HC Deb 07 March 1904 vol 131 c298
MAJOR SEELY

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the fact that more than half of the total annual production of gold in the world is produced by white labour only, he will cause inquiry to be instituted into the possibility of the further employment of white labour in the gold mines of the Transvaal before sanctioning the Ordinance for the introduction of Chinese indentured labour into that colony.

*MR. LYTTELTON

I do not know whether the fact alleged as to the world at large by my gallant friend is accurate or inaccurate, but I am convinced by the evidence which I have received from South Africa, where, in the words of the right hon. Member for Aberdeen, "all unskilled work is done by black people," it is not practicable to employ white labour on unskilled work in the mines. I must therefore decline to give the undertaking suggested.