instances of alleged illtreatment turned out
to be purely imaginary; it was clearly proved and found that the
complainants had acted contrary to Law, and the Commission only
expressed disapproval of the fact that the arrests and the investigation
had taken place at night, and without a proper warrant. It fills this
Government with all the greater regret to observe that Her Majesty's
Government bases its charges on _ex parte_, groundless, and in many
respects false declarations of complainants who have been set in motion
by political hatred, and that it silently ignores the report of the
Commission.

The Amphitheatre occurrence is used by Her Majesty's Government to show
how incapable the police of the Witwatersrand are to fulfil their duties
and to preserve order. The League meeting was held at the so-called
Amphitheatre at Johannesburg, with the knowledge of the State Secretary
and State Attorney, and the accusation is that in spite of that fact,
the uproar which arose at that meeting was not quelled by the police.
The following are the true facts:--Mr. Wybergh and another, both in the
service of the South African League, informed the State Secretary and
the State Attorney that they intended to call this meeting in the
Amphitheatre, and asked permission to do so; they were informed that no
permission from the authorities was necessary, and that as long as the
meeting did not give rise to irregularities or disturbances of the
peace, they would be acting entirely within their rights. Their
attention was then drawn to the fact that owing to the action and the
propaganda of the South African League, this body had become extremely
unpopular with a large section of the inhabitants of Johannesburg, and
that in all probability a disturbance of the peace would take place if a
sufficient body of the police were not present to preserve order. To
this these gentlemen answered that the police were in very bad odour
since the Edgar case, that the meeting would be a very quiet one, and
that the presence of the police would contribute, or give rise to,
disorder, and that they would on those grounds rather have no police at
all. The State Secretary and State Attorney thereupon communicated with
the head officials of the police at Johannesburg, with the result that
the latter also thought that it would be better not to have any
considerable number of police at the meeting. The Government
accordingly, on the advice of these officials of