A.—7.

(3) Except for domestic duties and the care of animals, labourers shall not be obliged to work on Sundays. ■ . Article XLVI. Payment of Wages. (1) Wages shall be paid exclusively in cash. (2) Payment shall be made, either before a person appointed for the purpose by the Resident Commissioner entitled to receive the notification of engagement, or, failing this, in the presence of two non-native witnesses, who shall certify the payment in the record above referred to by affixing their signatures by the side of that of the employer. (3) When it is obviously impossible for an employer to make use of this method of verification, he shall himself be authorized by the competent Resident Commissioner, or by the person appointed for the purpose, to enter the payment of the wages in the record. (4.) Whenever the record does not show the rate of wages agreed upon at the time of the engagement, the rate shall be taken to be 10s. a-month, and the employer shall not be allowed to produce evidence to show that a lower rate had been agreed upon. Article XL VII. Deposit of Wages. (1) Part of the wages may be deposited by the employers with the Resident Commissioner entitled to receive the notification of engagement or the person appointed for the purpose, to be paid subsequently to the labourer, either during the term of engagement or at the expiration of such term, according as he desires. The free consent of the labourer must be given before any part of his wages can be so dealt with. (2) The Resident Commissioner or the person appointed for the purpose may at any time ft .order the retention and deposit of part of a labourer's salary. Article XL VIII. Punishments. Any labourer who has given his employer just cause of complaint in respect, of his conduct or work may, at the instance of his employer, be' punished by the Resident Commissioner concerned or the person appointed for the purpose, by the imposition of extra work, by a fine, by prolongation of the term of engagement, within the limits provided in Article XLII, or by a summary punishment not exceeding one month's imprisonment. Article XLIX. Absence without good Cause. (1) Any labourer who without permission leaves his employer shall be liable in like manner to one of the summary punishments prescribed by the preceding Article, and shall be sent back to his employer to finish his term of engagement. (2) No one shall receive or employ or take on board any vessel a labourer who has left his employer without permission. Article L. Death during Engagement. In the event of the death of a labourer, the employer shall be subject to the same obligations as those imposed by Article XXXV on masters of recruiting vessels. Article LI. Repatriation. (1) Every labourer who has completed his term of engagement shall be returned to his home at the first convenient opportunity by and at the expense of his employer. (2) Such labourer shall be taken back to the place where he was recruited, or, if this is impossible, to the nearest place thereto, from which the labourer can without danger rejoin his tribe. (3) In the case of unjustifiable delay exceeding one month in returning a labourer, the Resident Commissioner concerned, or the person appointed for the purpose, shall provide, at the expense of the employer, for the return of the labourer to his home at the earliest opportunity. (4) In case of persistent ill-treatment of a labourer, the Resident Commissioner concerned shall have the right, after two written warnings addressed to the employer, to cancel the contract and provide for the return home of the labourer at the employer's expense. (5) The Resident Commissioner Concerned may in like manner cancel the contract and return a labourer to his home if the labourer did not freely consent to the engagement, or if he did not clearly understand and freely accept the terms of the engagement, In that case the expenses of returning him to his home shall be borne by the recruiter. Article LII. Register of Repatriation. (1) The names of labourers returned to their homes shall be entered on a register kept by the master of the vessel, in a similar form to that prescribed by Article XXXII, for keeping the register of engagements.

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