§ MR. HAROLD COX (Preston)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the sum of £40,000 was granted to the Island of Jamaica in the year 1781; whether this was a free grant or a loan; and for what purpose the grant was made.
§ THE FIRST COMMISSIONER OF WORKS (Mr. Harcourt, Lancashire, Rossendale; for Mr. Churchill)I find it stated in "Bridges' Annals of Jamaica" that in the year 1781 the British Parliament sent a donation of £40,000 in specie to relieve distress in Jamaica resulting from a hurricane. The Under-secretary of State asks me to say that he regrets that he failed previously to discover this record. It may interest the hon. Member also to know that it is stated in the same record that "some alleviation of the public distress was also obtained by the immediate permission of a free trade with Ireland."
§ MR. HAROLD COXI beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has yet been able to ascertain whether a free grant of £100,000 was made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to the Colony of Jamaica in the year 1833; whether, at the same time, a loan was granted; if so, for how much; and whether the said loan has been repaid.
§ MR. HARCOURTNo free grant was made by Parliament to the Colony of Jamaica at the period referred to. Two loans were granted, to which the Under-Secretary referred in his Answer to a previous Question of the hon. Member, on account of loss of public and private property caused by insurrections. £244,100 was lent to private estates, and £200,000 to the Colonial Government. Only a part of each loan was repaid.