§ MR. ONSLOWasked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether it is true that, on a recent visit to Calcutta, the Maharajah Scindia omitted the usual courtesy visit to the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal; and, if so, what steps, if any, have been taken by His Excellency the Viceroy to mark his displeasure at such a want of respect; whether it is true that the Maharajah Scindia is evading the spirit of the Treaty which entitles him to keep a certain number of men under arms by enlisting for short periods of service, and thus converting his whole people into trained soldiers; and, whether, if such is the case, it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to allow such a state of things to continue?
§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONSir, the two Questions of my hon. Friend are, no doubt, based upon statements contained in a telegram from India in The Times. We have not received from India any information confirming these statements, and until we do receive such information, I must decline to assume that 'the Maharajah Scindia has been wilfully discourteous to the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal or is in any way evading the spirit of any Treaty regulating the number of soldiers which he is entitled to maintain.