§ SIR GEORGE CAMPBELLasked the Secretary of State for India, Whether he has yet decided what course to pursue in regard to the Act of the Indian Legislature extending the term for tea labourers under the special and penal Law from three to five years?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONSir, as I have already stated in reply to a Question from my hon. Friend, this Act and the documents relating to it have received very careful consideration in the Council of India. The Bill attracted my attention while it was under discussion in the Legislative Council, and I informed the Government of India in the autumn of last year, that, considering the unhealthiness of some parts of Assam, and the high rate of mortality which prevailed among the Coolies in that Province, it appeared to me that great caution was necessary in legislating on the subject, and that, unless the Governor General entertained a very strong opinion in favour of extending the maximum period for which a contract of labour enforced by penalties might be entered into, I was inclined to think that it would not be expedient to enlarge the period from three to five years. The Act has, however, been 547 passed in its original form. Although I am assured by the Government of India that the death rate in Assam has fallen, and that the healthiness of the Province has improved, and is likely to improve, I cannot say that my doubts as to this clause have been altogether removed. As the measure, however, contains many provisions likely to be beneficial to the Native labourer, as well as to the planter, and as it is already in operation, I am, on the whole, unwilling to advise Her Majesty to disallow it, and my hon. Friend is aware that I have no power to alter the Act or to disallow a particular clause. I have, however, thought it necessary to direct the Government of India to furnish me, at the close of every year from the time of its coming into operation, with a Return of the number of persons suffering criminal punishment for breach of contract under this law; and that, at the end of three years, the Secretary of State may receive a special Report on the working of the Act, with a view to considering the possibility of abandoning all exceptional legislation respecting contracts of labour in the Indian tea districts.