§ SIR WILLIAM WEDDERBURN (Banffshire)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he has received a memorial, signed by Indian judicial authorities of the highest position, urging the separation of judicial from executive functions in the Indian administration; whether he will state what action he proposes to take on this memorial; and whether, looking to the fact that the Government of India anticipates a surplus of Rx.4,759,400 for 1898–9, and of Rx.3,932,600 for 1899–1900, the time is opportune, from a financial point of view, for dealing with a reform which has been long prayed for by the Indian community.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingThe memorial to which the question refers has been received, and I propose to forward it to the Government of India, requesting them to consider it and to report to me the conclusions at which they arrive. Until I shall have received their reply, I can say nothing as to the 493 desirability of the proposed change, or as to the views of the people of India on the subject.