§ DR. MACNAMARA (Camberwell, N.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the 1396 Treasury whether he can state approximately when the Ordinance for the introduction of indentured Chinese labour into the Transvaal will be put into actual operation; and whether the recruitment of coolies in China for service under the Ordinance can be stopped until the Ordinance is in actual operation.
§ *MR. LYTTELTONAn approximate date cannot at present be given. His Majesty's Government cannot interfere with preliminary steps taken in China to engage labourers; but binding indentures of service cannot be made until the necessary conditions, precedent to the coming into operation of the Ordinance, have been fulfilled.
§ DR. MACNAMARACannot the recruitment be stopped until the Ordinance is in actual operation?
§ *MR. LYTTELTONWe cannot interfere with the preliminary steps taken in China.