§ MR. MARKHAM (Nottinghamshire, Mansfield)To ask the Secretary of State for India will he say the number of coolies working under indentures in the tea plantations, and the dates of the Acts sanctioning their employment; and will he lay upon the Table the regulations under which these indentured labourers work.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Brodrick.) The latest Beturns received by me are for the year 1902–3, and show that at the end of June last there were 93,278 coolies in Assam under indenture (out of a total 544 labour population of 650,937). The Acts under which these persons are indentured are Act I. of 1882 and Act VI. of 1901, the latter Act superseding the former except as regards contracts made under the Act of 1882 not yet expired. The regulations applicable to indentured labourers are contained in these Acts, which will be found in the Library of the House. I may also refer to the Return presented by my predecessor in April last in compliance with the Address moved by the hon. Member for the Northern Division of Manchester, which is likewise in the Library.