WHITE v. BLACK. BULAWAYO ASSAULT CASE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 24, 30 January 1911, Page 7

WHITE v. BLACK. BULAWAYO ASSAULT CASE.

HOUSE ENTERED AT MIDNIGHT. A' PROLONGED STRUGGLE. By Telegraph.— Press Association.— Copyright. CAPETOWN, 28th January. The facts concerning the reprieve of .'the Bulawayan native found guilty of assault show that the woman assaulted and her four children wero living at Umtali, the husband being absent. A powerful native who had previously been in the employ of the family entered the window at midnight and was found in a bedroom, where a. prolonged struggle took place. Afterwards the native again entered the house, and the bedroom had to be barricaded. He had been drinking. GOVERNOR-GENERAL IN DEFENCE. "A. DISTINCT DOUBT." CRIME UNPREMEDITATED. CAPETOWN, 28th January. Viscount Gladstone, Governor-General of South Africa, in reply to the Rhodesian protects, stated that after reviewing the evidence he commuted the death sentence to penal servitude for life, because there was a 'distinct doubt, and it was impossible to conclude^ that rape had actually been committed. This view was fortified by the judge's opinion that he would prefer a verdict of assault with intent. The Governor-General, in conclusion, states that the crime was unpremeditated, and accused presumably entered the house to get food and drink. NEWSPAPER CRITICISM. DISSENT FROM LORD GLADSTONE'S VIEW. (Received January 30, 8.35 a.m.) CAPETOWN, 29th January. The- Cape Times depreciates Lord Gladstone's argument that the native's life was spared because the idea of rap© only occurred to the native's mind after he had entered the house for the purpose of robbery. SENTIMENT AND JUSTICE. (Received January 30, 8.50 a.m.) CAPETOWN, 29th January. The South African News not prepared to support or to condemn the reprieve, but it denies that Lord Gladstone put sentiment before justice. A DENIAL. VIEWS OF THE CAPE ARGUS. - (Received January 30, 9.5 a.m.) CAPETOWN, 29th January, Lord Gladstone denies advising white women, to lock their doors. The Cape Argus agreed with Lord Gladstone's view that the case was one of assault with intent, but states tha,t extenuating circumstances had not been clearly shown before the commutation.