The trial of the Guicowar as an accessory in an
attempt to murder the British Resident at Baroda has commenced, appar- ently without any protest from Serjeant Ballantine against the competence of the tribunal That tribunal, in fact, is much more legal than some of our contemporaries seem to believe. It is not a Court of Justice, but a Commission ordered by the Government of India to report upon certain facts. As the Guicowar, like every other Indian Prince, is bound by written treaty to follow the advice of the Resident on all occa- sions, has accepted the proclamation of Lord Canning, with its explicit demand of loyalty," and has acknowledged the Queen as Empress of India, there can be little doubt of the legality of an order to inquire into an accusation that he tried to kill a British Envoy. The real doubt is whether the Government of India, if convinced by the Commission of the Guicowar's guilt, has power to do more than depose and imprison him. The first power it certainly has, deposition being the long-established penalty of breach of treaty ; and the second it may have under the State Prisoners' Act ; but the right to go further is a very curious point. After deposition, no doubt, Mulharrao, would be a subject of the Guicowar State, and liable to. extradition for an offence committed in the Residency, which is British ground ; but is he liable before deposition?
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