WHITE V. BLACK.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1278, 6 November 1911, Page 3

WHITE V. BLACK.

EARL'S SON SHOOTS A NATIVE DOWN, EAST AFRICAN" SCANDAL. Tlie Hon. flalbraith Cole, the second in British East Africa, is, by order of the son of the Earl of Knniskillcn, a settler Colonial Secretary, lo bo deported from East Africa for 'shooting n native who stole one of his shrep. "If any justification were needed," says the "Westminster Gazette," for the decisive stop which the Colonial Secretary has taken in (lcpm linjr Mr. frjlbraith Colo, it would surely be found in (he column of sophistry in defence of that gentleman which "I'he 'I'imes' prints from 'A Correspondent.' The facts of the ens;; are not in dispute. What Happened. "Mr. Colo found a native sheep-steal-ing; the native ran nway, Mr. Cole pursued him and shot him, and was afterwards acquitted by a jury of white settlers. The reports of the trial which reached this country made it appear that the native was left wounded on the. ground, where he was afterwards found dead; but another version (given by the "Morning Tost") is that he was attended to, but died of his wounds.' According to The Times' correspondent, the 'single additional fact' (beyond the shooting) which favoured the prosecution was that Mr. Cole did not report the death, and 'every other circumstance connected with the case is emphatically in his favour.' "These other circumstances are that the native was undoubtedly trylnS to steal a sheep, and one of Mr. Cole's sheep, that the East African natives themselves regard sheep-stealing as a most heinous offence, that Mr. Colo was a humane man, that he probably did not intend to kill, that he acted under a,a intense exasperation, and that, such beiug his record and the native opinion about sheep-stealing, it is 'quite impossible to substantiate the charge (under which he has been deported) that ho has in any way excited race enmity in the colony.' How, then, does the correspondent view the case? The best thing we can do is to quote his summary:— "'A prominent pettier shoots a native: questions are asked in the House of Commons, and those who know nothing of the country and only the bare facts by cable raise tho cry of perverted verdicts and miscarriages of justice. The questioners are near at hand and importunate; they are given satisfaction; a man' who has done splendid work as a settler is sent forth with a stigma upon his naici«, and the Governor of the colony is left to assuage the bitter feelings aroused as best he can.' "It is all a fuss about noihiiig. 'A prominent settler shoots a native,' importunate questioners annoy (ho Colonial Secretary about it, and the Colonial Secretary actually removes him from the colony. This, we are told, is going to unite all parties in tho colony against the Government, and the various associations of settlers, who have hitherto be split into rival camps, will join hands to attack the Colonial Secretary. "Now," adds the "Westminster," "if this really represents the current opinion in tho colony, we need not be negronhils to say it was high time that the Colonial Office took some decisive action. Here we have a Crown Colony in which the Government is directly responsible, and if it is not going to use its reserve powers, when trial by jury breaks down, and to acquiesce in the view that no consequences need follow wlipii a settler shoots a. native, it may as well givs up the business of governing altogether, in proportion as the settler is a distinguished man with a good previous record, his example is clearly tho more dangerous, and in proportion as he is well-connected and has influential friends, it is the more incumbent on the Government to show that it is no respecter of persons. The Native Mind. "Wo are glad that Mr. Harcourt has acted firmly and promptly, r.n<\ his ac-' lion, we are convinced, is in tho best interests of the colony. "The native mind will argue that Hi? white man's justice is miiiTcr Tf , l>i-ie\ man assaults a white women he is 6eT«rely punished by lav,-, even unto Uio sentence of death. Cut a white man may ?hnnt a black me.n, and goes unpunished. The native mind is in many ways the mind of a child. It resents "anything in tho nature of unfairness."