§ MR. CRAWFORDsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If Mr. Pritchard still fills the office of Her Majesty's Consul at the Feejee Islands; if not, when he was removed, and whether any public notification has been made of his supersession; also to state the extent of any authority Mr. Pritchard may have had, as Consul, to draw bills on Her Majesty's Government?
§ MR. LAYARDreplied, that Mr. Pritchard was no longer Consul at the Feejee Islands, having been removed in January last. The person appointed to supersede him provisionally had arrived in the Feejee Islands, but no public notice was ever given of such a supersession. Mr. Pritchard had the usual authority to draw bills upon Her Majesty's Government to such an amount as was required by the expenditure sanctioned by the Foreign Office. He drew bills beyond those requirements; a Commission was appointed to inquire into his conduct, and its Report was such that Her Majesty's Government thought that they were justified in superseding him.