§ MR. VINCENT KENNEDYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has seen the Return of Emigrants, natives of 1351 Ireland, for the month of June, 1906, and the six months ending 30th June, 1906, showing respectively that 2,567 and 21,612 emigrants left the ports of Ireland; can he say how many of these men, women, and children have left their native country never to return; and is he aware of any other country similarly circumstanced whose people leave her shores in such numbers in proportion to population and birth rate; and will this matter, in view of the oft expressed inability of the Government to deal with it, be submitted in any form to the Colonial Conference to sit in 1907.
MR. BRYCEThe figures are as stated in the first part of the Question. The emigrants included in these Returns consist of persons who are understood to be leaving the country with the intention of permanently settling elsewhere. The rate of emigration from Ireland, though still regrettably high, has of late years shown a slight tendency to decrease. During the past ten years the average annual rate of emigration was 8.5 per 1,000 of the population; last year it was 7.0 per 1,000. There is every reason to hope that emigration will be checked still further by ameliorative measures for the relief of congestion and otherwise. I do not think the matter is one which could with advantage be submitted to a Colonial Conference. The percentage of emigration from Ireland to the colonies is small.