§ Captain Pluggeasked the President of the Board of Education the present number of people in this country who can speak and write fluent Chinese and Japanese; and whether he can assist such tuition organisations as exist so as to acquire adequate pupils to be trained in such languages for trading purposes after the war?
§ Mr. ButlerI have no means of estimating the numbers asked for in the first part of the Question; as regards the second part, some assistance is already being given by way of a scheme of scholarships in Oriental languages, some particulars of which I am sending to my hon. and gallant Friend. The extent to which schools 177W of languages outside the purview of my Department may offer facilities for instruction in the Chinese and Japanese langages after the war will no doubt depend upon the demand for such instruction.