58 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
Let us take now the action of Mr. Harcourt and his 
sympathisers. They disagreed with the verdict, and 
with the considerations that moved the jury who found 
that verdict. They might have taken two courses ; 
either on some technical grounds they might have 
annulled the trial and had another, or else they might 
have decided that the settlers were unfit to have any 
share in the administration of justice and have done 
away for a time with trial by jury. For either decision, 
although extreme, it would have been possible to find 
some justification. Neither course, however, was taken 
but a man who was found innocent in a court of justice 
was condemned out of hand on evidence which he had 
no opportunity of hearing, and awarded a heavier 
sentence than he would have incurred if he had been 
legally condemned. How does this accord with the 
British sense of justice or the maxim that “ every man 
is innocent till he is proved guilty ” ? The hypocrisy 
of the action of the Colonial Office is brought out in 
the reason assigned for Mr. Cole’s deportation, 
namely, that his presence was a menace to the peace 
of the Protectorate. Mr. Harcourt must have known 
very well that Mr. Cole was one of the most popular, 
if not actually the most popular, settler with the native 
population. If it had been possible to utilise his 
advice and good offices, the muddle effected over the 
movement of the Masai would almost certainly have 
been averted. Mr. Cole was well- or ill-advised 
enough to accept quietly the punishment imposed 
upon him. Possibly the fact that he was in poor 
health at the time had much to do with his decision ; 
but it is to be hoped that the Home authorities will 
not be led on by this acquiescence to repeat the 
experiment. If there is one thing more than another 
