§ Captain BERKELEYasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been directed to the indignation meeting of the colonists of Fiji held relative to the failure of the Secretary of State to reassure them as to the safeguarding of their constitutional rights; whether he has received further information regarding the bargain between the late Secretary of State and Mr. Knox, of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, such as to modify his previously expressed view of the question; whether a reply has been sent to the Fiji Government conveying the required assurance; and what are the terms of that reply?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative and to the second part in the negative. Having carefully reviewed all the facts, the Secretary of State is convinced that his predecessor had no reason to anticipate that when the requisite legislative sanction came to be sought objection would be taken to his action either as impairing the authority of the Legislative Council or as indicating that he claimed liberty to dispose of the revenue of the Colony at his discretion. The Secretary of State has no doubt that it was the earnest desire of his predecessor, as it certainly is his own, to work in the closest accord with the unofficial members of the Legislative Council in every endeavour to safeguard the interests and promote the welfare of the Colony. He sees nothing in the transactions of last summer which lend colour to any suggestion that the constitutional rights of the Legislative Council have been or will be infringed. The GOvernor has been informed accordingly.