§ SIR ROPER LETHBRIDGE (Kensington, N.)asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether the attention of the Government has been called to an Official Minute, recently published by the Government of Bengal, in which it is admitted that the working of the out still system in Bengal of late has been such as to stimulate the consumption of intoxicating liquors; and, what steps, if any, will be taken to give effect to this decision of the Government of Bengal?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)The Minute referred to is published in The Calcutta Gazette of the 17th of October, 1888. The Government of Bengal find that, owing to the neglect of the Rules prescribed by the Bengal Excise Commission, certain outstills licensed early in 1887 in the Hooghly and Howrah districts have become a nuisance, and have caused the price of liquor to be cheapened. The Lieutenant Governor has ordered that the existing arrangements shall be thoroughly revised; and it is intended that the Rules shall be so enforced as to prevent undue cheapening of liquor. Steps will be taken in concert with the Revenue Board for ascertaining whether similar laxities in the outstill system have been permitted in other districts.