§ MR. HERBERT SAMUEL (Yorkshire, Cleveland)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, before sanction is given to the Transvaal Imported Labour Ordinance, he will secure that regulations shall be made assuring to all Chinese labourers who may be recruited for the Transvaal mines the right-to be accompanied by their wives and children if they so desire, on terms similiar to those that would apply to the labourers themselves.
§ * MR. LYTTELTONI have already stated that it is my intention to take precautions that all reasonable facilities shall be given for the introduction of the families of labourers, and the regulations will be framed with the object of giving effect to that intention. I am unable, however, to give the pledge which the hon. Member desires, as the preparation of the regulations will occupy a considerable time.
§ MR. HERBERT SAMUELI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state what is the purport of the laws which are specified in Section 35 of the draft of the Transvaal Labour Importation Ordinance, the provisions of which would not apply to Asiatic labourers imported into the Transvaal.
§ * MR. LYTTELTONThe first law is one to regulate the relative rights and duties of masters, servants, and apprentices. The second law is printed in translation with an amending law at page 57 of Cd. 7911 and is the law of the late Republic as to Coolies and Asiatics. Copies of the laws to which the hon. Member refers will be placed in the Library of the House.
§ MR. BUCHANAN (Perthshire, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether there are any mines in the British Empire worked by indentured foreign labour under conditions similar to those proposed in the Transvaal Ordinance.
§ * MR. LYTTELTONNo, Sir.
§ MR. BUCHANANI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies will 849 it be legal, under Section 10 of draft Ordinance, for an importer of labour to convey, for a money consideration, his rights over imported labourers to another licensed person.
§ * ME. LYTTELTONThe hon. Member will see that Section 10 of the draft Ordinance is replaced by Section 11 in the amended Ordinance given in Cd. 1898 which provides adequate safeguards.
§ MR. BUCHANANIf any further Amendments are introduced into the Ordinance on the Third Reading or before that stage, will they be laid on the Table before the debate takes place here?
§ * MR. LYTTELTONCertainly.
§ MR. HERBERT SAMUELI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Report, printed as Appendix I. to the Blue-book entitled Further Correspondence relating to the Affairs of the Transvaal, etc., presented to Parliament last week, which purports to be a reprint of the Report presented by the Chamber of Mines of the Witwatersrand to the ex-Colonial Secretary at Johannesburg in January, 1903, is not identical with that Report, seeing that the paragraph which expressed the objection of the Rand mining industry to white unskilled labour on account of the danger of labour unions being formed has been omitted; and, if so, will he state whether this omission is accidental or intentional; and whether he will furnish this House with a copy of the Report in the form in which it was originally presented to the then head of the Colonial Office.
§ * MR. LYTTELTONNo, Sir. The Report as published is identical with that forwarded by the Chamber of Mines to the Colonial Office as being the Report presented to Mr. Chamberlain. I think it possible that the hon. Member has overlooked the last paragraph on page 341 of the Blue-book to which he refers.
§ MR. HERBERT SAMUELIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the paragraph omitted from this Blue-book appeared in The Times summary of the Report on 9th February last year, and 850 that the version of the Report which has been sent over by the Inspector of Mines: is not apparently the same as that presented to the Ex-Colonial Secretary?
§ [No answer was returned.]