§ MR. ASHTON (Bedfordshire, Luton)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it is proposed to make regulations to prevent the Chinese coolies in the Transvaal mine compounds being mulcted of their wages by any truck system; if not, will he take steps to prevent it; and whether the officer to be stationed in China to inform the Chinese coolies of the conditions of service in the Transvaal mines will be in the pay of the Transvaal Government or of the mine-owners or their contractors.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) Lord Milner informs me that the law of the South African Republic, No. 18 of 1896, provides against truck system and has purposely never been repealed, that the truck system does not now exist on the mines and that its introduction in connection with Chinese labour has never been contemplated. The officer in China will be in the pay of the Transvaal Government.