§ MR. SAMUEL SMITHI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that three liquor shops have 898 been opened and still remain open Brace Petta, one of the leading thoroughfares of the town of Bellary, in the Madras Presidency; and that these three shops are very near each other, and situated in close proximity to Christian and Hindu places of worship, and on the only common road leading to the Cowl bazaar and the municipal high school in the fort; whether a petition has been submitted to the Collector of Bellary by some of the leading residents in the immediate neighbourhood of the shops complaining of the nuisance caused by them, and praying for their removal; and whether, having regard to the declared policy of the Government of India, as enunciated in their Dispatch, No. 29, of 4th February, 1890, he will give instructions for the closing of the said shops.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONI have received no information on the subject of the first two clauses of the hon. Member's question. I do not propose to send any instructions to India on the matter, which is clearly one for the discretion of the authorities in India.