INTRODUCTION, 
} 
been supplied with equal generosity, and a number of witnesses placed 
us further in their debt by furnishing supplementary statements at a 
later date. In’some cases we have had to comment on the lack of infor- 
mation which we would have liked to obtain, but this lack is due almost 
entirely to such information not being available in any form, and not to 
any reluctance to give it to us. We are conscious that exigencies of time 
and space have prevented us from making the fullest use of all the material 
supplied. But, whatever the value of our Report, the volumes of evidence 
which accompany it constitute a source which, for years to come, should 
yield a wealth of information, not available elsewhere, for the study of 
labour questions. 
No trouble was spared by all concerned to facilitate our en- 
quiries, and to assist us in our tours. We would acknowledge especially 
the generous hospitality with which we were everywhere received, and 
the facilities and ready help given to us in our inspections. Our thanks 
are also due to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Ceylon Govern- 
ment, the Ceylon Association in London and the Planters Association 
of Ceylon for their valuable help : and to the Director of the International 
Labour Office, who placed the resources of that office at our disposal, 
and readily responded to our requests for information. We would thank 
all responsible for the accommodation freely placed at our disposal for 
our work in India, and the High Commissioner for India, who permitted 
us to use the new India House for our meetings in London. 
Arrangement of the Report. 
The Report falls into six main divisions. Conditions of employ- 
ment and work in the factory industries are discussed first (Chapters IT 
to VII). Four chapters follow on similar questions in relation to mines, 
railways and other forms of industrial activity (Chapters VIII to XI). 
This completes the review of working conditions in industry, and we pass 
to the standard of life of the industrial worker (Chapters XII to XV). 
The next group of chapters is devoted to general questions related mainly 
to the industrial worker, namely, workmen’s compensation, trade unions 
and trade disputes (Chapters XVI to XVIIT). We then turn to the 
plantations and deal in four chapters with the work and life of plantation 
workers (Chapters XIX to XXII). After discussing certain special 
questions relating to Burma, we deal in turn with statistics, general 
administration and the constitution in relation to labour ( Chapters XXIII 
bo X XV). 
The Survey of Conditions. 
The Report attempts throughout to fulfil the dual task laid 
upon us of reporting on existing conditions and of making recommenda- 
tions. We have come to our work from very different fields of experience. 
This has been most valuable in ensuring that every question is seen from 
several differing angles, but it has made it no simple task to present a 
common picture. While each of us, writing individually, might have 
placed the emphasis differently in some places, we have tried in our 
survey to express collective views, and have, we hope, succeeded in 
BY