§ MR. CAINE (Bradford, E.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India if the attention of the Secretary of State has been given to sundry paragraphs in the last Administrative Report of Bengal on the serious amount of pauperism existing among the Eurasian communities of Calcutta and other large towns in Bengal; if it is true that the percentage of pauperism in these communities is 22.3 per cent.; and if he will consider the desirability of relieving this condition of things by creating an Eurasian regiment, which shall take the place of an European regiment, and the establishment of a training ship for Eurasian boys, to be stationed in the Hooghly river?
THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOE INDIA (Mr. GEORGE RUSSELL,) North Beds.The paragraphs mentioned by my hon. Friend refer to Calcutta and its suburbs, where the percentage of Europeans and Eurasians reported to be in receipt of charitable relief is stated as in the question. It is within the knowledge of the Secretary of State that proposals for the formation of an Eurasian regiment and the establishment of a training ship for Eurasian boys have been considered by the Government of India and the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, and, for what appear to be sufficient reasons, are not recommended by them. This being so, the Secretary of State does not propose to move in the matter.