§ 49. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has information respecting the demonstrations in Sierra Leone concerning the alleged statement of the Governor that 15s. per month is a satisfactory wage for native labourers; and whether he will make a statement respecting unrest in Sierra Leone?
Mr. M. MacDonaldConditions under which native labourers are employed in Sierra Leone have been the subject of investigation for the past year, and the Governor considers the problem to merit the appointment of a special Labour Secretary, despite the fact that wage-earning labourers aggregate less than 1 per cent. of the population. I must 2876 make it clear that the Governor did not make the statement attributed to him. The alleged statement is a misrepresentation of a passage in a preliminary, and confidential, review of labour conditions prepared by the Governor in July, the unauthorised publication of which was followed by a number of meetings in Freetown organised to protest against the alleged meaning of the Governor's despatch. Copies of the resolutions passed at those meetings have been forwarded to me.
§ Mr. SorensenIn view of the disturbance that has broken out, has the Governor made it clear that he did not express the remarks that have been attributed to him?
Mr. MacDonaldI hope that the answer which I have given makes it clear that those remarks do not represent his comments on the situation.