§ MR. KING (Hull, Central)asked the Under Secretary of State for India whether the attention of the Secretary A State has been called to a certain Memorandum, which has been circulated among Members of this House, signed "William Digby, Agent in England of he Indian National Congress," calling attention to the reported contents of a Despatch which Lord Dufferin, in a speech delivered at Calcutta, announced had been for warded to the Secretary of State from the Indian Government, and comparing the recommendations of the Despatch, as reported in certain newspapers, with an abbreviated programme of a body calling itself the "Indian National Congress," for the purpose of demonstrating the "moderation and fairness of the Congress;" whether it is true that the Despatch in question contains the recommendations set forth in the Memorandum; whether the Despatch has yet been made public by authority of the Secretary of State or the Indian Government; and, whether, in order to remove any doubts as to the true nature of Lord Dufferin's proposals, the Despatch will be laid upon the Table of this House?
SIR J. GORSTThe Secretary of State does not propose at present to lay any papers before the House on the subject of proposed changes in the constitution of provincial Councils, as the matter is still under consideration. The Secretary of State has not examined the Memorandum to which the hon. Member refers. If the author of it has 483 become possessed of any fragments of official correspondence it has only been by a breach of official confidence.