§ MR. FULLERTON (Cumberland, Egremont)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, what number of Chinamen have been convicted of criminal offences in the Transvaal up to the present time; how many have been convicted for desertion; and how many for refusal to work.
(Answered by Mr. Churchill.) According to the figures received in this Department the number of convictions from June, 1904, to 31st July, 1906, the latest date up to which returns have been received, was 16,566. Of these 8,815 were convicted of contravention of Section 31, Sub-section 11, of the Ordinance of 1904, which includes desertion, refusal to work, and unlawful absence from work. Owing to the returns not having been drawn up on the same principle throughout, it is not possible, without reference to the Colony, to give the number of offences under each sub-head for the whole period.