§ MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHYasked the Under Secretary of State for India, If his attention has been called to paragraph 4 of the Petition presented at Cuddapah, Madras, last month, to Lord Ripon, by the Native population, which states that the recent
Reduction of the salt tax is not sufficient; that salt is still beyond the reach of the poor ryot and his cattle; that the use of salt for food is now considered among the poorer classes as a luxury to be enjoyed by the rich alone;and, whether anything can be done to relieve the suffering represented in this appeal to the Viceroy?
§ MR. J. K. CROSSI have read, in The Madras Weekly Mail, the Memorial referred to; but I am not able to say 660 what reply has been given to it by the Viceroy. The price of salt at Cuddapah, in December, 1883, was 17.2 seers, or about 35 lb., the rupee. In December, 1873, it was 19.8 seers, or about 33¼ lb., showing that salt is now cheaper than it was 10 years ago.