§ Sir L. Plummerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the number of Africans in Nyasaland who have been recruited annually for the years 1955–57 to work in Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and the Union of South Africa, respectively.
§ Mr. Lennox-Boyd,pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 16th July, 1957; Vol. 573, c. 942], supplied the following information:
Labourers recruited for:
Southern Rhodesia South Africa 1955 … 8,096 12,580 1956 … 11,059 13,980 1957 (Jan. to June) … 9,246 5,088 No African labour is recruited in Nyasaland by any Northern Rhodesian agency.
There is no evidence of a connection between migrant labour and the matrilineal system in Nyasaland.
281WThe figures for migrant labour are proportionately much the same for patrilineal and for matrilineal tribes.
The economy of Nyasaland is predominantly agricultural, but no practicable possibility of increasing the country's industrial development, and of so absorbing more of its labour force, will be overlooked.