§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been directed to an order issued by the Governor General of India forbidding Indian princes to travel abroad or visit Europe without the Viceroy's Imperial permission; is he aware that this order has caused discontent, and can he state on what grounds this order was made, and whether it was made with the knowledge and sanction of the Home Government.
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord G. HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing)I am cognisant of the circular letter to which the hon. Member's question evidently refers, though I cannot accept his description of it as an accurate one. It was within the competence of the Government of India to issue it; no sanction from the Home Government was requisite, and I am not aware that it has caused discontent.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLUnder what provision has Lord Curzon any right to interfere with the private arrangements of these princes?
§ *LORD G. HAMILTONI do not think that the hon. Gentleman has quite mastered the situation. The authority and power of the Indian Government are behind the Indian princes. When the Indian princes leave their own territory they are, in consequence, protected from disturbance or disquietude inside their territory. Therefore it is not unreasonable that the Indian Government should 1311 ask that they should be consulted in regard to the frequency and duration of absence from India, during which the reigning princes abandon the reins of authority in their own country.