§ MR. TREVELYAN (Yorkshire, W.R., Elland)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can state the number of separate sentences passed on the Chinese labourers on the Rand up to the last month, and the total number of Chinese labourers who have been, since the beginning of the experiment, employed there.
§ THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. CHURCHILL,) Manchester, N.W.The total number of separate sentences up to April 30th is 12,960; the total number of Chinese employed since the beginning of the experiment is about 60,000. Such figures are disquieting, and sustain the views entertained by His Majesty's Government towards the experiment of Chinese indentured labour. It should, however, also be noticed that the Attorney-General pointed out in September last that only a small proportion of the sentences were convictions for offences which could in any way be called serious. (See p. 64 of Cd. 2786) e.g., I observe that for the months August to November, 1905, out of 3,735 convictions, 110 represented sentences of six months, and only nineteen sentences of over six months.