§ COLONEL ROWLEYsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether it is true that Mr. Beaumont, an English Barrister, has been appointed Chief Justice of British Guiana, over the heads of the Crown Law Officers in the West Indies, many years his senior; and, if so, why?
§ MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUEin reply, said, it would be a mistake to suppose that in the Colonies in which the patronage was still exercised by the Secretary of State there was any rule of promotion which would be violated by such a case as that to which the hon. and gallant Member had referred. On the contrary, there was a general understanding that the highest judicial offices in the Colony should be filled by gentlemen who were not connected with the Colony; and it was on that ground only that the Attorney General for British Guiana—a very able 570 gentleman, and one of whose qualifications the Secretary of State was fully aware—had not been selected for the appointment in question, which had been conferred on an English lawyer of the highest character and credit at the equity bar.