§ MR. CHIOZZA MONEY (Paddington, N.)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, with reference to the notification addressed to Chinese Indentured labourers on the Witwatersrand gold mines, if he will state upon what grounds the means provided by the Government for repatriation are described in the notification as an exceptional act of benevolence which ought to command gratitude.
§ * MR. CHURCHILLThe object of this and similar language in the proclamation is to assure the Chinese coolies that the Imperial Government, while willing to provide relief in exceptional cases, has no desire to incite them to leave their work, and will bear no malice against those who do not avail themselves of the facilities offered. In view of the fact that it is the British taxpayer who will bear any charges which may be involved, the word "benevolence" does not seem to me to be ill chosen; nor would gratitude be wholly ill-placed on the part of Chinese thus enabled by the intervention of a distant community to return unexpectedly to their native land.