13. Commander SOUTH BYasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in the case of His Majesty's gunboat which has recently been erected in China from material constructed in Great Britain and shipped abroad in dismantled sections, the contract was given to a British or Chinese firm; and whether the work was done in a dockyard employing solely Chinese labour or one employing British as well as Chinese labour?
Mr. ALEXANDERThe contract for His Majesty's Ship "Falcon" (gunboat) was given to Yarrow and Company, Limited, of Scotstoun, who as main contractors, are responsible to the Admiralty for the completion of the vessel in all respects and for her final delivery after re-erection and trials in China. Messrs. Yarrow elected to place the work of re-erection in China with the Kianguan Company as sub-contractors, as this firm had considerable recent experience with this special type of vessel. The Kianguan Company is Chinese-owned, but it is understood that the works are under British technical management.
§ Commander SOUTHBYWill the right hon. Gentleman see that in future work of this kind is given to British firms in China and not to Chines firms?
Mr. ALEXANDERI could not give any specific undertaking of that kind: If what the hon. and gallant Gentleman has in mind is the labour employed, it is certain that British firms at Shanghai employ as much foreign labour as the others.