HC Deb 26 March 1906 vol 154 cc856-7
MR. FULLERTON (Cumberland, Egremont)

I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will cause instructions to be issued to the British consular agents in China, directing them to resume their authority, and cancel the power given to the Transvaal Emigration Agency, so far as such power relates to those Chinese coolies not yet deported, but to whom licences were issued, from the 12th to the 18th November last.

* MR. CHURCHILL

No, Sir. The policy of His Majesty's Government has already been very fully stated to and accepted by Parliament, and it does not include any interference with the fulfilment of licences issued under the late Administration.

MR. BELLOC (Salford, S.)

Have the law officers of the Crown advised the Crown that it would be illegal to prevent the importation of these coolies from China? Would it be a breach of contract on our part?

* MR. CHURCHILL

The decision of His Majesty's Government in regard to those licences was a Cabinet decision taken after full consultation with high legal authorities.

MR. BELLOC

Did they say we should be breaking the law if we prevented our Consuls in future allowing the Chinese to leave?

* MR. CHURCHILL

Yes. It was, I understand, the opinion of the Lord Chancellor and others who were consulted that to refuse to allow effect to be given to the 15,000 licences already issued would constitute a moral breach of contract, and that, had it involved a private individual, the contract would have been enforceable at law.

MR. DALZIEL (Kirkcaldy Burghs)

I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps, if any, have been taken to inform the Chinese labourers in the Transvaal that they are free to return to China should they so desire.

* MR. CHURCHILL

The Chinese labourers have not been so informed as yet, as the mode of procedure is still under discussion with Lord Selborne, and some delay has been caused by his absence on tour from Johannesburg. If the hon. Member would repeat his Question after another week, I should hope to be in a position to give him the information he desires.

MR. LIDDELL (Down, W.)

I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if the offer of His Majesty's Government to repatriate the Chinese coolies employed in the Transvaal Colony under the Chinese Labour Ordinance, at the expense of the Imperial Exchequer, has been communicated to the coolies; if so, when was the communication made; and if the Colonial Office has received any, and, if so, how many acceptances from the coolies of the offer of His Majesty's Government to secure their free passages to their homes in China.

* MR. CHURCHILL

The offer of His Majesty's Government has not yet been communicated to the coolies. The exact form of procedure is still under discussion with Lord Selborne.