§ MR. RUNCIMAN (Dewsbury)To ask the Secretary of State for India whether any protest has been received from or sent by the Government of India against the Bill now before the Cape Parliament which renders His Majesty's Indian subjects, resident in Cape Colony, liable to a trading disability which will not be inflicted upon Yiddish-speaking aliens; and whether the Government of India has protested against similar legislation in the Colony of Natal.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Brodrick.) The Answer to the first paragraph of the Question is in the negative. The legislation of 1897 in Natal, which requires
† See (4) Debates, exli, 893.1235 traders to keep their account books in the English language, formed the subject of protest by my predecessor when the measure was under consideration. It does not appear, however, to have interfered with the expansion of trade by Indians in that Colony. The law does not require the books to be written up by the trader himself.