asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, with reference to the proposal in the Report of the Malta Constitutional Commission that the Commissioner of Police should be directly responsible to the Governor, if he is aware that the suggestion that, during temporary absences of the Governor from Malta, the chief justice should act for him is in conflict with the principle of the separation of the control of the police from the control of the judiciary; and whether he will provide for the appointment of some other functionary to act for the Governor when temporarily absent.

I am aware of this problem and I am giving it the careful consideration which it requires.