§ SIR JOHN GORST (Cambridge University)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Government proposes to take action on Mr. Rider Haggard's Report on the Salvation Army Colonies and Scheme of National Land Settlement; and, if so, when, and in what manner; whether it proposes to send a Commissioner to South Africa, as suggested by Mr. Rider Haggard, to inquire into the suitability of that country for land settlements under the scheme which he has formulated; and whether it is the intention of His Majesty's Government to appoint Mr. Rider Haggard to be a Commissioner to report upon the possibility of establishing land colonies on similar lines, and managed by the same machinery, within the United Kingdom, as Mr. Commissioner Haggard offers to do in paragraph 39 of his Report.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) The importance and difficulty of the subject dealt with in Mr. Rider Haggard's Report have induced me to propose the appointment of a Departmental Committee to consider the questions raised in that Report in the light of the large experience gained from previous schemes of colonisation. I am not prepared at present to reply further to the Question of my right hon. friend.