§ MR. M'KENNA () Monmouthshire, N.To ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether his attention has been called to a dispatch from the Governor of the Leeward Islands to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in which it is stated that the abolition of sugar bounties will mean immediate ruin to many estates in the Leeward Islands; and, whether, in view of the circumstances under which these bounties are to be established, he proposes to take any steps to compensate the owners of such estates.
(Answered by Mr. Austen Chamberlain, for the Secretary of State for the Colonies) In the despatch to which the hon. Member refers, the Governor was urging the introduction of modern machinery as vital to the success of the Antigua sugar industry whether bounties were abolished, or not, but in estimating the immediate effect of the abolition of bounties on the American market, the Governor has fallen into an error, since, when the United States countervailing duties are taken off, the Continental State bounties will also be taken off, and the effect of the one will neutralise the effect of the other, and the position will be as before; while, as regards the more important Cartel bounties, which have never been countervailed in the United States, West Indian sugar will obtain the full benefit of their abolition, and will, therefore, be in a better position in the United States market than before the abolition of bounties.