§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the Industrial Adviser appointed by him for Trinidad and Tobago will be responsible to His Majesty's Government or form part of the local Colonial staff; and whether, in either case, he will report to the Colonial Office on the industrial situation?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreThe Industrial Adviser will be in the service of the Government of Trinidad and will be responsible to that Government. Any reports drawn up by him will be made to the 1073W Governor, who will no doubt keep me fully informed of the industrial situation and supply me with copies of any such reports whenever desirable.
§ Mr. Bennasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will state the dividend paid during the last three years by the sugar companies operating in Trinidad?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreThere are a large number of sugar companies operating in Trinidad, and I can only refer the right hon. Member to their published annual reports. The right hon. Member may have noticed from Chapter II of the report of the Commission on the Trinidad and Tobago Disturbances, 1937, that some Trinidad sugar companies which for many years had earned no dividends have during the past three or four years found themselves in a more favourable position. A list of the principal sugar companies operating in Trinidad will be found in Appendix IV to that report.
§ Mr. Bennasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will state the cost-of-living index in Trinidad during the last three years?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreUntil recently no cost-of-living index has been kept in Trinidad, but arrangements are now being made for this to be done. I would refer the hon. Member in this connection to paragraph 180 on page 54 of the Trinidad Commission Report.
§ Mr. Bennasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will publish a table showing the rates of wages paid in the chief industries in Trinidad?
§ Mr. Ormsby-GoreI would refer the right hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mr. Riley), which contains the latest information available in the Colonial Office as to rates for unskilled workers in the oil and sugar industries. I am telegraphing to the Acting Governor for the most recent figures for all industries, and will communicate further with the right hon. Member on the receipt of his reply.