§ MR. DIXON (Birmingham, Edgbaston)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies if it has been 1292 brought to his notice that considerable friction at present exists between the Governor of Jamaica and certain high officials of that Colony; whether successful appeals from the decision of the Governor have lately been made to the Secretary of State by some of these aggrieved officers; and if the Secretary is aware that on the 28th of February, 1893, the elected members of the Legislative Council passed a unanimous Vote of Censure on the Governor; and, if so, what steps the Colonial Office intend to take to give effect to such a serious expression of the opinion of the Legislature?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. S. BUXTON,) Tower Hamlets, PoplarThe Governor of Jamaica recently found it his duty to appoint a Commission to inquire into certain matters affecting the conduct of the head of a department of the Colonial Government; but, with that exception, the Secretary of State is not aware that any friction exists between the Governor and any high official of the Colony. The officer whose conduct has been impugned has appealed to the Secretary of State; but no action will be taken on his appeal pending a further inquiry by an export whom the Secretary of State is sending out from England. The elected members of the Legislative Council on February 28th last passed a Resolution expressing regret that the Governor did not submit to Her Majesty's Government that a change recently made in the Constitution of the Council ought not to have been recommended to Her Majesty without first obtaining an expression of opinion from the Council. Two out of the eight elected members who voted for the Motion stated that they did not regard the Resolution as a censure upon the Governor. It is not intended to take any steps in consequence of the Resolution. Papers on the subject have been laid on the Table, and will, I hope, shortly be circulated.