§ SIR GEORGE CAMPBELLasked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether it is true that it has been determined to build a residence for the Viceroy of India at Simla; and, if so, whether this and other expenditure at that place are the result of a determination to make it a permanent residence of the Viceroy and his Council?
§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONLord Northbrook, when Viceroy, sent home a request for sanction to a certain expenditure at Simla to remedy defective drainage and an insufficient water supply. This was sanctioned by the Secretary of State. The residence of the Viceroy at Simla is a hired house, condemned by medical authority as unhealthy, and utterly inadequate in its accommodation. Serious sickness prevailed in consequence during the whole autumn among the Viceroy's household, and I believe it has been determined in India to erect at a small cost a more suitable residence; but the details concerning this expenditure have not yet come home. Lord Salisbury has not in any way altered or confirmed the present optional arrangements of the Government of India by which they annually spend the hot months at Simla.