HC Deb 26 July 1883 vol 282 cc523-4
MR. MITCHELL HENRY

asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh and his family have ever received the £45,000 a-year guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Lahore in 1849, or whether, on the contrary, the income of the Maharajah has boon so diminished by the Government that, for many years, he has not had more than about £13,000 a-year to live upon; and, whether the Government will lay upon the Table of the House a debtor and creditor Return showing their dealings with the Maharajah and his family since the annexation of the Punjab?

MR. J. K. CROSS

Sir, the terms of the Lahore arrangement referred to by my hon. Friend the Member for Galway (Mr. Mitchell Henry) allotted for the support of the Maharajah, his relatives, and the servants of the Punjab State at that time, not less than four and not mere than five lacs of rupees. The Maharajah himself was to receive— Such portion of the above-mentioned pension as may be allotted to himself personally, provided he shall remain obedient to the British Government, and shall reside at such place as the Governor General of India may direct. Under these terms, the allowance of the Maharajah, on coming of age in 1859, was fixed at £25,000 sterling a-year, in addition to which he was given £105,000 for the purchase of landed estates. Since then various advances have been made to him, at his request, in respect of arrangements regarded by him at the time as favourable to himself. the interest on these advances, amounting to £5,664 per annum, is deducted from his income. Recently, by the Act 45 & 46 Vict., c. 4, further arrangements have been made, under which Government have advanced him £60,000 without interest. Her Majesty's Government do not think it necessary to lay on the Table the Return required by the hon. Member.

MR. MITCHELL HENRY

said, he had to thank his hon. Friend for the full answer which he had given; but he begged to give Notice that he should also ask his hon. Friend to lay on the Table a Copy of the Treaty of Lahore; also, whether it was not the fact that the Government induced the Maharajah to settle as an English gentleman in this country, and that they advanced the money from the four or five lacs guaranteed by the Treaty, in order to purchase this estate, charging him between 4 and 5 per cent for land which never could produce 3 per cent? He should also ask the Government whether they would refer the whole of the questions involved to a Select Committee? He wished, further, to ask the indulgence of the House for a moment, while he made a statement on behalf of the Maharajah. [Cries of "Oh, oh!" and "Order!"]

MR. SPEAKER

indicated that the hon. Member could not, at the present stage, make a statement.

MR. MITCHELL HENRY

said, he would put what he had to say in the form of a Question; and ask whether the Government was not aware that the Maharajah was not leaving this country for the purpose of residing permanently in India by his own inclination, but in consequence of his being a brokenhearted and disappointed man, who was compelled to return to India to live in a private station?

MR. J. K. CROSS

, in reply, said, that if the hon. Member would go through the Papers in the India Office, perhaps his opinion would not be exactly what it was at the present moment.

MR. MITCHELL HENRY

said, he must appeal to the Speaker whether that was an answer to any Question? He had not only read all those Papers, but he had known the Maharajah for 25 years.

MR. O'DONNELL

asked whether, by the declaration "that they did not think it necessary to grant a Return," the Government meant that they did not think it advisable in their own interests?

MR. J. K. CROSS

said, he must ask that Notice should be given of any further Questions on this point.