Mr. CATHCART WASONasked the Under-Secretary for the Colonies, if his attention had been directed to a statement in the prospectus of the Boinsu Rubber Company that the Boinsu lands, comprising some 20 square miles in the Aowin district of the Gold Coast, had been granted under lease to Mr. W. S. Rogerson for 99 years for £5 per annum; 1018 if be would inquire of the Governor of the Gold Coast if the said lease had been submitted to him for his approval; and whether any adequate protection was secured to the natives whose lands had thus been disposed of?
§ Colonel SEELYThe attention of the Secretary of State was directed to the issue of the prospectus, to which my hon. Friend refers. No such concession is valid, until its terms and conditions—including reasonable protection for the rights of the natives—are approved by the Supreme Court of the Colony and my Noble Friend recently caused a public notification to this effect to be made through the Press of this country.