§ MR. O'REILLYsaid, he rose to ask the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether any communication has passed between the India Office and the Governor of the Straits Settlement and the other Indian Officers there as to their removal from their posts by the Secretary for the Colonies; and, if so, what was its date, 1647 and whether subsequent to the publication in the newspapers of the appointment of their successors by the Secretary for the Colonies?
§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSONsaid, that the Secretary of State for India took the earliest opportunity of communicating to the Governor General of India, and to the Governor of the Straits Settlements, the intentions of the Colonial Office. He did not wait for the official intimation of the intentions of the Colonial Office; but on the 18th of January he privately ascertained the course which the Colonial Secretary was likely to pursue. He communicated on the same day to the Governor General that the Governor of the Straits Settlements would not be continued in his office, but that a member of the Colonial Staff would be appointed in his place. He received further information on the 29th of January, and he sent at once a confirmation of his previous despatch. The appointment of the new Governor was gazetted on the 5th of February.