§ MR. JOHNSTON (Belfast, S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India if he can explain why the control of the Salt Revenue in Orissa has been made over to the Government of Madras, which differs in essential points from that of Bengal, which rules in Orissa; whether he is aware that although the manufacture of salt in Orissa was till recent years one of the staple industries of the districts of Cuttack and Balasore, the possession of salt earth, its manufacture or use has been made a criminal offence in those districts, even though the people wishing to use or manufacture it are willing to pay the duty; and whether, in view of the fact that this prohibition has thrown some 20,000 parsons out of employment, and left large tracts of land teeming with salt earth utterly valueless, and that the price of salt has since the introduction of the Madras system increased in Orissa, the whole of 1564 what is used being now imported from Liverpool and elsewhere, he will consider the advisability of re-introducing the system under which the salt industry flourished in Orissa, and again allowing-the manufacture of Punga salt, subject to the usual duties?
SIR J. GORSTThe hon. Gentleman is under a misapprehension as to the first paragraph of the question. The control of the Salt Revenue in Orissa has not been made over to the Government of Madras—only the administration. The control continues under the Government of Bengal. The manufacture of salt from salt earth has been prohibited, because it cannot be carried on without a great amount of smuggling. It is expected that the introduction of the Madras system will make salt cheaper and more plentiful, as it has done in Madras; and until the new system has been fully tried the Government will not revert to the old one.