§ SIR JOHN HAYasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether the sum of £276,000, with interest, retained by the Indian Government as proceeds of the movable estate of the captured Ex-Princes of Kirwee, and not yet distributed to the Forces of the Crown, ought to be carried over to the Consolidated Fund, under the Act 1 Vic. c. 2, sections 2 and 12, if not divided as prize money to the Troops; and, whether, in reference to the payments to India, on account of the Grant in Aid for the Afghan War, he proposes to recover that sum from India for the public Exchequer?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS)The money referred to by the right hon. and gallant Gentleman opposite (Sir John Hay) in the first part of his Question represents, I presume, the value of the promissory 745 notes issued by the East India Company and held by the Raos of Kirwee. On the rebellion breaking out, the Indian Government, on the 9th of January, 1858, gave the usual notice that these notes, the numbers of which were known, had been stopped. The captors of the Raos claimed to have the value of these notes distributed as prize money. The Indian Government refused, and it has been decided by the Board of Treasury, after hearing counsel in 1869, and subsequently in the Law Courts, that the captors' claim was inadmissible. The cancelled notes were never found by the capturing force, and never formed part of the booty. They never passed into the possession of the Crown, nor has the Crown any right to them. I do not propose to take any steps to recover the amount from India.