§ Mr. HAVELOCK WILSONasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state the number of Chinese sea- 2428W men engaged through the Mercantile Marine Office at Poplar during the quarters ended 30th June, 1908, and 30th June, 1909, respectively?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe number of Chinese seamen of all ratings who were engaged through the Mercantile Marine Office at Poplar during the quarters ended 30th June, 1908, and 30th June, 1909, was 115 and 493 respectively. In order to avoid misapprehension I should like to add that Taking the figures of the engagement of the figures for Poplar are quite exceptional. Chinese seamen at the principal ports of the United Kingdom for the first six months of the present year, and comparing them with those for the first six months of last year, it appears that there is practically no increase, the total being 2,173, compared with 2,122.