MR. BECKETT DENISONsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether it is true that the Indian Government have subsidized the Ameer of Affghanistan with money and arms; if so, whether the subsidy is to be an annual one, and what conditions are attached thereto?
MR. GRANT DUFFsaid, in reply, that, in compliance with a request for assistance from the Ameer of Affghanistan, the late Viceroy gave him a sum of six lacs of rupees, and sanctioned the payment to him, somewhat later, of a like amount, the greater part of which had no doubt before this reached his treasury. The late Viceroy also sent him some muskets and ammunition. No formal conditions were attached to the gifts. They were intended as a pledge of good-will, and as the expression of a hope that a strong Government was about to be established in a long distracted country. The words "subsidy" and "subsidizing" were not appropriate to the circumstances. Sir John Lawrence never contemplated a subsidy, and the Government considered itself entirely unfettered as to the amount and kind of assistance to be rendered to the Ameer.