§ SIR HENRY KIMBER (Wandsworth)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the imposition at an early date of a tax on landed property at St. Lucia, and of the difficulty experienced by the smaller proprietors in raising money at a reasonable rate of interest to develop and work their holdings, whereby the development of the Colony is retarded, the Secretary 743 of State for the Colonics would be willing to facilitate the establishment of an agricultural bank in St. Lucia, as recommended by Mr. Administrator Cork, by allowing a portion of the £25,000 surplus to be used as a nucleus of capital for such bank.
(Answered by Colonel Seely.) It is true that the Administrator, Mr. Cork, submitted certain proposals in 1906 for the establishment in St. Lucia of a scheme for providing loans under an Agricultural Loan Ordinance. Those proposals were carefully considered at the time, but were not deemed suitable for application to the conditions obtaining in St. Lucia, and Mr. Cork was so informed. He has, no doubt, not lost sight of this important question, and the Secretary of State will ascertain from him whether he has any further proposals to make. He will also consult the Governor, who is at present on leave in this country. In the absence of definite proposals it seems premature to discuss the possible sources from which the capital for such an undertaking could be obtained.—