MR. GRANT DUFFasked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether he has any objection to lay upon the Table a Copy of a Despatch, from the Secretary of State for India to the Viceroy in Council, in reply to the Despatch of the Viceroy in Council (No. 50, of 1877) dated Fort William, March 23, 1877?
§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONSir, the despatch asked for by my hon. Friend is a reply to the Viceroy's proposals for 724 the pacification of Beloochistan and the occupation of Quetta, and was sent through the Secret Department of the India Office. The Secretary of State might, therefore, refuse to produce it; but as some misapprehensions seem to be prevalent as to our reasons for occupying Quetta, my noble Friend (the Marquess of Salisbury) will not object to the publication of this despatch, in which a full explanation of the policy pursued by the Indian Government on their Northwest Frontier is given. Therefore, if the hon. Gentleman will move for it, it shall be laid on the Table.