23. Mr. FRED HALL (Dulwich)asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if the application of Messrs. Lever Brothers, Limited, for certain trading concessions in Sierra Leone was first addressed to the Governor of that Colony, and, being refused, transferred to the Colonial Office; if the concessions have now been granted in a form slightly different to the original application; the nature and duration of the concessions; and the terms obtained therefor?
Mr. HARCOURTThe application of Messrs. Lever for certain rights in Sierra Leone was first addressed to the Colonial Office; the concessions were granted in a different form as appears in the correspondence recently presented to Parliament.
Mr. FRED HALLDoes not the right hon. Gentleman think it would be advisable, before granting these concessions, to give some notification, in order that other people might have an opportunity to make an application there for?
§ 25. Mr. RUPERT GWYNNEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state if any correspondence passed between the Colonial Office and Messrs. Lever Brothers or their representatives between 10th July, 1908, and 31st October, 1908; and, if so, will he give a copy of it?
Mr. HARCOURTIf, as I presume, the hon. Member refers to correspondence as to concessions in West Africa the answer is in the negative.
§ Mr. GWYNNEWill the right hon. Gentleman say how the meeting of 27th October between Messrs. Lever Brothers and the Colonial Office was arranged if no correspondence took place?
Mr. HARCOURTI cannot carry it in my mind, but I will answer a question on the point if the hon. Gentleman will put one down.
§ 26. Mr. GWYNNEasked whether it is intended in future, before granting concessions in Sierra Leone, to publish particulars in the Government "Gazettes" three months before ratification; and, if so, why this was not done before granting a concession to Messrs. Lever Brothers extending over an area of 199,300 acres?
Mr. HARCOURTThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. In regard to the second part, the application of Messrs. Lever was the first of its kind; legislation was necessary before effect could be given to it, and the proceedings in connection with such legislation were then regarded as sufficient publication.
§ Mr. GWYNNEWas not the publication only made after the contract had been entered into, when it was too late for other firms to compete?
Mr. HARCOURTI do not think it was after the contract had been entered into, but after the proposal was first made. Obviously it could not be earlier.
§ Mr. GWYNNECould it not have arisen in the same way that the right hon. Gen- 2057 tleman now proposes, namely, to publish it for three months in the "Gazette"? If it was not necessary to publish it for three months before it was ratified, why is it necessary now?
Mr. HARCOURTThe whole thing was quite new. I think the three months' publication is a desirable improvement.
§ Mr. G. D. FABERWhen did the Colonial Office make up its mind that it was necessary that this sort of matter should be made public beforehand in order that various people should have an opportunity for tendering?
Mr. HARCOURTI think it was after representations from the Liverpool and Manchester Chambers of Commerce.
§ Sir G. YOUNGERWas not the fact that it was perfectly new a reason for publishing it at once, so as to give other people a chance?
Mr. HARCOURTI think we are bound also to consider that where a man invents a new industry which is to the advantage of himself and of the Colony concerned, you should not invite his competitors to come in and deprive him of such advantage as he thinks his ingenuity may have acquired.
§ 27. Mr. GWYNNEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will give a copy of the draft Ordinance which was pre pared at the Colonial Office, and for warded to the Governor of the Gold Coast on the 3rd May, 1912, relating to the proposed grant to Messrs. Lever Brothers of certain rights in connection with the erection of oil mills and depericarping machinery?
§ 28. Mr. R. GWYNNEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why the following letters have been omitted from the correspondence published by the Colonial Office respecting the grant of exclusive rights for the extraction of oil from palm fruits, namely, letter dated 28th October, 1907, from Messrs. Lever Brothers to the Colonial Office; letter dated 31st August, 1910, from the Colonial Office to Messrs. Lever Brothers, and letter dated 14th October, 1912, from Messrs. Simpson, North, Harley, and Company to the Colonial Office; and will he have copies of these letters laid upon the Table of the House?
Mr. HARCOURTI included all material papers in the correspondence presented to Parliament. The letters referred to by the hon. Member are of no importance and not worth the cost of publication, but I will hand them to the hon. Member and leave him to be the judge in the matter; if he wishes it they shall be printed.
§ 30. Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the licence to Messrs. Lever Brothers, Limited, to construct railways within a large area in the protectorate of Sierra Leone, under the Proprietary Railways Ordinance of Sierra Leone (No. 30, of 1909), will bestow an exclusive right, except as against the Government, to lay down monorails or establish other forms of mechanical traction; and will the grant of this right be accompanied by an obligation on Messrs. Lever Brothers, Limited, to construct any minimum length of rail, or expend any express sum within a certain period?
Mr. HARCOURTThe licence will not be exclusive, and will, of course, contain the usual stipulations for the efficient performance of the purposes of the licence.
§ 31. Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many square miles are included in the area in the Sierra Leone Protectorate over which Messrs. Lever Brothers, Limited, are granted the exclusive right of erecting mills for the expression or extraction of oil from palm fruit and other oleaginous products; and is any rent, royalty, or percentage payable to the Colony beyond £100 annually?
Mr. HARCOURTSo far as it is possible to square a circle the area is 311 square miles—and no payment is due to the Colony beyond the £100 per annum to which the hon. Member refers. The hon. Member is in error in describing the right granted to Messrs. Lever as an exclusive right of erecting mills for the expression or extraction of oil from palm fruit and other oleaginous products; it is an exclusive right of erecting mills for the expression or extraction of oil from the pericarp of the palm fruit.
§ 32. Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if, before exclusive privileges over a large territory in Sierra Leone were granted to Messrs. Lever Brothers, Limited, for the erection and working of mills for the extraction of palm oil, equal opportunities were given 2059 to other firms engaged in the industry, or trading in Sierra Leone and the Protectorate, to obtain similar concessions, or to compete for the territory alienated to Messrs. Lever Brothers; and was any notice given to possible competitors in time to enable them to act effectively before the concession to Messrs. Lever Brothers was ratified?
Mr. HARCOURTI would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I have given to the hon. Member for Eastbourne to a similar question to-day.