11th. October, 1901, and enquiring whether the Foreign Office was willing to bear the cost of the passage to ports not in England of those destitutes who are not entitled to relief from the Board of Trade, my predecessor was informed by the letter of the Foreign Office of the 15th. January, 1903, which formed an enclosure in Lord Onslow's Despatch No. 20 of the 22nd. January, 1903, that the Foreign Office could only authorize repayment of the cost of passages from Hongkong of persons who were domiciled in the United Kingdom.
5. It is further laid down in a letter of the 20th. November, 1903, from the Secretary to the Government of India that distressed British Indian subjects can only be repatriated at the expense of Indian revenues with the previous consent of the Government of India or the Secretary of State for India.
6. The above decisions do not cover the entire ground as regards expenses connected with the repatriation of destitute British subjects to the United Kingdom or to British Colonies and I should be obliged if Your Lordship would inform me whether such expenses are recoverable from Foreign Office funds in all cases of destitute.