§ Mr. BALDWIN(by Private Notice) asked the Prime Minister whether he can now announce the name of the Chairman of the Irish Boundary Commission?
§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. J. Ramsay MacDonald)With the full approval of the Government of the Union of South Africa, His Majesty's Government have asked Mr. Justice Feetham, a member of the South African Supreme Court, to undertake this duty. I am very glad to be able to inform the House that Mr. Justice Feetham has accepted the appointment, and will leave South Africa for this country next week.
Perhaps I may be permitted to remind the House that Mr. Justice Feetham has already rendered valuable public services in connection with Indian reforms. Mr. Montagu availed himself of his advice on constitutional questions in the discussions and investigations preliminary to the drafting of the Government of India Bill of 1919. He served with distinction as Chairman of the important Committee then appointed by the Secretary of State for India to inquire into questions connected with the division of functions in India between the Central and Provincial Governments, and in the Provincial Governments in that country between the Executive Council and Ministers, a question the complexity and importance of which it would be difficult to overstate. Consequent on the Report of this Committee, Mr. Feetham gave evidence before the Joint Select Committee of both Houses which sat in the course of 1919 to consider the constitutional reforms proposed in India.