§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he will explain why India has been selected as a place for the internment of Boers prisoners of war; whether plague has been prevalent lately in Bombay and in the neighbourhood of Ahmednagar; whether he is satisfied himself, by personal inquiry, that it is a suitable place for the detention of prisoners of war; and whether he will consider the desirability of sending Boer prisoners in future to Ireland.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. BRODRICK, Surrey, Guildford)I must refer the hon. Member to my reply to a similar question put by the hon. Member for the Tullamore Division of King's County on the 29th April.* The locality was selected by the Indian Government, and this is a question on which the judgment of those on the spot is necessarily more reliable than that of anyone in this country.
§ MR. DILLONThe right hon. Gentleman has not answered the last paragraph of my question.
§ MR. BRODRICKI am not sure that residents in Ireland would agree with the Boers.
§ MR. DILLONI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether famine is at present prevalent in the district of Ahmednagar; whether the number on relief lists is increasing; and whether there has recently been a water famine at the station of Ahmednagar.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON, Middlesex, Baling)Owing to the failure of the spring crops there is scarcity of food in some parts of the district of Ahmednagar which, the Government are remedying by relief measures, and the number of persons receiving this relief will probably increase, but this will not affect the Boer prisoners in any way. I have no information as to any recent water-famine in the station of Ahmednagar.