COLONIALS AND NATIVES.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOIC.1 SIR,—Natal Colonists will be grateful to you for your footnote to Mr. Douglas Blackburn's letter (Spectator, February 20th) in which you say you do not believe "that he fairly describes the views of the Natal Colonists as regards cruelty to natives." He does not ; and I speak from an experience of twenty years in the Colony, which is a very much longer experience than Mr. Blackburn can claim. I do not intend to take up your space in dealing with some of the half-truths which Mr. Blackburn is so prone to. I shall deal with one of his complete untruths. He says :— "The case of Dinuzulu illustrates my allegation that no Natal advocate dare defend a native accused of a serious crime against whites. Mr. Jollicoe had to be imported from England, and threw up his brief because of the hostility of the Natal Bar. An advocate had to be brought from distant Cape Colony."
It is absolutely untrue "that 110 Natal advocate dare defend a native accused of a serious mime against whites." I cannot recall a single ease of a native charged with a serious crime who has not been defended ; and if thine have been any such cases where a native has not been defended, it has been because the native has not had the money to pay for an advocate, or has refused to spend it. In capital charges every native is defended, just the same as every white man, whether he has the money or not. In no single instance during the whole of my journalistic experience, and a close acquaintance with what goes on in the , Courts, have I ever heard of a single word of objection raised to any advocate defending a native prisoner. As to Mr. Jellicoe, there was never the slightest necessity to import him from England, as long before he appeared on the scene Dinuzuln had retained Mr. Eugene Renaud, the ablest criminal lawyer in the Colony, and a fully qualified barrister, and all through the trial Mr. Renaud has been with Mr. Schreiner, and conducted much the greater part of the defence. Mr. Jellicoe did not stay long enough in Natal to come in contact with the Natal Bar, but left after being there only a few days, leaving behind him a letter to the Press, which one of the local newspapers unthinkingly published; and so full was it of unwarrantable and slanderous statements against the Attorney-General of the Colony that the newspaper had to pay £500 in damages in a libel action which the Attorney-General brought to clear himself of the charges made. Mr. Jellicoe, however, had placed himself beyond the reach of the Courts before his libellous statements appeared, and others had to bear the brunt of his malice. So much for Mr. Jellicoe ; and as for Mr. Blackburn's allegation, I, simply repeat that it is absolutely
(Natal Mercury).
We cannot continue this correspondence, though, should Mr. Douglas Blackburn desire to make any correction of fact, we shall do our best to enable him to do so, provided he does not make an unreasonable claim on our space.—En. Spectator.]
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