§ SIR THOMAS ESMONDEI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it was upon instructions from the Home Authorities that the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific removed the Rev. S. W. Baker from Tonga, and what were the reasons for his removal?
§ BARON H. DE WORMSHer Majesty's Government did not direct the High Commissioner to remove Mr. Baker, but fully approved his action in requiring Mr. Baker not to reside in Tonga for a period of two years. The High Commissioner, when on a visit to Tonga last summer, made a careful inquiry into the charges brought against Mr. Baker, and found that he had been the cause of great persecution, oppression, and cruelty, and that his misconduct could only result in civil disturbance. As to Mr. Baker's conduct in the past, I may refer the hon. Baronet to the Report by Sir Charles Mitchell of May 6, 1887, in the Parliamentary Paper, C. 5,106, of July, 1887. At that time Sir Charles Mitchell had great doubts whether he ought not to remove Mr. Baker.