, 1885-10-28

some old relative of the parents who gen.
orally care the children in the villages
during the working hours. lie did not see
why any departure should be made from
this The difficulties thrown in the way
OF the planters as regards pregnant women
and women with young infants are so
great that he was afraid the women in
question would finally be the sufferers, az
no estate would then employ such women.
Great trouble may ensue.
He would therefore recommend that the
Draft be not forced to any greater extent
and be postponed as already recommended.
The Governor in answer to the remarks
made by the last honorable Member,
would state that it is true that under the
Old Iabour law, the lab0urers paid for their
own physician, but the estates were held
responsible for the amounts. Government
has no objection that the laOOurer pays q
certain proportion of his wages to the en-
plOyers for medical aid. In such case it
would be one Of the StipulaticnS in his
contract. Private arrangements Of this
nature the Government would not interfere
in, but would insist that medical aid be
procured for the people in order to check
the daily decrease of labourers, If it were
not for immigration, the people would
otherwise die out.
o. L UC thurman MOuItls Will lAC OuIICi .
permission, make some remarks from the
Chair, as the honorable Vice-C Chairman
was absent, and he thought himself called
upon to make these remarks, because he
had been a member of the Commission
which had framed the draft upon which
the draft now introduced was based. He
would first deprecate the course recon-
mended by the honorable 3rd Member for
FredGrikSted'S Country District (WllSOn1,
to Shelve the Draft for an indefinite time,
u recommendation which came with bad
grace from the honorable Member who
had been one of the commissioners APP
pointed by Government in 1888 and at that
time taken a warm interest in the whole
mltter. Objections could of course BE-
raised against clauses in the Draft, but, i'll
his opinion, not of other nature but that
the same might be turthered after having
gone through a Committee.
The honourable Member who spoke last
had laid great stress upon the lengthIneSS
and c0mplicatrdneSS OF the Draft, but he
must maintain that it was quite as intelligi-
bic and not more lengthy than the LabOur
Regulations ut 1919.
The provision in - seemed to have
been misunderstood by the honorable Bird
Member for FredrrikStrd's Country Dis
tricr an employer made himself liable to
a fine only by eXlcting iab0rj0HS work from
a pregnant woman daring the last two
mouths OF her pregnancy.
1t was possible that the Draft imposed
additional expenses upon eState-0WIerS by
the rules contained in 5 - and II, con
corning the room fDr infant children and
medical Attendance &c, to he given to la
bOurerS and their children, but he did not
think these expenses would be anything
great, and then it WAS maintained by Go-
vernment that they were in the real inter
est of the e~Srate-OWnerS, an opinion which
he was inclined to share.
He had some formal objections against
&17: the first words of the ) led You To
believe thai it contained rules concerning
lab0urers whose sickness was due neither
to their own improper conduct nor to inn
proper proceedings OH the part OF the en-
ploYor. But the 5 also mentioned the
rights Of children of labOurerS in case Of
sickness, besides the employers obligation
to appoint Il sick nurse at the demand OF
the physician, which latter provision must
be supposed to concern all cases OF sick.
ness among the labOurers and their chill
dren. AS member of the Commission he
had been against imposing upon pOrterS
the duty of taking out a passport, and he
could neither approve the measure pro-
posed in 5 % of the draft which laid upon
estate. owners the duty and odium of ex-
- ~ oNuk1Hon K 70 |Etoy, offnCfUA