§ Mr. JOHN ROBERTSONasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, whether he has any information as to the Gold Law, 1908, and Townships Amendment Acts of the Transvaal, 1908; and whether British-Indian merchants, and others, will in the future find it impossible to reside or trade in proclaimed gold-bearing areas, Johannesburg, Klerksdorp, etc., by reason of these laws?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the COLONIES (Mr. Harcourt)I am aware of the legislation referred to. It is provided under the Gold Law, 1908, that no right may be acquired by a coloured person, and that no such person may reside on land proclaimed for mining in certain mining districts, except in bazaars, locations, and such other places as a mining commissioner may permit. In the view of the late Transvaal Government, these provisions simply continued the existing state of affairs, but they nevertheless decided to provide for possible cases of hardship by safeguarding existing rights. In these circumstances my predecessor decided that His Majesty should not be advised to disallow the legislation.