§ MR. JORDAN (Clare, W.)asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether the Governor of Madras visited the Viceroy at the end of last year at the public cost; whether he travelled by special train, with a large following; whether he could have travelled by ordinary train at one-fifth of the sum the Indian Press reports has been charged in the public accounts; whether it was absolutely necessary that the route should have been round by Bombay, Oodeypore, and Jeypore, and not by the direct and inexpensive route by sea, awaiting the Viceroy's then impending return to Calcutta; and, whether there is any truth in this newspaper report?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)The Governor of Madras did visit the Viceroy of India at Simla at the end of 1885. The Secretary of State has no official information as to his route, method of conveyance, or the persons by whom he was accompanied, nor can he say for what reason he visited the Viceroy at Simla rather than Calcutta. As to the cost of the journey, the Civil Travelling Allowance Code, Section 35, lays down that—
The travelling expenses of the Governor of Madras and Bombay and of their households are paid out of the contract allowance for household charges;and the Secretary of State has no reason to suppose that this rule was departed from.