§ SIR HENRY HOLLANDasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether any reply has been returned to the Petition of Colonists and landowners in Fiji complaining of the Land Commission, and praying that a competent tribunal, unconnected with the Government, may be appointed; and, whether he will lay Copies of the 749 Petition, and of the reply thereto, upon the Table?
§ Mr. EVELYN ASHLEYSir, no reply has yet been returned to the Petition, and there may be some delay, as the Governor of Fiji has not yet sent his remarks, and the Colonial Office may also possibly wait for the arrival in England of Sir Arthur Gordon. I may, however, remind my hon. Friend that the ordinance under which Mr. Williamson, an independent barrister, went out from this country to Fiji to hear these land claims distinctly provided that the decisions given by the Commission under that ordinance should be final.