§ 10. Mr. GINNELLasked whether particulars have been conveyed to the Ameri- 706 can Government or to the American Ambassador of the charge, if any, against Mrs. Evelin, an American citizen, inveigled ashore from a Dutch ship at Falkirk by the false pretences of a British naval officer, separated from her child, and now interned at Aylesbury; whether this separation and internment of an untried citizen of a neutral country is a breach of international law and of a pledge of the present Government; if there be any evidence against Mrs. Evelin why has she not been tried; why her wish, that the child should be sent to Mr. Evelin at San Francisco, has not been granted; and what is the intention of the Government with regard to this case?
Mr. SAMUELMy right hon. Friend has asked me to reply to this question. Mrs. Evelin is not an American citizen, but a German by birth and a British subject by marriage. The answer to the first part of the question is, therefore, in the negative, and the second does not arise. Mrs. Evelin is interned under Regulation 14B of the Defence of the Realm Regulations, and has made representations to the Advisory Committee, who advised that the order of internment should stand. Her child has been living at Aylesbury for some months past at the mother's own desire, and she sees her several times a week; arrangements are being made for the child's joining her father in South America.