§ MR. O'DONNELLasked the Secretary of State for India, Whether he has received information that the Madras Government officials in charge of the Mysore State during the Regency of the Rajah were concerned in the concession of extensive tracts of mining land to a person named Lavelle for subsequent transfer to gold mining companies and speculators; and, whether he will call on the Government of Madras for the details of such transaction?
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONSir, the transaction referred to in this Question dates from 1876. Its initial stages do not appear to be on record; but its history can be sufficiently traced from Correspondence contained in the printed Proceedings of the Government of India (Foreign-General) for February, June, and October, 1881, connected with the general question of mining leases in India. From this Correspondence in the India Office, it seems that in March, 1877, the Mysore Administration—which was under the Government of India, not under that of Madras— granted a concession to a Mr. Lavelle, Mr. Mackenzie, and Lieutenant Colonel Beresford, of the Madras Staff Corps, entitling them to mining leases over certain tracts of land in Mysore to an aggregate of 20 square miles, if applied for within a period which was originally fixed at three years, but was afterwards extended to February, 1883. The terms of this concession were approved at the time by the Government of India. The rights under it appear to have been 1682 ultimately acquired by Colonel Beresford alone, to whom, in August, 1880, a 30 years' lease of two square miles of land was granted by the British Administration, upon terms which were considered sufficient to protect the interests of the Mysore Government. They provided, among other things, for payment of the ordinary land assessments on all the arable lands, occupied or waste, included in the grant, and of a royalty of 5 per cent on the actual yield of the mines, which might, within one year from the grant of the lease, be commuted for an immediate payment of 55,000 rupees per square mile of land. It seems unnecessary to call upon the Government of India for further details of a transaction which was carried through with their cognizance. Experience having shown that grants of such extensive tracts of land were open to some objections, it was lately suggested to the Native Government of Mysore that future grants should be limited to 30 acres in each case, as in British India; but such a limitation was considered by that Government to be unsuited to the circumstances of Mysore, and it now grants leases of tracts a square mile in extent, upon terms not materially different from those conceded by the British Administration in the case in question.