§ MAJOR EVANS GORDON (Tower Hamlets, Stepney)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether in view of the inaccuracy of the statistics admitted by the officials of the Board regarding the number of alien immigrants coming to reside in and of transmigrants passing through this country, he will take steps 272 to improve the method of collecting the figures and classifying the duff rent categories of persons included in the Returns.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe statistics of alien immigration published by the Board of Trade cannot properly be described as inaccurate; they do not profess to show the number of alien immigrants coming to reside in, and of transmigrants passing through, this country, there being no power at present to require these particulars to be furnished. Pending fresh legislation giving additional powers to the Board of Trade, I fear that the method of collecting the figures cannot be materially improved, but the Department is considering the possibility of modifying slightly the form in which the statistics are published, so as to obviate any misunderstanding as to their basis.