§ MR. WEIRI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state how many of the natives recruited from the British Central Africa Protectorate for labour in the Transvaal have arrived at the mines, how many have succumbed to disease, and how many have returned home.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. LYTTELTON, Warwick and Leamington)The latest information I have received states that 1,385 have gone to the mines, that 134 have succumbed to disease, and that 709 have returned home, the rest not having completed their period of work. I have recently informed Lord Milner that he will no doubt agree with me that if this rate of mortality continues the experiment must cease. I believe the mortality has recently not been so heavy.