Mr. POINTERasked if the Secretary for the Colonies had now received from Trinidad the Industrial Training Ordinance which prevents a skilled artisan from suing his employer in any court of the Colony for any wages higher than those of an unskilled labourer unless he holds a certificate of the training board; and, if so, whether it had yet received his assent
Mr. HARCOURTThe Ordinance has been received, and His Majesty has been advised not to exercise his powers of disallowance with regard to it. A further Ordinance is in contemplation amending the provisions of Section 11 to which the question refers.
Mr. POINTERasked for what purpose the Government farm in Trinidad was established; what is the amount of products produced annually; how many head of various cattle are raised; how much 1511 milk, butter, cheese, eggs, etc., and what other kinds of products; how they are marketed, in open market or otherwise, or by both methods, and, if the latter, in what proportion; whether any of the products find their way to the Governor's table; and, if so, to what value and upon what terms?
Mr. HARCOURTThe Government farm in Trinidad was established to improve the breed of stock; its receipts were $9,555 in the year 1909–10; there were 539 head of cattle; milk brought in $4,865, butter $493, poultry $137, eggs $97, and miscellaneous receipts $51; the balance is accounted for by sales of stock, pasture fees, and stud fees. Sales of stock are conducted by auction, but I am not aware in what manner the dairy products and eggs are marketed; the bulk is taken by the public hospitals and other public institutions. The Governor purchased 7,007 quarts of milk.
Mr. POINTERasked how many indentured East Indian labourers were during 1910 employed in Trinidad; and how many received the minimum, promised them in India, of 5s. 2½ per week, or £13 12s. per year; how many failed to reach that amount; how many received £15 per year; and how many received £18 per year or more; whether he is aware that most estates keep two sets of pay sheets, one for use at the pay office and another for official inspectors showing increased amounts paid, and that owners in Trinidad of sugar and cocoa plantations, employing indentured labour, when disposing of their properties transfer their indentured labourers in the same way as goods and chattels; and would he say what action he proposes to take?
Mr. HARCOURTI have not at present received the returns from Trinidad for the year 1910, and am, therefore, unable to answer the first part of my hon. Friend's question in full. But it is scarcely accurate to suggest that emigrants recruited in India are promised a minimum wage of 5s. 2½d. per week. The terms of service offered to intending immigrants provide that able-bodied emigrants shall be paid at the rate of 1s. 0½d. for each day's work; and the amount earned in a week depends upon the number of days an immigrant actually works; the stipulation is that he shall have the opportunity of earning the sum in question. With 1512 regard to the latter part of the question, I shall be happy to investigate the matter, if my hon. Friend has any information tending to substantiate the allegations which he has made and will place it at my disposal.
Mr. POINTERasked the exact quantity of sugar on which export duty has been paid by sugar planters of Trinidad, employing indentured East Indian immigrants, towards the reimbursement of expenses for the collection and introduction of immigrants during the years 1908, 1909, and 1910; the exact quantity of cane cultivated by cane farmers and sold during these years to sugar factories in which such immigrants are employed; and whether separate accounts are kept in such factories of the quantity of sugar manufactured and exported, and an account given to the local government of such portion, if any, in which indentured labour is not employed?
Mr. HARCOURTExport duty was paid on 792,366 cwt. of sugar in 1908–9, and on 906,600 cwt. in 1909. The figures for 1910 are not available. There is no means of differentiating between sugar produced by indentured and that produced by unindentured labour. I have no statistics as to the amount of cane cultivated by cane farmers and sold by them to sugar factories in which immigrants are employed.
Mr. POINTERasked if the Colonial Secretary's attention had been drawn Lo the method employed by the Government of Trinidad in dealing with applications for prospecting concessions on the Morne l'Enfer Reserve; whether the decision to offer plots of 500 acres was, instead of being published in the gazette, kept unduly secret, and that, instead of being offered in open competition, leases were allotted in order of application to those who were fortunate enough to receive early intimation of the Government's intention; whether he was aware that the result of this method has resulted in prospectors Obtaining a lease for £5 and immediately reselling for £5,000; whether, in view of this loss of thousands of pounds to the Trinidad exchequer, he will cause full inquiry to be made and arrange that in future concessions full and public notice shall be given and that the full value of the lease shall be secured for the Colonial treasury?
Mr. HARCOURTNearly two years ago the Governor reported that numerous applications for prospecting licences over 1513 the Morne l'Enfer District had been received, but that these applications referred to lands which overlapped each other entirely or in part. With my predecessor's approval, the Governor directed a resurvey of the district, and decided that, on the completion of the survey, licences for blocks of 500 acres should be allotted according to priority of application. There has been no secrecy and no favouritism, and I see no reason for issuing any instructions to the Governor in the matter. The sum of £5 is the usual deposit required with all applications, and has nothing to do with the consideration received by the Government for a mining lease.