§ MR. CHARLES HARRISON (Plymouth)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether proposals have recently been made for the grant of a charter to a Company in the Ashanti district, or in some part of Western Africa; and, if so, whether any, and what, treaties have been made conceding to Her Majesty powers of government in any district to which any such proposals refer; whether, having regard to the Order in Council of the 15th October 1889, relating to Her Majesty's power and jurisdiction in Africa, and the existing Orders in Council determining the mode of exercising such power and jurisdiction, and to the Foreign Jurisdiction Acts, any powers of government are intended to be, or can now be, conferred on any Company by charter, or exercised otherwise than by Orders in Council submitted to Parliament; and, whether Her Majesty's Government will abstain from advising Her Majesty to grant any powers of government by charter to a Commercial Company until the policy and power to grant such powers of government, and the nature thereof, shall have been discussed in Parliament?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. J. CHAMBERLAIN,) Birmingham, W.There is no intention to grant any charter to any Company in the African West Coast Colonies, and no proposals have been made for the grant of a charter.