2
the circumstances of the country are such as to require temporary restrictions even of an unusual character, and we do not think that under the circumstances necessarily existing in the conquered Colonies after the war the propriety of the proposed Ordinance could with any reason be questioned.
2 and 3. As altered by us we approve of the draft Ordinance, but we would suggest the addition of a clause of exemption similar to Clause 2 of the Natal Act. ?
We would further suggest that the draft should be submitted to the Foreign Office before the Ordinance is passed.
We are, &c.,
R. B. FINLAY.
EDWARD CARSON,
3
exceeding one year or to both such fine and imprisonment and if he shall be sentenced to imprisonment shall on the expiration of his sentence again be removed from the Colony under Order under the hand of the Colony Secretary.
VIII. It shall be lawful for the Governor to appoint such persons as he may deem
fit to be officers for the purposes mentioned in Sections III. and VI. of this Ordinance and generally for the more effectual carrying out of its provisions.
IX. The Governor may from time to time make, amend and repeal rules and regulations for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Ordinance.
IX. It shall be lawful for the Governor by notice in the Gazette to suspend the operation of this Ordinance or of any provision or provisions thereof at any time and for any period in any place town district or other area described in such notice.
The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, M.P.,
&c.,
&e.,
&c.
in the
year
(Draft.)
WHEREAS it is necessary to make temporary provision for the exclusion from this Colony of certain immigrants: Be it enacted, &c.
I. No former burgher of the South African Republic or Orange Free State shall be allowed to enter the Colony who not having surrendered under the terms agreed to on the 31st day of May, 1902, shall refuse to take the oath of allegiance to His Majesty King Edward VII, or to make a declaration of the like substance and effect approved by the Governor.
II. No person who not being a burgher of the South African Republic or Orange Free State aided or abetted the King's enemies or committed any breach of neutrality during the late war in South Africa shall be allowed to enter the Colony except with the consent of the Governor previously had and obtained.
III. Any person of any of the classes defined in this section shall not be allowed to enter the Colony, namely:-
(a) Any person who, when asked to do so by any Officer authorised in that behalf by the Governor, shall fail to himself write out and sign, in the characters of any language of Europe, an application to the Colonial Secretary in the form set out in the Schedule to this Ordinance.
·
() Any person being a pauper or likely to become a public charge.
(e) Any idiot or insane person.
(d) Any person suffering from a loathsone or a dangerous contagious disease.
(e) Any person who, not having received free pardon, has within two years been convicted of a felony or other infamous crime or misdemeanour involving moral turpitude, ard not being a mere political offence.
(1) Any prostitute and any person living on the prostitution of others.
IV. Every person prohibited from entering the Colony by the first three sections of this Ordinance shall be, and shall be known as, a "prohibited immigrant,” and shall at any time on being found within the Colony be liable upon conviction by a Magistrate to a fine not exceeding £50 and upon such conviction shall be removed from the Colony under Order under the hand of the Colony Secretary.
V. Every person who shall enter the Colony after the passing of this Ordinance shall report himself within seven days to the nearest Resident Magistrate who may shall issue to him a permit of residence entitling him to reside in the Colony:, No but no such permit of residence shall be issued to any prohibited immigrant.
VI. Any person not residing within the Colony at the date of the passing of this Ordinance and not being a prohibited immigrant who, upon being called upon to produce such permit of residence as aforesaid by any Officer authorised in that behalf by the Governor, shall fail to produce such permit of residence or to prove that he has not been in the Colony for more than seven days shall, upon conviction by a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding £50 and shall be removed from the Colony under Order under the hand of the Colony Secretary. The Magistrate if satisfied that any such person has failed to take out a pass through inadvertence and is a person to whom a permit of residence might properly be issued shall report the case to the Colony Secretary who may authorise the issue of a permit of resilence without the infliction of a fine.
VII. Any person who having been removed from the Colony under the foregoing provisions shall again be found within the Colony without a permit of residence shall be liable upon conviction by a Magistrate to a fine not exceeding £500 or imprisonment not
SIR,
To the Colonial Secretary.
Schedule.
I CLAIM to be exempt from the operation of Ordinance My full name is
My place of abode for the last twelve months has been
My business or calling is
I was born at
R. B. F.
E. C.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
15 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TOPage 241
R
43072.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 885
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- | COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
15 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY DARLING & SON, LTD., 31-40, BACON STREET, E.
1002.
SIR,
No. 168.
(SOUTH AFRICA.)
LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
[Whether, and how, the Boers who murdered Abraham Esau in 1901 can be
brought to justice.]
Royal Courts of Justice,
October 17, 1902.
We were honoured with your commands signified to us by Mr. Bertram Cox in his letter of the 9th instant, stating that he was directed by you to transmit to us for our report certain papers connected with the murder of Abraham Esau by Boers at Calvinia in the early part of 1901.
That he was to enclose two Blue Books which had been presented to Parliament, and to refer us to papers Nos. 47 and 51 of [Cd. 547] and Nos. 4 and 13 of [Cd. 903] in which would be found the details of this case,
That in the Agreement as to Terms of Surrender of the Boer Forces in the Field it was provided, Article 4, that no proceedings civil or criminal would be taken against any of the burghers surrendering or returning in connection with the prosecution of the war, but that the benefit of this clause should not extend to certain acts contrary to the usages of war which had been notified by the Commander-in-Chief to the Boer Generals and which should be tried by Court Martial immediately after the close of hostilities,
That he was also to enclose a copy of the Parliamentary Paper relating to the interview between you and the Boer Generals on September 5th [Cd. 1284] when this provision in the Terms of Surrender was referred to (p. 19).
That it will be seen from the telegram dated the 29th September that two prisoners
of war, by name respectively Strydom and Vandermerwe, who were concerned in the killing of Esau were believed to be now on the way back to South Africa, and that the case of Esau was unfortunately not amongst the cases notified by Lord Kitchener to the Boer Generals under Article 4 of the Terms of Surrender.
That you considered that it was in the highest degree important that these men should, if possible, be put on trial for this very brutal murder, even though it should be ultimately found necessary to pardon them. That you assumed that if they were rebels and not burghers no difficulty would arise under the Terms of Surrender with respect to their being tried and the sentence of the Court carried out, but that if they should prove to be burghers the question would apparently arise whether this murder of a non- combatant in cold blood might not fairly be held to be an act not in connection with the prosecution of the war within the meaning of Article 4 of the Terms of Surrender.
That he was accordingly to request us to take these matters into our consideration and to advise you :-
(1) Whether, if the murderers of Esau are rebels, there is any obstacle, either under the Terms of Surrender or otherwise, to their being put on their trial for murder and executed, should a conviction be obtained?
(2) If the murderers of Esau should prove to be burghers, whether the murder of Esau must be held to be an act in connection with the prosecution of the war such as to prevent their being put on their trial, having regard to the words of Article 4 of the Terms of Surrender?
(3) Whether, if put on their trial these men can be tried by Court Martial in the new Colonies where Martial Law still prevails, or in accordance with Article 4 of the Terms of Surrender, in the Cape Colony, where Martial Law has been abolished, or whether they must be tried under the ordinary law, and, if under the ordinary law, whether they must be tried in the Cape Colony, where the murder was committed, or can they be tried in the Transvaal or Orange River Colony, if arrested there ?
(4) Generally, what course should be adopted with regard to the persons concerned in this inurder, and whether any means exist whereby, having regurd to all the circum- stances of the case, they can be brought to justice?
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