§ Sir CHARLES DILKEasked whether the official reports received from the New Hebrides confirmed the accounts published in Australia of the high mortality among the native population and rapid decrease of their numbers in several islands of the group; whether the matter was receiving the attention of the Government; and what measures were being taken to prevent the extinction of the aboriginal population?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY for the COLONIES (Colonel Seely)The question of the decrease of the native population throughout the Pacific is one of long standing and of extreme complexity. His Majesty's Government have no special official reports with regard to the New Hebrides; owing to the uncivilised condition of the group it has been impossible to obtain even approximately accurate figures of the population. It is hoped that with the gradual extension of settled government under the Convention of 1906, and particularly with the prohibition of the sale of arms and liquor to natives, the decrease of numbers may be checked.