§ MR. BURT (Morpeth)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether the Secretary of State will lay upon the Table of this House all Papers connected with a disturbance which occurred in Cambay, in Bombay, in September last, in the suppression of which British troops were employed and 15 cultivators were killed, 150 wounded, besides hurt occasioned to numerous women and children, and houses and a temple looted and plundered of cash and ornaments; whether the Bombay Government have recently sanctioned the remission of increased land taxation imposed by the ex-Dewan, Mr. Shamrao Narayan Land, the imposition of which was said to be the cause of the disturbances; and whether he will grant a public inquiry into the origin of the disturbances which are alleged to have arisen through misgovernment?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Sir J. GORST, Chatham)Yes, Sir; the Secretary of State will lay upon the Table all the Papers relating to the disturbance which occurred in Cambay in September last. The hon. Member will find from those Papers that the description of the occurrence which has been given to him, and on which he has founded the question, is inaccurate. In answer to the second paragraph of the question, I have to say that the 1059 Bombay Government has given instructions that will have the effect of reducing the land taxation. In reply to the third paragraph of the question, I have to say that a very full public inquiry into the origin of the disturbances has already taken place, and the result will be found in the Papers presented.