[Sidenote:  a. The Lombard Incident.]

With regard to the “Lombard incident,” Mr. Chamberlain says:—­[43] “As an instance of such arbitrary action the recent maltreatment of coloured British subjects by Field Cornet Lombard may be cited.  This official entered the houses of various coloured persons without a warrant at night, dragged them from their beds, and arrested them for being without a pass.  The persons so arrested were treated with much cruelty, and it is even alleged that one woman was prematurely confined, and a child subsequently died from the consequences of the fright and exposure.  Men were beaten and kicked by the orders of the Field Cornet, who appears to have exercised his authority with the most cowardly brutality.  The Government of the Republic, being pressed to take action, suspended the Field Cornet, and an enquiry was held, at which he and the police denied most of the allegations of violence; but the other facts were not disputed, and no independent evidence was called for the defence.  The Government have since reinstated Lombard.

“Unfortunately this case is by no means unparalleled.  Other British subjects, including several from St. Helena and Mauritius, have been arbitrarily arrested, and some of them have been fined, without having been heard in their own defence, under a law which does not even profess to have any application to persons from those Colonies.

“However long-suffering Her Majesty’s Government may be in their anxious desire to remain on friendly terms with the South African Republic, it must be evident that a continuance of incidents of this kind, followed by no redress, may well become intolerable.”

The answer of the Government of the South African Republic was as follows:—­[44] “With reference to the Lombard case, this Government wishes to point out that no complaint was lodged with any official in this Republic for a full month after the illtreatment of Cape coloured people was alleged to have taken place, and that neither the Government nor the public was aware that anything had taken place.  The whole case was so insignificant that some of the people who were alleged to have been illtreated declared, under oath, at a later period before a court of investigation that they would never have made any complaint on their own initiative.  What happened, however?

“About a month after the occurrence the South African League came to hear of it; some of its officials sent round to collect evidence from the parties who were alleged to have been illtreated, and some sworn declarations were obtained by the help of Her Majesty’s Vice-Consul at Johannesburg (between whom and this League a continual and conspicuous co-operation has existed).  Even then no charge was lodged against the implicated officials with the judicial authorities of the country, but the case was put in the hands of the Acting British Agent at Pretoria.