§ Mr. HOUSTONasked the Home Secretary whether he has yet received any reports from the Chief Constables of Liverpool, Bootle, and Birkenhead, or any one of them, with regard to Chinese aliens; and, if so, will he state the nature of the reports or report, or alternately issue it or them to Members of this House; or, if he has not yet received any reports, can he state when he expects to receive them; whether he can yet state how many, if any, Chinese women are in Liverpool; and, if none, whether the Chinamen in Liverpool are celibates or misogynists?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLAs I promised the hon. Member, I consulted the Liverpool police with reference to the 755 Chinese seamen mentioned in his questions of the 12th and 19th instant. I have now received a report from the Chief Constable, from which it appears that there are no grounds for supposing that any of these seamen were really passengers seeking to gain admission to this country through an evasion of the Aliens Act; nor in the course of administration of that Act have any grounds for such a suspicion come to my knowledge. I may say that during the year covered by the hon. Member's figures the number of Chinese seamen engaged for outward voyages at Liverpool was much larger than the number who were paid off or deserted there; and in the course of his report, the Chief Constable states that, apart from seamen, the number of whom ashore varies, of course, from day to day, the number of Chinese resident in Liverpool is estimated at 286 men and three women, and the number resident in Birkenhead is estimated at 63.
§ Mr. HOUSTONCan the right hon. Gentleman say whether the signing on of 1588 so many Chinamen in British ships does not interfere with British labour?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThat is a question I had to deal with when I was at the Board of Trade, and I was under the impression that the language test that we then instituted or enforced would have a considerable effect in reducing the number of Chinamen engaged in these waters, and serving on ships cruising in these waters, but any further questions on that point should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.
§ Mr. HOUSTONCan he say whether the language test has any effect in reducing the number of Chinese?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI think that is a question which should be put to the President of the Board of Trade.