§ MR. LABOUCHERE (Northampton)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the form of contract signed by the Chinese labourers before importation to the Transvaal contains any reference to their right to the transport of their wives and children to that country, to the obligation to work for ten hours per diem underground, and to their obligation to be confined in a compound during their term of servitude; whether a copy of the form of contract is in the possession of the Colonial Service; if so, whether he will lay it 462 upon the Table of the House; and, if not, whether he will at once telegraph to the Governor of Hong-kong to transmit by cable the form of contract, and lay it upon the Table of the House on its receipt.
§ MR. LYTTELTONThe form of the contract signed by the Chinese labourers was, I understand, that printed at pages 28–32 of Cd. 2026.