Mr. Vernon Smith,understanding from the papers laid upon the Table of the House, that inquiries had been instituted by the noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies, addressed to the Governors of Trinidad, Jamaica and Guiana, as to whether it would be adviseable to relax the rule which prevailed of only admitting a proportion of women, amounting to one-third, in any Immigration which might take place into those Colonies; and also understanding that answers had been received favourable to such relaxation from the Governors of the Colonies, wished to know whether the noble 1356 Lord had acted upon the information thus obtained?
Lord Stanleyreplied, that in consequence of communications from Sierra Leone stating that great difficulty had resulted from the restriction alluded to, in prevailing upon men who were desirous of immigrating to West India Colonies to go thither, he had written to the Governors of Jamaica, Trinidad, and Guiana, to inquire whether, in their opinion, a relaxation of the rule as to the proportion of two men to be admitted, would be adviseable. Their answers had only been received four or five days ago: and, although the papers containing them had been immediately laid before the House, no actual steps had yet been taken in consequence of the information communicated in them.