On Friday week Lord Elgin announced in the House of
Lords that, full informatiqn as to the details of the recent Court-Martial having been received from the Governor of Natal, the Government recognised that the matter was one which concerned Natal alone, and had withdrawn their objection to the carrying out of the sentence. The execution of the condemned natives took place at Richmond on Monday, and the Natal Ministry, in view of Lord Elgin's assurances, has withdrawn its resignation. We have dealt with the subject elsewhere, but may note here that the matter has created much feeling, not only in Natal, but in all the Colonies, and that, on the whole, the Colonial Press has stated temperately and clearly the true view of the relations of the Imperial Government with the Executive of a free Colony. The subject was made the occasion of a debate in the House of Commons on Monday, when Mr. Ramsay Macdonald moved the,adjourn- ment of the House for the purpose of discussing the administration of martial law in Natal. le and Major Seely, his seconder, urged that a Court composed of local Militiamen could not be free from bias, and declared that British notions of justice and mercy could not be sacrificed to Colonial autonomy. Captain Kincaid-Smith, from the Government side, made a courageous defence of Colonial freedom ; and Mr. Churchill's speech, though not free from one or two remarks which might with advantage have been expressed differently, showed a sound grasp of Constitutional principle. The debate stood adjourned at midnight. The same day an appeal was made to the Privy Council on behalf of the condemned men, but their Lordships rightly declined to interfere.
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