ABSTRACT
A difficulty which underlies many aspects of labour problems is the question of devising some means for ensuring the identification of the worker; the problem arises both in connection with the requirements of the master and with any measures taken for the welfare of the servant. The employer needs some means of ascertaining the identity of the man with whom he is dealing. He must know that one and the same individual is concerned in the original contract, its subsequent carrying out, and the observance of the mutual obligations involved. Early legislation was mainly directed towards the regulation of the movements of natives, and, in the extreme cases, it was obviously intended to establish a wide measure of control in the interests of employers. The African is very casual in the use of names; tribal custom may provide him with several, while he also readily assumes a nickname; there is in addition the difficulty of correct spelling when recording.
