§ Mr. Parkerasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has yet received any information about the ban imposed by the assistant chief censor in Jamaica, on 28th May, to omit all reference in future to conscription of wealth, and to recent legislation with regard to Government control of industry in the United Kingdom; and whether this is in accordance with the policy of his Department?
§ Mr. George HallYes, Sir. The Governor of Jamaica has reported that the publication in the colony of abbreviated information on the subject of the Emergency Powers Act gave rise to an unfortunate rumour that the Government contemplated the acquisition of savings and bank accounts. This resulted in a marked increase in withdrawals and the Government thereupon decided to restrain the publication of anything likely to aggravate the position. This restraint was imposed as a temporary measure as it was considered that uninformed criticism might have had unfortunate results. The position is now normal and the restrictions have been lifted although the Press has been asked to use care in dealing with the subject in its columns.