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SCOTLAND.

Immigration

from Ireland.

(Previous

Reference: Cabinet 40 (28), Con-

clusion 2.)

10. The Cabinet had before them a Memorandum

circulated by the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland (Paper C.P.-268 (28))

prepared in accordance with the request made at the

Meeting referred to in the margin on the subject

of Immigration from Ireland. The Note covered the

Conclusions of an Inter-Departmental Conference

of representatives of the Departments concerned, with which the two Secretaries of State expressed

agreement. The recommendations of the Conference

were to the effect that the gravity of the situatio justified a departure (which the Conference regarded with some misgiving) from present law and cus tom;

that nothing could be done without legislation; and that such legislation should take the form of prohibiting for a term of years the employment of any person not fulfilling certain requirements which would be laid down as qualifying him to be regarded as properly belonging to and ordinarily

resident in this country who should arrive in this

country after a specified date and who had not

obtained a permit from the Ministry of Labour or

an Employment Exchange. The permit, which would ordinarily be issued only after the applicant's arrival in this country, would specify a particular occupation and a particular employer, and it would be an instruction to Employment Exchanges that no such permit should be issued if workmen capable of performing the work were available locally or could be made available from other Exchanges. The permits would only be granted in exceptional cases. Penalties would be imposed on any person knowingly employing such an immigrant who was not in possession

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