§ MR. WHALLEYasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his refusal to grant relaxation of rules relating to interviews with convicts in the case of Castro alias Orton alias Tichborne, Whether he has seen in the public journals a letter from the cousin of the convict, Mr. Anthony Biddulph, stating that on a recent visit he found him "more than ever like the youth he had known him in former days, the Roger of the Chilian photograph;" and, whether, on this and other grounds, he will grant permission for an interview to those who on the trial expressed opinions as to his identity formed upon his appearance at that period, and who may now desire to reconsider their evidence on that point?
MR. ASSHETON CROSS,in reply, said, he believed it was one of the Rules of the House that Questions should not be argumentative. The hon. Member had not strictly adhered to that Rule, for it was certainly open to argument whether Mr. Biddulph was a cousin of the 1272 convict. He had not seen Mr. Biddulph's letter in the public prints, and could not therefore, on that ground, grant permission for interviews with the convict by other persons. He knew of no other grounds on which to permit interviews with the convict.