§ MR. PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if the inhabitants of St. Kitts have petitioned that prisoners of war should be confined there, and if the Governor has supported that petition; and can he state if prisoners are confined there, and if troops have been sent there to guard them. Is he aware, according to the report issued by Dr. Grove, of the London School of Tropical Medicine, that every third person in the island is suffering from filariasis, which is an early stage of elephantiasis; and will this matter receive his attention in coming to any decision on the matter.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. J. CHAMBERLAIN,) Birmingham, W.Some leading residents in St. Kitts have suggested that Boer prisoners might suitably be sent to that island, but the Governor has not endorsed the request, and no prisoners or troops have been sent, nor is there any present intention of sending them.