§ MR. SUMMERS (Huddersfield)asked the Under Secretary of State for India, 329 Whether his attention has been called to the statements in the Native Press of India, which are borne out by the Reports of the Chief Commissioner and Sanitary Commissioner of Assam, that the abuses to which the coolies are subjected, in many instances, amount to conditions of slavery, and are certainly such as to demand immediate attention; and, whether he will give directions to the Executive Authorities in India to take steps at once to mitigate the serious hardships inflicted on these labourers, pending the enactment of such alterations in the Inland Emigration Act of 1882 as are evidently required?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)(who replied) said: The Secretary of State has noticed statements of the kind referred to; but he cannot admit their accuracy. As stated to the House on August 6, the Secretary of State requested the Government of India in November, 1886, to watch narrowly the working of the Emigration Act of 1882. He does not consider it necessary to issue further instructions to the Government of India, as he is satisfied that the Government of India is alive to the importance of the subject, and has now under consideration the Memorial of the Indian Association.