HC Deb 14 March 1904 vol 131 c972
MR. SOARES (Devonshire, Barnstaple)

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, if a Chinese labourer acquires under a contract entered into with a British subject for good and valuable consideration any house, land, building, or other property in breach of the provisions of the 14th Section of the Transvaal Ordinance, the contract will be void in law, and, if so, to whom will the property belong; or whether, subject to the parties to the contract undergoing such punishment as may be inflicted under the Ordinance, the labourer will be entitled to retain his property.

*MR. LYTTELTON

The contract is one prohibited by law and is void. The property does not pass under it and remains in the hands of those who purported to dispose of it.

MR. SOARES

Would the answer of the right hon. Gentleman be the same if the conveyance were taken in the name of a child born in South Africa of Chinese parents?

MR. SPEAKER

Order, order!

MR. SWIFT MACNEILL

Oh, that is a Chinese puzzle.