§ MR. ERRINGTONasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, If he can state whether the Lieut.-Governor of St. Vincent, during the month of February 1876, paid a considerable sum of money out of the public funds of the Colony for the costs of the plaintiff in the Chancery suit of Donnelly v. Gumbs, a private suit in which the public had no interest, and in which the Chief Justice of the Colony dismissed the claim as entirely unfounded; and, whether the Auditor General of the Colony refused to pass the payment; and, if so, whether the payment was made by special sanction of the Secretary of State, or in virtue of some general power in enabling Governors of West Indian Colonies to make such payments without legislative authority; and in the latter case, whether such power will continue to be exercised?
§ MR. J. LOWTHER, in reply, said, that no information had been received with reference to the subject referred to, and it would be necessary to refer to the colony before he could give any answer to the Question.