§ MR. REES (Montgomery Boroughs)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the sleeping sickness is now reported to have reached Lake Mweru, in Northern Rhodesia; and whether, in view of this fact and of the facts that the mail carriers, between Chiromo and Blantyre, have been held up by lions, and that the construction of the Government ox-cait road from Katungas to Chiromo was abandoned on account of the presence of the tsetse fly, he will consider the advisability of calling, by telegraph, upon the Commissioner to report regarding the effect of the game preserve alongside the last-named township, and to consider whether it cannot be removed to some more suitable location.
§ MR. CHURCHILLI have heard of some of the reports to which my hon. friend refers, but I cannot tell from any information in the Colonial Office whether they may not have been exaggerated. That any connection exists between the-appearance of lions, of the tsetse fly and the sleeping sickness on the one hand and the maintenance of the game preserve on the other, is not at present established. But the Secretary of State is addressing, the Commissioner upon the subject, and if it can be shown that the removal or contraction of the preserve would increase the health and security of Chiromo and its environs, instructions will be given accordingly.
§ MR. CHURCHILLNo; by mail, I think.