§ MR. GREENEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether it is true that heavy taxation has been recently imposed in the Island of St. Kitts upon articles, hitherto admitted free, used in the cultivation of the staple; whether any official proposal has been made for the amalgamation of the St. Kitts Treasury with the Treasuries of the other Islands in the Federation, thus subjecting St. Kitts to burdens not its own; and, whether he, before consenting to such changes, if they are contemplated, will allow the holders of property and others interested in St. Kitts to lay before him the serious objections entertained against the amalgamation of Treasuries, and consequent further increase of taxation?
§ SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACHSir, I am not aware that any such taxation as that described in the first part of the hon. Member's Question has been recently imposed, nor has any official proposal been made for the amalgamation of the St. Kitts' Treasury with the Treasuries of the other Islands. Of course, any persons claiming to be heard would be heard before any serious constitutional changes were adopted; but the object of an amalgamation of the Island 642 Treasuries, I apprehend, would be, and the result of it should be, not an increase, but a decrease of expenditure and taxation.