§ SIR WILLIAM WEDDERBURNI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to a statement in The Pioneer of 14th March last, that the Government of India has issued a Circular to the officers whose duty it is to report the deaths from famine, directing them not to report any deaths as due to starvation except in cases where it could be clearly established that the victims had no food for several days; and whether any means have been taken to prevent the trustworthiness of the record of famine mortality being vitiated by this Order?
§ LORD GEORGE HAMILTONI am aware of the statements in a letter published in The Pioneer to which the hon. Member refers. I have seen no circular of the Government of India which would justify them, but I know that that Government have had reason to believe that deaths are frequently reported as due to starvation when they are really due to other causes, and that they have issued orders to prevent the famine statistics from being vitiated by inaccuracies of this kind.