§ Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALDasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he had any information that the Ancobra Rubber Estates Company, Limited, had acquired a lease of territory in the Gold Coast comprising 3,300 acres for ninety-nine years at £12 per annum; whether the lease carried any further trading privileges with it; and whether the Gold Coast Government considered the terms of the lease and did anything to prevent the exploitations of the native chiefs?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Colonel Seely)The Secretary of State's attention has been called to the abridged prospectus of the company to which my hon. Friend refers, but he has no further information respecting it. No such concession is valid, unless it is so certified by the Supreme Court of the Colony, which is by law required to satisfy itself as to the propriety of the terms of the concession, and particularly as to the inclusion of due protection for native rights.