HC Deb 28 February 1895 vol 31 cc34-5
MR. R. W. HANBURY

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether it is the fact that, while the Colonial Office costs British taxpayers about £40,000, the Foreign Office about £67,000, and the Treasury about £60,000 annually, the India Office alone, besides the expenses of Government in India, costs about £130,000 a year to the India Exchequer; to whom are the detailed accounts of the India Office presented; and whether he will lay upon the Table an Estimate of the Annual Expenses, Salaries, &c., of the India Office, similar to those showing the cost of the other Departments of the State?

MR. H. H. FOWLER

I cannot admit that there is any analogy between the expenses of the Offices to which the hon. Member refers and the expenses of the India Office, which include the Civil and Military, Financial, Political, Judicial and Public Works Departments of the whole Indian Empire. The accounts are presented to and are audited by the Auditor of Indian Home Accounts, and when audited are laid before Parliament. An Estimate of the cost of the India Office is annually laid on the Table of the House.