§ Mr. Harveyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the reasons for the reservation of the decision of the Government as to the application of the International Labour Convention on written contracts of employment of indigenous workers in the case of Barbados, Bahamas and Bermuda, and in the case of Palestine and Trans-Jordania; and why the Penal Sanctions Convention has been applied in the case of Barbados but not in the other above-named Colonies?
§ Colonel StanleyWith regard to Palestine, the Labour Department in the territory was only established last year, and it is the intention of the Palestine Government to prepare and introduce at an early date a series of fundamental and much needed labour laws, which I understand will include an Ordinance covering comprehensively the whole question of individual contracts of employment. As regards Trans-Jordan, I propose to take up with the High Commissioner the question of the extent to which the requirements of the conventions can be implemented by legislation in the territory. The Governments of the Bahamas, Barbados and Bermuda possess their own constitutions, in two cases dating more than 300 years back; they have representative government, and the Governors have no reserve powers which would enable them to certify measures which the local legislatures were unwilling to pass. The Governors consider it improbable that their legislatures would be willing at the present time to pass the legislation required to give full effect to the Conventions, although, in the case of the Penal Sanctions Convention, it is hoped that the Bahamas and Bermuda Legislatures will be prepared to agree to the abolition of sanctions for breaches of contract by juvenile workers. In Barbados, all penal sanctions were abolished by legislation enacted in the Colony five years ago, and that is why Barbados has been shown in the recent White Paper as a territory to which the Convention applies without modification.