§ MR. LAWRENCE (Liverpool, Abercromby)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that an attack has been made on the honourable A. J. Pile, C.M.G., Speaker of the House of Assembly of Barbadoes, resulting in his being shot at and seriously wounded, and whether the criminal has been captured; whether within the last eight weeks there has been a riotous raid in open day on a potato field, and also two cases of attempted highway robbery on estate managers; and whether, having regard to the apparently unsettled state of the island, the Government would reconsider its decision as to the early removal of the troops to St. Lucia?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIESThe Governor of Barbadoes has reported that Mr. Pile has been shot and seriously wounded; at the date of the dispatch his assailant had not been discovered. I have heard since that, although the wound is a serious one, Mr. Pile is going on well. On the 1st July, not in open day, but about 11 p.m., a number of villagers made a raid on a potato field, and at first offered some resistance to the police, but were soon dispersed, and several of the ringleaders arrested. I have not heard of any case of attempted highway robbery on estates managers. The Government have no reason to suppose that the island is in an unsettled state, and they do not propose to reconsider their decision as to the early removal of the troops to St. Lucia.