§ MR. LAIDLAW (Renfrewshire, E.)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps have been taken in fulfilment of the promise 476 made last year for the gradual suppression of licensed gambling dens in the Federated Malay States; and if such steps have been effective in the respective States.
§ MR. CHURCHILLEnactments have now been passed in the four States providing for the prohibition of gambling within areas to be proclaimed by the residents. Copies will be found in the Library. So far as I am aware, the only districts which have yet been proclaimed are the Coast and Tampin districts in the Negri Sembilan. I am not aware how far the prohibition has been effective, but the High Commissioner will shortly be asked for a report. I understand that the leases of the gambling farms in the other States have not yet expired, so that no measure of prohibition is possible at present.