§ MR. CHANNING (Northamptonshire, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the fort within which the Boer prisoners are kept at Ahmednagar is surrounded by a high-walled embankment which shuts out every breeze; whether the huts are roofed with corrugated iron, and the temperature noted at midnight inside the huts was several times over 100, and at times as much as 108 during the month of May; and whether steps can and will be taken to remove the Boer prisoners to a more healthy position.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing)I have already stated that there is no intention of removing the Boer prisoners. I have no information as to the details referred to in the hon Member's question; but, as I stated yesterday in answer to the question of the hon. Member for East Clare, the station is considered to be one of the healthiest and most agreeable in India.
§ MR. CHANNINGWill the noble Lord make inquiries as to the accuracy of the statements I have laid before him?
§ LORD G. HAMILTONNo, I will not make any inquiries. The Governor of Bombay has visited the place, and he found the prisoners perfectly well satisfied. The attacks made in this country on the salubrity of Ahmednagar are received with universal ridicule throughout India.
§ MR. CHANNINGI beg to give notice that I will call attention to the subject on the first opportunity.
§ MR. WILLIAM REDMOND (Clare, E.)May I ask the noble Lord whether it is not absolutely the fact that the Army Medical Department has declared this place, last year or the year before, to be the most unhealthy station in India?
§ *MR. SPEAKEROrder, order! The question has been answered.