§ SIR SEYMOUR KING (Hull, Central)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether he has yet heard from the Government of India why, in the report of the finding and sentence of a court martial at Ferozepore on a conductor charged with taking bribes from a contractor, blanks appeared in the Punjab command orders; and whether he can now give the required information as to who offered the bribe, on behalf of what 631 firm the bribe was offered, what the stores were, and at whose instance the facts were suppressed.
§ *LORD G. HAMILTONI am informed by the Government of India that the names were omitted by the Punjab military authorities from the report to which my hon. friend refers in consequence of a mistaken notion as to the legal liabilities which might be incurred by their publication. The goods in question were shipped by the Indian Brush Factory and were up to standard. They were rejected because the travelling agent who acted on their behalf offered a bribe to secure their passing. His name is Gordon.