HC Deb 04 October 1944 vol 403 cc923-7
31. Miss Ward

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has any statement to make on franchise matters in British Guiana and Trinidad.

Colonel Stanley

With regard to Trinidad I made a full statement in reply to a question by the hon. and gallant Member for Hornsey on the 2nd August. With regard to British Guiana, the report of the Franchise Commission has been placed in the Library of the House, and I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT, a statement showing the action which, with my approval, it is proposed to take on the main recommendations.

Following is the statement:

The report of the Franchise Commission of the Colony of British Guiana has been laid in the Library of the House to-day. The Legislative and Executive Councils in British Guiana have been consulted and I have had the advantage of discussing the report personally with Sir Gordon Lethem in this country.

The following are the main recommendations of the Commission with the action which it is now proposed, with my approval, to take upon them. That action will involve an amending Order-in-Council the draft of which will be laid on the table of the House in due course and local legislation which will be prepared and submitted to the present Legislative Council of British Guiana.

Qualifications for membership of Legislative Council

Paragraph 59.—The Commission with one exception recommend that Membership of the Legislative Council should be open to women on the same terms as men. I have accepted this recommendation.

Paragraph 63.—The Commission with one exception recommend that the financial qualifications for membership should be reduced from

  1. (a) possession of income of $2,400 a year, to the possession of income of $1,200 a year or over,
  2. (b) possession of property to the value of $5,000 to the possession of property of $1,000 or over,
  3. (c) the holding of a lease to the annual value of $1,200 to the holding of one of the annual value of $300 or over.

I have accepted these recommendations.

Paragraph 65.—The Commission unanimously recommend the removal of the present disqualification of ministers of religion who possess the other qualifications required. I have accepted this recommendation.

Paragraph 64.—The Commission unanimously recommend that any person before becoming eligible for election to the Legislative Council must at some period of his life have previously resided continuously in the Colony for at least one year before nomination. I have accepted this recommendation.

Qualifications for voters for Legislative Council.

Paragraph 11.—A majority of the Commission recommend that the qualifications for exercise of the franchise should be reduced as follows:

  1. (a) Ownership, occupation or tenancy of land of six acres, to three acres.
  2. (b) Ownership of land to the value of $350, to $150.
  3. (c) Occupation or tenancy of property of rental to the value of $96 a year, to $48 a year.
  4. (d) Possession of income of $300 a year, to $120 a year.

A minority of the Commission recommend universal adult suffrage.

It will be recognised that the majority report of the Commission provides for a substantial extension of the franchise, though one still falling short of universal adult suffrage. The matter has been fully debated in the British Guiana Legislative Council, a substantial majority of whom stated that they approved the majority report of the Commission; that report was also accepted unanimously by the unofficial members of the Executive Council. On the other hand representations have been received from numerous bodies in the Colony such as those from the East Indian Association in favour of universal adult suffrage. At a recent Conference of Chairmen of the Village Councils however, 150 delegates passed a resolution strongly supporting the majority report. The matter is clearly one in which there is a considerable division of opinion in the Colony and where a large majority of the Commission, which was fully representative and responsible, and was appointed in exactly the same manner as the Trinidad Franchise Committee, has reported in favour of an extension of the franchise falling short of universal adult suffrage, and as this report has met with the approval of the majority of the Legislative Council, I feel that I should accept it.

It is true that in Trinidad and Jamaica the principle of universal adult suffrage has been accepted but in Trinidad this was recommended by the majority of a Committee which as I have said was appointed in the same manner as the British Guiana Commission, while in Jamaica universal adult suffrage was unanimously recommended by responsible local bodies including the Legislative Council. Moreover conditions in British Guiana are not in all respects parallel to those in Jamaica and Trinidad and I feel that it would not be reasonable that a Colony with differing conditions should be held bound to follow measures adopted in others.

I desire, however, to make it plain that, as envisaged by the Commission, the aim of policy in British Guiana will be the adoption of universal adult suffrage at a later date, and, as suggested in paragraph 57 of the Commission's report, a census of the country will be taken, as soon as practicable, as a step towards that end.

Paragraph 19.—The majority of the Commission recommend that every elector should be required to pass a literacy test in English. A minority of the Commission recommended that the existing literacy test should be abolished.

As I have already explained, the British Guiana Legislative Council will not be invited to approve the introduction of adult suffrage. There is, therefore, less reason than there was in the case of Trinidad to invite the Council to accept the abolition of all literacy or language tests. But, just as in Trinidad, I saw objection to the recommendation that ability to understand spoken English should be a qualification for the franchise, so I do not feel able to accept the majority recommendation in British Guiana for a literacy test confined to English. I have therefore approved in British Guiana the retention of the existing test of literacy in any language. I have, however, accepted the recommendation of the Commission for a literacy test in English for membership of the Legislative Council on grounds of practical convenience since otherwise members would be unable to carry out their duties. Moreover, the necessity for such a qualification has been expressly submitted in writing to the Franchise Commission by the British Guiana East Indian Association and the Islamic Association, among other organisations.

Electoral Districts

Paragraphs 81 to 91.—The Commission recommend certain modifications of the existing electoral districts subject to a final decision on the franchise question. I accept these recommendations.

The Commission refer in paragraphs 104 and 105 of their report to certain proposals for other constitutional changes which were put before them. The Commission did not agree among themselves as to these proposals and felt that in any case it was not within their province, and expressed no opinion on them. They therefore contented themselves with merely transmitting them for consideration by the proper authorities. These recommendations will be considered by the Governor as and when it appears desirable.

The Commission was a carefully selected body fully representative of general opinion in the Colony, and its recommendations provide for a marked advance in the association of the people of the Colony with the management of their affairs. I should like to pay a tribute to the thorough and exhaustive manner in which the Commission carried out its inquiries and to the undoubted services which its members, under the valuable guidance of its Chairman, Mr. Woolford, have rendered to the Colony.