§ CAPTAIN PRICEasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether it is the case that there is at the present moment no proper Governor of Jamaica, nor any Legislative Council, and that the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Chief Justice are all absent from the island on leave; and, if so, who is left to carry on the affairs of that colony? In putting the Question, he wished to state that it had just come to his knowledge that the 1358 Chief Justice had died since he left the Island.
§ MR. EVELYN ASHLEYGeneral Gamble, the officer in command of the troops, has, since the recent departure of Sir Anthony Musgrave, administered the government of Jamaica. The Assistant Colonial Secretary, Mr. Walker, who is one of the most competent officers in the Colonial Service, has been acting as Colonial Secretary. The Attorney General is on his way back after leave of absence, and will almost immediately be at his post again; but meanwhile his place has been occupied by the Crown Solicitor, Mr. Constantine Burke. I regret exceedingly to have to say that the Chief Justice died a few days ago while in England on sick leave; but during his absence there are competent Judges in the Island. There is, therefore, full and efficient provision for the carrying on of the affairs of the Colony, and it is not quite correct to say that there is no Legislative Council. After the resignation of the unofficial Members upon the Florence Vote, and pending the Report of the Royal Commission on the Finances of Jamaica, it was thought inexpedient to reconstitute it. But in the persons of the official Members there is a Council capable of acting if necessary, though it is not proposed to bring before it any business that is not urgent until its re-constitution has been considered. The Council at present consists of eight persons—namely, the acting Governor, the acting Colonial Secretary, the Surveyor General, the acting Attorney General, the Collector General, the Chief Medical Officer, the Protector of Immigrants, and the Inspector of Schools.
§ CAPTAIN PRICEasked whether any part of the expenses of the late Commission of Inquiry in Jamaica would be included in the Estimates; and whether Mr. Constantine Burke, who recently resigned his position on the Council, was the same that had been re-appointed, and was now acting Attorney General?
§ MR. EVELYN ASHLEY, in reply, said, that no Vote for the expenses of the Inquiry at Jamaica would be taken in that House, as the charges of that Inquiry would be borne by the Colony. Mr. Constantine Burke, who had been appointed Crown Solicitor, was the same gentleman who had recently resigned his seat in the Legislative Council.