§ MR. BUCHANAN (Aberdeenshire, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to the grievance by which Succession Duties imposed on Europeans and Eurasians have, by an alleged technical interpretation of the 1278 Act, been also levied on Native Christians in India, whilst Hindoos and Mahommedans are exempt; and whether he will make representations to the Government of India for the removal of this inequality, which presses hardly on more than a million of the Native inhabitants of Madras Presidency?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingI am aware that the matter to which the honourable Member's Question refers was recently discussed in the Legislative Council of the Governor-General; and that Sir James Westland, while stating that the subject was surrounded with difficulties, admitted that there was a certain amount of inequality in the administration of the Succession Duties. I will communicate with the Government of India on the subject, and have no doubt they will give it their careful attention; though, of course, I cannot in any way anticipate their decision.