§ SIR W. WEDDERBURN (Banffshire)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India, with reference to the statement in the Government of India Despatch, dated 20th September last, that, between the date of the signing of the Report of Lord Herschell's Committee and the date of the closing of the Indian Mints, the main features of the Committee's recommendations were known on the Continent and probably in London, whether the Secretary of State has taken steps to ascertain how such information was obtained?
MR. GEORGE RUSSELLThe Secretary of State has no means of discovering how The Frankfürter Zeitung obtained the information which it published on June 8, but he is satisfied, as the result of his inquiries, that the information was not divulged at the India Office.
§ SIR W. WEDDERBURNAs to that question, may I ask whether larger quantities of silver had been exported to India to be minted than was necessary for the ordinary trade requirements; and whether, in consequence, the Government of India has experienced considerable loss, owing to the compensation paid in reference thereto?
MR. GEORGE RUSSELLYes; but I cannot say how far the facts are related to one another in regard to cause and effect.