§ MR. JAMES O'KELLY (Roscommon, N.)To ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the Poll-Tax Ordinance, 1905, published in the Uganda Official Gazette of April 1st, 1905, which enacts that a poll-tax of two rupees per annum shall be payable in the same manner as 1111 the hut tax by each adult male native, and that any person who has not the means to pay the two rupees in cash shall in lieu thereof work for the period of one month; and whether His Majesty's Government has sanctioned this system of forced labour.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton.) My attention has been called to the Ordinance in question, which has been sanctioned by His Majesty's Government. The payment of any taxes appears to me to involve compulsory labour except in the case of those who have savings or accumulated capital available to discharge them.