be deemed to have contravened this Act, and, in addition to any other penalty, shall be liable for the cost of the maintenance of such idiot or insane person whilst in the Colony. (14) Any police officer or other officer appointed therefore under this Act may, subject to the provisions of Section 5, prevent any prohibited immigrant from entering Natal by land or sea. (15) The Governor may, from time to time, appoint and, at pleasure, remove officers, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, and may define the duties of such officers, and such officers shall carry out the instructions from time to time given to them by the Ministerial head of their department. (16) The Governorin- Council may, from time to time, make, amend and repeal rules and regulations for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Act. (17) The penalty for any contravention of this Act, or of any rule or regulation passed thereunder, where no higher penalty is expressly imposed, shall not exceed a fine of £50, or imprisonment, with or without hard labour, until payment of such fine, or in addition to such fine, but not exceeding in any case, three months. (18) All contraventions of this Act or of rules or regulations thereunder, and suits for penalties or other moneys not exceeding £100, shall be cognizable by magistrates.
Schedule A[27] is a blank certificate that the person whose name is to be filled in “is a fit and proper person to be received as an immigrant in Natal”. Schedule B[28] is a form of application to be filled in by a person claiming to be exempt from the operation of this Act.
They will, perhaps, soon be before Her Majesty’s Government for consideration. In that case, your Memorialists may have to approach you regarding the measures.[29] For the present, they will content themselves with saying that, while none of the Bills openly show their object, they are all aimed at the Indian community. If, therefore, her Majesty’s Government accept the principle that restrictions may be put upon the Indian community in the British Colonies, it will be infinitely better that it were done so openly. That seems to be the feeling in the Colony also, as will appear from the extracts quoted below.
Referring to the Immigration Restriction Bill, The Natal Advertiser of 12th March, 1897, says:
- It is not an honest and straightforward measure for the reason that it attempts to disguise its real object, and, because it can only be acceptable if it is enforced in a partial manner. If its provisions are
