§ COLONEL SIR H. VINCENTI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can inform the House how many sugar plantations and sugar factories there are in the British Colonies 292 of Queensland and Mauritius, and what amount of capital has been embarked in them; and to what extent the industry is prejudiced by the bounties given by Continental nations on the production and export of beet sugar?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. J. CHAMBERLAIN,) Birmingham, W.The Mauritius almanac for 1898 gives a list of 122 sugar plantations in that island. The latest Queensland Blue Book (1896) gives the number of sugar mills in that colony as 81. I am unable to answer the honourable Member's Questions more fully.