§ Viscount CASTLEREAGHasked the Secretary for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the reports of the Bishop of Melanesia and the Presbyterian missionaries on the violation of the Anglo-French Convention in several of the 1038 New Hebrides islands by the sale of liquor and cartridges to the natives, and by the kidnapping of women and the recruiting of children for illegal purposes; and will he say what action he proposes to take in the matter?
Mr. HARCOURTMy attention has been drawn to the reports to which the hon. Member refers, and I am in communication with the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific on the question of the liquor traffic, and of alleged improper recruiting in New Hebrides. I am fully alive to the importance of the matter.