Liverpool, Monday.

Disclosures as to the systematic manner in which Chinamen are smuggled into Great Britain were made in a case heard at Liverpool today, when 13 Chinese were charged with having landed in the United Kingdom without permission.

Mr. Howard Roberts, for the prosecution, stated that the smuggling was carried out upon a regular system. Stationed at various places in China, a number of Chinese agents circulated reports as to the splendid opportunities awaiting Chinamen in Great Britain, and these agents obtained large sums from Chinamen, who were willing to pay between 400 and 500 Chinese dollars, equivalent to about £100, to be smuggled into the United Kingdom.

Some made the trip directly by sea and others via France. Some came in the capacity of cooks, though their names did not appear in the ship’s articles, and during the voyage they were kept out of the way. Having landed in this country, they went to various inland towns, where aliens were probably not so strictly watched as at Liverpool, and from such towns applications for certificates of nationality were made by the Chinese agents to the Chinese Consulate in London.

With these certificates the men were able to procure identity-books, and they were then able to move about the country freely. They were, however, added Mr. Roberts, little better off than slaves, being obliged to accept an irreducible minimum by way of wages from Chinese employers. His instructions were not to ask for heavy penalties, but for recommendations for deportation.



Three of the 13 accused were remanded; six, against whom the Home Office had already made deportation orders, were discharged; and the Deputy Stipendiary Magistrate recommended the other four for deportation.