 had the prisoner any reasonable or probable cause for demand- 
 ing the money ? They had heard the letter read more than 
 once, and he should read it to them again, with such explana- 
 tions as the prisoner had offered and such comments as counsel 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 205 
 
 for the prosecution had made upon it. The letter, it was said, 
 was part of a plan and the most important part of it. It was 
 posted from Odessa. The prisoner never was at Odessa, but 
 was residing at Antwerp. The prisoner told them they had 
 only his word for it, but he did not see why they should not 
 accept it that he was going to Odessa, but something pre- 
 vented him, and that he dashed off the letter in ten minutes at 
 Budapest. The letter was followed not long afterwards by a 
 duplicate sent from St. Petersburg, where again the prisoner 
 never was. The prisoner explained that he caused it to be 
 posted at St. Petersburg by the same man who had posted the 
 other for him at Odessa. Subsequently, in September, a letter 
 was received from Mr. Bumiller stating that Mr. Von Veltheim 
 had handed him a bill for 16,000 and asking where he was to 
 present it. Mr. Bumiller was asked to call at Mr. Joel's office, 
 and he then presented the bill of exchange. Either Mr. Bumiller 
 did not know or, if he knew, declined to say where the prisoner 
 was. It was only by following him back to Antwerp and 
 dogging his steps that the prosecution eventually succeeded in 
 tracing the prisoner, first to an hotel at Antwerp, and eventually 
 to Paris. The prisoner's explanation of how he came to write 
 the Odessa letter after an interval of nearly nine years was that 
 he was thinking of going to America to reside, and he wished 
 to settle up all business in Europe before he went, and he had 
 also wished Mr. Joel's anger to cool down. His Lordship pro- 
 ceeded to refer to the writing of the " Kismet " letters by the 
 prisoner to Mr. Joel and his brother, Mr. Woolf Joel, in 1898, 
 at Johannesburg, as being part of the history of the case which 
 was material for their consideration. If the jury had never 
 heard from the prisoner that they were written not exactly as 
 a bad joke, but without any serious intention, they would 
 appear taking them at their face value to be just black- 
 mailing letters demanding large sums of money with threats of 
 a most serious character. The writer in the first letter described 
 himself as a desperate man at the last stage of financial de- 
 pression, who had such a feeling of honour or sham honour 
 that he would rather die than live a disgraced man, and was 
 ready to die, but proposed, rather than death, to extract, at the 
 point of the sword or the muzzle of the pistol, a large sum of 
 money from Mr. Solomon Joel, who, he considered, could well 
 afford it. He was ready to kill Mr. Joel and himself too if his 
 demands were not complied with. The sum demanded was 
 12,000. It was true that in some respects the circumstances 
 did appear as if they were taken out of a melodramatic novel, 
 but, on the other hand, in some respects they exhibited clever- 
 ness, so as to prey on the nerves of the receiver. The letters as 
 
206 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 they went on acquired a new tone. They praised the spirit of 
 Solomon Joel, and suggested that if he was a venturesome 
 speculator he might profit by a loan, not a gift, of 12,000 to 
 "Kismet." The letter contained the phrase that the "business 
 spells politics." Those letters continued, addressed first to 
 Solomon B. Joel, then to the Joel Brothers, then to Woolf Joel. 
 The last two took a new line. One of them said that " Kismet " 
 had come into money and would trouble him no longer, and the 
 prisoner now said that was for the recipients to show the police 
 to enable them to drop the case. The other letter was practi- 
 cally a begging letter, and it was signed "Baron Von Veltheim." 
 On March 14, 1898, the prisoner went to the office of Messrs. 
 Barnato Bros, at Johannesburg, where Mr. Woolf Joel and Mr. 
 Strange, his manager, were. Somehow or other an altercation 
 arose about money matters how certain money should be given 
 and the result was the death of Mr. Woolf Joel, who had 
 three bullets in him. The prisoner, who said that he fired in 
 self-defence, was tried and acquitted by a Transvaal jury and 
 then deported by the Transvaal Government as an undesirable 
 alien who had sent threatening letters. The prisoner's explana- 
 tion of the "Kismet" letters at his trial was that they were 
 never intended as real threats, but that they were written for a 
 male friend who was in want of money, on the basis of some 
 American novel, but that he himself had not wanted money. 
 In regard to his deportation, the prisoner suggested that the 
 Transvaal Government thought they had got on the track of a 
 conspiracy to overthrow them, and that this killing was a 
 quarrel between conspirators. It "might be that the Transvaal 
 Government thought there were persons behind Von Veltheim 
 trying to squeeze Woolf Joel to provide revolutionary funds 
 and that the Transvaal Government were really trying to find 
 out who were conspiring against Woolf Joel. He asked the 
 jury what would be the feelings of Solomon Joel when he 
 received from the man who killed his brother nine years ago, 
 suddenly and unexpectedly, a letter which spoke of an " un- 
 settled account." The learned Judge read the statements made 
 by the prisoner when arrested in Paris in which he characterised 
 the charge as a ridiculous one, and stated that he had received 
 counsel's opinion that the letter could not be construed as a 
 demand with menaces, and also stated that it was an attempt to 
 make out that the Odessa letter was a continuation of some 
 crazy letters he had written in Johannesburg. The prisoner 
 also stated to the police that Mr. Woolf Joel had offered him 
 50,000 to remove Mr. Kruger and that he had refused, and 
 that Mr. Joel knew that he (the prisoner) could have gone to 
 the Boer Government and got a million for his information. 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 207 
 
 The answer of the prisoner was that the " unsettled account " 
 mentioned in the letter meant the 12,000 which Mr. Woolf 
 Joel promised him and which, with the interest from the date 
 of the promise 1898 to the present time, brought the sum to 
 the 16,000 represented by the bill of exchange ; that the 
 expression " purposely delayed " meant that he had intended to 
 sue Mr. S. Joel, and that "a purely financial settlement" con- 
 veyed that it was a settlement without any row in Court. His 
 " grievances " meant the attempt to assassinate him in South 
 Africa. "Kegardless of consequences" meant that he had 
 refused to betray people to the Boer Government. How the 
 prisoner could have expected to have any cause for action 
 against Mr. S. Joel he (the Judge) failed to see, or why Mr. 
 S. Joel should prefer to pay 16,000 down rather than risk an 
 action in the English Courts of Justice again he failed to see. 
 In regard to the prisoner's explanation of how he became 
 acquainted with Mr. Barnato through the introduction of a 
 South American diplomatist, it was curious that now Mr. 
 Barnato and Mr. Kruger and the South African Republic were 
 dead the diplomatist as the prisoner alleged was squeamish 
 about his name being mentioned. The learned Judge, dealing 
 also with the prisoner's evidence, pointed out that Mr. Barnato, 
 Mr. Woolf Joel, and Miss Caldecott whose names he had 
 mentioned were all of them dead, and that the only person 
 whose name he had mentioned who was now alive was Mr. 
 Strange. Those were the circumstances which the prosecution 
 said bore against the prisoner's story. It was further asked 
 why, with all his intimate knowledge of South Africa, Mr. 
 Barnato should have been so struck as the prisoner alleged he 
 was with the prisoners suggestion of a rival Boer candidate 
 for the Presidency against Mr. Kruger, and how the prisoner, 
 who had never then been in South Africa, should know what it 
 would cost to bribe the Boer leaders. The prosecution had told 
 them that Mr. Barnato had no intention of trying to upset the 
 Government of Mr. Kruger, with whom he was on friendly 
 terms, and had taken no part in the reform movement in the 
 Transvaal or in the Jameson Raid. 
 
 VERDICT. 
 
 At the close of the Judge's summing up the jury retired, and 
 after an absence of twenty minutes they returned into Court, 
 finding the prisoner Guilty. 
 
 THE PRISONER'S CAREER. 
 
 Mr. Gill said the City Police would give the learned Judge 
 a history of the prisoner. 
 
208 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Inspector Pentin, of the City Police, then entered the witness- 
 box, and read the following statement of the prisoner's career : 
 The prisoner's real name is Karl Friedrich Moritz Ludwig 
 Kurtze, born December 4, 1857, at Hahausen, in the district of 
 Gandersheim, Brunswick, and his father, who was a forester at 
 Hasselfelde, died there in 1870, leaving the prisoner under the 
 guardianship of one Ferdinand Gustav Thomas, of Hasselfelde, 
 who states that as a boy the prisoner was of bad behaviour, and 
 on one occasion stole his father's watch and some spoons, which 
 he sold and went off with the proceeds. At Easter, 1870, Mr. 
 Thomas took the prisoner to a school at Blankenburg, whence 
 he had to remove him the same year owing to his mischievous 
 tricks. He had possessed himself of a schoolmasters' pistol, 
 which went off in his pocket and marked his face with powder. 
 The prisoner was then taken to an orphanage at Brunswick, 
 where he remained till April, 1872, when Mr. Thomas handed 
 him over to the captain of a steamship at Bremerhaven, as he 
 wanted to be a sailor. The prisoner left that ship in the 
 autumn of 1872 and joined a German sailing ship, from which 
 he deserted and joined an English ship, in which he came to 
 London, when he communicated with his guardian in the name 
 of Louis Werder. His guardian heard nothing more of him till 
 1879, when the prisoner again wrote to him from London in the 
 name of Werder. It is supposed that he had been employed in 
 various ships in the meantime, but there is nothing definite to 
 show that. On April 3, 1880, the prisoner entered the German 
 navy as a sailor at Hamburg, and on June 18, 1880, he was 
 sworn in as a sailor under the name of Kurtze in the 4th 
 Company Second Sailor Division of the German Army at 
 Wilhelmshaven, where he deserted on September 1, 1880, and 
 then was suspected of stealing a gold watch and chain and a 
 gold seal with the family crest of Von Veltheim thereon from 
 Captain Wilhelm Von Veltheim, who was serving there. The 
 next information obtained regarding him is that, having left a 
 ship named the Heilawarra, of Sydney, in which he served as a 
 seaman in the name of Kurtze, he served in the same name and 
 capacity in other ships. During the interval between one of 
 these voyages he went in the name of Oliver Jackson, and stayed 
 at Neustadt, Germany, where he represented himself to be a 
 British naval officer. When he left the Oriana at Fremantle on 
 July 20, 1886, he proceeded to Perth, Western Australia, 
 where he assumed the name of Von Veltheim, and said he was 
 the son of Baron Von Veltheim. 
 
 On November 19, 1886, he married a lady at Perth, and 
 resided with her at Sydney till March, 1887, when he left and 
 proceeded to Cape Town. His wife afterwards left Australia 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 209 
 
 by the steamship Sydney for England, and on the voyage met a 
 gentleman with whom she became acquainted. On arriving in 
 London she went to reside at Westmoreland Eoad, where she 
 was joined by the prisoner in 1887, and they lived there 
 together. The prisoner, hearing of his wife's acquaintance 
 with the gentleman whom she met on the voyage from Australia, 
 began to attempt to blackmail him, alleging undue intimacy 
 with his wife, and he demanded 2,000, but ultimately agreed 
 to accept 750 to hush the matter up. The prisoner was 
 warned that the matter would be placed in the hands of the 
 police ; notwithstanding which he sent threatening letters for 
 some time afterwards. In 1888 the prisoner went to America 
 and got a situation at New Orleans under the agent for the West 
 India Pacific Steamship Company, for whom he afterwards went 
 as agent at Santa Marta, Eepublic of Colombia, where he also 
 acted as agent for the Santa Marta Railway Company and the 
 Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company. In 1894 he visited Europe 
 and went to Hasselfelde, where he was recognised as Kurtze by 
 a man, whom he asked not to betray his identity. About 
 September he advertised in the Frankfurter Zeitung for a wife, 
 and his advertisement was answered by a lady named Paula 
 Schiffer, of Dresden. He returned to Santa Marta in October, 
 1894, and was afterwards appointed Consular Agent there for 
 the United States. In December, 1895, he left Santa Marta 
 for England, and he was reported to have collected $3,000 
 (600), which he did not account for, belonging to the Anheuser- 
 Busch Brewing Company, whose agent he was, and to have 
 defrauded his other employers there. He arrived in London on 
 January 6, 1896, with his wife, with whom he stayed at the 
 Hotel Metropole. In the end of January he went to Germany, 
 where he met Miss Paula Schiffer, with whom he had been in 
 communication after her reply to his advertisements in 1894. 
 He asked the lady's father's permission to marry her, which 
 was refused, and he then arranged with her that they should 
 be married in London, and obtained from her the sum of 500 
 to establish a business. He returned to England to make 
 arrangements for his marriage with Miss Schiffer, and he took 
 rooms in Gower Street at a boarding house. Miss Schiffer 
 also followed to London, and on May 6, 1896, the prisoner 
 married her at the district registry office of St. Giles's, 
 describing himself as Karl Ludwig Von Veltheim (this marriage 
 was subsequently annulled in the Divorce Court on December 
 1, 1902, as bigamous, his first wife being alive). The prisoner 
 and Miss Schiffer went to Weston-super-Mare and Lynton for 
 the honeymoon, returning to London in July, 1896, when it 
 was arranged that the prisoner should go to America to establish 
 P.W. O 
 
210 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 a home for them there. Miss Schiffer gave him 1000 for 
 the purpose, making a total of 1,500 which he had obtained 
 from her. She then returned to Germany. On July 11, 1896, 
 the prisoner was again at Gower Street, where he met a Greek 
 lady named Marie Mavrogordato, who was well connected, and 
 said to be well off. She had come to London to bid farewell to 
 her only brother, who was dying in hospital from an accident, 
 and the prisoner became on friendly terms with her. He did not 
 go to America as he had previously arranged with Miss Schiffer, 
 but followed her to Germany, when she, finding she was about to 
 become a mother, pressed him to take her to America ; but he 
 refused, unless she gave him the other part of her fortune. This 
 she declined to do ; and she states he then showed himself in 
 his true colours and afterwards gave her a paper saying she 
 was free to do as she liked with her person and property. 
 He returned to Gower Street in January, 1897, resumed 
 acquaintance with Miss Mavrogordato, and, in order to possess 
 himself of her wealth, married her at the Kensington Registry 
 Office on February 13, 1897, and obtained 300 from her. She 
 afterwards found he was a married man. He absconded and 
 went to reside at an hotel in the East End under the name of 
 "Captain Vincent," and she instituted proceedings to annul the 
 marriage, in which she was successful. 
 
 On April 17, 1897, the prisoner proceeded by the steamship 
 Ionic to Cape Town in the name of F. L. Kurt, in which name 
 he joined the Cape Police at Kirnberley on July 21, 1887. His 
 history came to the notice of the authorities by the publicity 
 given in connection with the erroneous identification by his 
 real wife of the dead body of a sailor found in the Thames, and 
 he was called upon to resign from the Cape Police in December, 
 1897. In February, 1898, he began to attempt to blackmail 
 the Joel brothers, with the result that he killed Mr. Woolf Joel, 
 for whose murder he was tried and acquitted at Johannesburg 
 in 1898. After his acquittal he was re-arrested on the charge 
 of blackmail arid expelled from the Transvaal on the ground 
 that he was a public danger, the case of blackmail being post- 
 poned sine die. He was sent to Delagoa Bay, and while there 
 he wrote to Miss Schiffer, the lady he had duped in 1896, asking 
 her to send him 200. On December 2, 1898, he returned to the 
 Transvaal and was arrested and subsequently sentenced to 
 four months' imprisonment for breach of the expulsion order. 
 He was re-deported to Lorenzo Marques, where he was arrested 
 as a vagabond, and on June 9, 1899, a passage was taken for 
 him to London at the expense of the Transvaal Government, 
 but he left the ship at Cape Town and had the balance of his 
 passage money (Cape Town to London) returned to him. On 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 211 
 
 September 25, 1899, he again returned to the Transvaal, and 
 was re-arrested by the Boer Government for breach of the 
 expulsion order and was eventually sent to Pretoria Gaol, 
 where he was found a prisoner of the Boer Government when 
 the British Army took possession of that town on June 5, 1900. 
 As he was a prisoner of the Boers, the British military 
 authorities saw no reason to detain him, and deported him to 
 England, where he arrived in October, 1900. At the end of 
 1900 he went to Capri, near Naples, and in 1901 and 1902 he 
 was staying at Trieste, where he pretended that he was the 
 only survivor of a number of men who knew where the late 
 President Kruger had buried treasure of the value of about 
 5,000,000, and on the pretence that he could obtain it he raised 
 capital for which he gave bills of exchange amounting to 
 500,000 kronen. In April, 1903, he was staying at the Strand 
 Hotel, Nervi, near Naples, where he met a married lady and 
 went with her to Geneva, and, as the result, her husband 
 instituted divorce proceedings against her. He again went to 
 Capri and made the acquaintance of a married lady named 
 Hulse, who was possessed of means and property, and was 
 living apart from her husband. He proceeded with this lady 
 to America and went to reside at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 
 where Mrs. Hulse obtained a divorce from her husband, and the 
 prisoner then married her in the name of Baron Von Veltheim 
 on March 1, 1904, at Yanktown, South Dakota. They returned 
 to Capri, and both were arrested there on a charge of bigamy 
 on the complaint of the lady's husband. They were released 
 pending inquiries, and returned to America, where the prisoner 
 eventually deserted Mrs. Hulse and their child, and it appears 
 that he afterwards tried to raise money on property which she 
 possessed at Capri. 
 
 In June, 1905, the prisoner left New York for Europe, and 
 on the voyage met a young American lady, who states that he 
 followed her to Paris and eventually persuaded her to marry 
 him secretly at St. Cloud, but she afterwards found that the 
 marriage was a mock one and that the prisoner had obtained a 
 friend of his to officiate as priest. As a result of this mock 
 marriage the lady was confined of a child in April, 1906, in a 
 nursing home in London. She has now returned to her friends 
 in America. In August, 1905, the prisoner went to Neustadt, 
 Germany, where he made the acquaintance of the children of a 
 widow named Mathis, whom he had met about 20 years 
 previously at the same place when he was passing under the 
 name of "Oliver Jackson." Having ascertained that Mrs. 
 Mathis was possessed of considerable means left by her late 
 husband, he went and saw her at Offenburg and renewed the 
 
212 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 acquaintance with her, representing to her that he was part 
 owner of a large mining business in America, and induced her 
 to give him 16,000 marks (800) on the pretence of investing it 
 in his mining property. In November, 1905, he received 
 further sums from Mrs. Mathis, making a total of 56,000 marks 
 (2,800) to be invested for her, and he said that he had personally 
 invested 390,000 marks (19,500) in the undertakings. He also 
 promised to marry this lady, and gave her an engagement ring. 
 During 1906 he was staying for a considerable time at Basel, 
 and was said to have been spending money freely probably 
 the proceeds of what he had obtained from Mrs. Mathis. In 
 November, 1906, the relatives of Mrs. Mathis, having become 
 aware of her having entrusted him with so much money, applied 
 for the repayment of it, but, instead of complying with the 
 request, he asked for more and even drew bills of exchange on 
 her, saying that, if she did not accept them, they would both 
 be ruined. In February, 1907, he went to Antwerp and stayed 
 there, except for some short absences, until about August 13, 
 when he went to Paris, where he was arrested for the present 
 offence on September 19. He was then living with another 
 woman, who was passing as Mme. Von Veltheirn. This lady is a 
 daughter of a respectable gentleman at Antwerp. On November 
 11, 1907, Mrs. Mathis, having heard of the prisoner's arrest and 
 other particulars regarding him, committed suicide by drowning, 
 in despair at the loss of her own and her children's fortune with 
 which she had entrusted him. His extradition had been applied 
 for by the German Government for the fraud on Mrs. Mathis. 
 No information had been obtained by the police to show that 
 the prisoner has done any real business or work since he was 
 discharged from the Cape Police in 1897, although he has been 
 receiving and spending considerable sums of money. When he 
 was arrested in Paris he had about 60 in his possession. This 
 was spent in Paris with the exception of about 5 which he had 
 when extradited to this country. Otherwise he appears to have 
 no means, and, when awaiting extradition from Paris, he applied 
 to a newspaper to -assist him in his defence. 
 
 INTERRUPTIONS BY THE PRISONER. 
 
 The prisoner several times interrupted the reading of the 
 inspector's statement, saying it was a tissue of lies. He asserted 
 that, when he was re-arrested by the Transvaal Government, 
 he had gone there under a safe conduct from the President, and 
 he was told on his arrest that the first prisoner of war was to 
 be himself. He offered the British Government Mr. Kruger, 
 and said he could get him with 25 men, but Colonel Maxse told 
 him the Government did not want him. No woman could say 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 213 
 
 he had ever deceived her. If he had ever had anything to do 
 with them, they were perfectly well aware of the facts. He had 
 always told them the facts, and he had never had any money 
 from any of them, except from two who gave it him for certain 
 purposes. He went to New Orleans and worked on a wharf to 
 maintain the lady with him. He eventually became manager, 
 and had 22 great ocean steamships under his control. From 
 there he was sent to organise a new place, with absolute powers. 
 There were no banks open, and he was accustomed to carry 
 $30,000 (6,000) or $40,000 (8,000) about with him in his 
 trunk. He worked there for five years, and the business was 
 still in existence and flourishing. 
 
 Mr. Justice Phillimore said some of the statements read by 
 the inspector had been taken down in a way they were not 
 accustomed to in England. He supposed, as to some of 
 the matters, the prosecution had personally satisfied them- 
 selves ? 
 
 Mr. Gill said they had satisfied themselves by a mass of 
 documents and numerous certificates of the truth of the state- 
 ments. 
 
 Inspector Pentin said a great deal of the information was 
 based on reports received from the police of various countries, 
 from whom they had made inquiries. 
 
 The prisoner, being asked if he had anything to say why 
 sentence should not be passed upon him, said the record of his 
 alleged history was an absolute tissue of falsehoods. He had 
 never married any lady except one in 1886, at Perth, Western 
 Australia. The girl wanted him to take her away and they 
 went through a sham marriage at a registry : he meant to be 
 honourable and marry her properly later. He went as far as 
 Zanzibar to chase Stanley (the explorer) out of the country, but 
 when he got to Zanzibar Stanley had left. Subsequently he 
 went to New Orleans, as he had stated, and got work and 
 prospered, and afterwards proceeded to South America to 
 establish a new business. There he met the friend the 
 Governor of a State whose name he had declined to mention 
 and who later on in London introduced him to Mr. Barney 
 Barnato. Everything he had said about the Transvaal plot 
 was perfectly true. He had to cover people, and he would cover 
 them now, although he had been found guilty. In the main 
 points, he had told all the truth. He did not intend those 
 wretched " Kismet " letters to be taken seriously. He was not 
 such a fool as to think that such letters would produce money. 
 His conscience was clear on that point. Mr. Barnato was not 
 the principal man in the scheme in which he had asked his 
 assistance, but he was one of a number of them interested in it. 
 
214 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 He went to Mr. Woolf Joel and begged his pardon for the 
 "Kismet" letters, and Mr. Joel gave him his pardon. Why 
 should he a great millionaire meet him three or four times 
 and treat him like a gentleman and ask him to deceive the 
 police as the letters showed if there was no business arrange- 
 ment between them ? Mr. Joel only wanted to be a sleeping 
 partner. Why was not Mr. Strange called there to prove that ? 
 He (the prisoner) was tried for the murder of Mr. Woolf Joel 
 and acquitted. Thank God, it was not a British jury then. He 
 meant no reflection on the present jury, but the others were 
 men in a different station of life, who did not measure up 
 everything by pounds, shillings, and pence. They knew he was 
 innocent, and acquitted him. Why was he cheered as he was 
 when he came out of gaol ? Because everybody knew he was 
 innocent ; and not only that, but that he had risked his life 
 rather than betray the names of those in the plot to the Boer 
 Government. There had been an attempt to assassinate him, who 
 would not hurt a fly or touch anybody, or deceive any woman. 
 He repeated that he had never got money from women, and that 
 the story of the mock marriage and the sham priest was an 
 invention. He had no idea of threatening Mr. Joel when he 
 wrote the letters. He was not whining for mercy. If he had 
 played the game and lost he would not have minded. He had 
 not played that sort of game. The "Kismet" letters were 
 silly stupid, but he did not think they would be brought up 
 again against him. 
 
 SENTENCE. 
 
 Mr. Justice Phillimore, addressing the prisoner, said: "I 
 have heard your story and I have heard the account of your life. 
 I am not going to dwell upon that. I address you in the name 
 you have chosen to take yourself Von Veltheim although I 
 know it is not one that you have a legal light to and that by 
 taking it you bring dishonour upon an honourable family. I 
 treat you in the name you have chosen Franz Von Veltheim 
 and as such I sentence you. I do not take into account all your 
 immoralities as bearing on your punishment, or things in your 
 early life which, God knows, may long ago have been wiped out. 
 I do not take this into account. What I have to consider is, 
 first, that you have been found guilty of one of the most serious 
 crimes known to the law, and, secondly, I must not only punish 
 but prevent, and prevention in this case must mean to prevent 
 you from getting at the man you have threatened and to enable 
 that man and society generally to live in peace from you. I 
 only look upon your past life as showing that you are a man 
 who can be desperate and can do many forms of wickedness in 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 215 
 
 order to get money and are capable even of carrying out such 
 threats as were contained in these letters. The sentence of the 
 Court is that you be kept in penal servitude for 20 years. 
 
 The prisoner, who seemed somewhat stunned on hearing the 
 sentence, was then removed by the attendant warders. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 12. 
 
 THE DRUCE PERJURY CHARGE : MISS ROBINSON'S 
 CONFESSION. 
 
 At Bow Street, yesterday, before Sir A. de Rutzen, who again 
 sat specially in the Second Court, Mary Robinson, alias Mary 
 Ann Robinson, was again brought up on remand charged with 
 having committed perjury in her evidence in the Druce case at 
 the Marylebone and Clerkenwell Police Courts. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews (instructed by Mr. Sims, of the Treasury) 
 appeared on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The 
 prisoner was not legally represented. Mr. Paddison, of the 
 firm of Messrs. Paddison, Trevor, and De La Chapelle, solicitors, 
 watched on behalf of Mr. Coburn and Mr. George Hollaniby 
 Druce. 
 
 LETTERS TO THE PRISONER. 
 
 Chief Inspector Dew was recalled for the purpose of producing 
 further documents which he found at the prisoner's flat in 
 Sisters Avenue, Clapham. The first put in were an extract in 
 circular form from the Evening News of October 27, 1906 ; and 
 two deposit receipts from the London and Westminster Bank 
 in the prisoner's name, one for 50 deposited on November 
 18, 1907, and the other for 17 on December 31, 1907. There 
 was a letter to the prisoner from Mr. Coburn, dated November 
 30, 1907, from 65 London Wall, which at that time were the 
 offices of the Druce Company (Limited). The letter was read 
 as follows : 
 
 " Dear Miss Robinson, I will thank you to be in attendance 
 at the Clerkenwell Police Court on Monday next, December 2, 
 at 10.30 sharp, when it is intended that your depositions should 
 be read over to you and signed. Permit me to say that the 
 evidence which you have furnished has been much appreciated 
 by every one having the interest of this cause at heart ; and 
 Mr. Druce and myself feel ourselves much obliged to you for 
 
216 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 submitting yourself to the unpleasant ordeal of the drastic 
 cross-examination to which you were subjected. Yours truly, 
 THOS. K. V. COBURN." 
 
 The next letter put in was from Messrs. Oswald, Hanson & 
 Smith, the prisoner's solicitors, dated January 14, 1908, and 
 ran : 
 
 " 44 Hammersmith Road, London, W. 
 
 " Dear Madam, Re Druce, We have heard from Mr. Kimber 
 that he will be glad to hear from you regarding the brooch and 
 ring. We may mention, as we have before said, we see no 
 reason why these articles should not be valued. Please let us 
 have remittance for the amount due to us. 
 
 " Miss Mary Robinson." 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. At any time have you yet recovered 
 the ring or the brooch ? 
 
 The Witness. I have, Sir Charles. 
 
 There was also a letter from Mr. Kimber as follows : 
 
 " 15 Walbrook, E.C., Sept. 27, 1907. 
 
 "Dear Madam, I have now seen the agents of Messrs. 
 Harper & Co. in London, who, I find, are a highly respectable 
 firm. They have told me everything that has taken place. It 
 appears the way in which young Harper became acquainted 
 with the Duke of Portland was this. He was on a visit to this 
 country as one of the Australian team of cricketers, and they 
 all went down to Welbeck to see a famous racehorse. The 
 duke happened to be at home, and he invited them all to lunch. 
 This appears to have been the extent of his acquaintance. He 
 says he never saw the letters you had, nor the diary ; in fact, 
 he did not know you had the letters. I got from the agents 
 here the substance of the report of the police to this country, 
 which is of a scandalous and libellous nature, and the result, 
 evidently, of communications from other persons clearly 
 animated with a deliberate intention of injuring you and 
 your character ; but I have warned them about this, and they 
 said they shall not think of acting upon the suggestions of Mr. 
 Harper, who is evidently very angry about what you have said 
 about him. Chief Inspector Scott, of Scotland Yard, has been 
 here this morning, and says they cannot give me a copy of the 
 report. I told him it would have to be produced on subpoena if 
 necessary. The whole thing points to the machinations of 
 some evil-disposed persons who are quite independent and 
 without the knowledge of either the police or Messrs. Harper, 
 and these persons have evidently ascertained your whereabouts 
 here, and they are manifestly connected wilh the private 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 217 
 
 inquiry agent of the duke ; but I have no doubt I shall be 
 able to catch them tripping before long. In fact, I think they 
 have already seriously compromised the duke's case and 
 strengthened Mr. Druce. Yours, faithfully, EDMUND KIMBER. 
 
 " Miss Kobinson, 37 Marcus Street, St. Ann's Hill, Wands- 
 worth, S.W." 
 
 A BILL OF COSTS. 
 
 The next was a letter from Messrs. Oswald, Hanson & Smith 
 to the prisoner, dated January 2, 1908, enclosing their bill of 
 costs. Some of the items were read as follows : 
 
 October 28, 1907. Attending Miss Kobinson on her calling, 
 when in accordance with her request we handed her the diary 
 and took receipt therefor, and Miss Robinson promised to 
 return the diary when she had finished with it, so that we 
 might keep same in safe custody. 
 
 November 1. Attending Miss Kobinson on her calling, when 
 she informed us she had had the misfortune to lose her diary, 
 and we expressed our profound sympathy for her, strongly 
 advising her to lose no time in proceeding to Scotland Yard to 
 report her loss in detail. The Hammersmith police authorities 
 were also informed. 
 
 December 20. Attending Miss Robinson on her calling, 
 discussing this matter with her, when she instructed us to 
 write Mr. Edmund Kimber with respect to her witness fees. 
 
 December 21. Writing Mr. Kimber accordingly. 
 
 December 27. Having received letter from Mr. Kimber, 
 writing him acknowledging receipt, and stating we had sent 
 our client a copy of his communication, and we further stated 
 we hoped the remittances would be received regularly in the 
 future. Writing Miss Robinson enclosing copy of the letter we 
 had received from Mr. Kimber. 
 
 December 31. Attending Miss Robinson on her calling, when 
 she handed us a box, locked and sealed, containing certain 
 valuables belonging to her, and we promised to keep same 
 for her in a secure place and gave her a receipt for same. 
 Discussing and advising generally. Writing Mr. Kimber for 
 one week's expenses owing to Miss Robinson in accordance 
 with her instructions. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. I will just take it from you, inspector, 
 the grave of Mr. Thomas Charles Druce at Highgate was opened 
 on December 30, the day before the depositing of that box 
 which is said to contain valuables ? 
 
 The witness said that that was so. He produced the box in 
 question an ordinary small tin cash-box which he explained 
 was handed over to him by Messrs. Oswald, Hanson & Smith. 
 
218 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 He opened it and checked the contents in the presence of 
 Mr. Smith, of that firm. It contained some articles of jewelry 
 of an ordinary character, amongst them being a small tin box, 
 containing a marquise ring and a brooch. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. Were you present in Court when the 
 prisoner, in the witness-box, pointed to a ring on her finger and 
 took a brooch from her dress, saying that they had been given 
 to her by the fifth Duke of Portland ? 
 
 The Witness. I was. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. There were some documents in the 
 box, including one that appears to be a copy of a cable 
 addressed to George Hollamby Druce, care of Reuter's : 
 "250 sailing February 14. Rinmtaka. Very bad sailor. 
 Require lady companion. ROBINSON. Remit by telegram 
 immediately through Reuter's." 
 
 LETTER FROM THE CLAIMANT. 
 
 Two letters were next put in, both dated March 8, 1907, and 
 addressed to the prisoner at Teneriffe. One, signed " Thos. 
 U. V. Coburn," ran as follows : 
 
 " Dear Madam, I understand that Mr. Druce is writing 
 you by the sarile mail so I need not enter into any particulars 
 beyond saying that every one interested in the matter is looking 
 forward to your arrival, arid that I count very much on your 
 assistance, which I feel sure you will be able to render me in 
 tracing the early history in connexion with the late duke. I 
 had written you on January 11 last to New Zealand, and in 
 case you started before that letter arrived I now enclose 
 copy of same. I heard from Mr. Harper with copy of the 
 diary entries and your statement, which I obtained from his 
 London agents on payment of his and their costs." 
 
 The other letter was from Mr. George H. Druce, as follows : 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Robinson, I have been looking each mail for a 
 letter from you, but thought that perhaps you would not 
 write until you where leaving New Zealand for London 
 and if you wrote I should get the letter in an other two 
 weeks time. I cabled to you at Montvido of course knowing 
 that our wittnesses were interf eared with hire in england. 
 I thought perhaps that they may hav got wind of the 
 time and route you are coming to England by. I said in 
 my cable to you that I should meet the Boat at Plymouth and 
 if there has been any person sent to intersept the Boat at any 
 port they have not been sent by hus. Of course I reeconise the 
 power of the other side. So, Dear Mrs. Robinson, all being 
 well I will meet you at Plymouth when the Boat arrives and 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 219 
 
 present my card. You will probibly know me by the photo- 
 graph. I hope you are having a good passage across. I must 
 now conclude as T am very bussy to-day. Hoping this will find 
 you and your friend quite well, From yours most respectfully, 
 GEORGE H. DRUCE." 
 
 [The mistakes in the spelling appeal 1 in the typewritten copy 
 of the original letter.] 
 
 The witness continued that he also found in the box a copy- 
 book, wrapped in brown paper. It purported to be either a 
 diary or a copy of a diary of events which happened in the 
 years 1861, 1862, and 1868-70. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. I see that the events of the earlier 
 years appear to have been recorded last. The whole of it is in 
 the prisoner's handwriting. On looking at the entries, inspector, 
 would you say, speaking generally, that they appear to have 
 been made at about the same time? 
 
 The witness. Yes. They appear to have been more or less 
 continuously written. 
 
 THE PRISONER'S CONFESSION. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. After the prisoner was in custody, on 
 or about January 28 in this year, did you receive an intimation 
 that she desired to see you for the purpose of making a state- 
 ment? I did, Sir Charles; on January 27 I received the 
 information. On the 28th did you attend at Holloway Prison 
 and there see the prisoner ? I did, with Sergeant AVilliams. 
 And did she then make a voluntary statement to you which you 
 took down in writing as she made it? It was taken down and 
 she signed each sheet. She did not conclude it on the 28th, on 
 the score of fatigue? Yes, and there was not sufficient time. 
 It was resumed on January 29, 30, 31, and again on February 5. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews remarked that he proposed to read some 
 parts of the statement. He did not intend to give the whole of 
 it, because in parts there were reflections of a grave character 
 on third persons not before the Court, and he did not consider 
 it fair to those persons that this statement should be made 
 public in their absence. He proposed to read those parts of it 
 which told how it was that the prisoner came to be a witness 
 in the case, and some of the incidents which occurred in this 
 country after her arrival. 
 
 The statement as read by Sir Charles Mathews was as 
 follows: 
 
 "Holloway Prison, January 28, 1908, Mary Ann Eobinson, 
 prisoner on remand at the above prison, says : I desire to 
 make a voluntary statement to you as to how I came to this 
 country. No promise has been held out to me to induce me to 
 
220 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 make any statement. I want to say that no promise has been 
 held out to me by the police, and you can make any use you like 
 of this statement. I want to say how it was I left New Zealand. 
 In May, or about that time, 1906, I was living at Falsgrave 
 Street, Christchurch (N.Z.), with my daughter alone. I bought 
 an Australian newspaper by chance, and in this newspaper I 
 saw an account, but not what I call a proper account, of the 
 Druce case. In this paper it says that the fifth Duke of 
 Portland was a wizard, but I knew this was not correct, because 
 I knew him when I was at Worksop. I felt interested, and I 
 thought I would write to the person to whom one had to write, 
 telling him what I knew about the case. The address was at 
 Melbourne, and the name was Druce, but I do not remember 
 the exact address. In my letter I said the duke was not a 
 wizard, but a gentleman ; they were labouring under a mistake. 
 I told him I knew the duke and had seen him many times. 
 Mind, I never meant anything bad." 
 
 THE FIRST NEGOTIATIONS. 
 
 " Three weeks or a month afterwards a man called at my house 
 and said his name was Druce. He referred to the matter I had 
 written about. He stood at the door talking to me, and he 
 said, ' Cannot I come in ? I have an offer to make to you.' I 
 invited him in. He said that the Druce case was in want of 
 funds ; that he had made some inquiries about me, and I was 
 just the person he required. He said he had heard I was clever 
 at writing, and if I would write what he wished and do as I was 
 told, I should receive 4,000. When he said this I considered 
 and thought it must be something very important. I said, 
 ' What am I to do for the 4,000 ? ' He told me he wanted a 
 book written in my own handwriting of the history of all I knew 
 about the duke and his surroundings ; to make it as attractive 
 as I could, so that they could raise money on it to meet their 
 expenses. The expenses, he explained, were to enable the firm 
 in favour of Druce to claim the dukedom of Portland. The 
 man Druce said I think he was the brother of Mr. Druce in 
 London that he claimed to be the grandson of the fifth Duke 
 of Portland. He also told me that his father came out to 
 Australia at the time of the diggings, that he had 1,000 given 
 him by the duke in '65 to enable him to live out there. I asked 
 him what Druce's father was, and he replied, ' A perfect gentle- 
 man and a well-educated man, but a gold-digger.' He then 
 asked me what I knew about the duke. I told him I had stayed 
 with Mrs. Pearce at Worksop, but did not say who she was. 
 I told him I had seen the duke, but not under what circum- 
 stances. He then said he wanted me to write in pamphlet form 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 221 
 
 all I could say or invent about the fifth Duke of Portland. I 
 said, ' I am not going to expose myself to everybody.' He said, 
 * Say you come from America. We have another person coming 
 from there. He is writing to say so. You won't be alone in 
 writing.' He also said there was a person writing or had 
 written a book, and she had received 600 for it. I do not 
 remember whether he told me these people's names. I thought 
 if other persons were doing this, I might have a show as well. 
 At any rate, the temptation was too strong for me, so I promised 
 I would write. The man said he would call later and see me, but 
 he never did. He may have said something more, but I forget." 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. That is the way in which she explained 
 that she had been approached ? The witness. Yes, Sir Charles. 
 
 The statement continued : " Before this occurrence I had 
 seen a few scraps in the newspapers concerning the Druce case. 
 This same man asked me if I knew the Baker Street Bazaar, as 
 he said the Duke of Portland was the owner. I told him I had 
 heard some flying news about it, but I was at Worksop. He 
 told me I was to be sure to say I came from America. This man 
 who called on me was aged about 50 or more. He had no grey 
 hair ; 5ft. Tin., about the height of G. H. Druce, and very like 
 him ; he was clean shaven, except a moustache, hair fair. He 
 was a fair man with blue eyes and a medium build. When I 
 saw Druce in this country I said to myself ' The man who called 
 on me in New Zealand must have been his brother.' When I 
 saw Druce in England he told me he had a brother in Australia. 
 When the man had left my daughter asked me what he wanted. 
 I did not tell her much. I mentioned about the 4,000, and 
 what the man wanted me to do for it. Of course she could not 
 help me much. She said, ' Please yourself. It is worth trying.'" 
 
 THE DIARY. 
 
 " I then wrote on sheets of paper just what I thought would 
 do for it. About the beginning of November, 1906, I heard 
 from England, but before this I had finished the history on 
 paper by about September, and, not hearing from Australia, I 
 thought they had made a fool of me. Before I finished my 
 history I received by post from England six pamphlets, two at 
 a time, one called ' Portland Millions ' and the other ' The Druce 
 Case.' Some of these I used for waste paper and some I saved. 
 I did not read them ; I was disgusted when I read ' Portland 
 Millions' outside. Miss O'Neil read them. I got the pieces of 
 paper on which I had written the history and transferred it into 
 an old diary book. I came across it amongst a lot of litter I 
 bought as odds and ends. It had a grey linen cover. There 
 was a date inside, but I forget the date. When I transferred it 
 
222 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 I kept the sheets of paper already written on. The contents of 
 this diary I compiled alone at the request of the man from 
 Australia, as I thought I was going to have the 4,000. I think 
 it was at the end of October or November that I heard from 
 England, I received a letter and two pamphlets from London. 
 It was from the offices of the Druce Company, and it was either 
 from Druce or Coburn. I think it must have been from Druce, 
 because I knew it was from the office. I cannot remember the 
 contents. Soon after I received another letter from London, and 
 that was signed Coburn. He told me to take the letter to a 
 solicitor and make a statement to him as to what I knew, and 
 the solicitor was to send it on to him. Mr. Coburn said he 
 would pay him when the statement was received for any trouble. 
 Two pamphlets came with this letter, which it was suggested I 
 should circulate amongst my friends. I went to Mr. Harper, 
 and told him what I knew about the duke. I also told him I 
 had a diary, but did not tell him what the man from Australia 
 told me to do. I received letters by every mail from Coburn and 
 Druce. and they wanted to know if I would come to England 
 and bring the diary with me. There was nothing in these 
 letters which would implicate them in anything ; they are too 
 artful. I wrote saying I would come over. After this Druce 
 cabled me 250. The letters and cables they sent to me first 
 were addressed to Mrs. Robinson, but they never asked me 
 whether I was Mrs. or Miss. Before this I had a letter from 
 Mr. Coburn asking how much they were indebted to me and how 
 much I should require before leaving. I told him 250, and I 
 told him I was going to bring a companion with me. I never 
 told him she was my daughter, and he never asked me. I left 
 in February last with my daughter, who travelled as Miss 
 O'Neil. I know they promised to meet me at Plymouth. On 
 my arrival at Plymouth Mr. Coburn and Mr. Kimber met me 
 and my daughter. The first thing Mr. Kimber asked me for 
 was my diary. I said the captain had got it. Mr. Kimber 
 asked the captain for it, but he would not give it to him, and he 
 (Mr. Kimber) kicked up a regular row. Mr. Kimber had four 
 or five men with him, but Mr. Coburn did not stir off the launch. 
 I then went to the captain, and he at once gave me the things, 
 the diary and various other little articles. We stayed that night 
 in Plymouth. I told Mr. Kimber that I had lost a package in 
 which were some letters. Mr. Kimber said, ' Stick to your tale. 
 Stick to your tale.' Mr. Kimber said, 'We want to make a 
 sensation ; there is nothing done without it.' Mr. Kimber and 
 Mr. Coburn had a long talk in the train about the Druce case. 
 They told me Mr. Druce would be the Duke of Portland very 
 soon, and referred to him as ' His Grace.' In the train Mr. 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 223 
 
 Coburn said to me, ' You will get your 4,000 without a murmur, 
 perhaps 5,000, if you stick to your guns.' As soon as the 
 captain handed me the diary and the other things Mr. Kimber 
 took possession of them. I have never had my diary again 
 from Mr. Kimber except for three days, when I paid Oswald, 
 Hanson & Smith 2 to get it for me. I asked Mr. Kimber 
 twice for my diary, but he declined to give it to me, saying it 
 was at his bankers." 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. Then follow statements referring to 
 people outside the case. On January 29 there is a further 
 reference to the diary. The statement goes on : 
 
 " I had a conversation with Mr. G. H. Druce. I do not think on 
 this occasion I mentioned anything about my diary, and he kept 
 away for over a week. Then he called again, and I think he 
 told me this time they were doing well with the diary and were 
 receiving plenty of money on it, and any time that large share- 
 holders came they had to be taken to Mr. Kimber's office to see 
 the diary." 
 
 HER EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews. She concludes that day's statement by 
 saying she told Mr. G. H. Druce of the visit she had from a 
 man name Druce in New Zealand. " He said, ' That is all 
 right ; that is perfectly true. I know all about it,' having 
 previously said he had had a brother who lived out there. I 
 asked whether he was the younger or the elder, and he said, 
 ' The younger.' I think he said his name was William and that 
 he was in a good position, that he travelled about, and had been 
 in New Zealand several times arid to the Cape. He said he was 
 apprenticed to a safe maker. He also told me a lot of nonsense." 
 At the end she states, " My maiden name was Mary Ann Webb, 
 and I am the daughter of James Webb, who was a police- 
 sergeant for many years at Mortlake. I went to school at the 
 National Schools, Mortlake, and was married in Leeds on 
 March 17, 1863, and lived there for a time. Then we went to 
 Nottinghamshire, to Worksop, in 1869, I think. My husband 
 worked as shepherd for a time for the Duke of Portland, and at 
 other places. In 1874 or 1875 we migrated to New Zealand 
 with our two children. We went to Waimati, and my husband 
 died there in August many years ago. After that I went with 
 my children to Christchurch and the outskirts, where I remained 
 until I came to this country." 
 
 A STRUGGLE FOR THE DIARY. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews observed that in the course of her state- 
 ment on January 30 the prisoner referred to her journal, and 
 she went on to say : 
 
224 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 "Mr. Coburn asked me to try to obtain my diary from Mr. 
 Kimber to put in his (Mr. Coburn's) locker, and also for any 
 papers I had had given me by Mr. Kimber or any other papers 
 which had anything to do with the case. I asked Mr. Kimber 
 for my diary, arid he refused to give it to me, saying it was at 
 his bankers. Then Mr. Coburn asked me for any other papers. 
 I think I gave him a few, but I cannot remember what they 
 were. I think some of them were little jottings I made myself 
 as to information given to me by other people which I had 
 gathered together. I think I gave him the piece of paper which 
 I had written in New Zealand after the man Druce had called 
 011 me. Mr. Coburn laughed very heartily when I gave him 
 this, and said they had made a lot of money in Australia over 
 this, and all they wanted now were good witnesses. He told 
 me they would have to depend on their witnesses, as they did 
 not intend to say anything themselves." 
 
 Then there was a further reference to the diary, which 
 counsel said was unimportant, and the statement went on : 
 
 "The next time I think M. Balham (?) came, and wanted to 
 know if Mr. Kimber had taken my diary to New York to show 
 this man (Sir Charles Mathews. Obviously referring to Robert 
 Caldwell) because if I had got it Mr. Coburn wanted it, so as 
 to copy it. He wanted to take three copies of it. He said they 
 had had a cable from Mr. Kimber, who was still in America, as 
 to whom he was staying with, and saying that he would be 
 back in a few days, but that the man was not coming with him, 
 as Mr. Kimber had not the money to pay him. Mr. Jenkins 
 came the next time, and told me Mr. Coburn was going to 
 America to see this man and bring him back. I then asked 
 whom this man was that they were going to bring back, and he 
 told me it was Caldwell." 
 
 Sir Charles remarked that he would omit certain passages 
 which followed. He continued reading : 
 
 "The next I heard was that Caldwell and his solicitor were 
 leaving, and there was a great dinner to entertain them, I think, 
 at Liverpool." Further on the statement continued: " I never 
 did see Caldwell in my life until I saw him in the Police Court 
 at Marylebone when I went to swear my information. Mr. 
 Allen, his solicitor, was there also. That was also the first time 
 I had seen Mrs. Hamilton. I did not speak to her, and I was 
 not introduced. I think Druce introduced me to Caldwell, 
 saying, ' This is the lady who has come from New Zealand, and 
 who wrote this wonderful diary that has caused so much 
 sensation and raised so much money.' Caldwell said he hoped 
 he should be able to do as much for them as I had done, and 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 225 
 
 said lie would bet his life that he would have Herbert Druce in 
 gaol. Mr. Allen (Caldwell's solicitor) then took possession of 
 me, and I must say I never enjoyed any one's company so much 
 as his. He said, ' I hear you are a very interesting person, but 
 do you know Scotland Yard ? ' I said, ' Well I cannot say that 
 I don't, and I think to myself if I don't my poor old father did.' 
 Mr. Allen said that his idea was that they could not catch 
 worms, and he went on to speak in praise of the New York 
 police. When we removed to Sisters Avenue, Clapham, Mr. 
 Kimber did not send his clerk with the money, because Druce 
 would not give him the cheques. I had a letter from Mr. 
 Kimber saying that Scotland Yard was after me, and that 1 was 
 a bad character, and had been chased out of New Zealand by 
 the police there. When I got this letter I thought Mr. Kimber 
 was drunk, and my daughter and I called on Mr. Watt, and 
 showed him Mr. Kimber's letter. He said it rested with Mr. 
 Kimber's clerk, and they should not come to my house again. 
 After this Mr. Crickmer used to call and pay me. He called a 
 few times, and then he knocked it off. After that Mr. Druce and 
 his son (Lord William) used to call. About a week before I 
 went to Marylebone to swear an information I had a letter 
 from Mr. Kimber and a document, typewritten, about some 
 evidence I was to give. I did not like this, and I sent it to 
 Messrs. Smith and Hanson and Co. They told me not to swear 
 to anything I objected to, and I either sent it back or gave it to 
 Mr. Watt. I called on Mr. Watt on that day. Coburn came 
 after this and said he wanted me to go to Court and swear about 
 some lead in the coffin. I told him I would not swear it for any 
 one, as I knew nothing about the lead in the coffin. The day 
 after this Mr. Allen called upon me. He told me he was a 
 detective. I said, ' I thought you were a solicitor. 3 H^ said, 
 ' So I am in America.' He asked me about my diary, and said 
 he should like to get hold of it. He called on me several times, 
 and asked if I had got my diary, as if it once got into his hands 
 he could make some money out of it from the newspapers. 
 Coburn, Kimber, Watt, and Druce were all at this period trying 
 to get my diary. It was at this time in the hands of Mr. Smith, 
 who got it from Mr. Kimber, so that I could read it over before 
 I went into Court. I wanted my tale in the witness-box to 
 appear a little feasible, even although it was all lies. The diary 
 remained with Mr. Smith about a fortnight. Then I went to 
 Smith and got it. He did not let any one know I had done so. 
 The first thing I did on getting it was to read it to see that it 
 was all there." 
 
 P.W. 
 
226 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 COPYING THE DIARY. 
 
 "We bought a couple of exercise books. It took me three 
 days to copy it. I did not make the copy exactly as the 
 original diary. I did not copy some of the pages as I did not 
 have time. I did not leave out much. The reason I hurried 
 so was that I wanted the original out of the house. I also had 
 a note from Mr. Crickmer offering to come with me to deposit 
 the diary in a safe or he would take it himself. As I was 
 determined that Mr. Coburn should not have the diary I deter- 
 mined to take it to Smith. The story I have already told as to 
 the loss of the book, diary, etc., is a true one. I never actually 
 told any of them that I had manufactured the contents of my 
 diary, but I think that they knew it from what they said and 
 the manner they treated me. They were always telling me I 
 should be run in or poisoned. I was not questioned by any one 
 as to how I knew what I was going to swear. They took it all 
 for granted. When Mr. Kimber called on me the day after I 
 had been to Hanson and Smith he said, ' We shall have to draw 
 out a rough agreement as to your future allowance,' and Mr. 
 Kimber dictated as to what I should write. I wrote out two. 
 One he took with him and one I kept. That is the one read out 
 in Court last week. Mr. Kimber told me it was no good as it 
 was not stamped. All I care to say about the Duke of Portland 
 is that I knew him and he knew rue well, and he was very kind 
 to me when I lived at Worksop with my husband. I never saw 
 Mr. Atherley Jones and Mr. Goodman until they examined me 
 in Court. I never had any letters from the Duke of Portland. 
 But I did have two from Charles Dickens. These were missed 
 in transit from Wellington on the boat." 
 
 PURPOSE, IN COMING TO ENGLAND. 
 
 Continuing her statement on January 31, the prisoner said: 
 " I remember when the man Druce first called on me in New 
 Zealand he said he would give me 25 as soon as I made a start 
 on the diary, but I never did so. When I left New Zealand to 
 come to England it was for the purpose of raising money on my 
 diary or to raise any other sensation. But T never came to 
 swear falsely. I never came to swear that T. C. Druce was the 
 Duke of Portland only to say what I heard of him. When 
 the man called on me he said, * Say, T. C. Druce, of the Baker 
 Street Bazaar, was the same person as the fifth Duke of 
 Portland.' I could not do this in the diary right off, and so I 
 had to work it round, because if I had put it in at first that 
 would have closed the seam and there would have been no more 
 to say. I remember my aunt, who lived at Tunbridge Wells, 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 227 
 
 told me that a magistrate's name there was Druce, and I thought 
 that this name would fit in all right. She was an aunt by 
 marriage, I think. I fixed 1861 and 1868 out of my imagination. 
 I never thought I should have to swear what was in my diary. 
 No one said anything to me about swearing until a few days 
 before I attended the Marylebone Police Court. With regard 
 to copies of letters found at my flat purporting to come from 
 the Duke of Portland and from Charles Dickens, those from the 
 duke were written for my amusement. The one from Dickens 
 is practically a copy of a letter received by me from him. I did 
 know Charles Dickens. I first saw him when I was at the Home 
 and Colonial [college]. One of the girls knew him and took me 
 home and he was there. When I was at Worksop he visited 
 there, and I went and saw him. He remembered me when I 
 spoke to him. I have visited Worksop since coming to England. 
 I bought some of the picture postcards there and some were 
 given to me by Coburn and Hanson. The piece of paper in 
 Mr. Kimber's handwriting was given to me by Mr. Kimber 
 himself when he called at Sisters Avenue. He told me not to 
 let any one see them. He told me that he should bring 
 witnesses to prove that what I said was correct. After I had 
 been to Worksop I received two guides. I don't know who sent 
 them. It was suggested to me before this that I should get a 
 guide to Worksop to assist me in my memory. As to the truth 
 of my statement no question was ever put to me. The first 
 person who ever questioned me was Mr. Avory. All Mr. 
 Kimber did in this respect was to ask me several times if I 
 wrote the diary myself." 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews went on to say that on February 5 the 
 prisoner related how, after she was in custody Mr. Kimber 
 called to see her at Holloway Prison. Her statement went 
 on : " The last time I told him I should plead guilty and show 
 the lot of them up. He said, ' You must not do that. If you 
 do you will get seven years.' Then I made up my mind I would 
 tell the police all about all I knew. My father was a policeman 
 and I thought I would rather tell the police than any one else." 
 
 NEW EVIDENCE. 
 
 Inspector Eeed, of the Thames Police, was then called. He said 
 that on March 30 of last year the prisoner saw him at Wapping 
 Station and complained of the loss of a number of original 
 letters three from the Duke of Portland and seven from Charles 
 Dickens while coming from New Zealand on the Bimutaka. 
 She alluded to Miss O'Neil as her cousin. She named a 
 passenger whom she strongly suspected of the theft and wished 
 to give him into custody. The witness declined to take any 
 
228 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 such course on the ground that there was no evidence whatever 
 against that person. She described her trunk as thief proof, 
 specially made of steel. Witness made inquiries on board the 
 Rimutaka and found that there was no corroboration of the 
 prisoner's story. 
 
 Asked if she would like to ask this witness any question the 
 prisoner replied, " No, I think I had better wait a bit." 
 
 The prisoner was again remanded. 
 
 Sir Charles Mathews intimated that the only other witness, 
 except those coming from New Zealand, was Mr. Thacker, who 
 was an official connected with Druce (Limited). 
 
 The remand was fixed for next Monday. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 13. 
 (" The Times," February 19, 1908.) 
 
 CHARGE OF FALSE PRETENCES. 
 
 At West London, yesterday, William Tyler, aged 42, described 
 as a stationer, living in Holland Road, Kensington, was charged 
 on a warrant, before Mr. Garrett, with obtaining a cheque for 
 31s. 3d. by false pretences from the Rev. Alfred John Pitkin, 
 curate in charge of the parish of Aldbourne, Wiltshire, on 
 August 6, 1906. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Gill, who appeared to prosecute on behalf of the 
 Director of Public Prosecutions, made a long opening statement, 
 from which it appeared that the accused had been making for 
 some time the most extraordinary efforts to secure ordination at 
 the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury and of different 
 Bishops for the purpose of becoming a missionary in the 
 Colonies. In dealing with the charge before the Court, Mr. Gill 
 stated that in July, 1906, the Rev. Mr. Pitkin inserted the 
 following advertisement in the Guardian : " Locum tenens 
 wanted for a month ; open, bracing country ; fine church ; 
 bachelor rooms, attendance, etc." A reply was received from a 
 person signing himself as the Rev. E. W. T. Greenshield, and 
 addressed from 177 Holland Road, Kensington. The writer 
 stated that he was at home on a holiday from Canada, where he 
 was a missionary, and would be glad to do some work during 
 his holiday. After some correspondence, the applicant expressed 
 his intention of going down to Aldbourne before deciding to 
 take duty, and on Sunday, August 5, the accused arrived at 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 229 
 
 Aldbourne and represented himself as the Kev. Mr. Greenshield. 
 He gave a very full description of himself to Mr. Pitkin, stating 
 that he was ordained by the Bishop of London, and that he was 
 engaged in mission work in Canada. That Sunday he took part 
 of the service at Aldbourne and in the evening he preached the 
 sermon, leaving the next morning after receiving from Mr. 
 Pitkin a cheque for 31s. 3d., being a guinea fee and expenses. 
 As a matter of fact, Mr. Gill observed, the Rev. Mr. Greenshield 
 was at that time in Canada, and the accused had forged his name 
 to the different letters which he had written to Mr. Pitkin, and 
 had obtained the cheque by those false pretences. During his 
 visit to Aldbourne Tyler wore clerical attire, and on the only 
 subsequent occasion on which Mr. Pitkin saw him namely, one 
 Sunday at Reading Railway Station he was similarly attired. 
 He never took a month's duty at Aldbourne, and nothing more 
 was heard of him until his arrest. There would be a further 
 charge against the accused, continued Mr. Gill, of forging and 
 uttering a letter, dated December 5, 1907, purporting to be 
 written by the Rev. O. W. Taylor, acting commissary to the 
 Bishop of Saskatchewan, Canada. The accused's real name was 
 Jabez William Tyler, he was born in 1851, and his mother's 
 maiden name was Redstone. In June, 1905, he made an attempt 
 to procure ordination at the hands of the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury. He was then occupying three rooms in Bridge Road, 
 Hammersmith, and he carried on a printing business there. 
 For the purpose of procuring his ordination he wrote a letter in 
 the name of the Rev. W. G. White, acting commissary to the 
 Bishops of Moosonee and Qu'Appelle, recommending Mr. Tyler 
 as a person suitable for ordination. Before that date an appeal 
 had been inserted in the Record by one of those Bishops for aid 
 in missionary work, and in reply two persons, or rather, as the 
 prosecution alleged, one person namely, Tyler, using the two 
 names of Tyler and Redstone, had applied to go out as mission- 
 aries. At that time the accused was taking part as a layman in 
 church work at St. Mark's Mission Church a mission attached 
 to the parish church of Hammersmith. The colonial Bishop 
 considered that the age of the applicant Redstone was a bar to 
 his usefulness in the mission field, but he favoured the applica- 
 tion of Tyler. The latter, thereupon, with the aid of the forged 
 letter purporting to come from Mr. White, applied to the Arch- 
 bishop for ordination. Correspondence followed between the 
 Archbishop's chaplain and Tyler, and the former intimated that 
 the Archbishop required to be satisfied of Mr. Tyler's fitness for 
 ordination. Thereupon another forged letter, bearing Mr. 
 White's name, was sent to the Archbishop, in which Mr. White 
 was made to say that the colonial Bishop was quite satisfied of 
 
230 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Mr. Tyler's fitness. In a letter which Tyler himself wrote to 
 the Archbishop he enclosed a letter purporting to have been 
 written by the Rev. J. Parry, vicar of Hammersmith, in which 
 the writer expressed his desire that he (Tyler) should receive 
 ordination. That letter, though it bore the printed heading of 
 Hammersmith Vicarage, was, Mr. Gill pointed out, another 
 forgery, and the notepaper had evidently been stamped with the 
 address on the prisoner's printing machines. From further 
 correspondence between the Archbishop and Tyler it appeared 
 that the latter desired to be ordained for the Colonies generally, 
 and not for any particular colonial diocese, and after some demur, 
 the Archbishop appeared to be willing to comply with that 
 desire. Steps were taken for the necessary legal formalities to 
 be observed in the case of an ordination these being, amongst 
 others, the production of the accused's baptismal certificate and 
 the publication of the si quis the ceremony at which the appli- 
 cant for ordination announces in the church of his parish his 
 forthcoming ordination. As regards the baptismal certificate, 
 Tyler produced a certificate, purporting to be signed by his 
 brother, showing that he was baptised at St. Mary's, South- 
 ampton, in December, 1863. The brother would be called to 
 prove that he never signed the document and that he knew 
 nothing of the matter. The ordination was subsequently post- 
 poned by reason of the fact that the formalities could not be 
 complied with in proper time. Simultaneously with this attempt, 
 the accused was endeavouring to be ordained by the Bishop of 
 Southwark, letters similar to those which had been received by 
 the Archbishop being sent to the Bishop of Southwark and 
 the name of the Rev. W. G. White being used in the same way. 
 Mr. White's letter, however, came under the eye of Mr. Fox, of 
 the Church Missionary Society, and he, knowing Mr. White's 
 handwriting, warned the Bishop's chaplain against Tyler's appli- 
 cation. In September of the same year the accused applied to 
 the Bishop of London to be ordained, and after some corre- 
 spondence he was admitted to retreat at Fulham Palace before 
 ordination. One day the Rev. W. G. Woolsey, who knew some- 
 thing of the accused's . antecedents, called at the palace, and, 
 recognising Tyler, gave certain information to the Bishop. The 
 Bishop thereupon wrote a letter to the Rev. J. Parry, vicar of 
 Hammersmith, and despatched the accused himself with it. 
 When the missive reached Mr. Parry, he noticed that, while the 
 envelope bore the Bishopric arms, the handwriting was not that 
 of the Bishop, and he communicated with his lordship. The 
 accused was taxed with having tampered with the envelope, and 
 he made a lame explanation to the effect that he dropped the 
 original envelope in the mud and then put the note in a fresh 
 
LAW EVIDENCE. 231 
 
 one, which ho went Lack to the palace to fetch. There could be 
 no doubt, said Mr. Gill, that he broke the seal for the purpose 
 of ascertaining the contents of the letter. As a result of the 
 Bishop's inquiries, the accused was refused ordination, and he 
 was dismissed from the retreat. At a later date in November 
 last year the accused, in the name of Tyler, made an applica- 
 tion to the Archbishop of Canterbury to be ordained for the 
 Colonies, and in support of his application he sent a forged letter- 
 in the name of the Rev. H. M. Viret, vicar, " in charge of St. 
 Mark's Mission, West Kensington." That letter, which con- 
 tained a glowing tribute to the applicant, and the writer, after 
 saying " our only fear is whether it is not a mistake to let him 
 leave this country," observed " it is sad that so many obstacles 
 should be put in the way of one so earnest and with a true voca- 
 tion for the ministry." In addition to these applications by the 
 accused in the name of Tyler, there would be, concluded Mr. Gill, 
 several cases in which, using the name of Redstone, he had, by 
 means of similarly forged letters of recommendation, etc., made 
 the utmost endeavours to secure ordination. A warrant was 
 obtained, and the accused was arrested by Detective- sergeant 
 Carlin as he was about to move from Holland Road, Kensington, 
 where he carried on a printing and stationer's business. 
 
 Evidence was given by the Rev. A. J. Pitkin, curate in charge 
 of Aldbourne, Wiltshire, who described how, in answer to his 
 advertisement in the Guardian, Tyler came down to Aldbourne 
 and took the prayers at the morning and evening services. In 
 the evening he also preached the sermon, "an excellent sermon," 
 added Mr. Pitkin, smiling. He told him he had written to the 
 Bishop of the diocese (Salisbury) for the necessary permission to 
 act as locum tenens, and was waiting for a reply. The witness 
 replied that, in accordance with the usual custom, he should write 
 himself to the Bishop. He gave his name as the Rev. E. W. T. 
 Greenshield, and said he was in England on a holiday from 
 Canada. The witness gave him a cheque for 31s. 3d., which was 
 duly paid by his bank, endorsed " E. W. T. Greenshield. 1 ' He 
 did not see the prisoner again except once, at Reading Station, 
 one Sunday. 
 
 The Rev. Edgar William Tyler Greenshield stated that in 
 July and August, 1906, when the prisoner was at Aldbourne, he 
 (the witness) was in the Arctic regions, in Baffin's Land. 
 
 Mr. Gill. Do you know the prisoner ? 
 
 The witness. Yes, I have known him for a long time. 
 
 The Rev. William Grenville Boyd, chaplain to the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury since October, 1905, produced the correspondence 
 which took place between the accused and himself in regard to 
 the former's application for ordination, 
 
232 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 At this stage the magistrate decided to adjourn the hearing 
 for a week. 
 
 The prisoner. Can I have bail ? My brother and the Eev, 
 Mr. Greenshield, my nephew, will stand bail. 
 
 The prisoner's brother. Your Worship, this has been a mania 
 of my brother's since childhood. 
 
 The magistrate refused to grant bail. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 PUBLIC SPEECHES. 
 
 EXEKCISE No. 14. 
 
 LOED QUEZON ON THE TEUE IMPEEIALISM. 
 
 LORD CURZON of Kedleston, as president of the Birmingham 
 and Midland Institute, delivered an address in the Town Hall, 
 Birmingham, last night. He took for his subject "The True 
 Imperialism." 
 
 In the course of his address Lord Curzon said he did not 
 suggest that there was a false Imperialism, though it might be 
 that strange figures sometimes masqueraded under a disguise 
 to which they could lay no claim. He spoke of Empire in the 
 first place because he was a convinced and unconquerable 
 Imperialist, who by the accident of events had been called upon 
 to spend the whole of his working manhood in the study or the 
 service of Empire, and to whom it had come to be a secular 
 religion, embodying the most sacred duty of the present and 
 the brightest hope for the future. His second reason was this, 
 to what place could he come more likely to receive such a 
 message with an enlightened but businesslike comprehension 
 than here ? The citizens of no mean city, who with a genius 
 for industrial enterprise and a local patriotism that was almost 
 Hellenic in its ardour had raised their town to a unique place 
 among the great manufacturing capitals not merely of England, 
 but of the world, they had for the past 20 years identified 
 themselves with the politics of Empire. They had nourished 
 in their midst and had again and again sent out on his public 
 mission the greatest Imperial statesman of this generation the 
 man of whom, whether they agreed or disagreed with his 
 particular views, it would be stark prejudice to deny that 
 he was animated by a noble devotion to his country and an 
 
234 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 impassioned belief in its destinies. At a time when other places 
 and districts had fallen away they had stood fast to their 
 convictions, as he doubted not that when the opportunity 
 offered they would do again. Where, then, could he better 
 come than to Birmingham to attempt an analysis and demonstra- 
 tion of the faith that he believed to be equally in them and in 
 him ? From what platform so suitable as that Town Hall, 
 which was almost the central altar of the British democracy, 
 should he address his countrymen in the endeavour to show 
 them what it was that Empire meant, in what sense it was vital 
 to them, why it ought to be deep in their hearts and fervent, 
 though never boastful, on their tongue ? (Cheers.) 
 
 Proceeding to speak of the history or growth of the British 
 Empire, he said two theories had been much in vogue to explain 
 the facts. The first was the idea that the Empire had been 
 built up by a succession of wicked and unscrupulous men, that 
 Empire-makers were, as a rule, Commandment breakers, and 
 that Proconsuls a class to which he was so fortunate or un- 
 fortunate as to belong represented in general a peculiarly 
 dangerous type. Years ago, before Mr. John Morley had had 
 the opportunity of showing that he could deal with a great 
 Empire in the spirit of a great statesman, lie wrote a book in 
 which he spoke of Warren Hastings as "the great criminal" 
 and the foundation of British dominion in India as "a long 
 train of intrigue and crime." He did not know whether with 
 fuller knowledge Mr. Morley would hold these views now. He 
 hoped not. Anyhow, he believed them to be incapable of 
 historical demonstration. Some Empire-makers had been bad 
 and vicious men. By no stretch of imagination could Caesar 
 or Napoleon possibly be described as good men. But these 
 characteristics had not been confined to the making of Empires. 
 If they looked at the list of the men who had carved out the 
 British Empire, they would find that moral virtues, a spirit of 
 humanity, and an almost Puritanical fervour had been more 
 common qualities than those of the filibusterer or the bandit. 
 In India in particular, after a careful examination of the 
 evidence, he held that no substantial case could be made out 
 against either Clive or Warren Hastings, and that those who 
 had added most to our Empire there had been men with clean 
 hands arid a high moral purpose. The second theory, which he 
 believed to be equally fallacious, was summed up in the famous 
 phrase that the British Empire was acquired in a fit of absence 
 of mind, or in the more recent apophthegm that what was won 
 in a night might be lost in a day. It had needed many days 
 and nights, even in the widest acceptation of the terms, and the' 
 concentrated purpose of many minds to build the British 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 235 
 
 Empire. He would describe the Empire as the result not of 
 an accident or a series of accidents, but of an instinct that 
 ineradicable and divinely implanted impulse which had sent 
 the Englishman forth into the uttermost parts of the earth, and 
 made him there the parent of new societies and the architect of 
 unpremeditated creations. As a result of three centuries of 
 such effort we had the British Empire as it now existed. About 
 one-fourth of the world's surface and more than one-fourth of 
 the world's inhabitants were included in the British Dominion. 
 It was the largest Empire that now existed or that ever had 
 existed. It w r as also unique in character and organisation. But 
 numbers were not the main thing, except as indicating the scale 
 of importance and responsibility ; the test was not size, but the 
 work done, the good things accomplished, the bad things wiped 
 out, the general impress left upon the well-being of mankind. 
 Wherever the Empire had extended its borders, there misery 
 and oppression, anarchy and destitution, superstition and bigotry 
 had tended to disappear, and had been replaced by peace, justice, 
 prosperity, humanity, and freedom of thought, speech, and 
 action. There also had sprung, what he believed to be unique 
 in the history of Empires, a passion of loyalty and enthusiasm 
 which made the heart of the remotest British citizen thrill at 
 the thought of the destiny which he shared, and caused him to 
 revere a particular piece of coloured bunting as the symbol of 
 all that was noblest in his own nature and of best import for 
 the good of the world. When Home was threatened by the 
 barbarians she called to her standard her scattered legions from 
 far and near, and they frequently rebelled and mutinied on the 
 way. But there never rallied to her aid the offspring of her 
 own loins, as Australia and Canada poured their volunteer 
 manhood into South Africa. 
 
 Great Britain, however, was by no means alone in her career 
 of Empire. She started earlier upon the quest. But the 
 example had found faithful followers, and expansion seemed to 
 be the law of the modern vigorous and progressive State. How 
 futile it was to decry Empire, or to protest that virtue was only 
 found or was more readily found in small communities, when 
 they observed that other nations, alike the most autocratic and 
 the most republican, were following a similar bent. If Russian 
 expansion was capable of being regarded as Caesarism, and of 
 being identified with the Imperialism of material rather than 
 moral force, what was to be said of the Empire-making phase 
 upon which America, the most democratic and hitherto the 
 least Imperial of all great countries, had entered ? He believed 
 that even at this moment, if they were to poll the whole of the 
 United States, they would find a large and possibly an over- 
 
236 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 whelming majority opposed to any concrete policy of Imperial 
 expansion. But circumstances had proved too strong for the 
 Americans. The same impulse that carried them early in 
 the last century to the Rockies and the Pacific, now that the 
 continent had filled up, was driving them further afield. It had 
 compelled them to lay hands upon the Sarnoan and Sandwich 
 groups in the open Pacific, to assume charge of Puertorico, as 
 they would ultimately have to assume charge of Cuba, to clutch 
 at the Isthmus of Panama, and in the case of the Philippines to 
 stretch out their hands even to the shores of Asia. Political 
 parties might denounce, and the more thoughtful Americans 
 might deplore, the expansion. But he doubted if any President, 
 Democratic or Republican, would come to Congress with a 
 Message proposing to revoke it. If then, even in the case of a 
 nation where there was so little of the instinct of militarism or 
 aggrandisement as America, the country was found heading 
 straight towards an Imperial destiny, was not the conclusion 
 inevitable that she was merely obeying a general law, and that 
 Providence, once pronounced to be on the side of the big 
 battalions, was now found to be on the side of the big nations ? 
 In Europe the same lesson was taught by Germany, which had 
 repudiated Bismarck's warnings against over-seas adventure ; 
 by Italy, which had barely achieved national consolidation 
 before she started forth upon external expansion ; and by 
 France, the growth of whose colonial empire was only second to 
 that of our own. Japan had been swept into the same vortex 
 and could not resist the inexorable compulsion. If the doom 
 of small nations had not sounded, at least the day of great 
 nations seemed to have dawned. Amid these modern Empires 
 the British Empire stood distinguished not merely by its earlier 
 start and its superior extent, but also by its unique composition. 
 It was not a mere grouping of territorial acquisitions achieved 
 by the valour or good fortune of the race. It was not a cluster 
 of subordinate units grouped in deferential pose round an 
 Imperial centre. It was neither a military Empire, as was 
 that of Rome, nor a Federal Empire, as was that of modern 
 Germany. 
 
 He remembered reading a few years ago a remark made by 
 the present Prime Minister, that the object of his party was the 
 strengthening of the centre of the Empire, instead of wasting 
 our force upon its outskirts. The first part of the sentence was 
 sound enough. But there was a world of fallacy, and, as he 
 thought, of danger, in the second. It showed in a flash the 
 difference between the Imperial and the anti-Imperial stand- 
 point. To the Imperialist the outskirts of the Empire India, 
 Canada, New Zealand, Natal were not less important than 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 237 
 
 London, Liverpool, or Birmingham. We ought not to think 
 more of them, but we ought not to think less. If the Colonies 
 had taken a similar line we should have had no Colonial 
 contingents in South Africa. If they should henceforward begin 
 to think mainly or exclusively of themselves as the inhabitants 
 of these islands were invited in this passage to do, we should 
 very soon have no Colonies to think about at all. If there were 
 no outskirts there would be no Empire. As America had 
 gone so might Canada, Australia, and South Africa go. There 
 were plenty of influences at work to tempt or encourage the 
 severance. A sheaf of popular arguments could easily be found 
 for casting off the Indian burden. He asked what this country 
 would be without the Empire, and whether, when India had 
 gone and the great Colonies had gone, they supposed we could 
 stop there. Our ports and coaling stations, our fortresses and 
 dockyards, our Crown Colonies and protectorates, would go too. 
 For either they would be unnecessary as the toll gates and 
 barbicans of an Empire that had vanished, or they would be 
 taken by an enemy more powerful than ourselves. Then with a 
 Navy reduced, for there would be nothing but these shores for 
 it to defend, and with a small Army confined to home service, 
 what would be the fate of our home population ? England, 
 from having been the arbiter, would sink at the best into the 
 inglorious playground of the world. Our antiquities, our 
 natural beauties, our relics of a once mighty sovereignty, our 
 castles and cathedrals, our mansion-houses and parks, would 
 attract a crowd of wandering pilgrims. People would come to 
 see us just as they climbed the Acropolis at Athens or ascended 
 the waters of the Nile. A congested population, ministering to 
 our reduced wants, and unsustained by the enormous demand 
 from India and the Colonies, would lead a sordid existence, with 
 no natural outlet for its overflow, with no markets for its 
 manufactures beyond such as were wholly or partially barred 
 to it by hostile tariffs, with no aspiration but a narrow and 
 selfish materialism, and above all with no training for its man- 
 hood. Our emigrants, instead of proceeding to lands where 
 they could still remain British citizens and live and work under 
 the British flag, would be swallowed up in the whirlpool of 
 American cosmopolitanism, or would be converted into foreigners 
 and aliens. England would become a sort of glorified Belgium. 
 As for the priceless asset of the national character, without a 
 world to conquer or a duty to perform, it would rot of atrophy 
 and inanition. (Cheers.) 
 
 Great Empires before now had sunk to small States. It 
 might be that in the fulness of time the turn of England would 
 come too. But at least let it not be done of her own act, and in 
 
238 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 the plenitude of her powers. Whatever our politics, let us not 
 voluntarily allow our locks to be shorn. In Empire we had 
 found not merely the key to glory and wealth, but the call to 
 duty, and the means of service to mankind. Let us no more 
 forswear Empire than we would abjure our own souls. Such 
 being the manner in which Empire had been won and was now 
 held, in what spirit should it be administered or regarded ? The 
 answer to that question would give them the true Imperialism. 
 If they had an Empire they must have Imperialism, Imperialism 
 being the essence and spirit of Empire. An Empire could not 
 be maintained without Imperialism any more than a workshop 
 could be run without a knowledge of mechanics, or a picture 
 gallery without a sense of art. (Hear, hear.) He repudiated 
 the many caricatures which were put forward with such 
 suspicious alacrity by those who were enemies to Imperialism 
 because they were enemies to Empire itself. Sometimes they 
 were told that Imperialism was militarism, which he saw defined 
 in the dictionaries as an excess of the military spirit. He 
 confessed that to accuse us in this country of militarism, when 
 it was with the utmost difficulty that we obtained recruits for 
 our exceedingly limited Army, when the soldier's uniform, 
 instead of being regarded as it ought to be, as a source of 
 pride, seemed generally to be treated as if it were something to 
 be ashamed of and hidden away, when we were so absurdly 
 backward in military organisation that every fresh War 
 Minister sought to distinguish himself by inventing a new 
 military system (which commonly passed into oblivion along 
 with its author), and so deficient in military knowledge that we 
 went to war without maps of the country which we were called 
 upon to invade or defend, when it was notorious among foreign 
 nations that a British Government almost had to be kicked and 
 cuffed before it would consent to fight, and when, having gone 
 to war, we only came through, if we did, after a series of 
 deplorable fiascoes and blunders at the start he said that to 
 accuse such a people of being easily tempted into a policy of 
 military adventure or braggadocio was almost a joke. (Cheers.) 
 If, on the other hand, militarism were held to imply that upon 
 every nation was imposed the obligation of self-defence, and 
 that national independence did rest in the last resort upon the 
 possession of adequate force, then he wished that we were 
 rather more militarist than we were ; for he held compulsory 
 training to be of the essence of citizenship, and he thought that 
 our Empire would very likely some day break down unless it 
 were applied. There was no call to 'draw the sword from 
 the scabbard or to brandish it in the air. It was a common 
 saying that we held India by the sword, and in the last resort 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 239 
 
 every dominion must rest upon the sanction of force. But 
 when he went there as Viceroy he registered a vow that he at 
 least would never use the phrase, for it seemed to him that we 
 held India far more by moral force than by bayonets ; and in 
 seven years he was never unfaithful to his pledge. The Army 
 was strong in India, stronger than in any other part of the 
 Empire. But even there, unless we were foolish enough to 
 impair the supremacy of the civil authority, militarism could 
 not prevail. A variation of the same charge was the allegation 
 that Imperialism meant jingoism, which he took to be a 
 swaggering and aggressive attitude ; or Chauvinism, an image 
 for which we had to cross the Channel, and which he fancied 
 meant the sort of exaggerated national pride that found vent in 
 the war-whoops of the music-hall stage. But music-halls were 
 not the council chambers of statesmen, and Cabinet Ministers 
 were not, or were not supposed to be, comedians, and he doubted 
 if a public man could now be found in any country who would 
 conduct a policy in any such spirit. Even if there were, it would 
 not be in the ranks of Imperialists that he should expect to find 
 him. (Cheers.) No generalisation could be more historically 
 inexact than to say that Great Britain had been urged into an 
 Imperial career by national vanity or territorial greed. If our 
 Empire had advanced by leaps and bounds, it had commonly 
 been in spite of our Government and statesmen. There was 
 hardly an important acquisition from which we had not at some 
 time or other tried to recede. The parings of the British 
 Empire throughout the world i.e., the areas which it had at 
 one time held and had afterwards surrendered would make a 
 respectable -empire of themselves. He could not see how any 
 fair-minded student of history could peruse its pages without 
 realising that, however our Empire had grown great, it had 
 certainly not been from the passion of territorial cupidity or 
 from an appetite for dimensions. (Cheers.) 
 
 Among the false images of Imperialism which had been set 
 up by its enemies, there was one only against which he thought 
 that we ought to be on our guard. In a country so qualified as 
 ours by aptitude and experience for the pursuit of commerce there 
 was always a fear that empire might rest upon too material a 
 basis. Commercialism and materialism were dangers against 
 which the Imperialist required to be specially upon his guard. 
 The maxim that trade followed the flag suggested the planting 
 of the flag in order that it might be followed by trade. In his 
 view the reverse was much more historically correct namely, 
 that the flag followed the trade. (Cheers.) They had seen 
 how our Empire had been developed until it had attained its 
 present form, and that Imperialism was the spirit in which the 
 
240 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 problem of Empire was handled. That spirit involved both a 
 conviction, a policy, and a hope. The conviction was the firm 
 belief that the Empire represented no mere fortuitous concourse 
 of atoms which by a succession of accidents had been united 
 under the hegemony of the British Crown, but that it was a 
 preordained dispensation, intended to be a source of strength 
 and discipline to ourselves and of moral and material blessing 
 to others. It had been said that the first great Imperialist 
 was Oliver Cromwell. A long succession from Chatham and 
 Pitt to Beaconsfield, and Cromer and Chamberlain had handed 
 on the sacred torch. Each of these men had been firmly 
 convinced of the destiny of his country. The same belief shone 
 out from the speeches of another great Imperialist, Lord 
 Milner. An honourable pride in our inheritance, a belief that 
 it carried with it great obligations, and a resolve to retain it 
 intact were characteristics of the life work of all these men. 
 He believed these sentiments to be shared by the great majority 
 of the working classes of this Empire. He was not himself a 
 believer in Socialism, though there was much to attract in the 
 Socialist ideal. But even were he a Socialist, he would see no 
 reason why his ideas should not be set in the framework of an 
 Empire as well as in that of an industrial Republic. But it was 
 certain that, if the Empire of the future was to continue, it 
 must rest upon a democratic basis and must satisfy democratic 
 ideals. He declined altogether to believe that this was an 
 impossible aspiration. Whether democracies would possess the 
 sobriety and the patience, the breadth of view, and the tenacity 
 to maintain great Empires intact remained to be proved. That 
 democracies would have the sense and the insight to understand 
 Empire and to incorporate it in their political formulas he 
 entertained no doubt. 
 
 Imperialism, however, must give us more than a conviction. 
 In the case of the British Empire, at any rate, it would ill 
 justify itself unless it were to furnish us with a policy. What 
 that policy must be was clear. The Empire was still only in a 
 fluid and transitional formation ; it had yet to be welded into 
 a great World-State. The constituents were there ; the spirit 
 was there ; but the problems were still unsolved and the plan 
 had yet to be produced. We had so to work that the concentric 
 rings should continue to revolve round the central star, not 
 merely because it had hitherto been the law of their being, but 
 because it was their interest and their voluntary choice. In 
 the economy of the Imperial household we were dealing not 
 with children but with grown men. At our table were 
 seated not dependents or menials, but partners as free as 
 ourselves, and with aspirations not less ample or keen. That 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 241 
 
 they were bound to us by sentiment was a priceless asset ; to 
 throw it away would be a criminal blunder. This was the 
 colonial problem. The Indian problem was much more difficult, 
 for there we were dealing, not with young and ardent 
 democracies of our own blood, but with a society cast in a 
 conservative and rigid mould, divorced from our own by 
 religion, custom, and race, though here, too, a spirit of 
 nationality was moving on the face of the waters, and un- 
 suspecting forces were dimly struggling to light. It was 
 vain, however, to pretend that India could be granted self- 
 government on the colonial lines. It would mean ruin to 
 India and treason to our trust. The Empire could not apply 
 the same policy to the Colonies as to India ; but it could be 
 animated by the same spirit and it could pursue the same 
 end, which was continued and contented incorporation in the 
 Imperial union ; albeit, here again the limits of disruption 
 would be very different. Were the Colonies to break away 
 they would survive and ultimately flourish, but the Empire 
 would be weakened. Were India to be lost she herself would 
 reel back into chaos, and the British Empire, at any rate in 
 Asia, would perish. (Cheers.) As he had said, the policy of 
 Imperialism was confronted with many problems which it 
 must attempt to solve. They would keep it fully occupied 
 for generations to come. The mechanical problem i.e., the 
 problem of conquering distance was being rendered less 
 formidable every day by the astonishing development in 
 electricity and steam, although in one case, that of India, 
 the shrinkage that resulted cut both ways, bringing the two 
 countries physically nearer a condition which facilitated 
 communication, and therefore knowledge, between the two 
 but estranging the heart of the Englishman in India from his 
 work, a consequence which was in every way to be deplored. 
 The racial problem must always remain an anxious one, since 
 when excited it was capable of transcending all others in 
 explosive energy and importance. The political or adminis- 
 trative problem would also have to be faced. It was impossible 
 for the Empire to continue permanently to be governed by the 
 existing organisation. Some form of Imperial council, advisory 
 if no more, must sooner or later emerge. The defence problem 
 i.e., the question how the Empire was to divide the burden of 
 military and naval defence between its members and the tariff 
 problem, or the question whether the Empire could be made 
 more self-contained and self-sufficing in respect of its trade, 
 were still only in the preliminary stages of evolution. At least 
 a quarter of century would elapse before they were solved, if 
 then. Of one thing he was certain viz., that in proper hands 
 P.W. Q 
 
242 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 the Crown would become, if not more powerful at any rate more 
 indispensable and more important. He looked forward to the 
 day when the Sovereign would visit his dominions in person, 
 and hold his Court in Calcutta or Quebec. Nor could he 
 imagine any stronger cement of Empire than that its Govern- 
 ment and unity, as typified by the Sovereign, should from time 
 to time be incarnated in the allied States or dominions. r lhe 
 capital of the Empire would probably never leave London. 
 But there was no stationary necessity or obligation in the 
 Crown. (Cheers.) 
 
 He had sketched the tasks, the urgent and paramount tasks, 
 with which the Imperialism of the near future was charged. 
 That any other policy or any other political creed could 
 successfully solve them there was no reason to believe. Insular 
 Radicalism could not solve them ; cosmopolitanism could not ; 
 Socialism could not. To Imperialism alone could they look to 
 satisfy the needs and to hold together the framework of the 
 British Dominion. (Cheers.) But if Imperialism was to play 
 this part, let them be sure that it was animated by the supreme 
 idea, without which it was only as sounding brass and a tinkling 
 cymbal namely, the sense of sacrifice and the idea of duty. 
 Empire could only be achieved with satisfaction or maintained 
 with advantage provided it had a moral basis. To the people 
 of the mother State it must be a discipline, an inspiration, and 
 a faith. To the people of the circumference, it must be more 
 than a flag or a name, it must give them what they could 
 not otherwise or elsewhere enjoy ; not merely justice or order, 
 or material prosperity, but the sense of partnership in a great 
 idea, the consecrating influence of a lofty purpose. As to the 
 future, if he found any audience of his countrymen who were 
 plunged in doubt as to what it might bring forth, and who 
 wondered whether the handwriting might not already be 
 tracing its sentence on the wall of our Empire, as it had done 
 upon those of Babylon, and Nineveh, and Rome, he would 
 say to them, " Have no such craven fears. From the sordid 
 controversies and the sometimes depressing gloom of our insular 
 existence look forth, and, if the summons conies to you, go 
 forth, into the larger fields of Empire where duty still calls and 
 an illimitable horizon opens. Preserve with faithful attach- 
 ment the acquisition of our forefathers, not tabulating them with 
 vulgar pride, but accepting the legacy with reverence, and 
 holding no sacrifice too great to maintain it. Be sure that in 
 our national character, if we can keep it high and undefiled, 
 still lies our national strength. Count it no shame to acknow- 
 ledge our Imperial mission, but, on the contrary, the greatest 
 disgrace to be untrue to it, and even if God no longer thunders 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 243 
 
 from Sinai, and His oracles are sometimes reported dumb, cling 
 humbly but fervently to the belief that so long as we are 
 worthy we may still remain one of the instruments through 
 whom He chooses to speak to mankind." (Loud cheers.) 
 
 EXERCISE No. 15. 
 LORD CROMER ON FREE TRADE. 
 
 Lord Cromer was the guest at luncheon yesterday of the 
 Glasgow and West of Scotland Unionist Free Trade Club. 
 The, company, who numbered about 200, were presided over by 
 Mr. J. G. A. Baird, and included Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Sir 
 Hugh Shaw-Stewart, Sir Charles Bine Renshaw, Sir J. 
 Stirling-Maxwell, Mr. Cameron Corbett, M.P., Mr. Alex. 
 Cross, M.P., Mr. St. Loe Strachey, and Dr. Robert Gourlay 
 (chairman of the club). 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing " The Empire, the Union, and 
 Free Trade," said that we had been told to think Imperially 
 and invited to make sacrifices. That was all very well ; but 
 who were to make the sacrifices ? The man in comfortable 
 circumstances might, but the poor man could not. There was a 
 danger if the idea got into the heads of the electors that the 
 Empire was too great a burden for their shoulders. When 
 the people talked of consolidating the Empire they usually 
 thought of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, 
 but they never mentioned that part of the British dominions 
 which really constituted the Empire the great dependency of 
 India. (Cheers.) They heard very little about how India was 
 to be treated if the tariff reformers had their way. The second 
 head of the toast was the Union, the common rallying ground 
 for Unionists of all descriptions. (Cheers.) Upon the third 
 head the chairman remarked that their opponents were not 
 over civil in their fiscal controversy, and thought it might very 
 well be carried out without those amenities. Cobdenite was 
 used as a term of reproach, but nobody ever mentioned Sir 
 Robert Peel, the Minister who introduced free trade, as a name 
 for reproach. (Hear, hear.) It might be that they would incur 
 censure for holding that meeting and for endeavouring to 
 introduce a split into the Unionist party, but there was another 
 loyalty which was far above party loyalty, and that was loyalty 
 to the best interests of their country. (Cheers.) 
 
 Lord Cromer, in replying to the toast, said : Mr. Baird and 
 
244 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Gentlemen, A short time ago I was present at a meeting of the 
 Unionist Free Trade Club in London, on which occasion I had 
 to answer a toast similar to that with which the chairman 
 has done me the honour to couple my name. Subsequently, I 
 heard from many quarters that we were a politically insignificant 
 body, and that, unless we were ready to abandon one of our 
 most cherished principles, we could not hope to exercise any 
 influence on the opinions of our fellow-countrymen. What 
 are those principles ? They are twofold. In the first place, we 
 hold that there should be no tampering with the links which 
 bind together the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland. In the second place, we maintain that freedom of 
 trade should continue to be the basis of our fiscal policy. It 
 seems to be held by some Unionists that those who are unwilling 
 to cast to the winds the second of these two vital principles 
 should be ostracised from the Unionist party, although a 
 tendency, which we may welcome, has recently been evinced 
 to mitigate the severity of this sentence. Now ostracism is a 
 Greek word, and I have no great liking for the importation of 
 these strange foreign terms, which often clash with our ideas 
 of liberty, into British political discussions. Nevertheless, in 
 this particular case, an unconscious compliment is paid to free- 
 traders ; for according to no less an authority than Aristotle, 
 who may be assumed to have known something of the subject, 
 ostracism was a handy method adopted by the Athenians for 
 getting rid of some of the most eminent of their fellow-citizens. 
 According to this definition, therefore, Unionist free-traders, 
 though they may be insignificant, are at the same time eminent. 
 The two adjectives seem to me to clash somewhat with each 
 other. Well, gentlemen, in spite of the gulf of political insigni- 
 ficance which yawns before them, and in spite of the threat to 
 adopt drastic Athenian procedures against those who place 
 principles before party, I find not the least disposition to 
 abandon those principles on the part of those with whom I am 
 proud to be associated in London. On the contrary, unless I 
 am very much mistaken, a strong disposition exists to hold fast 
 to them. Does this same spirit animate the Unionist free- 
 traders in Glasgow? I hope and believe that your presence 
 here to-day shows that it does. (Cheers.) 
 
 Before going any further, I should like to say a few words in 
 answer to some of the criticisms always most friendly and 
 courteous criticisms which have been made upon the speech 
 which I delivered recently in London. I was criticised for 
 adhering to what some call an antiquated fiscal faith which, it is 
 alleged, has served its time. Well, I greatly prefer adherence 
 to a system of proved merit rather than rushing blindfold into 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 245 
 
 a radical change, the results of which not the wisest amongst us 
 can foretell. Amongst numerous other advantages, I believe 
 that the fiscal faith to which we hold, antiquated though it 
 may be, is a safeguard against the creation of those huge 
 trusts, which have done so much harm in America and which 
 are to a great extent the outcome of protection. Free trade, 
 moreover, has more especially benefited the poorest classes of 
 the community. Statistics of prices and wages show that a 
 labourer gets about 65 per cent., a factory operative 75 per cent., 
 and a skilled mechanic 90 per cent, more of the necessaries of 
 life than he did 50 years ago. Free trade has not, of course, 
 been the sole cause of this remarkable improvement, but it cannot 
 be doubted that it has been one of the principal contributory 
 causes. Then, again, I have been told that 1 have lived for 
 so long abroad that I have lost touch with British public 
 opinion. I daresay this is quite true. Certainly I find it very 
 difficult at times to differentiate between Liberals and 
 Conservatives, and still more difficult to define, with any 
 degree of precision, the political faith of either party. At 
 times, again, I am somewhat puzzled at the subtle distinctions 
 between protectionists and tariff reformers, and it may be that 
 my doubts and hesitations are shared by others who have not 
 lived for so long abroad as myself. But my bewilderment 
 reaches its climax when I endeavour to classify Socialists. They 
 crop up in the most strange places ; occasionally, which is 
 natural enough, on the extreme left of the Liberal party, and 
 again amongst ardent tariff reformers on the extreme right of 
 the Conservative party. There is, however, nothing really 
 surprising in this latter connection. Socialists and extreme 
 tariff reformers, who are really protectionists, meet in Australia 
 and elsewhere on the common ground that each entertain an 
 exaggerated belief in the power of the State to remedy economic 
 evils. 
 
 To return to the criticisms on my recent speech, I wish to say 
 that when speaking in London my observations bore chiefly 
 upon the changes which would result in our foreign relations if 
 our free-trade policy were abandoned. I cannot help thinking 
 that the best way of ascertaining the opinions which exist in 
 foreign parts is to live amongst foreigners. This is what I have 
 done for many years past. Speaking as a convinced Imperialist 
 to other Imperialists, and speaking also as one who has been a 
 good deal concerned in the execution of a policy of Imperialism, 
 I said that free trade was the most sound basis on which that 
 policy could rest ; that a return to protection or preference 
 would tend to stimulate whatever latent Anglophobia exists in 
 the world, and would thus probably lead to an increase in our 
 
246 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 naval and military expenditure. I adhere to every word of this 
 statement. Various answers have been made to my argument, 
 but I venture to think that none of them are adequate. In the 
 first place, I have been told that we may surely do what we like 
 in our own territory. I fully agree. Every man, if he chooses, 
 has a right to cut off his nose to spite his face ; but most wise 
 men forbear from executing this operation. In the second 
 place, I have been told that other nations have adopted a 
 protectionist policy without incurring any special animosity on 
 the part of their -neighbours. This also is quite true ; but 
 what other nation possesses an Empire like ours ? It is world- 
 wide. We boast that the sun never sets on the dominions of 
 the King of England. To find any case analogous to that of the 
 British Empire we must go back to the days of Ancient Rome. 
 I say, therefore, that we must adapt our policy to the special 
 circumstances in which we are placed. In the third place, I 
 have, as was to be anticipated, been told that we can defy 
 opposition. This is what I may call the familiar " Who's 
 afraid ?" argument. It appears to me, however, that there is a 
 very great distinction between a craven truckling to foreign 
 nations and adopting the attitude of the proverbial Irishman at 
 a fair, who goes about asking if anybody would like to tread on 
 the tail of his coat. I say that we want to maintain the peace, 
 if we can honourably do so, and that a free-trade policy 
 makes for peace, whereas a protectionist policy tends in the 
 opposite direction. (Cheers.) 
 
 There is one other criticism to which I should wish to allude 
 briefly. It has been stated that, although I may be a free- 
 trader in England, I approved of a protectionist policy in 
 Egypt. This is a purely personal argument. Had I been ever 
 so protectionist in Egypt I do not see that the fact would help 
 the tariff reformers much, although it might show that I was 
 guilty of inconsistency. But, in fact, although I do not say that 
 the present Egyptian practices as regards both Customs and 
 Excise duties are everything I could wish, the fiscal policy 
 adopted of recent years in Egypt, so far from bearing the 
 smallest resemblance to protection, has on all essential points 
 been based on free-trade principles. I will state the facts 
 briefly. At the commencement of the British occupation an 8 
 per cent, ad valorem Customs duty was imposed on all goods 
 coming into the country. Also, in all the towns, and even in many 
 of the principal villages, an octroi duty of 9 per cent, was 
 levied on local produce. The latter pressed far more hardly 
 on the population, and especially on the poorer classes, than 
 the Customs duty. It has been completely abolished. Moreover, 
 the 8 per cent. Customs duty has been reduced to 4 per cent, on 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 247 
 
 coal, timber, live stock, petroleum, and on some other articles. 
 I wish, moreover, to observe that whether the Customs duty in 
 Egypt is levied at 8 or 4 per cent., or at any other figure, it does 
 not in any way offend against free-trade principles. It is 
 imposed for strictly revenue purposes ; and I am not aware 
 that any free-trader objects to the imposition of Customs duties 
 for such purposes, although he may regret the necessity for 
 doing so. What free-traders object to is the imposition of 
 Custom duties for protective purposes. (Hear, hear.) Now, 
 the only important case which has occurred in Egypt where this 
 special issue was raised was in connection with the duty on 
 cotton goods. Until a few years ago, there were no cotton 
 factories in Egypt. When they were established, an Excise 
 duty, equivalent to the Customs duty, was put on the indigenous 
 manufacturers. Otherwise, local industry would have been 
 protected. This Excise duty, which is similar to that which 
 used to be levied on certain articles in the United Kingdom but 
 a few years ago, and which is now levied in India, was not 
 imposed in order to please Manchester, as is sometimes 
 alleged, but in order to prevent an artificial industry from 
 springing up, and in order to safeguard the Customs revenue of 
 Egypt. 
 
 I pass on to fresh ground. I do not think, in speaking to the 
 present company, that I need dwell on the well-known 
 arguments in support of a free -trade policy. I take it for 
 granted that we are all free-traders here, or, if we are tariff 
 reformers, we adopt that appellation in a somewhat different 
 sense from that in which it is generally used. I am a tariff 
 reformer. I should like to see the duty on sugar reduced. I 
 think that would be an excellent tariff reform Leaving aside, 
 therefore, these familiar points, I wish to say that the more one 
 reflects on the subject, the more does it appear that what lies at 
 the root of the whole matter is the question of public expendi- 
 ture. If free-traders once recognise what I take to be the main 
 article of the tariff reformers' faith namely, that it is absolutely 
 necessary to raise a large additional revenue, they may, it is 
 true, fall back on their second line of defence, and urge that the 
 revenue should not be raised by increasing indirect taxation. 
 But then, to be logical, they must indicate how the revenue 
 should be raised, and in dealing with this question it has to be 
 borne in mind that direct taxation is already objectionably 
 high. The main point, therefore, appears to me to be this Is 
 the additional revenue really required? And this brings me 
 naturally to the consideration of another point namely, Is a 
 very costly non-contributory old-age pension scheme desirable 
 and justifiable ? On this point, you have lately had the 
 
248 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 good fortune in Glasgow to hear the opinions of an 
 ex-Minister, and a very successful ex-Minister, under whom 
 it was my privilege to serve for many years. What did 
 Lord Lansdowne say on this subject ? He said that 
 the universal application of a non-contributory old-age 
 pension scheme was a policy which " spelt disaster," both on 
 account of its cost and on account of the demoralisation which 
 it would bring to all concerned. As to the demoralisation, 
 there cannot, in my opinion, be a shadow of a doubt. It would 
 lead me too far afield were I now to attempt to deal with this 
 important question at any length ; but I may say that I 
 have passed the greater part of my life in countries where the 
 State is expected to do everything, and where the people do 
 very little for themselves. I have had good opportunities of 
 judging of the apathy, the helplessness, and, to use Lord Lans- 
 downe's own expressive phrase, the demoralisation produced by 
 this system. It is both with surprise and keen regret that I find, 
 on my return to political life in this country, an endeavour 
 being made to foster the growth of the noxious plant which for 
 years past I and many others with me have been doing our 
 utmost to eradicate in other countries. Self-help has, up to the 
 present time, been the mainstay of our national character. Let 
 us, in the name of commonsense, pause before we throw this 
 priceless jewel away. I find it very difficult to believe that the 
 best and most intelligent amongst the working men of this 
 country, when they come to reflect on the matter, will not wish 
 that they and their families should be independent of assistance 
 afforded to them by the general body of taxpayers. (Cheers.) 
 As to expenditure, a very competent authority has been kind 
 enough to furnish me with figures showing the net increase in 
 the revenue raised from taxation, both Imperial and local, 
 during the last ten years. It comes to rather over 60 millions 
 that is to say, for ten years the average increase in the burden 
 laid on the people of this country has been no less than six 
 millions annually. It is now apparently proposed to add a very 
 large sum to provide for a universal old-age pension scheme on 
 a non-contributory basis. There appears, so far as we yet 
 know, to be no intention of providing the whole of the huge 
 amount which will be necessary at once ; but a beginning is to 
 be made. Now, from the point of view of a financier, I always 
 mistrust these beginnings. In 1853 one of the greatest financiers 
 of the age, Mr. Gladstone, made a beginning to get rid of the 
 income-tax. A very elaborate and what, at the time, appeared 
 to be a very reasonable plan was conceived to get rid of the tax 
 in seven years. We know what happened. The Crimean War 
 and a number of other unforeseen events occurred, with the 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 249 
 
 result that the scheme came to nothing. And this will always, 
 probably, occur with any large financial plan of wide scope 
 which is based upon a future which no one can, in the smallest 
 degree, foretell. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 It is also to be remembered that old-age pensions will 
 not be the only fresh claim upon the public purse. There 
 is education a class of expenditure which I do not at 
 all grudge, provided the money is forthcoming without 
 additional taxation, and provided it is well spent. Then 
 there is the question of maintaining the efficiency of the 
 Army and Navy. We may, indeed, indulge in a pious hope 
 that public opinion on the Continent will eventually force 
 rulers to abandon the ruinous race in armaments in which they 
 are now engaged ; but until this Utopia has been realised and 
 there does not seem much prosp'ect of its speedy realisation we 
 certainly cannot afford to lag behind. The time may arrive 
 when we shall have to fight for our national existence. It 
 would be madness in any Government not to recognise this 
 unquestionable fact and to be prepared for it. I ask, Where is 
 all this money to come from ? No country can stand increasing 
 its public expenditure at the rate which it has been increased of 
 late years in the United Kingdom, and even to enhance 
 the rate of progression, without crippling its national resources 
 and impeding its own development. We are, indeed, some- 
 times told that any fresh taxes which may be imposed will not 
 bear upon the working man. Now, every one who has studied 
 questions of this sort knows that nothing is more difficult 
 than to work out beforehand the incidence of a new tax, and 
 particularly of an indirect tax. I shall be very much surprised 
 if, in whatsoever form new taxation is imposed, it does not, in 
 some form or another, hit the working man. Notably, there 
 cannot be a greater error than to suppose that the working 
 man is never touched by imposing a duty on an article which 
 he does not consume. I shall be still more surprised if a non- 
 contributory old-age pension scheme, however skilfully the 
 details may be arranged, does not result in the thrifty being 
 made to pay for those who are unthrifty, and the industrious 
 having to support the idle. (Cheers.) Then, again, we are told 
 by those who wish to broaden the basis of taxation that the net 
 should be spread very wide, and that a small tax should be 
 imposed on a large number of articles. In dealing with this 
 subject, which in past days has frequently been discussed, it 
 has to be remembered that no system of taxation which the 
 mind of man has yet devised is free from objections of one sort 
 or another. If few taxes are imposed, their pressure is, almost 
 of necessity, unequal and uncertain. If the State resorts to the 
 
250 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 imposition of a large number of small taxes, the cost of collec- 
 tion is greatly increased, owing to the numerous official staff 
 whose services will be required ; very complex legislation of one 
 sort or another becomes necessary, and the system necessarily 
 brings in its train a deal of vexatious interference with individual 
 freedom to which the inhabitants of this country are unaccus- 
 tomed, and which they are specially prone to resent. A French 
 Finance Minister once said that the art of taxation consisted in 
 plucking the goose so as to get the largest possible amount of 
 feathers with a minimum amount of squealing. Our present 
 Customs system, although on some points it may be justly open 
 to criticism, appears to meet this practical requirement as well as, 
 and perhaps better than, any other which fallible human beings 
 have as yet devised. It has worked well for many years. 
 Unless more cogent reasons than we have yet heard can be 
 advanced for effecting a radical change, we had better leave its 
 main principles alone. Beware, therefore, I say, of this new- 
 born and ill-advised enthusiasm for fresh taxation. Like a 
 depraved appetite, it will grow with the food which nourishes 
 it. (Cheers.) In past days a good deal used to be said of what 
 was called the "ignorant impatience of taxation." I most 
 earnestly hope that the attempt, which is now apparently being 
 made, to stimulate an unnatural impatience of taxes because 
 there are not enough of them, will prove unsuccessful. 
 
 Again, we are often told that it is no use to lay a policy of 
 pure negations before the electors of this country. We must 
 have some positive proposals to submit to them. Something, it is 
 said, must be done. That, I venture to think, is a very dangerous 
 frame of mind for a responsible politician ; for if he once recognises 
 that something has to be done, without having a clear idea of 
 what should be done, he will not improbably end in doing a 
 good many things which he will afterwards wish had been left 
 undone. I speak under some disadvantage on this subject, for 
 I do not profess to be versed in the science of electoral 
 manipulation. Nevertheless, I would ask, Is it not a positive 
 policy to provide for our national defence by means which will 
 not involve a risk of killing the goose with the golden egg, by 
 the imposition of fresh taxes ? Is it not a positive policy to 
 enforce economy, and to see that we get true value for the 
 money spent on our Army, our Navy, our educational system, 
 and other branches of the public service ? Is it not a positive 
 policy to endeavour to reduce taxation and to leave the money 
 which would otherwise pour into the Treasury, to fructify in 
 the pockets of the people ? Is it not a positive policy to take 
 up some of the many social and national questions which may 
 be solved without incurring enormous additional expenditure, 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 251 
 
 such, for instance, as tbe question of local taxation, which loudly 
 calls for treatment ? Is it not a positive policy to take up 
 seriously the question of modifying the composition of the 
 Upper Chamber ? Is it not a positive policy to ask for time to 
 reflect on radical changes and to study their probable effect, 
 instead of rushing helter-skelter we know not whither ? It 
 seems to me that this is not only a positive, but a very wise 
 policy. Such a policy, I venture to assert, would be regarded 
 with much greater equanimity, not only by free-traders, but by 
 all the most intelligent classes of this country, than one which 
 involves frequent attempts to pull up our fiscal and constitu- 
 tional plants by the roots, to see how they are growing ; and 
 such is the policy which, I trust, Unionist free-traders, whether 
 they are to be treated as outcasts or allies, will do their utmost 
 to support, both in Glasgow and elsewhere. (Cheers.) Finally, 
 let me beg the Unionist free-traders not to be discouraged. I 
 cannot help thinking that the views which they hold are shared 
 by a much larger body of their countrymen than would appear 
 at first sight through the thick mist which has been created 
 by the careful manipulation of electoral agencies. Do not let 
 us reject compromise if it is offered to us on fair terms, but let 
 us hold fast to our essential principles. Those principles are 
 sound, and their soundness will, I believe, become more than 
 ever apparent, if ever an attempt is made to give practical 
 effect to the system now advocated by the tariff reformers, and 
 more especially by the extremists among them. (Cheers.) It 
 will then be found that the feet of the idol which they call on 
 their countrymen to worship are made of clay. Therefore, I say to 
 any weak-kneed brethren who are inclined to succumb to 
 pressure of the Athenian type, to which I alluded at the 
 commencement of my remarks, courage, and again, courage. 
 (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. St. Loe Strachey, in proposing the toast of " The Club," 
 said that free trade was not a bloodless scientific doctrine, a 
 mere affair of logic and statistics. It was the enemy of injustice 
 and monopoly, and secured to the poor man the fullest 
 remuneration of his toil. The arguments against protection 
 might be condensed into one word k ' waste." Traced to their 
 necessary consequences, the results of any of the schemes now 
 urged upon us involved waste in some form or other. We need 
 not fear the competition of Germany for the command of the 
 sea, even if we were forced to build whole navies of Dread- 
 noughts, provided we conserved our economic energies by free 
 trade, while their opponents wasted theirs by protection. 
 
252 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 16. 
 MR. CHURCHILL ON AFRICAN AFFAIRS. 
 
 Mr. Churchill, M.P., was welcomed by the members of the 
 National Liberal Club on his return to England at a dinner 
 given at the club on Saturday evening. Lord Carrington, 
 president of the club, was in the chair, and there were about 
 250 guests, among those present being Dr. Macnamara, M.P., 
 Sir H. Cotton, M.P., Sir G. Newnes, M.P., Sir H. Regnart, Mr. 
 G. H. Radford, M.P., Mr. Berridge, M.P., Mr. S. Collins, M.P., 
 Mr. C. D. Rose, M.P., Mr. G. A. Hardy, M.P., Mr. Phipson 
 Beale, K.C., M.P., Captain the Hon. FitzRoy Hemphill, and Mr. 
 Dudley Ward, M.P., Dr. Ginsburg, Mr. R. Steven, and Mr. 
 Donald Murray, secretary. 
 
 The Chairman, before calling on Captain FitzRoy Hemphill 
 to propose the toast of the evening, referred to the death of the 
 Attorney -General. He said it was as impossible to over- 
 estimate the loss the Liberal party had sustained in the sad 
 death of Sir John Lawson Walton, the Attorney-General, as 
 it was to voice the sorrow and regret they all felt at his 
 untimely death, and their sympathy with the dear ones he had 
 left behind. He felt that he was interpreting the thoughts 
 of every gentleman in that room when he so spoke of this 
 sad occurrence. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Captain Hemphill proposed the toast of " Our Guest," which 
 was received with the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. Churchill, in responding, also referred in sympathetic 
 words to the death of the Attorney -General, and said that he 
 could not but feel that it would have been better if their 
 meeting had been on some other night than that. As his 
 colleague in the House of Commons, he would like to say how 
 often, as one of the younger members of the Government, 
 having to deal sometimes at short notice with difficult legal and 
 constitutional questions arising out of South African politics, 
 he had referred with confidence to the Attorney-General's 
 advice, and he had always found him ready, in spite of the 
 onerous and arduous duties of his office, to give him that advice 
 in the most generous manner. The Attorney-General would 
 be greatly missed by his colleagues, and he thought his loss 
 would be felt by the members of the Conservative party in the 
 House of Commons who had always found him a courteous 
 antagonist. He was quite sure, also, that there were many 
 humble people in Leeds who would feel that they had lost a 
 friend in their political relationships. (Hear, hear.) 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 253 
 
 Proceeding, Mr. Churchill said that the invitation they had 
 sent to him reached him on the White Nile and gave him 
 the most keen and lively pleasure. He was very grateful to 
 the National Liberal Club, which had always been very kind 
 to him. He remembered that almost as soon as he had left 
 the Conservative party, almost as soon as he had been driven 
 out of that party (cheers) the members of that club invited 
 him to a banquet and received him in the frankest and most 
 cordial manner possible, giving him, at a moment when he 
 greatly needed it, support, encouragement, and help, and 
 enabling him to join the Liberal party with some dignity. Their 
 whole-hearted welcome did a good deal to relieve the 
 reproach and suspicion which always attached, and he thought 
 in many cases rightly attached, to political change. He was 
 glad to think that, now that he had been two years in the 
 collar as a Liberal Minister and as a member of the present 
 Government, nothing had occurred to induce them to regret 
 the countenance and the welcome which they then gave him. 
 (Cheers.) It was, no doubt, a disadvantage to exchange the 
 salubrious and cool breezes of Uganda for the hot, exhausting 
 atmosphere of the House of Commons. It was a disadvantage 
 to come from the calm solemnity of the Great Lakes to the 
 storm in a teacup of a Devonshire election. (Laughter.) But in 
 spite of those contrasts, he was very glad to be safe home again, 
 to find himself once again among his friends and comrades of 
 the Liberal party ; and to come again into the fighting line of 
 controversial politics. He came back in the best of health 
 (cheers) and, as he frankly said, with every disposition, which 
 he thought most of them shared, to force the fighting up to the 
 closet possible terms. (Cheers.) He believed that the Session 
 to which he had come back held out to their party many 
 cheering prospects. He saw Liberal principles pervading the 
 whole administration of the British Empire, steadily making 
 their way to the most remote bounds of our administrative 
 organisation. He saw even their opponents forced to talk the 
 language of the Liberal party and to turn their attention to 
 those social problems which they had sedulously pressed upon 
 them. Before the Unionist party got into power again they 
 would have to win the English democracy with plans and 
 positive proposals which would actually benefit them in their 
 daily lives. 
 
 He did not think the Government had anything to regret since 
 they took office. He saw each year large landmarks of progress 
 being erected. In 1906 they accorded a charter to the 
 trade unions of Great Britain those great social bulwarks 
 which were an indispensable counterpoise and natural corrective 
 
254 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 of a high competitive system. They accorded to them a charter 
 which would be the bedrock of industrial arrangements for the 
 next 20 years. In 1907 they set up Parliaments in the 
 Transvaal and the Orange River Colony, the erection of which 
 had meant that Boer and Briton had at last laid aside their long 
 quarrel and set to work to develop their common country under 
 the shelter of the Union Jack. (Cheers.) What were they 
 going to do in 1908 ? He thought if they could fulfil that old 
 pledge made by those for whom they had no responsibility, if 
 they could do something to secure the closing days of the 
 hard-working, hard-pressed men in our country by establishing 
 some system of old-age pensions, which he believed would 
 stimulate and not destroy the thrift and self-respect without 
 which humanity would lose its driving power, the year 1 908 
 would not be empty, would not have been barrenly expended. 
 (Cheers.) And if, in 1909, they could complete the series of 
 measures affecting the land by a proper system of taxation of 
 the values of urban properties according to the advantages 
 reaped by their possessors from no exertions of their own, and 
 if in 1910 they could submit to the country their proposals for 
 curbing once and for all the arbitrary veto of the House of 
 Lords (cheers) in such a manner as to secure the reasonable, 
 but effective supremacy of the representative Chamber without 
 breaking the golden thread of English history and without 
 departing from the level road of constitutional evolution, and if, 
 all the time, they were able to preserve free trade against the 
 menacing assaults of ignorance and claptrap (cheers) then, he 
 thought, they would be found to have gained the approbation 
 of their fellow-countrymen, and even if they had not gained it 
 he was quite sure they would have done one or two big things 
 which would stand in need of no approbation from any quarter. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 Proceeding to speak of his recent journey, Mr. Churchill said it 
 was rather a doubtful attempt of an Under- Secretary to visit 
 the countries beyond the seas from which he had just returned. 
 There were precedents, but they were not numerous, and there 
 was criticism, and it was not always friendly. He ventured, 
 however, to think that it was a matter of importance, 
 particularly in the administration of the Colonial Office, that 
 those who were responsible for taking a share, however small, 
 in the large decisions of policy should have first-hand informa- 
 tion, should have, at any rate in regard to some of the countries, 
 a realisation of the values and the proportions of the issues 
 with which they had to deal. (Hear, hear.) There was another 
 reason. Parties came and went, but we were all working for 
 great ends, we were all trying to build up a great nation 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 255 
 
 possessed of a great estate, and he thought it important that 
 those who, in distant countries, were called upon to work 
 hard and live their lives in bad climates, often under conditions 
 of great difficulty and often of dulness and monotony, should 
 feel that the tremendous transference which occurred in 
 January, 1906, meant, indeed, a great change in the point of 
 view from which the British Empire was administered ; but it 
 did not mean that there was any lack of sympathy, of interest, 
 or of zeal to comprehend and study the problems and the needs 
 of the large possessions of the Crown beyond the seas. (Cheers.) 
 If they asked him what was the prevailing, the predominant 
 impression of his journey, he would say frankly that it was one 
 of astonishment. It was not the first time he had travelled 
 abroad. He had had an opportunity of examining Africa from 
 both ends, from the Sudan and from the south, and he had 
 travelled widely in India ; but he confessed that he had never 
 seen countries so fertile and so beautiful, outside Europe, as 
 those through which he had travelled on the journey from 
 which they welcomed him home. There were parts of the East 
 African Protectorate which, in their beauty, in the coolness of 
 the air, in the richness of the soil, in their verdure, in the 
 abundance of running water, in their fertility, unquestionably 
 surpassed any of the countries which he had mentioned, and 
 challenged comparison with the fairest regions in England, 
 France, or Italy. He had seen in Uganda a country which, 
 from end to end, was a garden inexhaustible, irrepressible, and 
 exuberant fertility upon every side and he could not doubt 
 that that extraordinary system of lakes and waterways which 
 was to be seen on the map of Africa must one day, as a centre 
 of tropical production, play a most important part in the 
 economic development of the whole world. He could not tell 
 them with what pleasure and with what interest he had moved 
 through these wide and comparatively unknown regions, or 
 with what feelings, almost of awe, he was able to follow the 
 Nile from the point where it flowed, over the rim of the 
 Victoria Nyanza, to where nearly 3000 miles away it supported 
 the daily life of the millions who live in Egypt. (Cheers.) 
 
 There was a reverse to the medal. The fact that the air was 
 cool in East Africa ought not to lead one to forget that one was 
 on the Equator. The direct ray of the sun struck down on the 
 head of man and beast, producing a sensible effect on all it 
 touched. The sensation that the air was buoyant and bracing 
 did not alter the fact that an altitude of five, six, or seven 
 thousand feet was a very unusual one for a European to live at ; 
 and the beauty of the landscape could never remove the savage 
 beasts, noxious insects, and dangerous diseases which confronted 
 
256 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 the settler or the pioneer. It would be a mistake to attempt 
 by artificial means to augment emigration to these countries. 
 The best way to allow their populations to develop was to 
 make a success of the people who were there already, and to 
 let the success of these people encourage others naturally and 
 economically to follow their example and imitate their fortunes. 
 (Cheers.) It was not proved that the white man could live for 
 ten or twelve years even in the best parts of Equatorial Africa 
 without some nervous or physical degeneration : still less was 
 it proved that he could rear children and maintain his species 
 for several generations without sensible deterioration ; and until 
 that was proved, the destiny, the ultimate form of develop- 
 ment he did not say the value, for that was beyond dispute 
 of these countries must remain a matter of considerable 
 uncertainty. Still, many of the difficulties now pressing upon 
 those who lived in that land would be removed by the continued 
 application of modern science and by the continued develop- 
 ment of communications and civilised apparatus generally. 
 (Hear, hear.) 
 
 The development of the country should be persevered in 
 without flagging. From a mere financial point of view we 
 ought not to waste our money on a concern we were not going 
 to make a success of. The sums we spent on our African 
 possessions and protectorates through grants in aid were and 
 would continue to be large until they were raised to an 
 economic level. Many of these possessions, in a short time, 
 would be self-supporting and would aid in the development of 
 the countries immediately around them. But he said frankly 
 that there would need to be capital expended, especially on 
 the essential communications of the country, before we should 
 be relieved of the unpleasant necessity of making these 
 provisions in our annual Budgets. We must bear in mind 
 about these protectorates on the east and west side of Africa, 
 which we had acquired with so little struggle or effort, that 
 they would increasingly supply the working population of this 
 country with the raw materials so indispensable to their great 
 industries. Cotton, rubber, fibre, hemp, and many other 
 commodities would come in in an increasing stream. In 
 regard to cotton especially, he believed that our dependence 
 on a single source of supply had in many cases enabled 
 unhealthy speculation to force up the price of raw material to 
 an excessive level and to levy a heavy toll on the industries of 
 the hardworking population in the great Palatinate of Lancaster. 
 But the most important reason which he submitted to all 
 Liberals for not relaxing our efforts in the countries for which 
 we were responsible was the interest of the native races who 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 257 
 
 dwelt there. From time to time in the administration of large 
 affairs detached incidents occurred which everybody regretted 
 and which scarcely anybody defended ; but he was most 
 pleasantly impressed with the manner in which a great number 
 of our civil and military officers whom he met out there 
 construed their duty towards the native populations among 
 whom they lived. He found them resolved to protect these 
 populations against the mere exploiter and the speculator and 
 those who only wished to use them for some financial 
 advantage. (Cheers.) It would be an evil day for the popula- 
 tions of East Africa and of Uganda if they were handed over 
 from the careful and disinterested control of British Imperial 
 officials to the hard self-interest of some small local community. 
 (Hear, hear.) 
 
 The most attractive and the most interesting spectacle which 
 he witnessed was the native State of Uganda. Mr. Hemphill' 
 had referred to peoples whom it was difficult to supply with 
 gloves until they had been provided with other even more 
 indispensable articles of sartorial adornment. (A laugh.) No 
 greater contrast could be experienced than the spectacle of 
 Uganda after one travelled slowly through the East African 
 Protectorate for hundreds of miles, meeting native savages 
 whose method of showing you honour was to paint their skins 
 in every colour under the sun, and deck their heads with 
 feathers and their bodies with shells, and dance to a monotonous 
 hopping dirge around the chair in which the visitor took his 
 seat. (Laughter.) Once in Uganda you went into another 
 world. You found there a completely established polity a 
 State with every one in his place and a place for every one. 
 You found clothed, cultivated, educated natives. You found 
 200,000 who could read and write, a very great number who 
 had embraced the Christian faith sincerely and had abandoned 
 polygamy in consequence of their conversion. You found, in 
 short, in Uganda almost everything which went to vindicate 
 the ideal which the negrophile had so often held up before the 
 British public and before the House of Commons, and in regard 
 to which he had so often in other places been disappointed by 
 the hard logic of facts and the disappointing trend of concrete 
 and material events. We owed a great deal in Uganda to the 
 development, on, he thought, an unequal scale, of missionary 
 enterprise. (Cheers.) In some other parts of the British 
 Empire he had found the official classes distrustful of 
 missionary enterprise. In Uganda he found them very 
 grateful. Devoted Christian men of different Churches but 
 of a common charity had laboured earnestly and strenuously, 
 year in, year out, to raise the moral and spiritual conceptions 
 P.W. R 
 
258 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 of one of the most intelligent races in the whole of the African 
 continent, and they had succeeded undoubtedly in introducing 
 a character of progress and decorum into the life of Uganda 
 which made that State one of the most interesting of those for 
 which the British public had ever become directly or indirectly 
 responsible. (Cheers.) 
 
 It was a very sad thing that this race, which had made such 
 rapid progress and which showed itself so susceptible of assimilat- 
 ing and so willing to assimilate the good things we had it in 
 our power to teach, should have been preyed upon, at a time 
 which synchronised with our arrival in the country, by so 
 terrible a scourge as sleeping sickness. He hoped most 
 earnestly that the administrative measures which had been 
 taken would enable us to reduce the mortality, or at any rate to 
 check the spread of that fell disease. In protecting a race so 
 amiable and so capable of progress from this terrible destruction 
 science and civilisation had a mission to fulfil, which no man, 
 whatever view he took of politics, could possibly challenge or 
 impugn. (Cheers.) 
 
 One other subject on which he would touch was one of 
 gravity and delicacy. They had all been concerned at the 
 position and the situation of the British Indians in South 
 Africa. It was possible that there would be a debate on that 
 subject when Parliament assembled, and it would only be 
 respectful to reserve the full argument which he wished to use 
 until he was called upon to give it from his place in the House 
 of Commons. All he would say that night was that, while he 
 yielded to no man in his admiration for the Indian Empire and 
 in his respect for the people of Hindustan, he could not himself 
 dispute the right of General Botha's Government in the 
 Transvaal to make what arrangements they might think 
 necessary to the welfare of their own people in respect to 
 immigration from Asia. (Cheers.) He could not dispute 
 their right any more than he could dispute the right of the 
 people of Australia. It was entirely within the authority 
 deliberately conceded to them by this House of Commons, from 
 which such great advantages had flowed in other ways, which 
 they all recognised and for which they were all thankful. He 
 hoped that in any discussion which might take place before 
 Parliament assembled, or in that which took place in the House 
 of Commons, on a subject upon which the white population of 
 South Africa were absolutely united and which affected their 
 most vital and intimate interests, there would be an honest 
 attempt made by those who took part to grasp the colonists' 
 point of view, to understand their difficulties, and above all to 
 avoid the use of harsh or iptemperate language, which would 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 259 
 
 only have the effect of weakening that moderating and con- 
 ciliatory influence which the Colonial Office would not cease to 
 exert by every one of the various channels open to it. (Cheers.) 
 The approach of this difficulty had not been unexpected. There 
 were some present who would remember that he told his right 
 hon. friend Sir C. Dilke, when he brought a deputation to him 
 before he started on his travels, that he would make it a matter 
 particularly to be considered whether the Equatorial Pro- 
 tectorates of Africa could not in some manner, or in some 
 degree, be made to supply a compensating field for the 
 colonising enterprise of our British subjects in India. (Hear, 
 hear.) After all, the East African Protectorate and Uganda 
 were the countries nearest to India. They were opposite to 
 India. The Uganda railway was built by Indian labour. Sikh 
 soldiers at present maintained the authority of the Crown 
 throughout Uganda. (Cheers.) Indian traders had been for 
 generations intimately associated with the whole development 
 of East African territory, and were at this moment indispensable 
 to the cheap and convenient development of trade and of 
 communication throughout very large areas indeed. The 
 Government welcomed their entry into the country. Their 
 rights were fully safeguarded, and official employment in 
 many cases of a responsible character had been, and would 
 continue to be, open to Indians of intelligence and of praise- 
 worthy character. In view, however, of the fact, which every 
 one must recognise, that the two races, Asiatic and European, 
 did not mix well on the even terms of trade competition and 
 social life, and in view of the strong feeling which was 
 expressed vehemently to him and to others by white settlers 
 who had already arrived in the country, it would be our duty 
 to reserve certain areas where the coolness of the air and 
 the elevation of the land made life particularly suitable for the 
 British and European settlers. We were also bound to consider 
 the rights of the aboriginal natives, who were the first possessors 
 of the country and who had sometimes been injuriously affected 
 by Indian influences which had reached them from the other 
 side of the water. But when all that had been said and disposed 
 of there was room enough in those splendid lands for all. 
 There were enormous areas of fertile and beautiful country in 
 which Asiatics could live and thrive and multiply, and which in 
 a very short time could be opened, if they were not already 
 opened, to the enterprise of colonists from India. If that policy 
 could be carried out, and in proportion as it was given effect 
 to, we should witness in the circle of the British Empire the 
 arrival, not of a daughter State, but of a granddaughter State, 
 a State which was the outcome of a dependency, and we should 
 
260 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 by that means relieve the tension which existed in South Africa, 
 and remove the misunderstandings which, he feared, might 
 have been growing in our Indian Empire, by affording the 
 necessary and natural outlet for the colonising genius and the 
 commercial enterprise of the native of India. (Cheers.) 
 
 In conclusion, Mr. Churchill said he trusted that they would 
 not think, because he had been talking of departmental affairs 
 that he wished to divert the attention of the British electorate 
 from the grave problems of social reforms which confronted 
 them at home. A just sense of proportion would easily convince 
 any one who thought or cared to think that the fame and pro- 
 sperity of our people could be won and preserved only by main- 
 taining the spirit and stamina of those who dwelt here in our 
 own islands. To preserve the British Empire, to gild it with 
 the rays of true glory, there must be an Imperial people. The 
 burden could never be borne on the shoulders of stunted 
 millions crowded into the slums of cities, trampled into the 
 slush of streets. But all legitimate interests were in harmony, 
 and a Liberal Government would be actually stronger for the 
 purposes of social reform if it showed itself alive to the tips of 
 its fingers. To command the confidence of the varied and 
 powerful forces which formed and constituted British public 
 opinion it was necessary that an Administration should show 
 itself capable of wisdom and constructive energy in every one 
 of the immense departments of the State. Liberalism com- 
 prised two ideas sympathy and hope. To this Radicalism 
 added one word "thorough." Guided by those three, they 
 might advance with courage to the realisation of a British 
 Empire which would not be the hobby of the leisured classes, or 
 a weapon of party warfare, or the profitable occupation of a 
 few, but a field of action and responsibility in which every 
 citizen might find opportunities of serving great causes, and 
 might sometimes feel that he had served them well. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
 EXERCISE No. 17. 
 STATE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 By the consent of all those who have witnessed every State 
 procession from Buckingham Palace since King Edward, 
 reviving the custom of the earlier years of his great mother and 
 a practice of preceding monarchs also, opened the first Parlia- 
 ment of his reign in person, the open air ceremonial of yesterday 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 261 
 
 was incomparably the most successful of its kind that has yet 
 been seen. Moreover, this was the case not only when the 
 procession was on its outward way, but when it returned also ; 
 and because this was so because, although the outdoor pageant 
 is but the preliminary or prelude to the more imposing 
 ceremony in the House of Lords, it is for the people outside 
 essentially a separate pageant it is well on this occasion that 
 an attempt to reproduce an impression of it should be made all 
 in one piece, so to speak. For the memory which remains with 
 me, and with thousands of others besides, is essentially of one 
 not very long and entirely delightful experience. Happily, full 
 programmes of the things planned to occur, of the order of 
 carriages and their occupants, of the military arrangements, 
 and the like, have already been published ; so that I am free to 
 devote the brief space at my disposal to a description of the 
 crowd which saw and heard, to the conditions under which it 
 used eyes and ears and voice, and to the things seen and heard 
 as they impressed one unit in that crowd. 
 
 By a little after 1 o'clock, the troops and police being already 
 in position, the broad margins of the route of the procession 
 along the Mall began to be lined with patient spectators, who 
 had plenty to look at as the State carriages of noblemen drove 
 through from time to time in the direction of Westminster, as 
 Life Guardsmen moved past with a genuinely strong sun 
 glancing from their cuirasses, and as the crowd itself thickened. 
 Soon that crowd began to be extraordinarily interesting, partly 
 by virtue of its volume it was incomparably the largest crowd 
 collected in St. James's Park during recent years partly by 
 reason of its constitution. It contained representatives of every 
 rank of society, peers and commoners, officers of the Navy and 
 of the Army, Bishops and other clergy, innumerable ladies, 
 foreigners of European extraction, many coloured spectators 
 who might or might not be subjects of the King. It was, in 
 short, a very memorable collection of persons assembled to see 
 the King and Queen and, incidentally, the Prince and Princess 
 of Wales also, and to do them honour. The minutes crept on ; 
 and, precisely at 20 minutes to 2, the music of the bands within 
 the Palace was heard, the Life Guardsmen were seen to be in 
 motion, and the State carriages, five in all, composing the 
 preliminary part of the procession began to move slowly 
 towards the Horse Guards. They passed in silence, for the 
 crowd was waiting for the State carriage of the King and 
 
 ueen ; and, for that reason, it was most dense of all near 
 uckingham Palace, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, who 
 went from Marlborough House in advance, were less noticed 
 than on ordinary occasions. 
 
262 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 But, when at last the gorgeous and really, in its way, very 
 beautiful State coach appeared, when King and Queen could be 
 plainly distinguished through its glass sides, the King in his 
 Field-Marshal's full dress, the Queen wearing a small crown, 
 and bowing, the King saluting repeatedly, there was a perfect 
 storm of cheers and applause. Cheers and lifted hats and 
 waving handkerchiefs all the way that is the story of the 
 procession from Buckingham Palace to the Horse Guards, and 
 froon the Horse Guards to Westminster. The prettiest and 
 most affecting parts of it for it is affecting to see and to hear 
 such a display of loyalty -were as the procession passed the 
 steps at the Duke of York's column, which were absolutely 
 crammed, and, when it could be seen, the State coach just about 
 to pass under the archway of the Horse Guards, for there, as of 
 course, there was room for an enormous concourse of people, 
 and that room was all occupied. So to the House of Lords. 
 
 The Throne in the House of Lords was divested of the 
 draperies which usually cover it and its two chairs stood 
 revealed, carved, gilded, and studded with crystals, on the 
 canopied dais of crimson and gold. This was the most con- 
 spicuous feature of the beautiful Chamber, as the peers and 
 peeresses, the Judges, and the representatives of foreign nations 
 assembled. The two seats of the Throne are exactly alike in 
 design and ornamentation, but the one on the right which the 
 King occupies is slightly higher than that of the Queen Consort. 
 The Throne of England is often spoken of constitutionally, and 
 in the historic sense, denoting the sovereign power and dignity 
 of the land. If there be a material Throne at all it is surely 
 this imposing structure in the Lords, where the King sits, 
 surrounded by his officers of State and constitutional advisers, and 
 declares the purposes for which he has called Parliament together. 
 
 For this great ceremony, appointed for 2 o'clock, the Chamber 
 was opened at noon. The earliest to come were peeresses. 
 Eager to be in time or to get good seats, many of them arrived 
 shortly after 12 o'clock. But their places evidently were 
 allotted by precedence, according to rank. As they came in 
 singly, or in twos or threes, the long trains of their Court 
 dresses sweeping over the green carpet, each lady gave a card to 
 one of the group of attendants, under the Master of the 
 Ceremonies, and was by him shown to her seat. On special 
 benches nearest to the Throne, on the left, were the duchesses. 
 The marchionesses, the countesses, the viscountesses, and the 
 baronesses had each also their particular benches on the floor. 
 In the placing of peers, however, the distinctions of rank were 
 ignored, save with respect to the highest order of the peerage ; 
 and, as is customary on ceremonial occasions, the usual political 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 263 
 
 division of the House, 'into Ministerialists to the right of the 
 Throne and the Opposition to the left, was discarded. The 
 dukes had a bench on the left, close to the Throne and 
 immediately below the duchesses. In the case of all the other 
 ranks of the peerage, those who came early sat where they 
 pleased in the front, and the late comers, as the Chamber became 
 crowded, sat where they could find room towards the bar. 
 
 There was the usual display of beautiful draperies and jewels 
 by the peeresses. In the tints of the dresses were seen soft and 
 delicate yellows, pinks, mauves, and greys ; and here and there 
 decided blacks, greens, and blues. But the prevailing colour 
 was white beautiful white lace on the corsage and white 
 plumes in the hair. The peers wore their heavy scarlet robes 
 and encumbering collars of ermine. Indeed, in 'the scheme of 
 colour scarlet and white were in excess. The spiritual peers, 
 sitting to the right of the Throne opposite the dukes the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York con- 
 spicuous in their midst wore not the black satin gowns with 
 lawn sleeves in which they are seen at the ordinary sittings of 
 the House, but scarlet robes and ermine capes hanging halfway 
 down the back. The Judges of the High Court, .gathered 
 together at the foot of the Throne between the dukes and the 
 Bishops, also contributed to the prevailing colours. The Lords 
 Justices of Appeal were in black and gold, but the more 
 numerous Judges were in scarlet and white. The one corner of 
 the Chamber which stood out distinctly and apart as regards 
 colour was the temporarily erected stand behind the Bishops, 
 where the Ambassadors and Ministers of foreign Powers were 
 assembled. The uniforms of the diplomatists were as divergent 
 in character as the races they represent. If they vied with the 
 peeresses in their colours and their stars, they exceeded them in 
 their early appearance on the scene. It is perhaps characteristic 
 of diplomatists that they should be soon on the spot. At any 
 rate they were all in their places long before the appointed 
 time indeed, an hour before the King was due, and when few 
 of the peers were yet present. 
 
 The following is the official list of the peeresses and Judges 
 who were present : 
 
 DUCHESSES. Somerset, Westminster. 
 
 MARCHIONESSES. Townshend, Hertford, Bute, Downshire, 
 Dowager Donegall, Sligo, Bristol. 
 
 COUNTESSES. Erroll, Eglinton and Winton, Dowager Mar 
 and Kellie, Kinnoull, Dysart, Dundonald, Hardwicke, Dowager 
 Bathurst, Malmesbury, Bessborough, Dowager Arran, Kingston, 
 Annesley, Erne, Caledon, Chichester, Orford, Beauchamp, Strad- 
 broke, Amherst, Kimberley, Ancaster. 
 
64 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 VISCOUNTESSES. Dowager Torrington, Clifden, Dowager Gort, 
 Hill, Esher, Goschen, Ridley, Iveagh, St. Aldwyn. 
 
 BARONESSES. Darcy de Knayth and Conyers, St. John of 
 Bletsoe, Saye and Sele, Dormer, Borthwick, Elibank, Belhaven 
 and Stenton, Bagot, Berwick, Dowager Inchiquin, Inchiquin, 
 Newborough, Eossmore, Ellenborough, Garvagh, Dowager 
 Heytesbury, Denman, Oranmore and Browne, Stanley of 
 Alderley, Leigh, Dowager Vivian, De Freyne, St. Leonards, 
 Dowager Raglan, Dowager Coleridge, Brabourne, Ampthill, 
 Hindlip, Savile, Dowager Hood of Avalon, Dowager Rookwood, 
 Dowager Knightley, Llangattock, Playfair, Dowager Inverclyde, 
 Inverclyde, Glanusk, Dorchester, Shuttle worth, Ritchie of Dun- 
 dee, Northcliffe, Michelham, Desborough, Loreburn, Weardale, 
 Haversham, Pirrie, Allendale, Collins, Swaythling. 
 
 JUDGES. The Master of the Rolls, the President of the 
 Probate Division, Lord Justice Moulton, Lord Justice Buckley, 
 Lord Justice Kennedy, Mr. Justice Darling, Mr. Justice Joyce, 
 Mr. Justice Jelf, Mr. Justice Eady, Mr. Justice Warrington, 
 Mr. Justice Deane, Mr. Justice Parker, Mr. Justice Pickford. 
 
 Close on 2 o'clock the Prince and Princess of Wales came. 
 The assembly rose in greeting as their Royal Highnesses took 
 their seats on low chairs beside the Throne. The Prince, sitting 
 on the right, wore the robes of a duke with four bars of ermine. 
 The Princess, on the left, was dressed in pale blue satin. A 
 soft dim light prevailed. Suddenly the many electroliers 
 dependent from the groined and decorated ceiling were turned 
 on. At the same moment the Royal procession appeared ; the 
 subdued hum of conversation was stilled ; and the assembly 
 stood up with a rustle of silks and robes. 
 
 The pursuivants and heralds came in their tabards, followed 
 by officers of the Household, in various uniforms, and Ministers 
 who are peers in their robes. Then entered the King, leading 
 the Queen by the hand. The King was arrayed in a wide 
 flowing robe of crimson velvet, edged with gold lace, and a 
 long mantle of ermine. His Majesty was bareheaded. In his 
 left hand he carried the white-plumed hat of a Field-Marshal. 
 The robe of the Queen was crimson and white also, but not so 
 ample and flowing as that of the King. Standing before the 
 Throne, their Majesties bowed to it, and still hand in hand 
 ascended the few steps to the dais, their long trains being held 
 up by young Pages of Honour in scarlet doublets and white 
 knee breeches. The King stood on the dais till the Queen was 
 seated, and one of the Gentlemen in Waiting brought her a 
 footstool, and adjusted her robe around the Chair. The King 
 then bowed to the assembly and took his seat. The long train 
 of his robe was spread down the steps of the dais by the 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 265 
 
 Gentleman Usher to the Eobes, in whom a familiar figure in 
 the Commons, Mr. Erskine, the Sergeant-at-Arms, was recog- 
 nised. Throwing back his robe, his Majesty disclosed the 
 scarlet of a Field-Marshal's uniform, crossed by the bright blue 
 ribbon of the Order of the Garter. The Queen wore a dark 
 dress. The gold and jewelled insignia of many Orders sparkled 
 on her corsage, and from her neck hung a long string of pearls. 
 " My lords, pray be seated," said the King. At the command 
 of the King the assembly resumed their seats ; and the disposi- 
 tion of distinguished personages around the Throne could be 
 observed. The Lord Chancellor, wearing the robes of a baron, 
 with his large grey wig, stood immediately to the right of the 
 King, behind the Prince of Wales. Close at hand was the Lord 
 President of the Council (Lord Crewe) with the Imperial 
 Crown arches of gold, encrusted with diamonds, enclosing a 
 purple cap on a velvet cushion ; and Lord Winchester, carrying 
 on top of a short staff the Cap of Maintenance, made of crimson 
 velvet upturned with ermine. At the foot of the Throne stood 
 the Duke of Norfolk as Earl Marshal. At the other side, 
 standing on the dais beside the Queen, was the conspicuous 
 figure of Lord Carrington, President of the Board of Agri- 
 culture, holding aloft the huge Sword of State, in its crimson 
 velvet case. Beneath him, on the steps of the Throne, was the 
 Lord Great Chamberlain (Lord Cholmondeley) with his right 
 arm in a sling, the result of his recent accident in the hunting- 
 field. At a nod from the King, the Lord Great Chamberlain 
 despatched Black Eod, Admiral Sir Henry Stephenson, who 
 wore his naval uniform, to summon "the faithful Commons." 
 Then a few minutes of silence intervened. So deep was the 
 hush that Big Ben, sounding the quarter-past 2 o'clock, could 
 be heard distinctly. A subdued rush and rustle was heard at 
 the lower entrance to the Chamber, and Mr. Speaker, accom- 
 panied by the Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms and the Chaplain, and 
 followed by several Ministers and other Commoners, was 
 conducted to the bar by Black Eod. The Speaker made a low 
 obeisance to the King. The full assembly for the opening of 
 Parliament was now completed. The King was on the Throne 
 before the three Estates of the Eealm the Peers, spiritual and 
 temporal, and the Commons. Yet the impression conveyed by 
 a look round the Chamber at this moment was that it was an 
 assemblage rather of gracious ladies than of the grave and 
 reverend legislators of the land. The two conspicuous side 
 galleries were crowded with ladies, immediate friends of the 
 King and Queen, as well as daughters of peers. On the floor 
 the best and most prominent positions nearest to the Throne 
 were also occupied by ladies. The main body of the peers were 
 
266 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 crowded at the end of the Chamber, and most of the Commoners 
 were gathered under the shadows of the galleries over the bar. 
 
 There was a movement among the crowd of notables around 
 the Throne. The Lord Chancellor emerged from the throng 
 and, kneeling in front of the King, presented his Majesty with 
 a printed document. It was the Speech from the Throne. His 
 Majesty, putting on his white plumed hat and remaining seated, 
 then read the causes for the calling of Parliament together. 
 The long list of promised measures was followed with intense 
 interest. "Your labours upon these and upon all other 
 matters," said the King in a solemn concluding passage, " I 
 humbly commend to the blessing of Almighty God." 
 
 The ceremony was over. The Speaker and the Commoners 
 left the bar. The King, rising, took off his hat and, giving his 
 hand to the Queen, descended the steps of the Throne and 
 passed out of the Chamber, followed by the Prince and Princess 
 of Wales. The brilliant company then quickly dispersed amid 
 animated conversation and merry laughter. The ceremonial 
 proceedings occupied but a very short time. By half-past 2 
 o'clock, in fact, the House of Lords was deserted. 
 
 In the interval the crowds did not, as has been usual, 
 disperse ; did not even grow perceptibly thinner. On the 
 contrary, they moved about, clustered round the railings behind 
 A. Battery of Royal Horse Artillery as it fired the salute, and 
 waited patiently for the return of the procession. When that 
 came the beauty of the day had gone somewhat, but the 
 enthusiasm of the people had not faded at all ; and as, a few 
 minutes before 3, the King and Queen re-entered Buckingham 
 Palace, the crowd was larger, its applause was therefore 
 naturally louder and more demonstrative, than it has been at 
 the same place on any similar occasion during King Edward's 
 reign. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 18. 
 PARLIAMENT. 
 
 HOUSE OF LORDS, MONDAY, FEB. 24. 
 
 The Lord Chancellor took his seat on the woolsack at a 
 quarter past four o'clock. 
 
 THE CONGO FREE STATE. 
 
 The Earl of Mayo rose to call attention to the affairs of the 
 Congo Free State and to move for papers. The papers he asked 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 267 
 
 for, he said, were the same as those he asked for last Session 
 namely, copies of titles granted to monopolists and any informa- 
 tion as to their power to force the natives in the Congo to 
 labour. Misrule in the Congo had been the theme of many 
 essays, newspaper articles, and debates in both Houses of 
 Parliament, and at hundreds of meetings in the country, 
 culminating in the huge meeting on Friday last at the Queen's 
 Hall. Owing to the pressure of public opinion in England, our 
 Government had invited the Belgian Government to annex the 
 Congo. The Belgian Press had suggested that we wished to 
 interfere, not for the sake of the natives, but because we wanted 
 the Congo for ourselves ; in fact, they had looked on our action 
 as an unfriendly interference in the domestic affairs of Belgium. 
 But this was an international question. The Belgian public 
 knew nothing about the Congo, and he did not think they cared 
 to know. When the Commission appointed by King Leopold 
 confirmed all the abuses, scarcely any notice of the report was 
 taken in Belgium. There were, however, politicians in that 
 country better able to judge in this matter than the mass of the 
 people, and they had come to the conclusion that the only way 
 of putting an end to the Colonial autocracy of King Leopold 
 was for Belgium to annex the Congo State. Negotiations had 
 taken place between King Leopold and his Ministers, but no 
 decision had been come to, and now it was stated that a com- 
 promise had been arrived at. King Leopold had lately been 
 paid a large sum of money arising from the Crown domains, and 
 it was suggested by the compromise that these funds, instead of 
 being dealt with by the King, should be administered by a 
 committee, mostly members of the Belgian Parliament, nomin- 
 ated by King Leopold. There was no alteration in the way the 
 revenue was to be spent, but only in the personnel of those 
 administering it. The compromise could not be taken as a 
 serious effort on the part of the Belgian Government, and 
 against it he earnestly protested. There was something in The 
 Times of to-day which he quoted as showing what was going on 
 between the Ministry and the King. The Times correspondent 
 in Brussels telegraphed : " I hear on good authority that 
 serious difficulties have arisen between the King and the 
 Government. There is danger that a Ministerial crisis may 
 develop shortly." According to a statement in the Etoile 
 Beige: "It is certainly the case that the exchanges of views 
 which have taken place during the last few days have not led to 
 any result, and an agreement has not been reached regarding 
 the list of public works to be carried out with the revenues of 
 the special fund which is to be derived from the Crown domain." 
 What, then, became of all the reforms in Congo administration 
 
268 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 they had been looking for ? The King and his Ministers were 
 simply fighting about whether certain buildings in the Congo 
 are to be built or not ; there was no question of reforms in the 
 Congo whatever. He must ask the Government, was this really 
 the " Belgian solution " they were looking for? He could hardly 
 believe it. It was but a short time since his Majesty's gracious 
 Speech was heard in the House, but he would read a paragraph 
 of it : " My Government are fully aware of the great anxiety 
 felt with regard to the treatment of the native population in 
 the Congo State. Their sole desire is to see the government of 
 that State humanely administered in accordance with the spirit 
 of the Berlin Act, and I trust that the negotiations now pro- 
 ceeding between the Sovereign of the Congo State and the 
 Belgian Government will secure this object." He would take it 
 that was the policy of the Government, and that the Govern- 
 ment intended to carry it out. In no party spirit did he press 
 this matter ; it was no party question, as was clearly demonstrated 
 at the huge meeting held in the Queen's Hall the other evening. 
 He felt sure that the dilatory tactics between King Leopold and 
 his Ministers would be continued. There was an instance in 
 the pretended compromise, which he might call by an ugly 
 name. We could not always be waiting and watching. A 
 suggestion he had, which had been made before. By one of the 
 articles of the Convention of 1884 between our Government and 
 the International Association of the Congo we had a right to 
 appoint Consuls in those regions. At present, in the whole of 
 the territory as large as Europe less Eussia we had but 
 one Consul and two Vice-Consuls. If our Consuls were 
 appointed, it would not prevent other Powers putting Consuls 
 in the Congo, and it would be some assurance against ill- 
 treatment of the natives. As his noble friend Lord Lansdowne, 
 speaking on the subject on July 3, 1906, said, the presence of 
 half a dozen representatives of European Powers would do more 
 than any number of inspectors and officials of the Congo State. 
 The abuses continued, and the warehouses at Antwerp were 
 filled with Congo rubber. A letter in The Times of to-day 
 showed that there had been very little alteration in the methods 
 of obtaining that rubber. Besides this, he would ask the 
 Government to declare to Belgium that annexation under the 
 present terms was totally unacceptable, and, in the next place, 
 the rights of the natives in the soil and its products should be 
 insisted upon. The honour of this country was affected. 
 England suppressed the slave trade, and how could she remain 
 inactive when conditions worse than slavery existed next door 
 to her own African possessions? (Hear, hear.) He formally 
 moved for papers. 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 269 
 
 Earl Crorner. Your lordships will pardon me for taking 
 part in this discussion. I do not think it is necessary to dwell 
 at any length on the manner in which the ruler of the Congo 
 State has discharged the high and honourable trust conferred 
 on him by Europe. The indictments against Congo administra- 
 tion were at first received in this country with a certain amount 
 of incredulity, but the facts are now well known. I have seen 
 something, and I have heard more, of maladministration in 
 backward States in the hands of despotic, irresponsible rulers, 
 but I assert without hesitation that never in my experience 
 have I seen or have I heard of misrule comparable to the abuses 
 that have grown up in the Congo State. (Hear, hear.) There 
 has been a cynical disregard of the native races and a merciless 
 exploitation of the country in the interest of foreigners for 
 which I believe a parallel cannot be found in the history of 
 modern times. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 I do not base my severe condemnation only on the cruelty 
 and oppression of the natives, though on this charge an unanswer- 
 able indictment might be made ; I base it in addition on the 
 disregard of three principles in administration, and I say that 
 unless a radical change is made in the system of administration 
 no serious improvement can be anticipated. In all countries 
 similar to the Congo territory three essential principles must be 
 accepted as preliminary to the establishment of anything like 
 good administration, and all these principles have been flagrantly 
 violated in the Congo State. The first principle is that the 
 duties of administration and the commercial development of the 
 .country should not be vested in the same individuals. (Hear, 
 hear.) The counter-principle of associating the two functions 
 we tried ourselves years ago with the old East India Company, 
 and though we had at the head of it many men who were not 
 only merchants, but statesmen, the system of government, if 
 not a failure, was at the best but a very modified success. But 
 in the Congo the officials employed have been commercial agents 
 rather than administrators, and it cannot be doubted that they 
 have been judged for their services by the standard of the 
 amount of money they, by any means justifiable or the reverse, 
 have poured into the Congo treasury. The first principle has 
 thus been flagrantly violated. The second principle is that by 
 the establishment of a Civil List the amount placed at the 
 personal disposal of the ruler of the State should be a fixed 
 amount and that the revenue from the country should be 
 applied by properly qualified and responsible authorities to 
 objects in which the subjects of the State as distinct from the 
 
270 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 ruler have an interest. A despotic ruler always demurs to this. 
 I remember some years ago I think it was in 1879 there was 
 a question of appointing an Englishman to supervise the financial 
 affairs of Turkey, and the Sultan did me the honour to consider 
 my name in association with the service. I asked if his Majesty 
 would be prepared to accept the settlement of a Civil List, and 
 then, as I had anticipated, further discussion of the subject was 
 allowed to drop. (Laughter.) Well, in the Congo there is no 
 Civil List, and the whole of the revenue of the country is at the 
 absolute disposal of the ruler ; and a large portion of it is 
 applied to the construction of palaces and to other objects in 
 which the natives have not the remotest interest. The second 
 principle then is violated. The third principle is that the 
 Crown domains should be settled and administered by respon- 
 sible qualified authorities in the general interest of the com- 
 munity. In the Congo State almost the whole country has 
 been handed over to speculators, and the chief of the State is 
 the principal speculator among them. These speculators have 
 ruthlessly exploited the resources of the country in their own 
 interest. A very similar state of things existed in Egypt some 
 twenty years ago. Ismail Pasha had managed to accumulate in 
 his hands a million acres of the best land in Egypt by arbitrary 
 and illicit means under a thin, transparent veil of legality. 
 When the Powers of Europe came to deal with the subject of 
 finance they considered it an abuse of power to acquire this as 
 private property for the ruler, and the whole was converted 
 into property to be administered by proper authorities for the 
 good of the country, and it was sold to native proprietors. I am 
 quite sure no satisfactory solution is possible in the Congo unless 
 a similar course is followed and one class of interests is sacrificed. 
 There are to be considered the interest of the Congolese, of the 
 Belgian taxpayers, and the interest of the concessionaires. I 
 estimate the interests of the Congolese and of the Belgian tax- 
 payers very highly, but I place the interest of concessionnaires 
 in the third rank, and rather low at that. If there is a sacrifice 
 to be made they should make it ; and I hope the Belgian Parlia- 
 ment, to whom we must first look, will not deal too tenderly 
 with the rights of concessionnaires. 
 
 RIGHT OF INTERFERENCE. 
 
 Turning to another point, let me say I would be the last to 
 advocate any excessive interference with the domestic affairs of 
 a foreign country. More than this, I sometimes think the 
 British public in the exercise of their unquestioned right to say 
 anything they please, sometimes go to rather indiscreet lengths 
 in the direction of advising foreign nations how they should 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 271 
 
 manage their own affairs. In this case we need not be deterred 
 by any scruples of this nature. The Berlin Act is perfectly 
 plain. It lays down that there is to be freedom of trade, and it 
 condemns the creation of monopolies. The Act of 1884, which 
 was passed by agreement between the British Government and 
 the Congo Association, is also perfectly clear. Moreover, the 
 declarations of M. Beernaert in 1885 when he was Prime 
 Minister of Belgium, and of Baron Lambermont, who was the 
 Belgian representative at the Berlin Conference, were also 
 perfectly explicit. I will read what was said by the noble 
 marquis behind me (Lord Lansdowne) in 1906. I do so because 
 the statement has been challenged, and, although I have no 
 doubt he could give a much better answer himself, I will, if he 
 will permit me, give a rejoinder for him. He said : " Quite 
 irrespective of any right we enjoy under the letter of these Acts, 
 we have a moral right to interfere, which comes to us in 
 consequence of the false pretences I cannot use a gentler 
 word under which the Congo State has acquired its privileged 
 position in that part of Africa." The Belgian Commissioners 
 contested this right, and on page 151 of their report stated the 
 alleged rights of the Congo State in other words, those of King 
 Leopold in the following very plain language : " The Congo 
 State can dispose itself solely of all the products of the soil, 
 prosecute as a thief any one who takes from that land the least 
 of its fruits, or as a receiver of stolen goods any one who 
 receives such fruits." It is necessary to deal with this point a 
 little, not only because I think Mr. Morel is perfectly right in 
 thinking that this question of freedom of trade lies at the 
 bottom of the whole business, but also because it is essential to 
 establish our right to make our voice heard, not merely on 
 grounds of public morality, but of indisputable treaty rights. 
 On what grounds are these rights contested ? Apparently on 
 the grounds that freedom of trade exists, and that no monopolies 
 have been created. M. Woeste, a distinguished member of the 
 Belgian Parliament, made the following statement : " Lord 
 Lansdowne declared, in the British House of Lords, that the 
 Congo was covered with monopolies of an abusive character, he 
 committed an astonishing confusion of thought ; he mixed up 
 monopolies with the legitimate and rational development of 
 private property belonging to specified landlords." Therefore 
 it appears that the argument and the application of the 
 argument are something of this kind. In the first place it is 
 held that the natives of the Congo have no proprietary rights in 
 the soil of their country or its products, and that the whole of 
 these rights are vested in the ruler of the Congo State. In the 
 next place, the ruler hands over the whole pf these rights to 
 
272 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 certain " specified landlords," he himself being the first specified 
 landlord ; and with the help of armed forces which could not be 
 at the disposal of private individuals there is introduced a 
 barbarous system of collecting the revenue, which necessarily 
 leads to the enslavement of the greater part of the population. 
 The third link in the chain of this reasoning is that any one, not 
 being a " specified landlord," who buys from the natives of the 
 country the only product they have to sell rubber is to be 
 treated as a thief and a receiver of stolen goods. Under this 
 system it is stated that free trade exists and there are no 
 monopolies. This is the system which was described by Baron 
 Lambermont at the Berlin Congress as one which gave 
 everybody unlimited right to buy and sell. If this is free trade 
 I give the tariff reformers full permission to write me down a 
 protectionist or anything else they like, except a free trader. 
 But in point of fact the united authority of lawyers in Belgium 
 and all Europe will not convince me that a system of this sort 
 is sanctioned by any law, human or Divine, or that it could be 
 made to harmonise with the treaty right of other Powers 
 including that of Great Britain. (Cheers.) The view the 
 Government take of this important question was stated in 
 August, 1903, in a circular addressed to the Powers, containing 
 these words : " His Majesty's Government maintain that until 
 unoccupied land is reduced to individual occupation, and so long 
 as the produce can only be collected by the native, the native 
 should be free to dispose of the produce as he pleases." This 
 principle, which I hold to be perfectly sound, is one which I 
 have no doubt was asserted after taking qualified legal advice ; 
 and I trust this principle will be maintained in spite of any 
 quibble by which it may be attacked. The right of the British 
 nation to make its voice heard is perfectly clear, and the only 
 questions for discussion are as to the desirability of exercising 
 that right and the time and method of exercising it. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF BELGIUM. 
 
 Both the Belgian Government and the Belgian people are in a 
 position of great difficulty, and I should much regret that any 
 language used either by me or by any one else in this House 
 should add to their embarrassment. It cannot be doubted that 
 a strong feeling of indignation has been excited in this country 
 by the manner in which the Congo has been administered ; and, 
 moreover, that is accompanied by a feeling of shame that, as one 
 of the signatories to the Berlin Act, Great Britain should have 
 been in any way contributory to such a system as now exists in 
 the Congo. The Congo Reform Association is naturally 
 impatient at the slowness with which the international mill 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 273 
 
 grinds, and I can fully sympathise with this feeling. I have 
 had a prolonged and somewhat bitter experience of that mill ; 
 and I know how heart-breaking it is to look on while some 
 flagrant abuse calls for reform, and yet it is impossible to apply 
 any prompt and effective remedy. The Congo Reform Associa- 
 tion appear to contemplate that in certain contigencies some 
 decided action even more drastic than that to which the noble 
 earl alluded should at some time or another be taken by his 
 Majesty's Government. I think it would be premature to 
 discuss this matter at present. (Hear, hear.) It has to "be 
 remembered, undoubtedly, that in a matter of international 
 concern any step which separates this country from the inter- 
 national concert is one of a very serious nature. It is well to 
 remember that under the Act of 1884 his Majesty's Government 
 had the right not only to appoint Consuls, but to establish 
 Consular Courts. I hope that should the occasion arise that 
 right will be exercised. I cannot help thinking that if Consuls 
 were appointed and at the same time means of locomotion were 
 provided to enable them to move freely up and down the river, 
 and Consular Courts were established, and if at the same time 
 we insisted on the unquestionable right of British subjects to 
 trade throughout the Congo, some effective pressure would be 
 exerted on the Congo Administration, and a considerable step in 
 advance would be made. In spite of what the noble earl has 
 said, I still cling to the hope that the Belgian solution may be 
 possible. I do not go nearly so far as to say that we are under 
 any obligation to accept anything which may be settled in 
 Brussels. Far from it. Our right to make our voice heard is 
 perfectly clear, and I venture to think that no solution will be 
 satisfactory unless it gives full and complete Parliamentary 
 control over the whole of the Congo administration. It must be 
 borne in mind that, although we know something of the 
 discussion going on in Belgium, the Belgian proposals in their 
 final form are not yet before the world. When they are known 
 I hope that the noble lord the Under- Secretary for Foreign 
 Affairs will be able to assure the House that the Government 
 will not acquiesce in any arrangement which does not give the 
 full parliamentary control of which I speak. (Cheers.) If that 
 Parliamentary control is once assured, there will then be some 
 solid guarantee that the Act of Berlin will be accepted and the 
 administration of affairs will be improved. If once a real and 
 effective control is secured, I should not, for my own part, be 
 inclined to scrutinise too closely the other details of the Belgian 
 arrangements ; but that control must be fully secured. In the 
 meantime we can no doubt do a great deal to enlighten Belgian 
 public opinion. It cannot be too clearly understood that we do 
 P.W. S 
 
274 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 not wish any territorial advantage. I conceive that it would 
 not be at all in the interests of this country to add to our world- 
 wide responsibilities by assuming the direct administration of 
 any portion of the Congo State. All we want is that the Congo 
 should be governed on such principles as commend themselves 
 to the civilised world. It must be borne in mind that the 
 Belgian people and Parliament are labouring under great 
 difficulties. Not only is the issue complicated by the intro- 
 duction of other matters connected with the internal affairs of 
 Belgium, with which we are not concerned ; but the greater 
 portion of the Belgian Press has up to the present time been 
 under the control of the Congo administration, with the natural 
 result that the Belgians themselves are ill-informed of the facts. 
 It has been suggested that the noble marquis behind me, in the 
 speech from which I have already quoted, said something which 
 was tantamount to alleging that the people of this country had 
 been duped. So also had the Belgians. They had been entirely 
 deceived as to the true facts of the case. ' So far as I can 
 understand a considerable section of the Belgian public are 
 reluctant to take the great responsibility of governing the Congo, 
 more especially in view of the financial responsibilities ; and I 
 am not at all surprised, for if the country is to be properly 
 administered, the revenue, which depends largely on the rubber, 
 is certain to fall off. On the other hand large reductions may 
 be made in the expenditure. Why is the present large military 
 force maintained in the Congo if not to aid in the present 
 iniquitous system of collecting taxes ? (Cheers.) I have myself 
 seen on the Congo police stations on the Upper Nile garrisons 
 far larger than in Uganda and Assuan. I believe these 
 garrisons might be largely reduced with great advantage. The 
 financial difficulties, though very great, may not be found 
 insuperable if the question is tackled in a proper spirit ; and the 
 proper spirit in which to tackle it is to look to the interests of 
 the Congolese with real regard to the necessities of the various 
 taxpayers rather than to the interests of the concessionnaires. 
 Keep the river open and have a due police force on the river 
 bank. The main portion of the territory will then require little 
 administration at all. The main thing is that we should destroy 
 the present system, and that we should not pause in that work 
 of destruction merely because it would not be possible to place 
 immediately anything very satisfactory in its place. 
 
 EGYPT AND THE CONGO. 
 
 Let me add that I know something of the difficulty of 
 substituting free for forced labour. We had to deal with it in 
 Egypt, and a difficult and thorny problem it was ; but it was 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 275 
 
 solved in the face of obstacles which, I think, were greater than 
 those that now exist in the Congo. A solution will never be 
 obtained in the Congo if the first object of the Congo Associa- 
 tion is to pay large dividends. Up to the present the question, 
 as it affects the Congo, has been considered from a point of view 
 wholly different to that from which we viewed it in Egypt. In 
 a paper issued by the Congo Association I read a statement to 
 the effect that the triumph of law was to make the black man 
 work. In Egypt we thought that whilst giving every induce- 
 ment to the Egyptian to work, the triumph of the law consisted 
 in preventing him being flogged for voluntarily choosing to 
 remain idle. It is for the Belgians to say which is more in 
 harmony with the practices of the civilisation under which we 
 live. I feel confident that his Majesty's Government will receive 
 the full support of Parliament and public opinion in en- 
 deavouring to find some satisfactory solution of a question which 
 touches the honour and interest of this country. We sympathise 
 with the Belgians in their difficulty ; but we await their 
 solution. It will be time to consider what further steps should 
 be taken if that solution is considered unsatisfactory. The 
 alternative to the Belgian solution is said to be some form of 
 international Government. An appeal has been made by us to 
 other nations ; and the result has not been altogether en- 
 couraging. I think the only potentate in Europe who evinced 
 any desire to co-operate in the reform of the Congo was the 
 Sultan of Turkey. (Laughter.) It must, moreover, be 
 remembered that international administration though some- 
 times it has been made use of in default of anything better is, 
 at best, a cumbersome and inefficient machine. Further, in view 
 of the state of affairs in Macedonia, the moment is hardly 
 propitious for inviting the Powers to an international concert 
 about another matter. Therefore, when the Belgian solution is 
 better known it will be examined in a friendly spirit, and will 
 not be rejected unless for paramount reasons. But it must be a 
 reasonably satisfactory solution. If it be but a mere cloak 
 under which the present system in the Congo is to be continued, 
 I hope his Majesty's Government will have no hesitation in 
 unanimously rejecting it. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Archbishop of Canterbury thought it was no disparage- 
 ment to the statesmen and diplomatists who had addressed the 
 House on this subject year by year to say that the House had 
 just listened with exceptional interest and respect to a speech 
 by one whose administrative record in Asia and Africa had 
 given him in his country's history an enduring place as a past 
 master in the science which treated of the relations to one 
 another of men of different race, religion, and colour. (Hear, 
 
276 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 hear.) The noble earl's speech was a reminder that this question 
 was not an isolated question concerning the Congo alone. 
 Another great African administrator, Sir Harry Johnston, had 
 written the following memorable warning : 
 
 " Unless some stop can be put to the misgovernment of the 
 Congo regions, I venture to warn those who are interested in 
 African politics that a movement is already begun, and is 
 spreading fast, which will unite the negroes against the white 
 race, a movement which will prematurely stamp out the 
 beginnings of the new civilisation we are trying to implant, and 
 against which movement, except so far as the actual coast line is 
 concerned, the resources of men and money which Europe can 
 put into the field will be powerless." 
 
 It was the terrible peril, thus foreshadowed, which brought 
 upon the stage in this matter those of them who for the most 
 part were accustomed to stand outside the difficult and delicate 
 questions of diplomatic controversy and international polity. 
 It could not be too often recalled that the creation of the Congo 
 State was, in part at least, the handiwork of men whose interest 
 lay in philanthropic and religious work. It would be untrue to 
 say that the commercial element was wholly absent. But the 
 creation of the Congo was not due to a desire for national 
 aggrandisement on the part of Belgium, or England, or any 
 other State. It was in a large measure an honest desire for 
 the civilisation and betterment of a great tract of Africa, the 
 character of which had been brought almost suddenly to the 
 knowledge of Europe. That was the reason why the Lord 
 Mayor presided at the great meeting in the Queen's Hall 
 recently, not as the head of the commercial life of the City, but 
 as the central figure in England's philanthropic efforts. The 
 citizens, generally, felt that responsibility for the state of things 
 in the Congo rested heavily upon them. They turned to the 
 Foreign Office representatives, not for the facts in the Congo 
 for those, unhappily, they knew too well but for information 
 as to the forces and powers behind those dark deeds. It was 
 true that negro slavery had been resuscitated in perhaps its 
 darkest or reddest form in the Congo. It was true that for that 
 England was in part responsible. Was the only answer they 
 were to get but this " We must wait and hope for the best" ? 
 Two things the country wanted. First, a consecutive statement 
 from the Foreign Office of the steps which had led up to the 
 announcement on the subject in the King's Speech, and of what 
 exactly that announcement amounted to. Secondly, what 
 grounds the Government had for the opinion if it were their 
 opinion that it would be easier to get redress for the black 
 men's wrongs after the Congo was annexed by Belgium than 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. . 277 
 
 before. To some of them, amateurs in these matters, it might 
 seem that if this country were acquiescent in an annexation 
 which carried on, though in other hands, the old regime of 
 ownership by Belgians of those black men's property, and, 
 indeed, their lives, it would be harder and not easier to make 
 protest against it when the arrangement had been adopted by 
 Belgium. He might be mistaken in that view, but it was one of 
 those things upon which he should like to have fuller informa- 
 tion and guidance than we had at present. After the 
 momentous and responsible utterance in the King's Speech he 
 felt that this was an occasion which far transcended any mere 
 question of contemporary politics. It was surely true to say 
 that we were here face to face with the big principles of right 
 and wrong. The moral law, as they had been reminded by 
 great teachers, was not written for men alone in their individual 
 capacity, but also for nations. If the English people, on whom 
 responsibility indisputably rested, rejected by their indifference 
 or inaction the application of the moral law, some penalty, on 
 whomsoever it fell, must follow. We had experience, we knew 
 what the past had cost us, we had suffered, and suffered rightly, 
 for the neglect or the wrongdoing of other days. They wanted 
 to be sure that we were not incurring afresh by our inaction a 
 like answerableness for new wrongdoings to-day. It was upon 
 that that they awaited in eager anxiety the reply which the 
 Government would give. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Lord Clifford of Chudleigh said that inadvertently and 
 ignorantly this country was almost as much responsible for 
 what was going on in the Congo to-day as any of the parties 
 concerned. We acquiesced in the formation of that State, and 
 were delighted that the King of the Belgians should place himself 
 at its head. Many hard things had since been said about the 
 King of the Belgians, but he for one honestly believed that that 
 Monarch had been actuated by the ideals with which others had 
 at first credited him. There was one vital blot on the whole 
 scheme which this country ought to have discerned. A 
 Government of a civilised nature set up in a savage country 
 could not for some time be financed out of the taxes raised from 
 that country. The curse of forced labour was introduced 
 because there was no other means of raising revenue, and they 
 knew that when forced labour was once introduced it was used 
 for the development of a country. They appealed to his 
 Majesty's Government to use their most strenuous efforts to 
 induce the Belgian Government to take over the absolute 
 control of the finances and government of the Congo State. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 Lord Fitzmaurice said the repetition of debates in that House 
 
278 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 upon the subject of the misgovernment of the Congo must not be 
 taken as a sign that it occupied that place in their discussions 
 denoted in another place by the term "a hardy annual." He 
 was convinced that these debates were not of that character. 
 He believed that slow as the progress might appear to some 
 impatient spirits, nevertheless an advance was marked on each 
 of these occasions. He had twice before addressed the House on 
 this subject since the Government took office. On the first 
 occasion there was little to say except to lament and accentuate 
 the terrible tale of misgovernment. 
 
 THE BELGIAN SOLUTION. 
 
 When he spoke last year he was at least able to say that there 
 was on the edge of the horizon, though not much above it, a 
 chance of a solution. That solution was the Belgian solution. 
 He then expressed the hope that when he had again to speak on 
 the subject he would be able to announce some further progress. 
 He agreed with every word that had been said by Lord Cromer 
 and the most rev. prelate as to the disappointment which we 
 might perhaps justly feel that things had not gone further than 
 they had ; and he could heartily endorse the view of Lord 
 Cromer that, bearing in mind the enormous difficulties of the 
 situation, both internationally and in Belgium, and in this 
 country, we must not be unduly impatient. Further, bearing 
 in mind that barely a year and a half had elapsed since the 
 important resolution of December 14, 1906, known in Belgium 
 as the ordre du jour patriotique, which practically decided in 
 principle that the question of annexation was to be taken up, 
 that we were now watching the crisis of the negotiations, that 
 the points of difference had been reduced to a shape which 
 everybody could grasp, and that such negotiations were 
 necessarily slow and delicate, he considered it would be an 
 exaggeration to say that no progress had been made since last 
 year, and a still greater exaggeration to say that no progress had 
 been made during the last two years. In justice to Belgium it 
 ought also to be borne in mind that the Congo was not the only 
 difficult question with which it had to deal. Its Parliament had, 
 like ours, to deal with many great domestic and social questions, 
 and these reacted on the course of Belgian policy, not only at 
 home but abroad. Twice during a very short period recently 
 Ministries had resigned or been reconstituted. We were now at 
 a period when the points of difference in Belgium between the 
 reforming party and the party who wished to keep matters more 
 or less as they were had reached an acute stage. If it was im- 
 prudent at any time for a Minister or a representative of a 
 Minister to appear to be giving an opinion on what was going on 
 

 PUBLIC SPEECHES. 270 
 
 in another country, it was certainly imprudent at a moment such 
 as the present. Words spoken here on behalf of the Foreign 
 Office might be misinterpreted, and produce exactly opposite 
 effects to those which the speaker desired. The other day he was 
 accused in certain Belgian newspapers of having compared the 
 King of the Belgians to the Sultan of Turkey simply because at 
 a public meeting he had stated that he did not intend in his 
 speech to say anything about the Congo or Macedonia. If such 
 an observation could do harm, how cautious it was necessary 
 he should be that evening in saying anything which could be 
 regarded in Belgium as showing a desire to apply pressure or as 
 containing some subtle imputation upon Belgian statesmen or 
 parties. At the same time, he felt that absolute silence might 
 be misunderstood here. He must therefore say a few words, 
 but they would be little more than an amplification of what 
 might be found in the Speech from the Throne. Before doing 
 that he might tell his noble friend who had introduced the 
 subject that papers would be in their lordships' hands im- 
 mediately, and that he hoped they would shortly be followed by 
 another paper containing further reports which only arrived a 
 few days ago. In that paper or some other he trusted it might 
 be possible to insert something about the concessions and the 
 legal effect of certain clauses in them. The Government had 
 not lost sight of that question. Some suggestions had been 
 made not for the first time as to what this country could do 
 without asking the leave of the Powers or anybody else. He 
 had stated before that the Government had not overlooked the 
 possibility of their having to exercise the right of setting up 
 Consular Courts ; but until they knew whether the Belgian 
 solution was going to be a reality it would be premature to 
 make a definite pronouncement on that question. The number 
 of Consuls mentioned that evening had been increased. There 
 were now not only a Consul at Boma and two Vice-Consuls, but 
 a third Vice-Consul had been appointed. His exact sphere had 
 not yet been determined and, together with the spheres of the 
 other Vice-Consuls, was at present receiving the attention of the 
 Secretary of State. His Majesty's Consul at Boma had been 
 provided with a steam launch, and the question of supplying 
 the Vice-Consuls at two other places with similar launches was 
 now being considered. There was another measure which had 
 not been mentioned that evening, and which might have still 
 larger results. The Berlin Act of 1884 contemplated the 
 appointment of an International Eiver Commission. Sir H. 
 Johnston had often told him that the establishment of a 
 Commission, including representatives of all the Great Powers, 
 would, in his opinion, be by far the most valuable thing that 
 
230 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 could be done to bring the breath of public opinion upon these 
 regions. But we could not set up such a Commission by 
 ourselves. The consent of the Powers would be required, and 
 those who were acquainted with the history of the Danube 
 Commission would know that that was not a matter which could 
 easily be arranged. 
 
 THE APPEAL TO HUMANITY. 
 
 He made no complaint that the most rev. prelate had alluded 
 to the aspect of the question which was summed up in the 
 words, " The appeal to humanity." He was convinced that in 
 this matter we had not only treaty rights, but also a duty, and 
 it was that aspect of the question, he thought, which had struck 
 the public mind. (Hear, hear.) He was glad to say that the 
 feeling in this country had also made a great appeal to the 
 people of the United States of America (cheers) ; and that was 
 of great importance, not merely because of the influence and 
 power of the United States, but because the United States was 
 absolutely free from, and could not in any conceivable circum- 
 stances be charged with, what we, whatever we might say or 
 do, were unfortunately still charged with sometimes by our 
 critics abroad, and especially in certain papers which repre- 
 sented what might be called the influence of the Congo State 
 as it is namely, that we were animated in this matter by 
 purely selfish motives by territorial and commercial ambitions. 
 No one could make that charge against the people of the United 
 States. (Hear, hear.) They were amongst the very first, if not 
 actually the first, to recognise the International Association of 
 the Congo, and, therefore, if they came forward, and co-operated 
 with us, as they were now doing, it was a fact of first-rate 
 importance. (Hear, hear.) His Majesty's Government had 
 been in consultation with the Government of the United States, 
 our Minister and theirs had been in communication with each 
 other in Brussels, and nothing could be more valuable for 
 Congo reform or more agreeable to his Majesty's Government 
 than that that co-operation should continue and extend. (Hear, 
 hear.) There was one matter in which the people of the United 
 States and the people of this country were particularly 
 interested, and that was the refusal of the Congo State to carry 
 out its treaty obligations with regard to the granting of sites 
 for churches, schools, and missions. He had hoped to be able 
 to say something satisfactory on that question, but he was 
 sorry to say that during the last few hours he had received 
 information from Brussels which showed the attitude of the 
 Congo State to be more unsatisfactory on this question than it 
 was a year ago. He could only promise that the Foreign Office 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 281 
 
 would not lose sight of the question, and would continue to 
 press it. He was glad to say with regard to the charge some- 
 times made, that the whole object of the Congo reform move- 
 ment was nothing but agitation got up by the Protestant 
 missionaries, and that the Roman Catholics took no interest in 
 it, that it only remained now in the minds of a few individuals 
 here and there. Many of the most prominent leaders of the 
 movement in Belgium were leading Roman Catholics. Every 
 one of the undertakings which the Sovereign of the Congo State 
 allowed to be made had in practice been reduced to an absolute 
 nullity by influences and powers entirely outside the Belgian 
 Government, the Belgian Parliament, or the Belgian people ; 
 and the result had been, perhaps, as great a negation of inter- 
 national treaty rights, as great a defiance of public law and as 
 great a sacrifice of the interests of humanity as anything the 
 modern world had heard of. 
 
 A MELANCHOLY RECORD. 
 
 He would not ask their lordships to look forward with 
 pleasure to reading the White paper he had promised. It was 
 a melancholy record. It came from men on the spot, and in it 
 would be found the first outward and visible sign of the co- 
 operation between the United States and ourselves to which he 
 had alluded, in the shape of a very interesting report from the 
 United States Consul. Anxious as he was to avoid saying any- 
 thing which might tend to complicate matters, he was obliged 
 to say that the Government here viewed the present situation 
 with anxiety. These debates went on, but no results were 
 achieved. When he said that, he spoke with a full conscious- 
 ness of the enormous difficulty of the task before them. Lord 
 Cromer had done two things that night. He had brought his 
 unrivalled experience to confirm the view that this maladminis- 
 tration in the Congo State was no figment of a feverish and 
 disordered imagination ; and, secondly, he had told, not only 
 their lordships, but, what was more important, friends and 
 supporters outside, that he realised how enormously difficult 
 the task of the Government was. The Government looked to 
 their lordships, to the other House, and to the people of the 
 country to be with them. He believed the Belgian people 
 thoroughly understood that no comment had been made or 
 suggested here upon them. (Cheers.) If he had to sum up the 
 position he would say that the present state of things is 
 contrary both to the dictates of humanity and to treaty obliga- 
 tion ; and, while not desiring to enter into too great detail as 
 to matters regarding which we must primarily rely on the 
 wisdom and patriotism of the Belgian people and Parliament, 
 
282 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 the Government could not regard as satisfactory any arrange- 
 ment which did not vindicate or secure the vindication of both 
 treaty obligations and the claims of humanity. (Hear, hear.) 
 That was substantially what was contained in the Congo 
 paragraph of the King's Speech. He thought the state of 
 things disclosed in Mr. Thesiger's despatch, included in the 
 papers presented to Parliament, showed that the state of the 
 Congo was such as had been described by the noble lord 
 opposite, and the Government considered it to be in accordance 
 with treaty obligations, on which the Congo State was founded, 
 that the need for reform should be recognised in whatever 
 arrangement was made, and that assurances should be given 
 that reform should be carried out, not only in theory, but in 
 practice, by the Belgian or any other authority assuming 
 responsibility for administration. (Hear, hear.) He trusted 
 these words would adequately convey to Parliament and the 
 people of this country that the Government looked to the 
 people of Belgium and believed that a body elected by that 
 people conscious of the existence of an educated public opinion 
 in their own country and in Europe might be trusted to 
 remember the high historical traditions connected with the 
 liberties and freedom of Belgium, and would extend the rights 
 they themselves enjoyed, so far as that was possible, to unhappy, 
 long-oppressed natives of the Congo State. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 The Bishop of Southwark said the House recognised the 
 strain of responsibility under which the noble lord had spoken, 
 listening with that peculiar attention which showed a sense of 
 the importance of the words as they fell. It might seem pre- 
 sumptuous for a mere amateur to follow the noble lord ; but as 
 amateurs in great numbers had discussed the matter outside it 
 was just as well that one should speak inside, and as the facts 
 were fully known, outsiders had some justification for speaking. 
 The most ardent of those outsiders would be at one with the 
 noble lord in what he had said as to the relations between this 
 country and Belgium. To the appointment of a third vice- 
 consul he did not attach much importance as a remedy, but he 
 did attach value to the use of a launch ; the swift movements 
 of the official within his district would certainly be most useful. 
 Nor was he much interested in what the noble lord had said 
 about missionaries ; he would rather leave all questions of 
 religion out of account until other elementary matters were 
 settled. He was grateful, however, to the noble lord for having 
 destroyed one of the arguments used against the agitation that 
 it was a matter of Protestant against Catholic. That could now 
 hardly be maintained. It was evident that the Congo rulers 
 desired to keep out of the country everybody who could see, 
 

 PUBLIC SPEECHES. 283 
 
 hear, and report. Missionaries, at great peril and labour, had 
 gathered the facts and had been faithful reporters. A signifi- 
 cant phrase had been dropped by the noble lord ; he said the 
 Government had still to see whether the scheme of annexation 
 was a reality or not. That was precisely where outside opinion 
 was most sensitive and most disturbed. The fear was some- 
 thing of this kind, that the Government, feeling the enormous 
 pressure of the international difficulty, would be too much 
 inclined to see whether after all it would not be enough and, 
 indeed, better to say : " We know this scheme of annexation is 
 really quite unsatisfactory, it gives no security for radical 
 change, but it does this, it cloes bring Congo administration into 
 some kind of relation, imperfect though it may be, with the 
 Belgian Chamber and its debates, and such is our faith in 
 Parliamentary discussion that we think this must bring about 
 amelioration." He could not help thinking that there was very 
 real danger in that he might almost call it a temptation to 
 which this or any Government might be exposed. In the first 
 place, this was mainly an administrative question, and the 
 administration would remain entirely in the hands in which it 
 has hitherto been, and discussion would be carried on by those 
 who had not the money to carry out changes. Any real change 
 would mean a demand Belgian finance could hardly bear. 
 Belgium had not the knowledge and experience to deal 
 familiarly with colonial affairs, and the Belgian Chamber was 
 not accustomed to interest itself with matters outside its own 
 land. Nor was there power to enforce improvements. There 
 would, therefore, be a very imperfect advantage to be hoped for, 
 Y/hile, on the other hand, there would be the loss to this country 
 of the opportunity for frank, consistent action under treaty 
 obligations. The moral feeling of the country, of which the 
 noble lord had spoken, was one of its most precious assets. If 
 they always opposed to it this wall of international difficulty it 
 would get accustomed to beat at the door in that wall in vain, 
 and the feeling would spread, as he thought he saw it already 
 spreading, that it was no good appealing to principles of justice 
 in this country. If in this case, where the facts were not 
 disputed, England could not live up to her old traditions as a 
 protector of freedom and an emancipator of slaves, the effect on 
 the future of that most precious asset its own moral force 
 might be more serious than perhaps we thought. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Marquis of Lansdowne. I rise mainly because if one or 
 two words were not spoken from this bench the impression 
 might be created that there was a difference of opinion between 
 the two sides of this House upon this important subject a 
 difference of opinion in which I for one do not in the least 
 
284 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 believe. I have on several occasions addressed your lordships 
 on this subject, using, I think, stronger language than that 
 which I am generally in the habit of using in this House ; but 
 of what I have said on former occasions I am not disposed to 
 retract one single syllable. (Cheers.) For another reason I 
 may perhaps excuse myself for saying more than a few words. 
 My noble friend (Lord" Cromer) on the cross-benches was good 
 enough to single out from speeches of mine one or two of the 
 most emphatic statements which I have ventured to make, and 
 to justify me with a weight of authority to which I cannot 
 pretend. I hope it may not be the last time on which my noble 
 friend will give me the support of his great authority. I 
 believe that in all parts of the House there is an agreement that 
 the present situation in the Congo is intolerable (cheers) ; and 
 that feeling will certainly not have been diminished by the 
 statement which I understood my noble friend who represents 
 the Foreign Office to make to the effect that the attitude of the 
 Congo Government at this moment was, if possible, more un- 
 compromising than before. That is a very serious announce- 
 ment. (Hear, hear.) We are most of us in favour of what has 
 been described this evening as the Belgian solution, by which I 
 mean that the jurisdiction and privileges now possessed by the 
 Sovereign of the Congo State should be transferred to the 
 Belgian Government. In our view that transfer must be a 
 real and complete transfer not a transfer which any of us 
 would regret, as would be the case even in acquiescence, if 
 there were any reservation of rights, any conditions made 
 which might have the effect of impairing the full and complete 
 control of the Belgian Government over the whole of the 
 territories without exception now administered by the Govern- 
 ment of the Congo State. We are not yet able to say with any 
 degree of certainty whether the settlement which is likely to 
 be accepted by the Belgian Government will or will not include 
 these conditions. There is a colonial law which has been before 
 the Parliamentary committee and there is a draft treaty of 
 cession. These documents, so far as I am able to understand 
 them, certainly seem to contain many conditions of a very dis- 
 quieting character. But the matter is still so I understand it 
 before the Belgian Parliament ; and it does not seem to me 
 that we are yet in a position to pass judgment finally upon the 
 settlement which is likely to be effected. What I venture to 
 put to your lordships very strongly is this that we should 
 hesitate before we do anything which might embarrass the 
 Belgian Government in dealing with this very problem which 
 now awaits solution at their hands. Let us not forget that all 
 the circumstances of the case are of a kind which entitle the 
 
PUBLIC SPEECHES. 285 
 
 Belgian Government to the utmost consideration This is not 
 an enterprise of their seeking. They would probably be very 
 glad, if they could, to escape altogether the heavy obligations 
 which the transfer of the Congo State will impose upon them. 
 Their task will be one of tremendous magnitude. It will be 
 nothing less than the transformation of the whole system under 
 which the government of this miserably oppressed* country has 
 been conducted. Let us not also forget this that this work of 
 colonial administration is not work of which the Belgian 
 Government has had any experience or to which it is at all 
 accustomed. We are therefore going to ask the Belgian 
 Government to undertake a task of very great difficulty, and 
 one which no doubt will involve it in great expense. Because, 
 as has been truly said during the course of this discussion, if 
 the Congo Free State is to be administered with ordinary 
 regard to the dictates of humanity, the ill-gotten profits of 
 recent years are bound to disappear ; and it is by no means 
 improbable that these profits will be replaced at first by con- 
 siderable loss. I therefore trust that we shall give the Belgian 
 Government such a chance as ordinary fair play suggests ; and 
 it seems to me altogether premature that we should at this 
 moment talk, as some people have talked, not in this House, of 
 sending ultimatums to the Belgian Government to withdraw the 
 exequaturs of Belgian Consuls, or even of sending gunboats there 
 is always a gunboat at the bottom of these suggestions to the 
 Congo River. There are remedies and remedies ; and I was 
 glad to hear my noble friend Lord Mayo speak in terms of 
 approval of a particular remedy which has always seemed to 
 me to be an appropriate one, I mean the increase in the number 
 of British Consuls ; and if these Consuls are to be given, as 
 Lord Cronier proposed, consular courts, and if British traders 
 are to be freely admitted into the country, I should look forward 
 to excellent results following the introduction of such a change. 
 It also seems to me that the appointment of a river commission 
 to which my noble friend referred was a very wholesome 
 proposal. Public opinion in this country has been more moved 
 over this question than by almost any question which I can 
 remember (cheers) ; and I hope that we are not wrong in 
 believing that the public of Belgium also has at last been 
 moved by the terrible accounts which have reached us as to 
 what has been going on in the Congo. I trust that the result of the 
 discussion, which will no doubt be carefully followed in Belgium, 
 will be to satisfy the people and the Government of that 
 country that the people and the Government of Great Britain 
 are earnestly bent upon the complete reversal of the whole 
 policy with which the Congo Free State has lately been 
 
286 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 administered, and that they are determined that an end shall 
 be put to a condition of things that they have long regarded 
 with feelings of horror and shame. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Earl of Crewe agreed with the noble marquis that on this 
 subject there was singular unanimity in all parts of the House. 
 The same unanimity, he believed, also prevailed all over the 
 country. They had read accounts of a system of forced labour 
 in the Congo which was not only not to be distinguished from 
 slavery but was infinitely harsher than many forms of slavery 
 which existed on the African continent. He was glad to know 
 that the policy of the Government in somewhat increasing the 
 Consular establishments in the Congo met with the approval of 
 the House. There could be no question that almost all the 
 records of ill- doing in Africa, whether by individuals or com- 
 munities, had been very largely caused or aided by the absence 
 of publicity. He thought it was Mr. Lecky who had said that 
 perhaps the only instance of a really pure and disinterested 
 agitation was the agitation against the slave trade in the early 
 part of the nineteenth century. The public feeling in regard 
 to the Congo was equally pure and disinterested. Lord Cromer 
 had not minced matters in speaking of the Congo State. There 
 was no reason, so far 'as its administration was concerned, why 
 he should. But the noble lord recognised to the full the 
 position of difficulty in which the Belgians were placed ; and 
 the leader of the Opposition had laid further stress upon the 
 point. It was one of very great importance. What the 
 Belgian people were asked to do was, without previous colonial 
 experience, to take over liabilities of an entirely unknown 
 character, because it was beyond dispute that the sweeping 
 away of the present system in the Congo must be attended by 
 considerable cost. At any rate, negotiations with a view to 
 transfer were now proceeding between King Leopold and the 
 Belgian people. If the proposed transfer was a genuine one, 
 and held out the promise of an improved administration of the 
 country, his Majesty's Government should heartily welcome it. 
 But if it could be shown that it had elements of unreality that 
 was to say, if it were going to leave the power where it was, 
 they certainly could not regard it as a proper solution. They 
 should then have to look at the matter afresh, bearing in mind 
 the two grounds upon which they had the right to express an 
 opinion first, our rights under treaty ; and, secondly, our 
 rights of humanity, which we shared with every civilised 
 nation. Meanwhile they did not desire in any way to prejudice 
 the conduct of these negotiations, or to throw any kind of 
 obstacle in their way. Those gentlemen in Belgium who most 
 desirecl to see the administration of the Congo reformed would 
 

 PUBLIC SPEECHES. 287 
 
 be placed in a position of great difficulty were there anything 
 like an attitude of dictation from this side of the channel. The 
 Government would, therefore, await the result of the negotia- 
 tions, feeling confidence in the sound instincts of the Belgian 
 people and with the hope that by this means a solution of a 
 most difficult problem would in due course be found. (Hear, 
 hear.) 
 
 The motion was agreed to. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 GENERAL LITERATURE. 
 
 EXERCISE No. 19. 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 ONE ought, I feel, deliberately to reckon with death, and to 
 discount it. It is, after all, the only certain future event in 
 our lives. 
 
 And yet we struggle with it, put it away from us, live and 
 plan as though it had no existence ; or, if it insistently clouds 
 our thoughts, as it does at intervals, we wait resignedly until 
 the darkness lifts, and until we may resume our vivid interests 
 again. 
 
 I do not, of course, mean that it should be a steady, melancholy 
 
 E re-occupation. If we have to die, we are also meant to live ; 
 ut we ought to combine and co-ordinate the thought of it. It 
 ought to take its place among the other great certainties of life, 
 without weakening our hold upon the activity of existence. 
 How is this possible ? For the very terror of death lies not in 
 the sad accidents of mortality, the stiffened and corrupting form, 
 the dim eye, the dreadful pageantry over that we can triumph ; 
 but it is the blank cessation of all that we know of life, the silence 
 of the mind that loved us, the irreparable wound. 
 
 Some turn hungrily to Spiritualism to escape from this ter- 
 rible mystery. But, so far as I have looked into Spiritualism, 
 it seems to me only to have proved that, if any communication 
 has ever been made from beyond the gate of death and even 
 such supposed phenomena are inextricably intertwined with 
 quackeries and deceits it is an abnormal and not a normal 
 thing. The scientific evidence for the continuance of personal 
 identity is nil ; the only hope lies in the earnest desire of the 
 hungering heart, 
 
GENERAL LITERATURE. 289 
 
 The spirit cries out that it dare not, it cannot cease to be. It 
 cannot bear the thought of all the energy and activity of life 
 proceeding in its accustomed course, deeds being done, words 
 being uttered, the problems which the mind pondered being 
 solved, the hopes which the heart cherished being realised 
 "and I not there." It is a ghastly obsession to think of all 
 the things that one has loved best quiet work, the sunset 
 on familiar fields, well-known rooms, dear books, happy talk, 
 fireside intercourse and one's own place vacant, one's posses- 
 sions dispersed among careless hands, eye and ear and voice 
 sealed and dumb. And yet how strange it is that we should 
 feel thus about the future, experience this dumb resentment at 
 the thought that there should be a future in which one may 
 bear no part, while we acquiesce so serenely in claiming no 
 share in the great past of the world that enacted itself before 
 we came into being. It never occurs to us to feel wronged 
 because we had no conscious outlook upon the things that have 
 been ; why should we feel so unjustly used because our outlook 
 may be closed upon the things that shall be hereafter '( Why 
 should we feel that the future somehow belongs to us, while we 
 have no claim upon the past ? It is a strange and bewildering 
 mystery ; but the fact that the whole of our nature cries out 
 against extinction is the strongest argument that we shall yet 
 be, for why put so intensely strong an instinct in the heart 
 unless it is meant to be somehow satisfied ? 
 
 Only one thought, and that a stern one, can help us and that 
 is the certainty that we are in stronger hands than our own. 
 The sense of freewill, the consciousness of the possibility of 
 effort, blinds us to this ; we tend to mistake the ebullience of 
 temperament for the deliberate choice of the will. Yet have we 
 any choice at all ? Science says no ; while the mind, with no 
 less instinctive certainty, cries out that we have a choice. Yet 
 take some sharp crisis of life say an overwhelming temptation. 
 If we resist it, what is it but a resultant of many forces ? 
 Experience of past failures and past resolves combine with 
 trivial and momentary motives to make us choose to resist. If 
 we fail and yield, the motive is not strong enough, yet we have 
 the sense that we might have done differently : we blame 
 ourselves, and not the past which made us ourselves. 
 
 But with death it is different. Here, if ever, falls the fiat of 
 the Mind that bade us be. And thus the only way in which we 
 can approach it is to put ourselves in dependence upon that Spirit. 
 And the only course we can follow is this : not by endeavouring 
 to anticipate in thought the moment of our end that, perhaps, 
 only adds to its terrors when it comes but by resolutely and 
 tenderly, day after day, learning to commend ourselves to the 
 P.W. T 
 
290 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 hand of God ; to make what efforts we can ; to do our best ; to 
 decide as simply and sincerely as possible what our path should 
 be, and then to leave the issue humbly and quietly with God. 
 
 I do this, a little ; it brings with it a wonderful tranquillity 
 and peace. And the strange thing is that one does not do it 
 oftener, when one has so often experienced its healing and 
 strengthening power. 
 
 (A, C. BENSON The Upton Letters.) 
 
 EXERCISE No. 20. 
 EGOTISM. 
 
 But I must confess that I like all memoirs. I like them for 
 their form, just as much as for their matter. In literature mere 
 egotism is delightful. It is what fascinates us in the letters of 
 personalities so different as Cicero and Balzac, Flaubert and 
 Berlioz, Byron and Madame de Sevigne. Whenever we come 
 across it, and, strangely enough, it is rather rare, we cannot but 
 welcome it, and do not easily forget it. Humanity will always 
 love Rousseau for having confessed his sins, not to a priest, but 
 to the world ; and the couchant nymphs that Cellini wrought in 
 bronze for the castle of King Francis, the green and gold 
 Perseus, even, that in the open Loggia at Florence shows the 
 moon the dead terror that once turned life to stone, have not 
 given it more pleasure than has that autobiography in which 
 the supreme scoundrel of the Renaissance relates the story of 
 his splendour and his shame. The opinions, the character, the 
 achievements of the man, matter very little. He may be a 
 sceptic like the gentle Sieur de Montaigne, or a saint like the 
 bitter son of Monica, but when he tells us his own secrets he 
 can always charm our ears to listening and our lips to silence. 
 The mode of thought that Cardinal Newman represented if 
 that can be called a mode of thought which seeks to solve 
 intellectual problems by a denial of the supremacy of the 
 intellect may not, cannot, I think, survive. But the world 
 will never weary of watching that troubled soul in its progress 
 from darkness to darkness. The lonely church at Littlemore, 
 where " the breath of the morning is damp, and worshippers 
 are few," will always be dear to it, and whenever men see the 
 yellow snapdragon blossoming on the wall of Trinity they will 
 think of that gracious undergraduate who saw in the flower's 
 recurrence a prophecy that he would abide for ever with the 
 Benign Mother of his days a prophecy that Faith, in her 
 
GENERAL LITERATURE. 291 
 
 wisdom or her folly, suffered not to be fulfilled. Yes ; auto- 
 biography is irresistible. Poor, silly, conceited Mr. Secretary 
 Pepys has chattered his way into the circle of the Immortals, 
 and, conscious that indiscretion is the better part of valour, 
 bustles about among them in that " shaggy purple gown with 
 gold buttons and looped lace " which he is so fond of describing 
 to us, perfectly at his ease, and prattling, to his own and our 
 infinite pleasure, of the Indian blue petticoat that he bought for 
 his wife, of the "good hog's harslet," and the "pleasant French 
 fricassee of veal " that he loved to eat, of his game of bowls with 
 Will Joyce, and his " gadding after beauties," and his reciting 
 of Hamlet on a Sunday, and his playing of the viol on week 
 days, and other wicked or trivial things. Even in actual life 
 egotism is not without its attractions. When people talk to us 
 about others they are usually dull. When they talk to us about 
 themselves they are nearly always interesting, and if one could 
 shut them up, when they become wearisome, as easily as one 
 can shut up a book of which one has grown wearied, they would 
 be perfect absolutely. 
 
 (OSCAR WILDE Intentions.} 
 
 EXERCISE No. 21. 
 NATURE'S METHOD. 
 
 When a child falls, or runs its head against the table, it 
 suffers a pain, the remembrance of which tends to make it more 
 careful ; and by repetition of such experiences, it is eventually 
 disciplined into proper guidance of its movements. If it lays 
 hold of the fire-bars, thrusts its hand into a candle-flame, or 
 spills boiling water on any part of its skin, the resulting burn 
 or scald is a lesson not easily forgotten. So deep an impression 
 is produced by one or two events of this kind, that no persuasion 
 will afterwards induce it thus to disregard the laws of its 
 constitution. 
 
 Now in these cases, Nature illustrates to us in the simplest 
 way, the true theory and practice of moral discipline a theory 
 and practice which, however much they may seem to the super- 
 ficial like those commonly received, we shall find on examination 
 to differ from them very widely. 
 
 Observe, first, that in bodily injuries and their penalties we 
 have misconduct and its consequences reduced to their simplest 
 forms. Though, according to their popular acceptations, right and 
 wrong are words scarcely applicable to actions that have none but 
 
292 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 directly bodily effects ; yet whoever considers the matter will see 
 that such actions must be as much classifiable under these heads 
 as any other actions. From whatever assumption they start, all 
 theories of morality agree that conduct whose total results, 
 immediate and remote, are beneficial, is good conduct ; while con- 
 duct whose total results, immediate and remote, are injurious, is 
 bad conduct. The ultimate standards by which all men judge of 
 behaviour, are the resulting happiness or misery. We consider 
 drunkenness wrong because of the physical degeneracy and 
 accompanying moral evils entailed on the drunkard and his 
 dependents. Did theft give pleasure both to taker and loser, 
 we should not find it in our catalogue of sins. Were it con- 
 ceivable that kind actions multiplied human sufferings, we 
 should condemn them should not consider them kind. It 
 needs but to read the first newspaper-leader, or listen to any 
 conversation on social affairs, to see that acts of parliament, 
 political movements, philanthropic agitations, in common with 
 the doings of individuals, are judged by their anticipated results 
 in augmenting the pleasures or pains of men. And if on 
 analysing all secondary superinduced ideas, we find these to be 
 our final tests of right and wrong, we cannot refuse to class 
 bodily conduct as right or wrong according to the beneficial or 
 detrimental results produced. 
 
 Note, in the second place, the character of the punishments 
 by which these physical transgressions are prevented. Punish- 
 ments, we call them, in the absence of a better word ; for they 
 are not punishments in the literal sense. They are not artificial 
 and unnecessary inflictions of pain ; but are simply the beneficent 
 checks to actions that are essentially at variance with bodily 
 welfare checks in the absence of which life would be quickly 
 destroyed by bodily injuries. It is the peculiarity of these 
 penalties, if we must so call them, that they are simply the 
 unavoidable consequences of the deeds which they follow : they 
 are nothing more than the inevitable reactions entailed by the 
 child's actions. 
 
 Let it be further borne in mind that these painful reactions 
 are proportionate to the transgressions. A slight accident 
 brings a slight pain ; a more serious one, a severer pain. It is 
 not ordained that an urchin who tumbles off the doorstep, shall 
 suffer in excess of the amount necessary ; with the view of 
 making it still more cautious than the necessary suffering will 
 make it. But from its daily experience it is left to learn the 
 greater or less penalties of greater or less errors ; and to behave 
 accordingly. 
 
 And then mark, lastly, that these natural reactions which 
 follow the child's wrong actions, are constant, direct, unhesi- 
 
GENERAL LITERATURE. 293 
 
 tating, and not to be escaped. No threats ; but a silent, 
 rigorous performance. If a child runs a pin into its finger, pain 
 follows. If it does it again, there is again the same result : and 
 so on perpetually. In all its dealings with inorganic Nature it 
 finds this unswerving persistence, which listens to no excuse, 
 and from which there is no appeal ; and very soon recognising 
 this stern though beneficent discipline, it becomes extremely 
 careful not to transgress. 
 
 (HERBERT SPENCER Education.) 
 
 EXERCISE No. 22. 
 THE FRENCH. 
 
 On their long route marches, on the marches of their 
 nianreuvres and their wars, the French, along their roads which 
 are direct and august (and at evening, when one is weary, 
 sombre), seek a place of reunion and repose : upon this the 
 corps converges, and then at last a man may lie a long night 
 under shelter and content to sleep: a town lies before the 
 pioneers and is their goal. It stands, tiny with spires, above 
 the horizon of their hedgeless plains, and as they go they sing 
 of the halt, or, for long spaces, are silent, bent trudging under 
 the pack ; for they abhor parade. Very often they do not 
 reach their goal. They then lie out in bivouac under the sky 
 and light very many fires, five to a company or more, and sleep 
 out unsatisfied. Such a strain and such an attempt: such a 
 march, such a disappointment, and such a goal are the symbols 
 of their history ; for they are perpetually seeking, under arms, 
 a Europe that shall endure. In this search they must continue 
 here in Africa, as they continue in their own country, that 
 march of theirs which sees the city ever before it and yet cannot 
 come near to salute the guard at the gates and to enter in. It 
 is their business to re-create the Empire in this province of 
 Africa. It may be that here also they will come to no comple- 
 tion ; but if they fail, Europe will fail with them, and it will 
 be a sign that our tradition has ended. 
 
 They have done the Latin thing. First they have designed, 
 then organised, then built, then ploughed, and their wealth 
 has come last. The mind is present to excess in the stamp they 
 have laid upon Africa. Their utter regularity and the sense of 
 will envelop the whole province ; and their genius, inflexible 
 and yet alert, alert and yet monotonous, is to be seen every- 
 
294 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 where in similar roads, similar bridges of careful and even 
 ornamented stone, similar barracks and loopholed walls. 
 
 There is a perspective upon the High Plateaux which though 
 it is exceptional is typical of their spirit. It is on the salt plain 
 just before the gate of the desert is reached, and the fall on to 
 the desert begun. Here the flat and unfruitful level glares 
 white and red : it is of little use to men or horse. Some few 
 adventurers, like their peers in the Rockies, have attempted to 
 enclose a patch or two of ground, but the whole landscape is 
 parched and dead. Through this, right on like a gesture of 
 command, like the dart of a spear, goes the rail, urging towards 
 the Sahara, as though the Sahara were not a boundary but a 
 goal. The odd, single hills, as high as the Wrekin or higher, 
 upon which not even the goats can live, look down upon the 
 straight line thus traced : these hills and the track beneath 
 them afford a stupendous contrast. Nowhere is the determina- 
 tion of man more defiant against the sullen refusal of the 
 earth. 
 
 There is another effort of the French which may be watched 
 with more anxiety and more comprehension by northern men 
 than their admirable roads or their railways or their wires 
 above the sand, and that is their afforestation. 
 
 It is a debate which will not be decided (for the material of 
 full decision is lacking) whether, since the Romans crowded 
 their millions into this Africa, the rainfall has or has not 
 changed. It is certain that they husbanded water upon every 
 side and built great barricades to hold the streams; yet it is 
 certain, also, that their cities stood where no such great groups 
 of men could live to-day. There are those who believe that 
 under Atlas, towards the desert, a shallow sea spread westward 
 from the Mediterranean and from Syrtis : there are others who 
 believe that the dry water-courses of the Sahara were recently 
 alive with streams, and that the tombs and inscriptions of the 
 waste places, now half buried in the sand, prove a great lake 
 upon whose shores a whole province could cultivate and live. 
 Both hypotheses are doubtful for this reason that no good 
 legend preserves the record. Changes far less momentous have 
 left whole cycles of ballads and stories behind them. The 
 Sahara has been the Sahara since men have sung or spoken 
 of it. 
 
 (HILAIRE BELLOC Esto Perpetua.} 
 
GENERAL LITERATURE. 295 
 
 EXERCISE No. 23. 
 THE LAMP OF TRUTH. 
 
 There is a marked likeness between the virtue of man and the 
 enlightenment of the globe he inhabits the same diminishing 
 gradation in vigour up to the limits of their domains, the same 
 essential separation from their contraries the same twilight 
 at the meeting of the two : a something wider belt than the 
 line where the world rolls into night, that strange twilight of 
 the virtues ; that dusky debateable land, wherein zeal becomes 
 impatience, and temperance becomes severity, and justice 
 becomes cruelty, and faith superstition, and each and all 
 vanish into gloom. 
 
 Nevertheless, with the greater number of them, though their 
 dimness increases gradually, we may mark the moment of their 
 sunset ; and, happily, may turn the shadow back by the way by 
 which it had gone down ; but for one, the line of the horizon is 
 irregular and undefined ; and this, too, the very equator and 
 girdle of them all Truth ; that only one of which there are no 
 degrees, but breaks and rents continually ; that pillar of the 
 earth, yet a cloudy pillar ; that golden and narrow line, which 
 the very powers and virtues that lean upon it bend, which 
 policy and prudence conceal, which kindness and courtesy modify, 
 which courage overshadows with his shield, imagination covers 
 with her wings, and charity dims with her tears. How difficult 
 must the maintenance of that authority be, which, while it has 
 to restrain the hostility of all the worst principles of man, has 
 also to restrain the disorders of his best which is continually 
 assaulted by the one and betrayed by the other, and which 
 regards with the same severity the lightest and the boldest 
 violations of its law ! There are some faults slight in the sight 
 of love, some errors slight in the estimate of wisdom ; but truth 
 forgives no insult, and endures no stain. 
 
 We do not enough consider this ; nor enough dread the slight 
 and continual occasions of offence against her. We are too much 
 in the habit of looking at falsehood in its darkest associations, 
 and through the colour of its worst purposes. That indignation 
 which we profess to feel at deceit absolute, is indeed only at 
 deceit malicious. We resent calumny, hypocrisy, and treachery, 
 because they harm us, not because they are untrue. Take the 
 detraction and the mischief from the untruth, and we are little 
 offended by it ; turn it into praise, and we may be pleased with 
 it. And yet it is not calumny nor treachery that does the 
 largest sum of mischief in the world ; they are continually 
 
296 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 crushed, and are felt only in being conquered. But it is the 
 glistening and softly spoken lie ; the amiable fallacy ; the 
 patriotic lie of the historian, the provident lie of the politician, 
 the zealous lie of the partisan, the merciful lie of the friend, and 
 the careless lie of each man to himself, that cast that black 
 mystery over humanity, through which we thank any man who 
 pierces, as we would thank one who dug a well in a desert ; 
 happy, that the thirst for truth still remains with us, even when 
 we have wilfully left the fountains of it. 
 
 It would be well if moralists less frequently confused the 
 greatness of a sin with its unpardonableness. The two characters 
 are altogether distinct. The greatness of a fault depends partly 
 on the nature of the person against whom it is committed, partly 
 upon the extent of its consequences. Its pardonableness depends, 
 humanly speaking, on the degree of temptation to it. One class 
 of circumstances determines the weight of the attaching punish- 
 ment ; the other, the claim to remission of -punishment ; and 
 since it is not always easy for men to estimate the relative 
 weight, nor always possible for them to know the relative con- 
 sequences, of crime, it is usually wise in them to quit the care of 
 such nice measurements and to look to the other and clearer 
 condition of culpability, esteeming those faults worst which are 
 committed under least temptation. 
 
 (JOHN RUSKIN The Seven Lamps of Architecture.) 
 
 EXERCISE No. 24. 
 THE VELD. 
 
 No landscape is so masterful as the veld. Broken up into 
 valleys, reclaimed in parts by man, showing fifty varieties of 
 scene, it yet preserves one essential character. For, homely as 
 it is, it is likewise untameable. There are no fierce encroach- 
 ments about it. A deserted garden does not return to the veld 
 for many years, if ever. It is not, like the jungle, the natural 
 enemy of man, waiting for a chance to enter and obliterate his 
 handiwork, and repelled only by sleepless watching. Rather it 
 is the quiet spectator of human efforts, ready to meet them half- 
 way, and yet from its vastness always the dominant feature in 
 any landscape. Its normal air is sad, grey, and Quakerish, 
 never flamboyant under the brightest sun, and yet both 
 strenuous and restful. The few red monstrosities man has 
 built on its edge serve only to set off this essential dignity. 
 For one thing, it is not created according to the scale of man. 
 
GENERAL LITERATURE. 297 
 
 It will give him a home, but he will never alter its aspect. Let 
 him plough and reap it for a thousand years, and he may 
 beautify and fructify but never change it. The face of England 
 has altered materially in two centuries, because England is on 
 a human scale, a pasture land, without intrinsic wildness. 
 But cultivation on the veld will always be superimposed : it 
 will remain like Egypt, ageless and immutable one of the 
 primeval types of the created world. 
 
 But, though dominant, it is also adaptable. It can, for the 
 moment, assume against its unchangeable background a 
 chameleon-like variety. Sky and weather combine to make 
 it imitative at times. Now, under a pale Italian sky, it is the 
 Campagna hot, airless, profoundly melancholy. Again, when 
 the mist drives over it, and wet scarps of hill stand out among 
 clouds, it is Dartmoor or Liddesdale ; or on a radiant evening, 
 when the mountains are one bank of hazy purple, it has 
 borrowed from Skye and the far West Highlands. On a clear 
 steely morning it has the air of its namesake, the Norwegian 
 f jelds, in one way the closest of its parallels. But each phase 
 passes, the tantalising memory goes, and we are back again 
 upon the aboriginal veld, so individual that we wonder whence 
 arose the illusion. 
 
 A modern is badly trained for appreciating certain kinds of 
 scenery. Generations of poets and essayists have so stamped 
 the " pathetic fallacy " upon his soul that wherever he goes, 
 unless in the presence of a Niagara or a Mount Everest, he runs 
 wild, looking for a human interest or an historical memory. 
 This is well enough in the old settled lands, but on the veld it is 
 curiously inept. The man who, in Emerson's phrase, seeks " to 
 impress his English whim upon the immutable past," will find 
 little reward for his gymnastics. Not that there is no history 
 of a kind of Bantu wars, and great tribal immigrations, of 
 wandering gold-seekers and Portuguese adventurers, of the 
 voortrekker and the heroic battles in the wilds. But the veld 
 is so little subject to human life that had Thermopylae been 
 fought in yonder nek, or had Saint Francis wandered on this 
 hillside, it would have mastered and obliterated the memories. 
 It has its history ; but it is the history of cosmic forces, of the 
 cycle of seasons, of storms and suns and floods, the joys and 
 sorrows of the natural world. Men dreamed of it and its wealth 
 long ago in Portugal and Holland. They have quarrelled 
 about it in London and Cape Town, fought for it, parcelled it 
 out in maps, bought it and sold it. It has been subject for long 
 to the lusts and hopes of man. It has been lauded with 
 epithets ; town -bred folk have made theories about it ; armies 
 have rumbled across it ; the flood of high politics has swept it. 
 
298 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 But the veld has no memory of it. Men go and come, kingdoms 
 fall and rise, but it remains austere, secluded, impenetrable, 
 " the still unravished bride of quietness." 
 
 (JOHN BUCHAN The African Colony.) 
 
 EXERCISE No. 25. 
 AN APOLOGY FOR IDLERS. 
 
 A fact is not called a fact, but a piece of gossip, if it does not 
 fall into one of your scholastic categories. An enquiry must be 
 in some acknowledged direction, with a name to go by ; or else 
 you are not enquiring at all, only lounging ; and the workhouse 
 is too good for you. It is supposed that all knowledge is at the 
 bottom of a well, or the far end of a telescope. Sainte-Beuve, 
 as he grew older, came to regard all experience as a single great 
 book, in which to study for a few years ere we go hence ; and it 
 seemed all one to him whether you should read in Chapter xx., 
 which is the differential calculus, or in Chapter xxxix., which 
 is hearing the band play in the gardens. As a matter of fact, 
 an intelligent person, looking out of his eyes and hearkening in 
 his ears, with a smile on his face all the time, will get more true 
 education than many another in a life of heroic vigils. There 
 is certainly some chill and arid knowledge to be found upon 
 the summits of formal and laborious science ; but it is all round 
 about you, and for the trouble of looking, that you will acquire 
 the warm and palpitating facts of life. While others are filling 
 their memory with a lumber of words, one-half of which they 
 will forget before the week be out, your truant may learn some 
 really useful art ; to play the fiddle, to know a good cigar, or to 
 speak with ease and opportunity to all varieties of men. Many 
 who have "plied their book diligently," and know all about 
 some one branch or another of accepted lore, come out of the 
 study with an ancient and owl-like demeanour, and prove dry, 
 stockish, and dyspeptic in all the better and brighter parts of 
 life. Many make a large fortune, who remain underbred and 
 pathetically stupid to the last. And meantime there goes the 
 idler, who began life along with them by your leave, a different 
 picture. He has had time to take care of his health and his 
 spirits ; he has been a great deal in the open air, which is the 
 most salutary of all things for both body and mind ; and if he 
 has never read the great Book in very recondite places, he has 
 dipped into it and skimmed it over to excellent purpose. Might 
 not the student afford some Hebrew roots, and the business man 
 
GENERAL LITERATURE. 299 
 
 some of his half-crowns, for a share of the idler's knowledge of 
 life at large, and Art of Living ? Nay, and the idler has another 
 and more important quality than these. I mean his wisdom. 
 He who has much looked on at the childish satisfaction of other 
 people in their hobbies, will regard his own with only a very 
 ironical indulgence. He will not be heard among the dogma- 
 tists. He will have a great and cool allowance for all sorts of 
 people and opinions. If he finds no out-of-the-way truths, he 
 will identify himself with no very burning falsehood. His way 
 takes him along a by-road, not much frequented, but very even 
 and pleasant which is called Commonplace Lane, and leads to 
 the Belvedere of Commonsense. Thence he .shall command an 
 agreeable, if no very noble prospect ; and while others behold 
 the East and West, the Devil and the Sunrise, he will be con- 
 tentedly aware of a sort of morning hour upon all sublunary 
 things, with an army of shadows running speedily and in many 
 different directions into the great daylight of Eternity. The 
 shadows and the generations, the shrill doctors and the plangent 
 wars, go by into ultimate silence and emptiness ; but underneath 
 all this, a man may see, out of the Belvedere windows, much 
 green and peaceful landscape ; many firelit parlours ; good 
 people laughing, drinking, and making love, as they did before 
 the flood or the French Revolution ; and the old shepherd 
 telling his tale under the hawthorn. 
 
 (ROBERT Louis STEVENSON Virginibus Puerisque.) 
 
 EXEECISE No. 26. 
 SUNT LACRIMAE RERUM. 
 
 It had become a habit with Marius one of his modernisms 
 developed by his assistance at those " conversations " of Aurelius 
 with himself, to keep a register of the movements of his own 
 private thoughts or humours; not continuously indeed, but 
 sometimes for lengthy intervals, during which it was no idle 
 self-indulgence, but a necessity of his intellectual life, to 
 " confess himself," with an intimacy, seemingly rare among the 
 ancients ; ancient writers, at all events, having been jealous, for 
 the most part, of affording us so much as a glimpse of that 
 interior self, which in many cases would have actually doubled 
 the interest of their objective informations. 
 
 " If a particular tutelary or genius" writes Marius, " accord- 
 ing to old belief, walks beside each one of us through life, mine 
 is certainly a capricious creature ! He fills one with wayward, 
 
300 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 unaccountable, yet quite irresistible humours, and seems always 
 to be in collusion with some outward circumstance, often trivial 
 enough in itself the condition of the weather, forsooth ! the 
 people one meets by chance the things one happens to overhear 
 them say (veritable ev6dioi. a-u^oXoi, or omens by the wayside, as 
 the old Greeks fancied), to push on the unreasonable pre- 
 possessions of the moment into weighty motives. It was 
 doubtless a quite explicable, physical fatigue which presented 
 me to myself, on awaking this morning, so lack-lustre and trite. 
 But I must needs take my petulance, contrasting it with my 
 accustomed morning hopefulness, as a sign of the ageing of 
 appetite, of a decay in the very capacity of enjoyment. We 
 need some imaginative stimulus, some not impossible ideal which 
 may shape vague hope, and transform it into effective desire, to 
 carry us year after year, without disgust, through the routine - 
 work which is so large a part of life. 
 
 " Then, how if appetite, be it for real or ideal, should itself 
 fail one after awhile ? Ah, yes ! it is of cold always that men 
 die ; and on some of us it creeps very gradually. In truth, I 
 can remember just such a lack-lustre condition of feeling once 
 or twice before. But I note, that it was accompanied then by 
 an odd indifference, as the thought of them occurred to me, in 
 regard to the sufferings of others a kind of callousness, so 
 unusual with me, as at once to mark the humour it accompanied 
 as a palpably morbid one, which would not last. Were those 
 sufferings, great or little, I asked myself then, of more real 
 consequence to them than mine to me, as I remind myself that 
 * nothing that will end is really long ' long enough to be 
 thought of importance ? But to-day, my own sense of fatigue, 
 the pity I conceive for myself, disposed me strongly to a tender- 
 ness for others. For a moment the whole world figured to me 
 as a hospital of sick persons ; many of them sick in mind ; and 
 all of whom it would be a brutality not to humour. 
 
 " Why, when I went out to walk-off my wayward fancies, did 
 I confront the very sort of incident (my unfortunate genius had 
 surely beckoned it from afar to vex me) likely to irritate it 
 further? A party of men were coming down the street. They 
 were leading a fine race-horse ; a handsome beast, but badly 
 hurt somewhere, in the circus, and useless. They were taking 
 him to slaughter ; and I think the animal knew it : he cast 
 such looks, as if of mad appeal, to those who passed him, as he 
 went to die in his beauty and pride, for just that one mischance 
 or fault, among the strangers to whom his old owner had 
 deserted him ; although the morning air was still so animating, 
 and pleasant to snuff. I could have fancied a soul in the 
 creature, swelling against its luck. And I had come across this 
 
GENERAL LITERATURE. 301 
 
 incident just when it would figure to me as the very symbol of 
 our poor humanity, in its capacities for pain, its wretched 
 accidents, its imperfect sympathies, which can never quite 
 identify us with each other ; the very power of utterance and 
 appeal seeming to fail, in proportion as our sorrows come home 
 to ourselves, are really our own. We are constructed for suffer- 
 ing ! What proofs of it does but one day afford, if we care to 
 note them, as we go a whole long chaplet of sorrowful 
 mysteries ! Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt." 
 (WALTER PATER Marius the Epicurean.) 
 
 EXERCISE No 27. 
 THE IDEA OF COMEDY. 
 
 The French controversialist is a polished swordsman, to be 
 dreaded in his graces and courtesies. The German is Orson, or 
 the mob, or a marching army, in defence of a good case or a bad 
 a big or a little. His irony is a missile of terrific tonnage ; 
 sarcasm he emits like a blast from a dragon's mouth. He must 
 and will be Titan. He stamps his foe underfoot, and is aston- 
 ished that the creature is not dead, but stinging ; for, in truth, 
 the Titan is contending, by comparison, with a god. 
 
 When the Germans lie on their arms, looking across the 
 Alsatian frontier at the crowds of Frenchmen rushing to applaud 
 L'ami Fritz at the Theatre Francais, looking and considering 
 the meaning of that applause, which is grimly comic in its poli- 
 tical response to the domestic moral of the play when the 
 Germans watch and are silent, their force of character tells. 
 They are kings in music, we may say princes in poetry, good 
 speculators in philosophy, and our leaders in scholarship. That 
 so gifted a race, possessed moreover of the stern good sense 
 which collects the waters of laughter to make the wells, should 
 show at a disadvantage, I hold for a proof, instructive to us, 
 that the discipline of the comic spirit is needful to their growth. 
 We see what they can reach to in that great figure of modern 
 manhood, Goethe. They are a growing people ; they are con- 
 versable as well ; and when their men, as in France, and at 
 intervals at Berlin tea-tables, consent to talk on equal terms with 
 their women, and to listen to them, their growth will be acceler- 
 ated and be shapelier. Comedy, or in any form the Comic spirit, 
 will then come to them to cut some figures out of the block, 
 show them the mirror, enliven and irradiate the social intelli- 
 gence. 
 
302 INDEXING AND PRECIS WRITING. 
 
 Modern French comedy is commendable for the directness of 
 the study of actual life, as far as that, which is but the early 
 step in such a scholarship, can be of service in composing and 
 colouring the picture. A consequence of this crude, though 
 well-meant, realism is the collision of the writers in their scenes 
 and incidents, and in their characters. The Muse of most of 
 them is an Aventurtire. She is clever, and a certain diversion exists 
 in the united scheme for confounding her. The object of this 
 person is to reinstate herself in the decorous world ; and either, 
 having accomplished this purpose through deceit, she has a 
 nostalgie de la boue, that eventually casts her back into it, or she 
 is exposed in her course of deception when she is about to gain 
 her end. A very good, innocent young man is her victim, or a 
 very astute, goodish young man obstructs her path. This latter 
 is enabled to be the champion of the decorous world by knowing 
 the indecorous as well. He has assisted in the progress of 
 Aventurieres downward ; he will not help them to ascend. The 
 world is with him ; and certainly it is not much of an ascension 
 they aspire to ; but what sort of a figure is he ? The triumph 
 of a candid realism is to show him no hero. You are to admire 
 him (for it must be supposed that realism pretends to waken 
 sane admiration) as a credibly living young man ; no better, 
 only a little firmer and shrewder, than the rest. If, however, 
 you think at all, after the curtain has fallen, you are likely to 
 think that the Aventurieres have a case to plead against him. 
 True, and the author has not said anything to the contrary ; he 
 has but painted from the life ; he leaves his audience to the 
 reflections of unphilosophic minds upon life, from the specimen 
 he has presented in the bright and narrow circle of a spy-glass. 
 
 I do not know that the fly in amber is of any particular use, 
 but the Comic idea enclosed in a comedy makes it more generally 
 perceptible and portable, and that is an advantage. There is a 
 benefit to men in taking the lessons of Comedy in congregations, 
 for it enlivens the wits ; and to writers it is beneficial, for they 
 must have a clear scheme, and even if they have no idea to 
 present, they must prove that they have made the public sit to 
 them before the sitting to see the picture. And writing for the 
 stage would be a corrective of a too-incrusted scholarly style into 
 which some great ones fall at times. It keeps minor writers to 
 a definite plan, and to English. Many of them now swelling a 
 plethoric market, in the composition of novels, in pun-manufac- 
 tories and in journalism ; attached to the machinery forcing 
 perishable matter on a public that swallows voraciously and 
 groans ; might, with encouragement, be attending to the study 
 of art in literature. Our critics appear to be fascinated by the 
 quaintness of our public, as the world is when our beast-garden 
 
GENERAL LITERATURE. 303 
 
 has a new importation of magnitude, and the creature's appetite 
 is reverently consulted. They stipulate for a writer's popularity 
 before they will do much more than take the position of umpires 
 to record his failure or success. Now the pig supplies the most 
 popular of dishes, but it is not accounted the most honoured of 
 animals, unless it be by the cottager. Our public might surely 
 be led to try other, perhaps finer, meat. It has good taste in 
 song. It might be taught as justly, on the whole, and the sooner 
 when the cottager's view of the feast shall cease to be the humble 
 one of our literary critics, to extend this capacity for delicate 
 choosing in the direction of the matter arousing laughter. 
 
 (GEORGE MEREDITH An Essay on Comedy.} 
 
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