§ Sir J. D. REESasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has received protests from the Nyasaland 929W Chamber of Commerce, and from other bodies, against the statement made by the late Governor of Nyasaland, Sir Alfred Sharpe, at the Geographical Society's meeting last December, to the effect that local requirements of the Protectorate require a labour force of from 10,000 to 15,000 and that a surplus supply of from 85,000 to 90,000 is available for labour in other parts of Africa; whether he is aware that the local chamber of commerce estimates local requirements at 94,600 out of a population of male adults capable of labour of 107,000; and whether he can make any statement calculated to allay the alarm caused by a positive statement upon a controversial subject made by a person lately occupying the position of Governor of the Protectorate?
Mr. HARCOURTI have not received any communication from the Nyasaland Chamber of Commerce or from other bodies on the subject of the statement; but, as I informed the hon. Member for Devonport in reply to a question on the 7th May, the statement does not represent the opinion of the present Governor of the Protectorate.