§ *SIR CHARLES W. DILKEI beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the British consular agent on the island of San Thomé is a Portuguese and a near relative of an influential planter engaged in the cocoa industry; and whether His Majesty's Government will consider the advisability of independent inquiry in the islands of an Thomé and Principe, with special regard to establishing accurate mortality returns, and to the alleged illicit traffic in labourers between the districts from which they are brought and the islands.
§ MR. J A. PEASEThe British consular agent at San Thomé, who is a Spanish subject and himself the manager of one of the larger cocoa plantations, was appointed on the recommendation of Consul Nightingale, who had visited the island and who considered that he was the most suitable person for the post. He is not a salaried official. With regard to the advisability of an independent inquiry into the servical system in the islands of San Thomé and Principe, my right hon. friend would refer the right hon. Member to the Answer given on the 29th October, 1906, to a Question put by the hon. Member for North Norfolk. My right hon. friend adds that the whole servical question is engaging the serious attention of His Majesty's Government, who are in correspondence with the Portuguese Government in regard to it. A Portuguese official is now actually on the spot investigating the subject with a view to the better enforcement of the regulations, and if necessary their amendment.