§ SIR W. WEDDERBURN (Banffshire)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether any general instructions have been issued by the Government of India to be lenient in collecting the land revenue from cultivators in the districts affected by famine; and whether he is aware that in the Alibagh district of Bombay special promptitude in payment is being enforced, and that an unusually large number of notices have been issued to defaulters at a cost to them of four annas for each notice.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingThe famine codes lay down that the collector, in the early stages of a famine, is to consider the question of suspending the land revenue in distressed tracts, and empower him to grant such suspensions of his own authority. I have received no information to the effect suggested in the hon. Member's second question.
§ SIR W. WEDDERBURNWill the noble Lord make inquiry?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONI hardly think it is necessary.