§ MR. OSBORNEI wish, Sir, to ask the First Lord of the Treasury a Question, of which I have not been able to give him Notice, but which I hope he will be able to answer. It is, Whether the announcement contained in to-day's papers relative to the Pension granted to the Widow of the late Viceroy of India by the Secretary of State for India is correct; and, if so, whether the provision mentioned in the announcement is the only provision contemplated by the Government?
MR. GLADSTONESir, the Question of my hon. Friend would, perhaps, have been more regularly put, as regards the first part of it, to my hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State for India, because I have not had official notice from the Council of India on the subject of their Vote. My noble Friend the Secre- 127 tary of State is unfortunately laid up by severe indisposition; but I believe it is true that the Vote mentioned in the papers of to-day has been taken by the Indian Government, and that no other question of provision has been raised. I may observe, if I am correct in my recollection—and my hon. Friend the Under Secretary of State will correct me if I am not—the provision made for the widow of the late Lord Elgin was one of £2,000 a-year, one half of which was given from Imperial resources, on account of the fact that Lord Elgin discharged many diplomatic and colonial services for the Imperial Government, of a character which entitled him to a pension. Comparing the gross amount of the provision in the case of Lord Elgin with that which is now made by the Indian Government, my hon. Friend will observe that the latter provision is somewhat larger; £20,000 in gross being more than an equivalent for the second thousand a-year. This is all the information I can give the House on the subject at present, in the absence of any communication with my noble Friend the Secretary of State for India.