§ MR. CHARLES BILL (Staffordshire, Leek)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether he can now state the result of his communications with the Governments of New South Wales and New Zealand with respect to the future government of Norfolk Island; and, whether, before coming to any final decision in the matter, he will take steps to ascertain the views and wishes of the Norfolk Island community, in view of the great importance they attach to the preservation of the peculiar rights and privileges which they have enjoyed for the past 40 years, and which, as they contend, were guaranteed to them by the Imperial Government in 1856?
§ MR. J. CHAMBERLAINI regret that I am unable to give the hon. Member any information. The dispatches from the Governor of New South Wales have only recently arrived, and I have not yet heard from the Governor of New Zealand. I think I am sufficiently acquainted with the views of the community of Norfolk Island, and if the hon. Member were aware of the condition of the island he would, I think, agree with me that some change is inevitable.