§ MR. FELL (Great Yarmouth)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what are the numbers of Chinese and Kaffirs, respectively, now confined in the compounds in the Transvaal, and the death-rate among the Chinese and Kaffirs according to the latest Returns.
§ COLONEL SEELYThe latest official Return shows that at the end of August 151,762 coloured persons were employed and 17,270 Chinese; according to the Transvaal Chamber of Mines the number of Chinese employed at the end of September was 14,655. The death-rates per 1,000, for the quarter ended 30th June, were 32.035 for natives, and 16.002 for Chinese.
§ COLONEL SEELYNo, Sir. The figures included deaths from all causes. The Chinese have a much better rate in regard to disease than natives, but their 971 deaths from murder, homicide, and suicide were about six times greater.
§ MR. FELLIs not the net result that the death-rate among natives is more than double that among the Chinese, and therefore the effect of substituting native for Chinese labour has been—
§ MR. SPEAKEROrder, order.