Captain TERRELLasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what necessity, if any, exists for compelling British subjects returning from abroad via Ostend, Boulogne, Calais and Dover to fill in cards containing details already embodied in their passports; what becomes of these cards, are they ever examined, and, if so, is any action ever taken against those who fill them in incorrectly; what is the cost involved in collecting and filing them; and, if it he absolutely essential that these cards should be filled up at Dover, why is it that British subjects are not obliged to fill them up when landing at Southampton from Havre or at Croydon aerodrome when arriving from Paris by air?
§ Sir J. BAIRDMy hon. Friend has asked me to reply. British subjects are not compelled to fill up these cards. Cards have hitherto been handed to British subjects, on the routes referred to, as well as to aliens, because the railway companies concerned did not find it possible to distinguish, when issuing them, between nationalities. There has been no cost to public funds. Arrange 1241W ments are now being made which will, I hope, bring the issue of these cards to British subjects to an end at an early date—perhaps 1st June.