HC Deb 13 May 1914 vol 62 cc1087-8
11 and 12. Mr. WEDGWOOD

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) whether his attention has been called to the evidence given by Lord Delamere before the Native Labour Commission in East Africa, in which he states that, if every native was to be a landowner of a sufficient area on which to keep himself, then the question of obtaining a satisfactory labour supply would never be settled; whether these views are almost universal among the white settlers in British East Africa; whether the Colonial Office proposes to take any steps to deprive the natives of their land in order to make them work; and (2) whether the suggestion made before the Native Labour Commission, in favour of making roads within the reserves and requiring the natives to work on such roads without pay, has been recommended by the Governor or received any sanction from the Colonial Office?

Mr. HARCOURT

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave him on the 7th of May.

Mr. WEDGWOOD

Is Lord Delamere, who has views on native labour, a member of the Legislative Assembly of British East Africa?

Mr. HARCOURT

I think that he certainly has been. I am not quite certain whether he is now. I will inform the hon. Member.

Sir W. BYLES

Are the natives to lose their land in order to be forced to work? Can I have an answer to that one question?

Mr. HARCOURT

I dare say that the hon. Member can have an answer to that-one question if he will give me notice of it.