§ MR. CAVENDISH BENTINCK (Whitehaven)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the War Office are in possession of any statistics from India relative to the alleged increase of contagious disease in the Indian Army since the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts; and whether he can give any information on the subject?
§ * MR. E. STANHOPESo far as the British troops are concerned, the admissions for venereal disease have risen from a yearly ratio of 323 per 1,000 for the year 1887 to 560 per 1,000 for the first four months of 1889.
§ In reply to Mr. Stuart (Shoreditch, Hoxton),
§ * MR. E. STANHOPEsaid: The statistics are made out on the responsibility of the Medical Department.
§ MR. CAVENDISH BENTINCKI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether the Debate on the Cantonment Bill in the Legislative Council of India, on the 14th inst., is correctly reported in the London newspapers of the 15th inst.; whether General Chesney then stated that the suspension of the Contagious Diseases Act had resulted in an alarming increase of disease among soldiers; whether General Sir F. Roberts, the Commander-in-Chief, then stated that the percentage of soldiers upon the sick list had doubled since the suspension of the Act; and, whether the Cantonment Bill contains powers and provisions which will mitigate the prevalence of this disease and the sufferings caused by it?
SIR J. GORSTThe Secretary of State has seen the reports in the Press of the Debate in the Legislative Council and has no reason to doubt the correctness of such reports. The Cantonment Bill contains provisions for mitigating the prevalence of all contagious diseases within Cantonments; and regulations for that purpose are now under the consideration of the Government of India.