Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether Sir Francis Swettenham, when Governor of the Straits Settlements, suggested to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the right hon. Member for West Birmingham, that the Queen's scholarships, which have enabled many natives of that Colony to complete their education at British universities, should be reduced or abolished; whether the right hon. Member for West Birmingham refused his assent to this proposal; whether the present Secretary of State for the Colonies has abolished these scholarships in spite of the opposition of the Hon. Tan Jiak Kim, C.M.G., the only member of the Legislative Council who is entitled to speak as a native of the Colony; and whether he will state for what purpose these scholarships were instituted, and in what way they have failed to fulfil that purpose?
Mr. HARCOURTSir Francis Swettenham proposed ten years ago, on the advice of a Commission which inquired into the system of education in the Colony, that the value of the scholarships should be reduced. The Secretary of State deprecated, at that time, the adoption of this proposal, mainly on the ground that the value had only recently been raised, and Sir F. Swettenham acquiesced in their being retained, though he stated that he was not satisfied that they met the objects for which they were instituted. My hon. Friend is incorrect in saying that I have 383 abolished these scholarships. They have been abolished by the Colonial Government, which established them. I am aware that my friend Mr. Tan Jiak Kim was not in favour of the abolition. The scholarships were created to allow promising boys an opportunity of completing their studies in England, and to encourage a number of boys to remain at school and acquire a really useful education. The general opinion is that their existence led to an undue amount of attention being given to the few boys who competed for them, that it was unnecessary to continue this special inducement for boys to remain at school, and that the financial situation of the Colony does not justify the expenditure on a favoured few of large sums of money, which can be better employed for the furtherance of education in other ways. This matter is one for the Government and Legislature of the Colony, and I must decline to interfere in it in any way.
Mr. MacCALLUM SCOTTWill the right hon. Gentleman publish the correspondence dealing with this subject?