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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

15 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

That he was to request that you might be favoured with our report at as early a date as possible.

We have taken the matter into our consideration, and, in obedience to your commands, have the honour to

Report-

1. That there is no obstacle in the case put to the adoption of this course,

2. If the murderers of Esau are burghers we do not think that, having regard to the words of Article IV. of the Terms of Surrender, they should be put upon their trial.

The case is not one of those which were notified by the Commander-in-Chief to the Boer Generals. Upon the construction of the Article in question it is clear that acts contrary to the usages of war might nevertheless be "in connection with the prosecution of the war," and it appears to us that-brutal as this murder was-it is within the protection given by Article IV.

3. If the murderers of Esau are put upon their trial we think they must be tried in Cape Colony where the murder was committed, as, on the assumption that they are not burghers, Article IV. has no application.

4. Save as indicated in the above answers we do not think there is any course which can be adopted to bring to justice the persons implicated in the murder of Esau, if they are burghers.

The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, M.P.,

&c.,

&c.,

&c.

We have, &c.,

R. B. FINLAY. EDWARD CARSON,

45498

SIB,

No. 169.

(NATAL.)

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE,

[Procedure for transferring certain districts in the Transvaal to Natal.]

Royal Courts of Justice, 3rd November, 1902. We were honoured with your commands signified to us by Mr. Bertram Cox in his letter of the 1st instant, stating that he was directed by you to request our report . upon a question which has arisen with respect to the transfer of certain listricts in the Transvaal to the Colony of Natal.

That by Letters Patent dated the 23rd September last it was provided as follows :- "The districts known as Vryheid and Utrecht, together with such parts of the district of Wakkerstrom as may be defined and delimited by any Boundary Delimitation Commission heretofore appointed for that purpose shall from a date to be determined as hereinafter provided cease to form part of the Colony. The Governor shall, when the said boundaries have been so defined and delimited, declare by proclamation the boundaries of the Colony, and the boundaries so declared shall, from the date of such proclamation, be the boundaries thereof,"

That it would be observed that this clause of the Letters Patent made provision for the separation of the districts named from the Transvaal, but made no provision for their becoming part of the Colony of Natal. That it had been intended that when the Natal Legislature should have signified its consent to the inclusion of these districts in Natal, and should have made the legislative provisions necessary under the circumstances, that Letters Patent should be passed annexing them to Natal.

That the Natal Legislature had passed a Bill which you assumed might be taken to signify that assent. That by clause 1 it was provided that the Act should not take effect until proclamation of the Royal Assent had been made, and that thereafter it should come into operation on a day to be notified by the Governor by the same or any other

Proclamation.

That the Bill had been reserved by the Governor, and must therefore be assented to by Order in Council, but that upon the Royal Assent being so signified it would be open to the Governor to proclaim the boundaries of the new districts, and that they would thereupon, under the provisions of clauses 3 and 4 of the Bill, become part of Natal.

That it was accordingly intended that two proclamations in substantially identical terms should be published in the Transvaal and Natal, the one declaring that on a given day the districts referred to should cease to form part of the Transvaal, and the other declaring that on the same day the Act should come into operation.

That the question had, however, arisen whether, if this mode of procedure were adopted, it would be possible to dispense with the passing of fresh Letters Patent declaring that these districts should become part of Natal upon the day so fixed, and thus to avoid the considerable delay which the preparation of Letters Patent would entail. That Lord Milner,—the boundary having now been agreed upon—was anxious to complete the transfer at the earliest possible date.

That he was accordingly to request us to take these matters into our consideration and to advise you

(1) Whether it is necessary that additional Letters Patent should be passed in the case of Natal annexing to Natal the districts which by the Transvaal Letters Patent of the 23rd September will be severed from the Transvaal, or whether the Transvaal Letters Patent will, together with the Natal Act and the Proclamations thereunder, be sufficient for the purpose intended ?

(2) Generally.

We have taken the matter into our consideration, and, in obedience to your commands, have the honour to

Report-

That (1) we think it is necessary that either an Order in Council or Letters Patent under the Colonial Boundaries Act, 1892, should be passed extending the boundaries of

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the Colony

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so as to include the districts severed from the Transvaal, and this, in our opinion, should be done before assent is given to the Bill passed by the Legislature of Natal.

(2) Nothing further occurs to us.

The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, M.P.,

&c.,

&c.,

&c.

We have, &c.,

R. B. FINLAY. EDWARD CARSON,

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