asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is prepared to grant the request for a public inquiry presented to him by the North Charterland Exploration Company (1910), Limited, into the circumstances under which an agreement was entered into in 1923 between the Colonial Office and the British South Africa Company, purporting to dispose of certain property of the North Charterland Exploration Company without that company's knowledge or authority?

I have been asked to reply to this question. The question whether or not the Government of Northern Rhodesia will hold a public inquiry into the matters raised by the North Charterland Exploration Company is still under the consideration of my Noble Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies.