HC Deb 16 June 1879 vol 246 cc1910-1
MR. STAVELEY HILL

asked the Under Secretary of State for India, with reference to a Petition presented to the House in February last by Mr. William Taylor, to which the attention of the House is to be called on the 1st proximo by the honourable Member for South Warwickshire, and in which the conduct of Sir Frederick Halliday, formerly Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, is seriously impugned, Whether any statement of the case has been submitted to the Secretary of State by Sir Frederick Halliday; and, if so, whether there will be any objection to lay such statement upon the Table of the House?

SIR EARDLEY WILMOT

asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether the statement of Sir Frederick Halliday, referred to by the honourable and learned Member for Staffordshire, is a reply to the Petition of Mr. William Tayler, presented in February last to this House; or, whether it is a reply of some standing to memorials presented by Mr. Tayler to successive Secretaries of State, and especially to a Memorial addressed by him to the Duke of Argyll in 1868?

MR. E. STANHOPE

Sir, it is true that a statement has been prepared by Sir Frederick Halliday, at my request, in view of the debate to be brought on by my hon. Friend the Member for South Warwickshire. It refers to a number of official documents contained in many volumes at the India Office. The question of producing that statement, or the official documents generally, is one of great difficulty. On the one hand, Sir Frederick Halliday, after many years of useful public service in India, has been exposed to violent attacks in several pamphlets, and I venture to express my respect for the forbearance which he has displayed, knowing that he could only defend himself by official documents. But, on the other hand, no public matter is involved, the Motion of the hon. Member for South Warwickshire raises no such question; and, therefore, my noble Friend does not, upon the whole, consider himself justified, either in producing the statement or the Papers generally, or in putting the country to the great expense of printing them.