§ MR. MACLEANI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether, under the regulations of the Plague Committee in Bombay, search parties of British soldiers were employed to visit native houses, and to enter the apartments even of Mahomedan and Hindoo ladies who are by custom secluded from the gaze of men; whether Lord Sandhurst, the Governor of Bombay, was repeatedly warned that this practice was creating much disaffection, which finally culminated in a terrible riot and a general strike; and has he received any explanation why the Governor only cancelled the orders complained of after the riot had taken place; whether the Plague Committee has since resigned; and whether the regulations in question were issued by the Governor of Bombay in pursuance of orders from home?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingUp to the 5th of March a certain number of specially selected British private soldiers were employed to visit Hindoo houses if no objection was raised, but in no case did they visit Mahomedan houses; nor did any British soldier, whether officer or private, ever enter the room of a woman of the class referred to in the Question. The Governor of Bombay was never warned that the search operations were creating disaffection, though he was, of course, aware that all the measures taken to prevent the spread of the plague were unpopular among certain sections of the population. I have already stated that the order for the employment of British soldiers was cancelled on the 5th of March, four days before the riot began; certain other changes were, I believe under contemplation when the riot began, and were carried into effect after it had taken place. The Plague Committee has not resigned. The regulations in question were issued by the Plague Committee under instructions from the Bombay Government, and without previous reference to me, but I was aware of their general tendency, and have throughout supported the Governments of India and of Bombay in taking such necessary measures as circumstances may permit for the prevention and alleviation of the plague.