Mr. Creech Jonesasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any further arrangements or agreements have been made or are in contemplation for the recruitment of native labour from Nyasaland for work on the Rand; and whether representations have been made to the Union of South Africa on the subject of travelling costs and the ratification of the International Labour Office convention in respect to recruitment?
Mr. M. MacDonaldThe only arrangement in force is that under which the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association is being permitted to recruit up to 8,500 natives in Nyasaland for an experimental period of one year's employment. It is possible that an arrangement for the further recruiting of Nyasaland natives will be concluded, provided that I am fully satisfied with their conditions of health while employed on the Rand. The Transvaal Chamber of Mines have agreed to meet the cost of transporting the natives recruited from Nyasaland to Johannesburg and to conform to all the articles of the International Convention dealing with the recruiting of indigenous workers, so far as recruiting for that territory is concerned.