§ SIR GEORGE BADEN-POWELL (Liverpool, Kirkdale)asked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he could give any further information as to the reported rioting in Georgetown, British Guiana; and whether there were at the time any Imperial troops stationed in the colony; and, if so, whether he can state why the troops were not called out when the police were unable to cope with the rioters?
§ BARON H. DE WORMSRioting occurred in Georgetown on the 19th and 20th of March; it seems to have arisen out of an assault by a Portuguese upon a negro boy, and an unfounded report that the boy had been killed. A mob of negroes attacked the Portuguese 612 and broke into and plundered their shops and stores. Special constables were sworn in, and a company of volunteers were called in to assist the police, but the riot was not quelled until the Governor authorized the magistrates to order the police to fire upon persons found breaking into or plundering houses or shops. No firing actually took place. One life was lost from a bayonet wound, and many of the police and special constables and of the rioters were injured. There are Imperial troops in the colony; but it was not found necessary to call them out. The police, with the aid of the special constables and volunteers, succeeded in coping with the rioters.