§ MR. STAVELEY-HILL (Staffordshire, Kingswinford)I beg to ask the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies if the Government of Jamaica have refused to allow labourers to be indentured in that island for services on the Panama Canal; and if Papers can be laid dealing with the negotiations between the Government of the island and the Commissioners of the Isthmian Canal.
§ THE UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (MR. CHURCHILL, Manchester, N.W.)It is not correct to say that the Government of Jamaica have refused to allow labourers to be indentured in that Colony for service on the canal; but the representatives of the canal authorities failed to come to an agreement with the local government as to the terms on which recruiting should be permitted. The Secretary of State sees no sufficient reason for laying Papers on the subject of the negotiations.