presented a petition from Mr. J. L. Reade, who entered the service of the Cape Government Railways as a daily paid employee in April, 1893, but only contributed to the Pension Fund from April, 1900, praying that he might be allowed to Contribute the arrears by means of monthly instalments from November 3, 1893.

seconded by Mr. RUNCIMAN (South Peninsula), the petition was referred to the Select Committee on Pensions, Grants, and Gratuities.

presented a petition from Mr. C. Neumann Thomas, Sergeant-at-Arms of the late Gape House of Assembly, in whose case the award of a pension of £120 had been recommended, praying the House to reconsider his case, end grant him a pension equal to his late salary, or other relief.

On the motion of Mr. RUNCIMAN (South Peninsula), seconded by Mr. STRUBEN (Newlands), the petition was referred to the Select Committee on Pensions, Grants, and Gratuities.

presented a petition from Mr. G. Varnfield, who was retired in 1903, and in 1907 was awarded a pension of £34 6s., praying for an increase thereof or other relief.

On the motion of Mr. FREMANTLE (Uitenhage), seconded by Mr. WATER METER (Clanwilliam), the petition was referred to the Select Committee on Pensions, Grants, and Gratuities.

presented a petition from Mr. Evert L. Kramer, residing at Newlands, praying that in consideration of the injury he received while in the employ of the Cape Government Railways, the pension awarded him in 1905 might be increased, or for other relief.

On the motion of Mr. STRUBEN (Newlands), seconded by Mr. ALEXANDER (Cape Town, Castle), the petition was referred to the Select Committee on Pensions, Grants, and Gratuities.

presented a petition from Alice Gray, of Ugie, East Griqualand, who served in the Postal Department since 1889 with a break in her service from October, 1901, to July, 1902, praying that the said break might be condoned and that, owing to ill-health, she might be allowed to retire on pension.

On the motion of Mr. SCHREINER (Tembuland), seconded by Mr. C. L. BOTHA (Bloemfontein), the petition was referred to the Select Committee on Pensions, Grants, and Gratuities.

presented a petition from Mr. A. S. Marshall-Hall, who entered the Cape Government Railways in 1893. In 1906, whilst holding the position of Staff Clerk to the Traffic Manager, Cape Town, he was requested to take up the editorship of the “South African Railway Magazine,” which he did until 1908, when, instead of reverting to his former position, he was transferred to another office, which was abolished, and was subsequently placed on pension, praying the House to take his case into consideration, and grant him further relief.

On the motion of Mr. RUNCIMAN (South Peninsula), seconded by Mr. ALEXANDER (Cape Town, Castle), the petition was referred to the Select Committee on Pensions. Grants, and Gratuities.

presented a petition from Mr. J. P. J. Roux, who served in the Education Department as teacher at Villiersdorp for seven and a quarter years with a break in his service from June, 1907, to January, 1910, praying for condonation of said break, or other relief.

On the Motion of Mr. VOSLOO (Somerset), seconded by Mr. RADEMEYER (Humansdorp), the petition was referred to the Select Committee on Pensions, Grants, and Gratuities.

presented a petition from Elizabeth M. Ackermann, a teacher in the Public School. Hope Town, who has served in the Education Department since October, 1895, with a break in her service from October, 1898, to October, 1901, praying that the said break may be condoned or for other relief.

On the motion of Mr. LOUW (Colesberg), seconded by Mr. VAN EEDEN (Swellendam), the petition was (referred to the Select Committee on Pensions, Grants, and Gratuities

presented a petition from Mr. F. M. Weighill, who served in the Cape Government Railways since March, 1881, with a break in his service from March, 1896, to January, 1897, praying that the said break may be condoned.

On the motion of Mr. RUNCIMAN (South Peninsula), seconded by Mr. J AGGER (Cape Town, Central), the petition was referred to the Select Committee on Pensions, Grants, and Gratuities.

That His Excellency the Governor-General be requested by respectful address to transmit to His Majesty the King, through the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Joint Address from both Houses of Parliament, adopted yesterday, in reply to His Majesty’s Most Gracious Messages which were conveyed by His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, on the occasion of the opening of the First Parliament of the Union of South Africa.

seconded.

The motion was agreed to.

Report of the Librarian of the Parliamentary Library, November 10, 1910.

Copy of an agreement dated at Cape Town, May 3, and at Windhoek, June 1, 1910, entered into between the Director of Posts and Telegraphs of German South West Africa, and the then Postmaster-General of the Cape of Good Hope, with reference to the exchange of telegrams between the two Administrations.

(1) Blue-book on Native Affairs for 1909. Cape (G. 28-’10). (2) Reports (interim and final) of the Native Affairs Commission, 1910. Cape (G. 26-’10). (3) Proceedings and Reports of Select Committees of the Transkeian Territories General Council, at the session of 1910.

In regard to the question asked on Thursday by Mr. Oosthuisen (Jansenville) with reference to the better provision for passengers, by the erection of a proper waiting-room at Barroekraal Station, was understood to reply that he did not know whether provision was to be made on the Estimates therefor, but he must say that the place was of sufficient importance to have its reasonable requirements seen to.

May I, with the leave of the House, before proceeding with the Orders of the Day, say that I have been requested by several hon. members on the other side of the House to repeat to-day the answer which yesterday I gave the hon. member sitting behind me (Mr. Mentz, Zoutpansberg), upon the question of the squatter’s law? Let me say at once that I regret that what I said yesterday was not heard by hon. members opposite, and that it was not due to any discourtesy on my part at all. Continuing, he said that his reply had been to the effect that the Government had not cancelled the notice it had given to natives in various parts of the Transvaal, given before Union, and that the administrative action which the Government would have been bound to take had been postponed for the time being for the simple reason that, as administrative head of native affairs, he had found that he could not Carry out completely the proposals. He would be faced with the removal of 64,000 native families, comprising 300,000 individuals. To take Zoutpansberg district alone, he had found that the administration of that Act would have involved the removal of about 25,000 natives. Well, under the circumstances, hon. members would understand that in all probability it would require police operations, and they would not have had very much assistance from landowners, and he found it desirable, especially as the whole matter was one which, to his mind, deserved the most careful consideration of the Union Parliament and the Union Government, to postpone action; and, therefore, he proposed that no action should be taken for the time being. The hon. member had also asked him what steps the Government intended taking in the future, and he had pointed out that it had been within the province of the Transvaal to carry out that Act in 1908, but that, as a matter of fact, it had been considered physically impossible. The Government sympathised with the principal object of the Act. i.e., keeping apart all natives who belonged to the large areas of native reserves from the white settlers as far as possible; and in respect of the whole matter it was one of the utmost importance to a very large part of the country. Indeed, his project was to carry out a thorough investigation of the whole thing, and to see if they could not, after a full investigation, produce something by way of legislation which would meet that.

in moving the second reading, said that its object was to make provision for the census which it was proposed to hold next year. Hon. members would remember that the last census in South Africa had been held in 1904. That had not been the proper date, which should have been 1901, but the circumstances of South Africa then did not permit of a census being held in that year, and in consequence it had been held over until 1904. It was now proposed to revert to the usual order, and to hold a centennial census next year—early in April. It had been customary in the past to pass in each colony a special Act to provide for a census in the following year, and it was now proposed in the Bill which hon. members had before them, to pass a general law, which would make provision, not only for the census next year, but all censuses in future. In South Africa there would) be the quinquennial census in 1911, and in the South Africa Act there was a provision that every five years thereafter here should be a census of the whole male European population of South Africa; and the method of distribution of seats and the representation of the Union was to follow the results of that census. There would be a universal census every ten years, not only for the white adult male population but for many other questions. Now it would be quite unnecessary to have legislation every five years, and, therefore, the Bill which members saw before them enabled the Government from time to time to fix any year as the year for a census, and the Government for the time being to declare a census. Then it provided that the form of the census and the matters to be embraced by the census should be dealt with from time to time by way of regulation. That, he believed, had also been so far the universal custom in South Africa: not to mention in the Census Act itself the matters to be dealt with, but to deal with them by regulation. If that course were followed, it would be possible for the Government to provide every ten years for an elaborate census, embracing information on all matters which should be covered by a census, and to provide every five years for a more restricted census, which would only deal with questions of the white population necessary for Constitutional purposes. The Bill was in a form which left scope for both these censuses. It then provided what sort of regulations the Government might prescribe. Hon. members would see that under clause 8 it was proposed in these regulations to deal with the duties of the officers to be appointed for census purposes. The most important officer would be the Director of the Census, who would superintend the operations, and who would appoint a number of officials under him, and would direct their operations. The Government had power also to prescribe by regulation what their respective duties should be. Then power was also given to prescribe what forms should be used, and the particulars which they should embody. The Act did not go into great detail, for the simple reason that the matters to be dealt with could be dealt with by way of regulations. These regulations would be framed after the Bill was passed, and would, in due course, be laid on the table of the House, so that hon. members could see what matters were to be dealt with. The hon. member then gave the heads of the subjects which it was proposed to embody in the census forms. He said that in regard to the population it was proposed to ask for the name, sex, relation to head of the family and conjugal condition. These were questions which it had been customary, so far, to include in census forms. Then there would be questions as to age, occupation, and education, and in regard to education it was proposed to ask whether a person had received education at a Government or Government-aided school, or at a private school, and whether he or she was able to read and write in any language. Then questions would be asked in regard to religious denomination, race, and birthplace. In the latter connection, persons would be asked whether they were born within the Union or not. There would also be questions with regard to sickness and infirmity, and agricultural statistics, also in reference to ecclesiastical matters, education, industries, commercial matters, mining, fisheries, and convicts and prisoners. He thought these were the most important matters in regard to which they desired information, and that the result of the census on these lines would be a very comprehensive and very interesting one for South Africa.

said it struck him that the Minister of the Interior was going to work in a somewhat expensive fashion. In the Cape Colony at the last census they simply had one Director as supervisor, and the Magistrates and Civil Commissioners throughout the Colony as acting supervisors. That plan had been followed with very good results. Then, to his mind, the regulations were going to be extremely inquisitorial, and he was going to propose in committee that these regulations, before they became law, should be submitted to the House. In regard to the questions as to age, he hoped the Minister of the Interior would endeavour to include a separate column for children of school age, which, in the Cape, was between seven and fourteen years.

The motion was agreed to, and the Bill was read a second time, and set down for the committee stage on Wednesday next.