§ MR. MITCHELL-THOMSON (Lanarkshire, N.W.)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether His Majesty's Government propose to include in the expenses of the repatriation of Chinese coolies the cost of transport from ports of disembarkation in China to their several domiciles; and, if so, what proportion of the total cost it is estimated that such expenses will form; and whether the Chinese Government will be requested to reimburse His Majesty's Government for all, or any part, of such expenses; or, should it be the intention of His Majesty's Government only to pay the expenses of return to the ports, whether steps will be taken to ensure that the Chinese Government acquiesce in this arrangement, and are prepared to defray the remainder of the expense of restoring the coolie to his home.
§ * MR. CHURCHILLNeither the coolies' contract nor Clause 14 of the Labour Importation Ordinance under which he can purchase repatriation provides for the cost of transport from the port of debarkation to the coolie's home. Nor does the Convention with China impose any such liability on the Chinese Government. But inasmuch as labourers who purchase under Clause 14 have presumably sufficient funds to take them 913 to their homes, while labourers who are assisted by His Majesty's Government have necessarily less than £17 10s., arrangements are under consideration to safeguard coolies from being landed penniless on the coast of China.