§ MR. C. E. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether Sir James Westland, in his Budget Speech at Calcutta, is correctly reported to have stated that the Indian Government had made arrangements for the purchase of crude, opium in Malwa; how much is it intended to purchase; have these arrangements received his sanction; and what precedents there are for such arrangements?
§ *SIR E. GREYThe official report of Sir James Westland's speech contains the statement cited. The Secretary of State has no information as to the amount of Malwa opium it is intended to purchase. Such arrangements are within the discretion of the Government of India, and do not require the sanction of the Secretary of State. Similar purchases of Malwa opium for the supply of the Indian demand have been made in previous years when the supply of Bengal opium has been short.