§ MR. CAINEI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India if he has yet considered the unanimous recommendation of the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure, as contained in Clause 364 of the Report, that a grant of £50,000 should be made by the Imperial Government in aid of the charge for the India Office; and, if so, how he proposes to deal with it.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONThe correspondence on the subject of the measures to be taken for the relief of Indian revenues, in consequence of the Report of the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure, has been laid before Parliament. It shows that the matter has been fully considered, and that His Majesty's Government have accepted in their entirety the recommendations of the Commission so far as the amount of relief to be received by India is concerned. As regards the heads under which that relief is given, they have in the main accepted the recommendations of the Commissioners, but on some points they have made other arrangements which appeared to be more convenient for administrative-purposes. They do not propose to increase the total amount of relief which has been already agreed to, and which, as I have said, is the amount recommended by the Commission.
§ MR. CAINEDid not the Commission recommend a grant in all of £293,000, and have you not allotted less?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONI am afraid they made an arithmetical mistake by substituting tens of rupees for pounds sterling. We have given actually about, £4,000 more than they recommended.
§ LORD G. HAMILTONNo, Sir.
§ MR. CAINEAnd is the reason for not dealing with it the desire that it shall not appear on the yearly Estimates?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONThat is rather a matter of argument. The Commission suggested as an alternative that it should be put on the Consolidated Fund, in which case a discussion on it would be impossible.