§ SIR GEORGE SCOTT ROBERTSONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India what is the number of people who emigrate from India annually, and how many of them are Mahomedans; what are the countries they chiefly go to; and is the field for emigration at the present time inconveniently restricted.
§ MR. MORLEYStatistics are available only in respect of emigration under contract, which is regulated by the Indian Emigration Act: under this heading the number of emigrants in each of the last two years has been about 21,000. I cannot say what proportion were Mahomedans. The countries receiving most emigrants in recent years have been Natal and Demerara, which have averaged about 4,000 each. The field for emigration under contract to labour is restricted by the Government of India in the interests of the labourers; no restriction, so far as the Government of India, are concerned, is put upon other emigration, and I am not aware of the existence of inconvenience of the kind suggested in the Question.