Wedgwood Questions Colonial Secretary on Fair Wage in Palestine

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Three questions of Palestinian life were aired in the House of Commons yesterday when Col. Josiah Wedgwood, who recently returned from Palestine interpellated the Secretary for the Colonies.

Col. Wedgwood asked Col. Amery whether the Colonial Office has already inquired into the practicability and desirability of including a fair wage clause in the government contracts for work to be done for the Palestine government. In reply to this question Col. Amery stated that the High Commissioner is keenly alive to the necessity of promoting better conditions for labor in Palestine. However, the interpretation of any fair wage clause is difficult in Palestine because the standard of living of the various classes of the population is so widely divergent.

Col. Wedgwood further asked the Secretary for the Colonies when the ordinance enforcing the employers’ liability for accidents to workers will be passed in Palestine. The Secretary replied that it is the wish of the Colonial Office that some experience is had with regard to the workmen’s compensation ordinance before any consideration is given to further legislation.

Col. Wedgwood then raised the timely question of the forthcoming elections in Palestinian towns. He asked why the Palestine government is insisting on a communal system of elections and whether the Colonial Office has changed its policy which it had applied in Kenya, Africa. Col. Amery stated in reply that the Palestine municipal franchise is not strictly on a communal basis as the voting takes place by a proportionate representation for single candidate lists without distinction of community. In certain municipal areas, however, the scats on the Council will be held in proportion to the strength of the different communities. The Colonial Office does not insist on any particular type of franchise under the varying conditions in the different colonies and dependencies.