§ MR. WHALLEYasked the Under Secretary of State for India, with reference to increased pay of Roman Catholic Chaplains in the Indian Army, Whether it is not the fact that many of them are not English, and cannot even speak English; whether the Duke of Argyll has pointed out the broad distinction between the position of the Clergy of the Churches of England and Scotland and of the Priests of the Church of Rome in India, the former being bound to obey the orders of the Government, and the latter only the orders of their spiritual superiors; and, whether any provision has been made in conceding an increase in pay of £8,570 a-year for insuring discipline and loyalty on the part of Roman Catholic Chaplains?
§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONI cannot state with absolute certainty whether all the chaplains employed in the Indian Army are Englishmen or not. My impression is that a certain number of them are not, and that some of them speak English badly, or not at all. The quotation from the letter of the Duke of Argyll is correct. The increase to these chaplains' pay was made in consequence of their satisfactory conduct in the past, and the Indian Government have no reason for believing that they will behave differently in the future.