§ Mr. Grantley Berkeleyrose to put questions to the noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies; first, if the Government had received despatches containing the news of a general strike in Demerara of the negroes, because the proprietors had endeavoured to substitute a fair average of wages, in place of the present exorbitant demand? He begged the noble Lord to observe that he confined his question to the strike of the negroes, because he had been informed that the Portuguese emigrants remained steady and contented—a fact speaking highly in favour of 1006 the importation system. Also, he was anxious to know if the Government had received a memorial from the West India body in London, praying to have an inquiry by committee into the present depressed state of colonial property, and if the memorial to which he referred included British Guiana as well as the West India colonies?
Lord Stanleysaid, that the Government had received no information of the nature referred to by the hon. Gentleman. The latest accounts from Demerara were dated the 5th January, and had been received the 16th of the present month. They contained no accounts of the nature referred to. With respect to the second question the Government had received the memorial to which the hon. Gentleman referred, and it did include the colony of Demerara. He had not had an opportunity of seeing the gentleman from whom it came, but hoped to be able to do so in a day or two.