§ 44. Sir O. THOMASasked the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Belgian Administration of the Congo recently organised a settlement of Belgian farmers in the Colony; that the settlement was a failure owing to the inadaptability of Belgians to Colonial life; that the survivors were all repatriated by the State; that the area of the Congo as at present defined is 1,000,000 square miles, with a total white population of 5,000; that the Belgian policy is still one of declared exclusion of other peoples; and that the Belgian claim to a mandate in respect of Ruanda and Urundi can, therefore, only be actuated by a desire to exploit the native population?
§ Lieut.-Colonel AMERYI have no information with regard to the incident to which the hon. and gallant Member refers in the first part of his question, and as to the remainder I am not in a position to express any opinion.