§ MR. HUDSON (Herts, Hitchin)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, whether he has received a petition from Mr. A. S. Russell, of the Indian P.W. Department, dated May, 1898; whether this correctly represents the position of the officers sent out to India from the Cooper's Hill Engineering College during the first three or four years; and, whether he proposes to take any steps to remedy the grievances from which this officer and his contemporaries appear to suffer from want of promotion, and which was not considered by the Select Committee of the House in 1890.
§ * LORD G. HAMILTONMemorials have been received from Mr. A. S. Russell and other officers of the Indian Public Works Department who were recruited from the Royal Indian Engineering College in the years 1874–76. The contents of these memorials are now engaging my attention, but I can say nothing as to the decision which may be arrived at.