§ SIR HOWARD VINCENT (Sheffield, Central)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, how many of the 20,792 pauper aliens, officially returned as landing at the eastern ports of Britain between 1st January and 31st May, averring that they were going to the United States, have been refused an embarkation certificate from the American Consul at Liverpool or Hull; how many have been returned to England by the Board of Supervision in New York as unworthy under the laws of the American people to land in America; and by how many the 17,087 arriving for sojourn in Great Britain this year has been augmented by these causes
§ MR. B. L. COHEN (Islington, E.)Before my right hon. Friend answers this Question, may I ask him whether the 20,792 aliens en route to America are, as quoted in the Question, officially described as "pauper aliens"; and whether it is not a fact that the official Return, from which the figures quoted by my hon. and gallant Friend are taken, 1541 distinctly states that under the head of—
Aliens not stated to be en route to America, it is not thereby implied that these aliens come to this country for settlement, there being in fact a large emigration of foreigners from this country, while many of the aliens arriving from Continental ports return to the Continent"?
§ * THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. C. T. RITCHIE,), Croydonhaving remarked that he thought an answer to both Questions would be found in the reply he should give, said: In reply to the first part of my hon. Friend's Question, I again assure him that the Board of Trade Returns do not deal with pauper aliens, but with alien emigrants generally. The information in my Department shows that passengers for the United States are not required to obtain embarkation certificates from United States Consuls, and it is unlikely that any were applied for or refused. As to the second part of the Question, the answer is that there are no complete Returns of the number of aliens refused admission into the United States and sent back to this country during the current year. The number so returned in 1895 was 177 out of 59,017 aliens who left this country for the United States, and there is no reason to expect that the proportion of the number returned to the number that leave in 1896 will vary much from what it was in 1895. The answer to the third part of the Question is that the number of aliens who have come here to settle since January 1 must be very much smaller than the figure of 17,087 quoted by my hon. Friend, as he will see by reference to the note on the alien Return that this figure is not that of aliens coming here for sojourn but that of aliens who come here not en route for America. Of these, a number return to the Continent or proceed to other places out of the United Kingdom, and 4,317 of them are sailors who do not come here to settle. The addition of the number of aliens sent back from the United States would be a very small one.
§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTasked whether the aliens referred to in the monthly alien Returns laid on the Table of the House treated entirely of deck passengers arriving at eastern ports, and in no sense referred to passengers arriving in the ordinary course?
§ * MR. RITCHIENo, Sir; they are not confined to deck passengers.
§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTTo what do the Returns extend then?
§ * MR. RITCHIEsaid that, as he understood, the number of aliens given in the monthly Returns extended to all aliens.
§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTasked whether they included first-class passengers? [Cries of "Order!"]
§ * MR. RITCHIEI believe they include all aliens except those coming by the cross channel routes, where only those continuing their journey by third class are included.