§ MR. DIXONasked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether any request has been received by Her Majesty's Government from the Government of the Fiji Islands for the removal of Consul March?
§ VISCOUNT ENFIELDSir, a communication has been received from the Fijian authorities requesting the removal of Mr. Consul March; but before the receipt of that communication Lord Granville had already decided that, in the interests of the public service, it would be desirable, looking to the altered state of things in the Fijis, brought about by the establishment of a quasi-regular form of Government, that Mr. Consul March should be transferred to another post. This determination was come to, not on account of any misconduct on the part of Mr. Consul March, or disapproval of his proceedings, but solely from a conviction that the relative positions of the Consul, and of those who administered the newly-established Government of the Fijis had become so altered that in the interests of both parties a change was required.