§ Mr. WEDGWOODasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether his attention has been called to the statement in the Annual Report of Sierra Leone, page 56 that the land in the Protectorate is regarded as belonging unreservedly to the people of the tribe, for whose benefit it is administered; whether, under these circumstances, he can get a law similar to the Land Law of Northern Nigeria passed for Sierra Leone, with a view to perpetuating these aspirations; and whether, in spite of these intentions, Native lands are now being alienated to whites in perpetuity in this Protectorate?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Mr. Harcourt)The words quoted by my hon. Friend from the Report correctly describe the policy of His Majesty's Government in regard to land in the Protectorate, and I believe that that policy is sufficiently guarded by the existing laws. No case of a grant of land to a European in perpetuity has been brought to my notice, and I do not think it would be possible under the law—but I will make enquiry on this point.