Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary for the Colonies whether, in view of the probable establishment in Trinidad in the near future of oil refineries, he will advise the Trinidad Government to abolish the import duty on kerosene?
Mr. HARCOURTI do not think that the time has yet arrived when the ques- 1036 tion of abolishing the duty referred to by my hon. Friend can usefully be considered, but I have no doubt that the Government of Trinidad will bear the possibility in mind.
Mr. POINTERasked whether, in the new Port-of-Spain railway station, Trinidad, it was intended to erect a separate waiting-room for the Governor with a separate entrance?
Mr. POINTERasked the Secretary for the Colonies if his attention had been drawn to the shooting in Trinidad of two indentured labourers by an overseer named Sanderson; and what steps does he propose to take to prevent such incidents in connection with the system of indentured labour in vogue in the island?
Mr. HARCOURTSanderson was attacked by the labourers, and, after a full hearing lasting five days, the magistrate who tried the case decided that Sanderson's action was justified in his own defence. The incident, though most regrettable as involving a loss of human life, is an isolated one, and does not seem to have any bearing on the general question of the system of indentured labour.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODIs the officer who gave such startling evidence before the Royal Commission still Protector of the natives in Trinidad?
Mr. POINTERasked whether 50 per cent. of the children of school age in Trinidad and Tobago do not attend school; and, if so, whether there is any intention on the part of the Trinidad Government to introduce a system of compulsory education in the near future?
Mr. HARCOURTThe latest information available does not enable me to state whether the percentage mentioned by the hon. Gentleman is correct or not, but I may observe that the last report received shows that the percentage of attendance to the numbers on the roll is steadily increasing. It was 60.7 in 1909–10. The question of compulsory education in various West Indian Colonies has been from time to time considered and raises difficult questions which it has not hitherto been possible to resolve.