§ 1. Sir J. D. REESasked the Secretary of State for India whether he can make any statement regarding the present position of and the attitude of the Government of India towards the question of the abolition of indentured emigration?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (Mr. Chamberlain)The position was explained by the Viceroy in his speech in the Legislative Council on the 7th February, in the course of which he said:
Our decision that the present form of emigration must cease has been whole-heartedly accepted by the Colonial Office, and they are busily engaged not merely in improving the conditions of labour in the interval, but in making ready for the great change which has to take place.An Interdepartmental Conference, on which the Government of India will be represented, is to be held in London next month. Meanwhile it has become necessary to stop indentured emigration so as not to interfere with military recruitment, and the Viceroy informs me that it is the wish of himself and his Government that Colonial recruitment should not be resumed under the indentured system.