§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will, before the Colonial Office Vote comes under discussion, be in a position by means of a telegraphic communication with Lord Milner, or otherwise, to place the House of Commons in possession of the circumstances under which Chinese indentured labourers deserted from the Rand mines and were captured, and the punishment inflicted on these indentured labourers and the persons who subsequently employed them or who aided and abetted them in their flight.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. LYTTELTON,) Warwick and LeamingtonI am not in a position to say when the information will reach us.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLPerhaps the right hon. Gentleman will refer to this matter in his speech to-day to the Chamberlain Club.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has yet received any communication from Lord Milner or the Transvaal Colony with reference to the desertions of Chinese indentured labourers from the mines of the Rand; and, if so, will he put the House of Commons in possession of any such communication.
§ MR. LYTTELTONI have not yet received any communication.