§ MR. CLAUDE LOWTHER (Cumberland, Eskdale)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will agree to a Return showing the cost of each one of the different wars undertaken in India or on behalf of our Indian possessions from the year 1800 to the date of the abolition of the East India Company, and showing also the proportion of expenditure borne respectively by the United Kingdom and the East India Company in each case.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONAn ancient Return, No. 261 of 1808, shows that it was impossible even then to give the information now asked for as to the earlier years of the century. And it will be seen from Return 13 of 1900, which shows the wars on or beyond the borders of British India since 1849, that it is not till the last thirty years that the cost of the several military operations has been shown separately in the accounts of the Government of India. This latter Return took more than two years to compile, and caused great pressure on the departments concerned in India. I do not think I would be justified in ordering further investigations to be made in the accounts of the years from 1808 to 1849 for the purposes of the Return now asked for.