HC Deb 10 June 1898 vol 58 c1304
SIR J. FERGUSSON (Manchester, N.E.)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War what was the amount paid from the revenues of India in the last financial year to clergy other than those of the Church of England; and what is the estimated annual value of the endowments of Native religions, whether Christian, Mahomedan, Hindoo, etc., protected by the Government of India?

MR. LEWIS (Flint Boroughs)

also asked the Secretary of State for India what was the amount paid by the taxpayers of India during the last financial year towards the maintenance of the clergy of the Established Church?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, Ealing

The accounts for the last financial year are not yet available, but I can give the figures for 1896–7. Those for the previous year were furnished to the House in the Return C.410, of August 1897. The charges in India in 1896–7 on account of the clergy of various denominations were in tens of rupees as follows:—Church of England, 133,816; Church of Scotland, 10,828; Church of Rome, 31,620; other denominations, 6,929—Total, Rx.183,193. The annual value of the State endowments enjoyed under Government protection by Hindu and Mahomedan religious institutions cannot be stated with accuracy, but in 1883 it was estimated at three and a half millions.