§ MR. P. MILESwished to ask a question of the Under Secretary of the Colonies (Mr. Hawes), From information he had received, he understood that the House of Assembly in Jamaica had voted certain supplies, but that, in consequence of a clerical error as to the date of the Bill granting them, the Governor in Council refused to allow the mistake to be rectified. He (Mr. Miles) wished to know whether the Government had received any despatch on the subject; and if so, whether they would have any objection to lay it before the House? He also inquired why no blue book for 1847 had been presented to Parliament with respect to this and other; colonial possessions, and should like to be informed when they would be produced?
§ MR. HAWESsaid, that the facts of the case were these: The Bill referred to by the hon. Gentleman was the Export Duties Bill; and in the course of its engrossment the word "December," 1849, was inserted instead of "February," 1849. The error was discovered and pointed out to the Governor. The Bill containing a clause enabling the error to be corrected, the Governor said he had no objection to the alteration being made. The Governor certainly had no intention to avail himself of this clerical inaccuracy; and he (Mr. Hawes) thought that he would be the last man to do so. The despatch to which the hon. Member alluded was included in a return moved for by the hon. Member for Montrose, which he hoped before long to lay upon the table of the House. With respect to the blue book on the affairs of Jamaica, he might state that a despatch had been sent out to the Governor re-minding; him of the omission.
§ MR. BAILLIEsaid, as the hon. Gentleman was about to present some despatches to the House, he trusted they would not be mutilated in the way in which the despatches with respect to Jamaica were. ["Order, order!"] [Mr. HUME: Put it as a question.] Well, then, he would ask whether they were likely to be mutilated in the way the other despatches had been? He held some of those despatches in his hand, and could not help observing that every particle of information contained in them had been withheld. The hon. Member here read a portion of one of the despatches to which he had referred, commencing, "I have the honour to lay before your Lordships," &c.; and, after a long blank, concluding thus—"Under all the circumstances of the case," &c. He wished to know whether the despatches would be presented entire, or whether they would be mutilated like the despatches which he hold in his hand?
§ MR. BAILLIEWhether they will be presented to the Committee without mutilation?
§ MR. HAWESI think the question put by the hon. Member is a most unusual one to ask. It is calculated to excite a prejudice, which I am happy to have this opportunity of entirely repudiating. I have seen it stated more than once, by parties whom the hon. Member may know, that there have been instances in which despatches were mutilated by my noble Friend the Secretary for the Colonies (Earl Grey), for some purposes of concealment. Sir, it is utterly unfounded—altogether unfounded—that that has ever been done. It will be in the recollection of the House that certain despatches were moved for by the late Lord George Bentinck, and that an explanation was given by me at the time. The despatches in question related to some apprehended disturbances in the island of Jamaica, in consequence of the monopolists there having been disappointed at the passing of the Sugar Bill in England. The language used was, that several of the plantation proprietors were going to transfer their allegiance to the United States, and it excited considerable alarm among the negro population. The despatches contained a statement relative to the threatened disturbances; they referred to particular individuals by name; they embodied depositions which had not been taken before the magistrates, and also some improved charges; and those parts which 1327 had reference to charges of that nature against individuals were struck out: a course which I am perfectly prepared to defend, and to take again if necessary. I think I have met the charge of the hon. Gentleman; and now I beg to tell him, that when the Committee meets there will not he the slightest objection to lay before them the whole of the despatches received, not for the use of the House or the public, but in order to show them that there is nothing to justify the term "mutilation," which has been used. Whatever was withheld on a former occasion was extracted simply with a view to the just protection of private character; and my noble Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies would have been unworthy the position he holds had he scrupled to act as he did.
§ MR. BAILLIEWill you lay the despatches before the House?
§ MR. HAWESCertainly not. I will lay them before the Committee, but not before the House and the public.
§ MR. BAILLIEYou must recollect that the Committee does not sit on the affairs of Jamaica, but on those of Ceylon.
§ MR. BERNAL OSBORNEIs the Committee to be a secret one?
§ MR. BAILLIEThey are limited to those of Ceylon.
§ Subject dropped.